Gus Greenbaum
Gus Greenbaum | |
|---|---|
| Born | Gustave Greenbaum February 26, 1893 Encanto, Phoenix, Arizona , U.S. |
| Cause of death | Murder |
| Occupation | Businessman |
Gus Greenbaum (February 26, 1893 – December 3, 1958) was an American gangster in the casino industry, best known for taking over management of the
Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas after the murder of co-founder Bugsy Siegel
.
Early life
Gustave "Gus" Greenbaum was born in Chicago to
Austro-Hungarian empire
, with Sarah's birthplace documented as "Poland" on her birth record.
Career
An associate of
Flamingo Hotel. In 1946, Bugsy Siegel took over construction and creative control of the Flamingo, until it was shut down in January 1947 due to mounting losses as a result of Siegel's skimming
.
Murder and legacy
After Siegel's murder in June 1947, Greenbaum brought the struggling casino out of debt within several months, controlling several other syndicate casinos and bookmaking operations in
skimming from casino operations. His embezzlement was discovered by the Chicago syndicate. On December 3, 1958, Greenbaum and his wife Bess were found dead in their Phoenix home. Their throats had been cut with a butcher knife. Greenbaum was found in bed with a heating pad and his television turned on. He had nearly been decapitated. Bess sustained blunt trauma to her head before her throat was cut. Her head was padded with newspaper and a towel, seemingly to avoid blood stains on the furniture.[6]
Greenbaum's name was merged with Moe Sedway's to inspire the name for the character "Moe Greene" in the crime drama film The Godfather.
See also
- List of unsolved murders
References
- ]
- ^ "Illinois, Cook County, Birth Certificates, 1871–1940". FamilySearch. Archived from the original on 2019-03-18. Retrieved 2019-03-18.
- ^ "United States Census, 1900". FamilySearch. Archived from the original on 2019-03-18. Retrieved 2019-03-18.
- ^ "Phoenix Confidential: the mob's master of the skim". Rogue Columnist. Retrieved 2019-09-03.
- ISBN 978-0692662656.
- ^ "Hotelman, Wife Murdered". The Arizona Republic. Phoenix. 4 December 1953. p. 1.
Further reading
- Fried, Albert. The Rise and Fall of the Jewish Gangster in America. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1980. ISBN 0-231-09683-6
- Kelly, Robert J. Encyclopedia of Organized Crime in the United States. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2000. ISBN 0-313-30653-2
- Sifakis, Carl. The Mafia Encyclopedia. New York: Da Capo Press, 2005. ISBN 0-8160-5694-3
- Sifakis, Carl. The Encyclopedia of American Crime. New York: Facts on File Inc., 2001. ISBN 0-8160-4040-0
