Murder Inc. Stoolie "Kid Twist" Reles Met Death 75 Years Ago

75 years ago today Abe Reles went out the window...

The Writers of Wrong is the name of a blog I discovered today; I knew it was a more-than-credible source once I saw the names attached to it...

Christian Cipollini... Thomas Hunt... and Patrick Downey (who authored a book on Legs Diamond I am currently enjoying immensely.

And speaking of books, Cip and Downey both contributed to a fictional short story compendium, Cocktail Noir: From Gangsters and Gin Joints to Gumshoes and Gimlets.)

Mob historians are invited to contribute, as the blog notes: "Writers of crime history are encouraged to submit news releases; short book excerpts; event announcements; links to videos, images, websites, etc., for publication in this blog using the 'Contact Us' form at the bottom of the page."

On this date in 1941, informant Abe "Kid Twist" Reles fell to his death at the Half Moon Hotel, Coney Island.

The thirty-five-year-old Reles, who had been cooperating with authorities in Murder, Inc., prosecutions since early in 1940, was expected to testify shortly against big shot Louis "Lepke" Buchalter. Earlier court appearances had been in murder cases against Harry "Happy" Maione, Frank "the Dasher" Abbandando, Martin "Buggsy" Goldstein and Harry "Pittsburgh Phil" Strauss. Reles also aided California authorities in obtaining indictments against Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel and Frank "Pug" Carbo for the November 1939 Hollywood murder of Harry "Big Greenie" Greenberg. 

While Buchalter was on trial (along with Louis Capone and Emanuel "Mendy" Weiss for the September 1936 murder of Joseph Rosen), Reles was housed on the sixth floor of the Half Moon along with government witnesses Sholom Bernstein, Max Rubin and Al Tannenbaum. 

According to the official story, Reles decided at about 7 a.m. to try to escape from government custody rather than testify. Authorities said he exited his sixth-floor window and used a rope of tied-together bedsheets to lower himself to the window below. The rope was fastened to a radiator pipe using a length of electrical cord. It reportedly was not fastened very well, and detectives said it detached as Reles attempted to open the screen and window on the fifth floor. 

Reles's body was later discovered on an extension roof about 42 feet below his last estimated location. Noting that the body came to rest a good distance from the hotel wall, some investigators and journalists quickly decided that Reles had been thrown out of his hotel room window. Reles became known as the underworld canary who could "sing" but could not fly.....

New York Post's original coverage.

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