››HOW THE VAGRANTS BROKE MURDER Inc.›         by JERRY GINSBERG››››(CONTINUATION  of  "HOW  THE  VAGRANTS›BROKE  MURDER  INC. by JERRY GINSBERG,›member  OL'HACKERS)››     The  old Inferior Criminal Courts›Act  provided  for  the  commitment of›anyone found guilty of VAGRANCY to one›of  the  several  workhouses or county›jails  "for  a  definite  term  not to›exceed  six  months."  As  a rule, the›sentences  meted out for vagrancy were›for    much    less    time.   Happy's›brother,"Duke"  Maione,  drew a ninety›day   sentence   while  Meyer  "Mikey"›Sycoff,  who  fingered  "targets"  for›"hits"  received  a  sixty-day term in›the workhouse.››     Of  course,  it  was  hoped  that›these   vagrancy   charges   would  be›replaced    with    more   substantial›accusations  by the time the terms had›been  served. As time passed, however,›the  prospects  of  something dramatic›happening appeared bleak; but when the›sentences  were  just about to expire,›Assistant   District  Attorney  Burton›Turkus reported that the D.A. received›the  following letter from the Riker's›Island City Workhouse:›     "Dear Sir,›      I  am  doing a bit here. I would›like to talk to the District Attorney.›I  know  something  about  a murder in›East New York.›                Harry Rudolph"››     Rudolph  had  a reputation on the›street  as being "off his rocker" but,›out   of   frustration,   O'Dwyer  was›willing to grant an audience to anyone›who  could  even  remotely  assist the›investigation.   Rudolph   hated   the›Brownsville  boys,  not  only  because›they   murdered  a  friend,  which  he›claimed  to  have  witnessed, but also›because  they  tried  to  kill  him by›shooting   him   in   the  stomach  at›point-blank  range.  To  support  this›story  and also to add to his image as›a   "fruitcake,"  Rudolph  raised  his›shirt  and  exhibited to A.D.A. Turkus›the  disfiguring  scars on his abdomen›where  he claimed to have "plucked the›bullet  out  with  his bare hands." It›was around this man, and with probably›a   very   strong   prayer,  that  the›flimsiest of homocide  cases was built›against  Murder  Incorporated's  chief›executive   officers,  Abe  Reles  and›Martin "Buggsy" Goldstein.››     At   a   hastily   called   press›conference, D.A. O'Dwyer announced the›indictment  of  Reles,  Goldstein  and›Anthony   (the   Duke)  Maffetore,  an›accomplice in the 1933 shooting in the›back  of  Alec (Red) Alpert. "Red" was›"rubbed  out"  for asking too much for›the  stolen  jewelry he tried to fence›to  the boys in Brownsville. With more›bravado    than   substance,   O'Dwyer›announced  to  the  press,  "This is a›clean-cut  charge. I have an air-tight›case  against  these  punks and I want›them to know it right now." As was the›style in the 30s and 40s, the New York›Times  commented  on  the dress of the›defendants at their arraignments.›     "Reles      wore      a      gray›double-breasted  overcoat  and  a dark›suit     and    Goldstein,    a    tan›double-breasted   overcoat   and  dark›suit.  In  contrast,  Maffatore wore a›leather windbreaker over a sweater and›dark  trousers.  (N.Y.Times,  Feb.  3,›1940)  Both  Reles  and  Goldstein had›attorneys   to   represent  them,  but›Maffatore was unrepresented as he pled›"not guilty." He, Maffatore, requested›the court assign a counselor to him as›he  was  indigent and unable to afford›one. It wasn't difficult to figure out›where   the  District  Attorney  would›concentrate  his  greatest  efforts in›shoring  up the many holes in his weak›case.  So  Maffatore  got te DA's full›attention.  The  next  move was one of›great  strategy.  It  was to split the›defendants.››    KINGS COUNTY Judge Edwin L. Garvin›was put asked by D.A. O'Dwyyer to sign›an  order  transferring "Kid Twist" to›the   Tombs   in  Manhattan.  "Buggsy"›Goldstein  was  sent  to the Sheriff's›jail  in  Staten  Island while "Dukey"›Maffatore  was  committed to the Bronx›County jail.›     The  "breaking"  of  Anthony "the›Duke"  Maffatore  could  provide a law›school  class  with an excellent study›in  the  evils of police interrogation›prior  to   the  United States Supreme›Court's   decision   in   MIRANDA   v.›ARIZONA. While the coercion was not as›physically  abusive  as that allegedly›practiced  upon Joseph (Joe the Baker)›Lemirto, it was nonetheless effective.›"Joe  the  Baker" with "Dukey", helped›convict "Happy", "Pittsburgh Phil" and›the  "Dasher" of the icepick stabbing,›strangulation    murder    of   George›(Whitey)  Rudnick, a potential witness›against  mob boss, Louie Lepke. Before›testifying  for  the prosecution, "Joe›the Baker" spent seventeen days in the›Queens   County   jail   denying   his›involvement  in the Rudnick murder. He›was  then  ushered  into  a hotel room›across  town  and supposedly beaten so›severely by a detective with the quite›appropriate  name  of  "Joe  the Bull"›that   he   required  hospitalization.›After  that,  "Joe  the  Baker" became›more  cooperative  and  supplied  some›necessary   missing   details  to  the›Rudnick murder.›     "Dukey"  Maffatore  at age twenty›four,  according  to all accounts, was›just  a  step  above being a moron who›just  loved  to  read  comic  books in›between  the jobs his murderous bosses›would  send  him out on. He had little›education  and  left school as soon as›he  was  able  to  obtain  his working›papers  at  age  fifteen.  It appears,›though,  that  he  worked  very little›since  then  except  as an auto thief,›enforcer    and   hijacker   for   the›Brownsville    mob.    When   he   was›eventually   called   to  the  witness›stand,   Maffatore  admitted  that  he›hadn't  done  an  honest  days work in›nine  years and that one of his claims›to  fame was that he had once gone out›on  a   job  as  a  driver with Willie›Sutton,  the  famed  bank robber. That›adventure  ended with his running away›at the first sight of a policeman.›     The   interrogation   of  "Dukey"›began  almost  immediately without the›benefit    of   an   attorney   which,›considering  his request for one to be›appointed, would today be in violation›of   his   sixth  amendment  right  to›counsel. Not that it would have made a›difference to the likes of "Dukey" but›it  would  be sixteen years before his›keepers  would  be  required to advise›him   of   his  MIRANDA  rights  as  a›prerequisite  to  their  interrogating›him.  Although  A.D.A. Turkus' outline›of   the   "breaking"   of   Maffatore›represents   the   only   record  that›exists, it makes no effort to cover up›the    obvious   unfairness   of   the›procedure even in that day. He writes,›"Dukey  received  this  'cold-storage'›treatment-and   the   loneliness  that›accompanies   it....   and   no   one,›absolutely  no  one,  came  to relieve›them."   No   one,   that   is,  until›Lieutenant  Jack  Osnato  stepped into›"Dukey's"  isolation  cell  and  spoke›soothingly  to  him  in  Italian,  and›then,    along   with   Deputy   Chief›Inspector  Mike  McDermott  played  in›intricate  game of "good cop/bad cop."›Maffatore  was asked repeatedly why he›was  sticking  with  his friends while›they were making a "sap" out of him by›his  taking  the  rap.  "Why don't you›think of your wife and kid? They'll be›evicted  soon  when they can't pay the›rent.  Reles' family isn't going to be›thrown  out, you can bet that," chided›McDermott.  When  their  approach  met›with   some   resistance,   the   pair›resorted  to base threats, "You got it›pretty  soft in this can...If you keep›on  like  you  are, I'll see you go to›Raymond   Street  [Jail  in  Brooklyn]›where  there's  dirt  and  bedbugs and›cockroaches." ›(CONTINUED in next NEWSLETTER)››                                      ›