Jack Zuta

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John U. "Jack" Zuta alias Jacob U. Zoota (born February 18, 1888 , † August 1, 1930 in Delafield (Wisconsin) ) was an associated Kosher Nostra of the Chicago outfit , which is why he could not become a full member of this criminal family. In particular, he was active as a political "organizer".

Life

Zuta was the son of a Polish - Jewish family in what was then the Russian Empire . He came to the United States in 1913 and lived in Chicago . Before turning to crime - prostitution in particular - he had worked as a trader on the city's West Side. His illegal activities were later increasingly taken from him by Jake Guzik , his brother and Mike "The Pike" Heitler .

Al Capone began working for Al Capone in the 1920s during the US alcohol prohibition . Zuta supported the re-election of Mayor William Hale Thompson on behalf of Capone .

Al Capone was in conflict with the North Side Gang ; other (smaller) gangs also fought over territorial invasions. In the overall context, however, these also acted in a large group with the Chicago outfit . On October 20, 1926, John "Dingbat" O'Berta and Joe Saltis organized a meeting at the Sherman Hotel; In addition to the two, Al Capone, Bugs Moran , Vincent Drucci , Jake Guzik, Ralph Sheldon , William Skidmore, Maxie Eisen, Myles O'Donnell, Christian P. "Barney" Bertsche and also Jack Zuta took part. A general truce was first agreed for all existing hostilities, territories were staked out again and this resulted in temporary peace between the gangs.

In the further course of the conflict, Zuta then changed sides in 1927 and worked for Bugs Moran , who had now allied with Joe Aiello . Aiello was in competition with Capone's efforts to keep the Unione Siciliana under control. When the decision to kill Antonio Lombardo was decided, Zuta is said to have been involved. Numerous other presidents of the Unione Siciliana also came to a violent end.

The Chicago Crime Commission led Zuta in April 1930, ninth most dangerous gangsters of the city.

In June 1930, Zuta was responsible for the murder of reporter Alfred "Jake" Lingle of the Chicago Examiner when he tried to blackmail Moran. When Zuta was questioned by police about the circumstances of the murder, he was assassinated while he was leaving the police station. Apparently the north side feared that Zuta would become a pentito .

Unknown perpetrators opened fire, killing two bystanders. Zuta was uninjured and initially fled Chicago and went underground in Milwaukee , Wisconsin near lower Nemahbin Lake , where he performed under the name JH Goodman . Nevertheless, he was tracked down and on August 1, 1930 in Delafield, Wisconsin, attacked and shot by five perpetrators.

estate

In addition to the motif of the north side, there were a number of other potential reasons, all of which can be traced back to the widespread corruption in Illinois , as Zuta had kept various records in various lockers , such as whiskey deliveries by ship to Bugs Moran , police actions against breweries and detailed ones Contained bribes to state officials and politicians.

Some of the listed were:

  • Dorsey Crowe, Chicago city councilor
  • Nate DeLue, director of the education committee
  • Joseph W. Schulman, judge
  • Emanuel Eller, former judge
  • Martin C. Mulvihill, Chicago Police Officer
  • Police Chief William O. Freeman, Evanston, Illinois Police Chief
  • Harry W. Starr, Illinois Senator

All listed denied the bribes, only Crowe and Starr said it was likely to be campaign donations .

The name Zuta briefly developed as a synonym for successful vengeance and when in 1931 a reward of 50,000 US dollars was offered to Al Capone , Capone commented on this with the words: "Nobody's gonna" Zuta "me." ".

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ shot do death by rival gang (English)
personal data
SURNAME Zuta, Jack
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Zuta, John U .; Zuta, Jacob U .; Zoota Jacob U.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Jewish-American mobster
DATE OF BIRTH February 18, 1888
DATE OF DEATH August 1, 1930
Place of death Delafield, Wisconsin