[chris]

Louis "Lepke" Buchalter was a New York racketeer and Murder, Inc. figure whose labor and industry extortion schemes drew federal and local investigations before his 1939 surrender and later execution for murder. The records shown include a 1935 New York field report on a fugitive antitrust matter involving Buchalter, Jacob Shapiro, fur-dressing unions, alleged threats, violence, and efforts to determine whether the men had obtained passports for travel to Europe. They also include witness statements or references to interviews about fur-industry rackets, criminal-history summaries, and descriptions for Buchalter, Shapiro, Morris Stein, and other fugitives. A 1955 Bureau memorandum prepared a short case history of Buchalter for possible government writing on criminals, recounting his family background, arrests, racketeering empire, federal convictions, and 1944 execution at Sing Sing.

FBI file number: 62-9937 | Documents span: 1935-1956 | Released in 4 parts
Names in this file: Louis Buchalter, Jacob Shapiro, Morris Stein, Aaron Sapiro, Moe Davis, Gertrude Bloom, John Dillinger, Alvin Karpis, J. Edgar Hoover
Subjects: organized crime, labor racketeering, antitrust, fur industry, fugitive investigation, Murder, Inc.