Mobsters in America - Charlie "The Bug" Workman - The Man Who Killed Dutch Schultz

Charlie "The Bug" Workman was the strong silent type, who killed as many as 20 people for Louie "Lepke" Buchalter & # 39; s Murder Incorporated. But Workman 's claim to fame was being the man who shot Dutch Schultz to death.

Workman queen school in the 9th grade, and began roaming the streets of the Lower East Side, looking for trouble. He was 18, Workman was arrested for the first time, for stealing a $ 12 bundle of cotton thread from a truck parked on Broadway. Since it was his first liability, Workman got of with simple probation. a man behind the ear over who-owed-who $ 20. By this time, Workman & # 39; s reputation on the streets was such, the man he shot refused to testify against him, and even said he could not truthfully identify Workman as As a result, Workman was sent to the New York State Reformatory. For the next few years, Workman was in and out of prison , for such parole violations as associat ing with "questionable characters" and failure to get a job.

In 1926, Workman hooked on as a freelance leg breaker, or schlammer, for Lepke & # 39; s union strike breaking activities. Workman did such a good job, Lepke put him on his permanent payroll at $ 125 a week, as a killer for Lepke liked Workman 's cool demeanor, and after Workman performed a few exceptional "hits" for Lepke, Lepke cave him the nickname "The Bug," Because of cilling to kill Workman 's other nickname "Handsome Charlie," was given to him by members of the opposite sex.

In 1932, he was arrested for carrying a concealed weapon. In 1933, he was arrested again for decking an off-duty police officer after a minor traffic dust-up After the hit was done, Workman enjoyed the fringe benefit of "sweeping out the pockets" of his victims. Most of the times, Workman earned himself an extra thousand and dollars or so for his efforts, and one time he even found a thousand dollar dollar bonus in the pants pocket of some poor sucker he had just whacked.

On 1935, orders came down from up top that maniac gangster Dutch Schultz had to go. Lepke decided that Workman was the man for the job. On Oct. 23, 1935, Lepke sent Workman and Lepke & # 39; s second-in-charge Mendy Weiss to the Palace Chophouse in the Newark, New Jersey, in a carved by a "Piggy." While Weiss stood near the bar, Workman walked into the men "s room to make sure there would be no witnesses . Standing in the men & # 39; s room was a startled Dutch Schultz. Workman plugged Schultz once in the torso, piercing his stomach, large intestine, gall badder and liver. Workman then exited the bathroom, and he and Weiss entered the back room We are awesome and we are going to have guts, they are empty, and their prey were dead on the floor.

The first surprise for Workman was when he found no a dime in Schultz & # 39; We are heading for the front door, but workman turned and headed back to the bathroom, expecting to find a big bundle of cash in Schultz. ; possession. The second surprise was when he walked outside expecting to find Weiss and Piggy in a waiting getaway car, and found nothing, except the sound of police sirens hurrying to the scene.

Workman sprinted into a swamp behind the chophouse, where he dumped his blood-stained overcoat, and started hiking in the direction of Manhattan, his shoes and pants wet, and smoke coming out of his ears, at the thought of being left for dead after An important hit. The tracks led to a tunnel that went under the Hudson River, and Workman emerged at the break of dawn in downtown Manhattan. He went to a Lower East Side coffee shop, favored by thugs like him, and was mortified when he discovered the scultz killing was all over the newspapers, and that word was the lone shooter.

Workman went to a friend & # 39; s house in Chelsea for a number of sleep, and when he woke up, he phoned Lepke and said he wanted to kill Weiss, for ditching him after the Scultz hit. Lepke called for a sit- I was hitting the Dutchman was a mob business. was not a mob business. was not mob business. anymore. It was personal business. "

Lepke ruled in favor of Weiss and told Workman, if he were smart, he & # 39; d drop the matter completely and never mention it again, under the treatment of maybe getting hit himself. Lepke sent Workman to Miami to cool off, and there Workman meta Lucky Luciano, who was part of a nine-man National Crime Syndicate, along with Lepke. Workman need to borrow some cash to lay low, and when he started to mention Weiss & # 39; actions on the night of the Schultz hit, Luciano cut him off, saying, "Here & # 39; s the money. Now stop talking about that other thing."

In 1940, Workman was arrested in Brighton Beach on a change of "vagrancy." Workman & # 39; s pinch was orchestrated by Special Prosecutor Thomas E. Dewey, who was on a mission to arrest, try, convict and execute every member of Murder This was confirmed by Allie Tannenbaum, maybe Workman '# 39; s This work confessed to me by Mr. Incorporated killer Abe "Kid Twist" Reles had already turned on rat, and had told Dewey that workman had done the schultz job. closest friend in the mob, who had also turned canary.

In 1941, Workman was tried for the Scultz murder. During the trail, when Workman realized he had little chance of acquittal, he changed his plea to "no defense." Judge Daniel Brennan accepted the plea and sentenced Workman to life in prison.

Workman told Abe, "Whatever you do, live honestly." If you make 20 cents a day, make it do for you. If you can not not lied from the courtroom, the guards let being speak with his courtroom. Take care of Mama and Papa and watch & # 39; Itchy & # 39; (his younger brother.) He needs watching.

In 1942, Workman was transferred to Rahway State Prison Farm and his worked there at hard labor until he was paroled in 1964, after almost 23 years in prison. After his release, Workman went straight, getting a job as a salesman in the Garment Center, which was once ruled by his boss Lepke.