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NY Daily News, April 17, 1942 (All NEWS fotos by Engels and Amy)

1. Stanely Sandler, 23, and Francis Whelan, 32, both of Astoria, lie on pavement of Third Ave., near 42d St., after car driven by Whelan crashed into El pillar. Sandler is dead.
2. After recovering from first shock of accident, Whelan went berserk, battled with police. Bystander fans him with newspaper as police hold the struggling driver
3. Clothes torn and his face covered with blood, Whelan gains his feet, continues his struggles with cops, who hold him firmly.
4. His face covered with newspapers, the dead Sandler receives last rites from Father Thomas McNulty. Sandler was riding in rear seat. Another passenger, Joseph Mahoney, was injured.
5. Whelan lies on floor of ambulance, still held by police. He was taken to Bellevue Hospital for observation.
6. After caroming off two El pillars the car came to a stop and burst into flames. Driver of car escaped death miraculously in accident, which occurred at 5 o’clock yesterday morning.
7. The fire’s been put out and here’s all that remains of the car. It hit pillars between 41st and 42d Sts. while making U-turn.
8. Carmine DeNote and Pvt. Arthur Hayden examine axle and wheel which landed 40 feet from where car hit. Technical charge of homicide was lodged against Whelan.
New York Daily News, April 17, 1942

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New York Herald Tribune, April 17, 1942 (Herald Tribune – Acme)

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PM, April 17, 1942, p.7 (No photo credit)

1. Few minutes before photo, this car was going north on Third Ave., near 42d St. It smashed into L pillar, burned to this wreck.
2. Wheel of car rammed curb 40 feet from car body. Stanley Stanley, Astoria, died in wreck. Car was driven by Frank Whalen, Astoria.
3. Whalen, injured, battled with cops after recovering from shock of crash. He was handcuffed, forced into ambulance by officers.
4. Under double-bill movie marquee, body of Stanley was covered with newspapers and coats by policeman. Technical charge of homicide was lodged against Whalen, who was taken to Bellevue Hospital for observation. Another passenger, Joseph Mahoney, also was hurt.
PM, April 17, 1942, p.7

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Weegee, Naked City, 1945, p.89

This man covered up with newspapers was killed in an auto accident. The driver of the car was arrested, but he put up such a terrific battle… cops had to put handcuffs on him.
Weegee, Naked City, 1945, p.89

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Weegee, Weegee’s Secrets, 1953, p.32


Weegee’s World, p.61 (Joy of Living, 1942)

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Not the Naked City, p.89, 2015

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April 16, 2015


New York Times, April 16, 1932, p.16

6 IN COUNTERFEIT GANG SENTENCED TO PRISON

Leader of Group That Printed $40,000 Bogus Money Gets 12 Years, Others Lesser Terms.

Six men, five of whom pleaded guilty to connection with a counterfeiting ring, while the other, who was tried in his absence and found guilty by a jury, were sentenced yesterday by Judge Grover M. Moscowitz in United States District Court in Brooklyn.

Louis Riggione of 174 Thompson Street, Manhattan, head of the ring, which printed more than $40,000 in spurious Federal Reserve $5 notes and which conspired to print a total of more than $1,000,000 in bogus money, was sentenced to twelve years in prison and to pay a fine of $10,000.

Riggione disappeared a week ago Thursday, a day after the trial began. The trial was continued as to him despite his absence. Riggione was in court yesterday and told Judge Moscowitz he had failed to appear because he was afraid of the consequences if convicted.

Four of the defendants pleaded guilty while the trial was in progress. Judge Moscowitz took this into consideration when he sentenced Peter Busch, an engraver, of 483 Willis Avenue, the Bronx, to four years in prison and a fine of $1,000; Quirino Constantino of 56-120 134th Street, Flushing, Queens, to two years; Joseph Mare of 66-17 Fifty-third Street, Maspeth, to two years and a fine of $10,000, and Louis Freda of 574 Warburton Avenue, Hastings, N. Y., to four months.

Charles Stern of 611 West 180th Street, the Bronx, pleaded guilty before the start of the trial and was used as a government witness. He was sentenced to eighteen months in jail and placed on probation for five years.

Caesar Contino of 1,525 Benson Avenue, Brooklyn, became mentally deranged during the trial and is still in the observation ward of Bellevue Hospital. The indictment was severed as to him and he will be brought to trial when he recovers his mental balance.
New York Times, April 16, 1932, p.16


Brooklyn Eagle, April 12, 1940, p.3


New York Sun, April 12, 1940, p.1


New York Times, April 12, 1940, p.20

Large quantities of books and office records of various garment manufacturing companies were seized yesterday by thirty detectives working under District Attorney William O’Dwyer of Kings County and were brought to the prosecutor’s offices for examination in connection with the activities of the Brooklyn murder syndicate. It was learned that the survey is aimed at finding a motive for certain unsolved killings and to determine whether any of the companies had been compelled to give money to the gangsters. An alleged “contact man” for Louis (Lepke) Buchalter, industrial racketeer, and a wealthy Brooklyn dress manufacturer were held recently in $100,000 bail each as material witnesses in the murder ring inquiry.

Abe (Kid Twist) Reles, Brooklyn gang chieftain, and his henchmen, Anthony (the Duke) Maffetore and Abraham (Pretty) Levene, testified before a grand jury yesterday in the murder of Irving (Puggy) Feinstein, allegedly killed and burned by the murder gang.

It was learned that Mr. O’Dwyer feels that if Reles’s story is corroborated it will require about two years to complete the prosecutions that will result. Reles is reported to object to being called a “squealer” and insists that he was “just a step ahead of the others.”

Angelo (Julie) Catalano was held in $100,000 bail as an eyewitness to the murder of George Rudnick, for which three leaders of the murder ring are under indictment. New York Times, April 12, 1940, p.20


New York Times, March 9, 1946, p.14

Frank Pape, 17 years old, of 815 Eagle Avenue, the Bronx, indicted for first-degree murder in the death of William Drach, 4, in October. 1944, was freed yesterday in Bronx County Court, having been declared sane after a year’s treatment by psychiatrists. The youth was adjudged insane at the time of the murder. Pape, who strangled the Drach boy while they were playing, was placed under the supervision of two Lutheran ministers, the Rev. Otto Plagemann of St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church, 156th Street and St. Ann’s Avenue, and the Rev. Henry Schumann of Bethany Lutheran Church, 583 East 163d Street, both the Bronx. The ministers told the court they felt confident they could control the youth.
New York Times, March 9, 1946, p.14