Abner [Abe] "Longy" Zwillman

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abner_Zwillman

Abner "Longie" Zwillman (July 27, 1904 – February 27, 1959) was a Jewish American mob boss, mainly active during Prohibition, operating primarily in North Jersey

It is believed that Zwillman was born on July 27, 1904, in Newark, New Jersey. He was forced to quit school in order to support his family after his father's death in 1918. Zwillman first began working at a Prince Street cafe, the headquarters of a local alderman in Newark's Third Ward. However, in need of more money, Zwillman was eventually forced to quit, later selling fruits and vegetables in his neighborhood with a rented horse and wagon.

Zwillman was unable to compete with the cheaper Prince Street pushcarts, however, so he moved to the more upper-class neighborhood of Clinton Hill, where he began selling lottery tickets to local housewives. He observed that much more money was made selling lottery tickets than produce, so he concentrated on selling lottery tickets through local merchants. By 1920, Zwillman controlled the bulk of the numbers racket with the help of hired muscle.

During the 1959 McClellan Senate Committee hearings on organized crime, Zwillman was issued a subpoena to testify before the committee. However, shortly before he was to appear, Zwillman was found hanged in his West Orange, New Jersey, residence on February 27, 1959. He was buried the same day, after a funeral attended by 1,850, including celebrities and his 80-year-old mother, Ella

Zwillman's death was ruled a suicide, attributed to intractable income tax and health problems. His stepson, John Steinbach, said that he was also depressed about Senate investigations into jukebox racketeering and a jury tampering investigation, related to a previous failed attempt to prosecute him.

However, police found bruises on Zwillman's wrists, supporting a theory that Zwillman had been tied up before being hanged. It is often speculated[by whom?] that Vito Genovese had ordered Zwillman killed. Others have alleged that Meyer Lansky, suspecting that the New Jersey gangster had agreed to become a government informant, gave permission for the Italian Mafia to take action against Zwillman. The theory that he was hanged was also supported by deported mobster Charles "Lucky" Luciano, who allegedly told journalist Martin Gosch in Italy that the suicide theory was nonsense, and that before hanging him, Zwillman's killers had trussed him up like a pig. Martin Gosch's biography (which he co-authored with Richard Hammer) of Lucky Luciano is somewhat controversial and considered fictional by many mob experts. However, the authors have claimed that the contents are entirely based on interviews with Luciano, who died before the book was ever published.

His widow remarried three years later, to sports figure Harry Wismer. His daughter Lynn married Warren Tuttle in 1968

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14762811/respectable_underworld_fig...

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Jun 29 2023, 2:29:27 UTC