The American Mafia - Charlie Workman

Charlie Workman
"The Bug"

Workman worked as a killer-on-retainer for Louis Buchalter's "Murder Inc." organization. Workman's most noteworthy contribution to organized crime history was his disciplinary slaying of Dutch Schultz.

Mafia leadership claimed that the order to kill Schultz sprang from his determination to kill New York prosecutor Thomas Dewey. In fact, the Mafia was probably more disturbed that Schultz had avoided convictions on tax evasion charges and was able to resume control of his lucrative Harlem numbers racket.

Workman was called to duty on the night of Oct. 23, 1935. He and Mendy Weiss entered the Palace Chophouse in Newark, NJ (Schultz was facing additional state tax charges in New York and decided to remain in New Jersey until Dewey was out of the way). The two men shot down three of Schultz's top men, Otto "Abbadabba" Berman, Lulu Rosenkranz and Abe Landau. They then found Dutch Schultz emerging from the rest room and mortally wounded him.