Joe Bruno's Mobsters - Six Volume Set (86 page)

There was also the problem of the so-called “Harlem Conference,” which was alluded to by Rose, Bridgey Webber, and Harry Vallon; all co-conspirators in the plot to kill Herman Rosenthal. Rose, Webber, and Vallon said the plot to kill Rosenthal was hatched by Becker in front of a Harlem gambling house three weeks before Rosenthal’s murder. The appeals court ruled that since all three men admitted they were in on the plot to kill Rosenthal, there was no independent corroboration that this meeting actually took place.

The appeals court also stated that Judge Goff’s charge to the jury was so contemptibly prejudicial to Becker, only a guilty verdict was possible. Also, new evidence had been uncovered that was not available in Becker’s first trial.

Justice Nathan Miller wrote in his ruling: “In my opinion a new trial should be granted because the newly discovered evidence imperatively demands it in the interest of justice, because the verdict is shockingly against the weight of the evidence, and because the trial was so conducted as to insure a verdict of guilty, regardless of the evidence.”

Judge Frank Hiscock was particularly forceful in his denunciation of Judge Goff.

Hiscock wrote: “On some occasions, the ruling of the trial judge passed beyond the limits of digression
and were erroneous as a matter of law.”

C
HARLES BECKER’S TRIAL  No. 2

Becker’s second trial started
on May 5, 1914, at the New York City Courthouse. The day

before the trial Becker was taken from
his cell in Sing Sing Prison and plunked back into his old digs at the Tombs.

The judge in the second trial was Samuel Seabury, who had once been the youngest judge in New York State, but w
as now a very ambitious 41-year-old with political ambitions. Although Seabury did not act as outlandishly prejudicial against Becker as Judge Goff had done at Becker’s first trial, he was decidedly pro-prosecution and anti-police.

The same cast of character
s in the first trial took the stand in the second trial. The prosecution was directed by District Attorney Charles Whitman, who had thrust himself back into the Becker case, instead of letting his subordinate, Moss, do all the heavy lifting. Whitman’s re-involvement in the Becker case was despite common knowledge Whitman was in campaign mode and actively running for governor of New York State. Whitman correctly deduced if he prosecuted another conviction of Becker this would certainly earn Whitman enough brownie points to propel him into the Executive Mansion in Albany.

After a few top-of-the-order witnesses were put on the stand by Whitman to set the table, the cleanup hitter for the prosecution was Bald Jack Rose.

The
New York Times
described Bald Jack Rose’s unusual physical appearance on the witness stand as such:

             
“Rose looked prosperous, well-dressed and in good health. His head is still without a single hair and as shiny as it was two years ago. His chin was just as peaked and his widespread ears finished the picture of one of the most eccentric figures that ever walked into a courtroom.”

However, eccentric and duplicitous are two different things, and Rose certainly was both.

On the witness stand, Rose told the sorrowful tale of how he was a reformed gambler just trying to get on with his life. As Rose related his sad narrative to the court, tears welled up in his eyes and cascaded down both sides of his waxen face. He made no attempt to wipe away the tears, but instead let them dry on his cheeks, making his face shine like a fishbowl.

Rose’s tears came in a torrential downpour when Rose told the jury of a meeting between himself, Bridgey Webber, Harry Vallon, and Charles Becker in a darkened doorway near Sixth Avenue and 43
rd
Street soon after Rosenthal’s murder. Rose said it was at this meeting that Becker assured the three men that he would use his commanding police powers to make sure none of the three gamblers or the four shooters would be hurt by the law.

Outside the courtroom, after his command performance on the witness stand, Rose was asked about his crying.

Rose shuddered and said, “Yes, I guess I did cry. Like a flash, the whole scene came to me again! The scene after the murder! Oh…!”

Like in the first trial, Rose said Rosenthal told him more than once that Rosenthal and Becker were partners. Then Rose dropped a bombshell, when he intimated that Rosenthal was a “spy” and a “stool pigeon” for Becker (although he did not use those exact words on the witness stand, they were in the headlines in the following day’s newspapers). This is something Rose had not mentioned in Becker’s first trial. This statement led credence to the defense’s contention that Rosenthal was killed by other gamblers in retaliation for Rosenthal giving up the location of their gambling houses to Becker.

              Rose said that on one occasion Becker had sent Rose to ask Rosenthal for $500 to help one of Becker’s underlings who might be indicted on a murder charge (we’ll meet Charles Plitt later).

Rose said Rosenthal told him, “No, I can’t do it. Tell Becker there isn’t a chance in the world. And I will let him raid me if he can get the evidence legitimately. But there will be no friendly raiding around my place.”

              Rose said he felt Rosenthal’s attitude was very disturbing, so he said to Rosenthal, “There’s no use you talking that way; he started you, why don’t you do this and save everybody a lot of trouble?”

             
Rose testified Rosenthal then told him, “You don’t know what I’ve been doing for that fellow Becker. I’ve been doing things I would have never done for anyone else on earth. It was me who made it possible for him to raid every place on the avenue so as to help him make a show. If Becker couldn’t get the goods on a place, I would go in for him and get the layout. I would get a couple of fellows from the gambling house and parade them on the sidewalk. You know Detective Foye on the Strong Arm Squad? It was me who placed him on the squad, and he’s Becker’s best man. Why only last week, Becker collected $1,000 on a place that I wised him up on.”

             
With Whitman’s prodding, Rose fully explained the details of the Becker-led conspiracy to murder Rosenthal. Rose told the court that he had enlisted the gunmen at Becker’s urging, and that Becker had told him that if the gunmen balked at doing the job, Becker would frame them on trumped-up charges that would put the four men behind bars for a very long time. Rose also told the court the details of how he obtained an affidavit on the Sunday night before Rosenthal’s murder from Dora Gilbert, Rosenthal’s first wife, which would “blacken Herman’s character” as nothing but a cheap pimp who forced his first wife’s to sell her sexual favors for a few bucks.

Rose said when he informed Becker that he had obtained Dora Gilbert’s affidavit, Becker told him, “I’m glad you got it. Now get Rosenthal off the earth and everything will be alright.”

The next day, Rose said Becker was not so keen on the affidavit. Rose said Becker told him, “We won’t be needing it now.”

Editor’s note
: Why would Becker tell Rose to get an affidavit from Dora Gilbert if he were planning to kill Rosenthal anyway?)

Concerning the night of Rosenthal’s murder, Rose told the court how an automobile containing himself, San Schepps, and Harry Vallon had broken down in front of Tom “Sailor Tom” Sharkey’s Café  (Sharkey was a world-class heavyweight boxer who
had unsuccessfully fought twice for the heavyweight title).

From Tom Sharkey’s, Rose had phoned for “Shapiro’s machine.” When Shapiro arrived, he took Rose, Schepps, and Vallon to Harlem to pick up “Dago Frank.” Then they drove downtown to Webber’s poker rooms, where they met up with “Gyp the Blood,” “Whitey Lewis,” and “Lefty Louie.” Rose left Schepps, Webber, and Vallon behind, and he accompanied the four killers in Shapiro’s car to the Metropole Hotel where Rosenthal was killed.

Rose said after the murder he went back to Webber’s poker rooms and phoned Becker. Upon hearing about Rosenthal’s demise, Rose testified Becker said, “Good boy. That’s fine work. You wait for me. I’ll be downtown as soon as I can get there.”

             
On cross-examination, Becker’s attorney, Manton, bitterly fighting for his client’s life, tried to get Rose to slip up and make a mistake. Time after time Manton would barrage Rose with a verbal assault, but whatever Manton asked, Rose deftly evaded the question. Manton produced transcripts from Becker’s first trial showing discrepancies concerning the meetings between Becker and Rose. Rose simply admitted the discrepancies and offered no explanation.  Then he slumped back in his chair, with a satisfied smile on his face, knowing he had survived Manton’s attack unscathed.

The next on the witness stand was Bridgey Webber, who was described by the press as “extremely nervous” and “teary eyed.”  Under questioning by Whiteman, Webber said he had been a collection agent for Bald Jack Rose and that he had met Becker through Rose. Webber also said he had been present at a conference outside a Harlem gambling house where Becker had discussed with him and Rose the plot to murder Rosenthal.

Webber testified, “Becker told me of Rosenthal’s threat to squeal to the district attorney. Then Becker called me aside and told me he wanted the boys to croak Rosenthal. I said there would be a lot of trouble if that were done, and Becker replied, ‘I’ll fix everything. There will be no trouble. I will see to that.’ So I agreed to have Rosenthal croaked.”

Webber then described how the four gunman met in Webber’s poker rooms on the night of the murder. Webber said he then went out and succeeded in finding Rosenthal in the
Hotel Metropole. Soon afterwards, the four killers gunned Rosenthal down. Later that morning, Webber said he and Rose met with Becker. Webber said, “Becker congratulated Rose and then borrowed $1,000 from me to get the gunmen out of town.”

Upon cross-examination, Becker’s attorney, Manton, tore Webber’s testimony to shreds. Manton got Webber to admit that he had lied to Deputy Police Commissioner Dougherty after Rosenthal’s murder about his whereabouts on the night of the crime. Manton also pried out of  Webber the fact Webber had said things during his direct examination by Whitman earlier in the
day that he had omitted in Becker’s first trial. Manton also got Webber to confess that in Becker’s first trial Webber had made affidavits that he swore today were false.

While Manton spat out his forceful cross-examination, Webber trembled in the witness chair. Sometimes his mouth quivered, and sometimes his lips curled into a snarl. At times, Webber tried to defy Manton to get him to contradict himself. In other instances, he gave way to despair when Manton was easily able to do so. When Manton mentioned the executions of the four gunmen in the electric chair, Webber, like Rose had done in the same witness chair before him, broke into tears. Webber gripped the arms of the witness chair to steady himself, and then he continued with his testimony.

Outside the courtroom later that day, Manton told the press, “I’m gratified I made Webber admit he lied in the first trial.”

However,
it was Charles B. Plitt, who had been Becker’s right-hand man in the Secret (Strong Arm) Squad for two years, whose surprise testimony was the most damaging to Becker in his second trial. For those people who were convinced of Becker’s guilt, Plitt’s testimony nailed it to the wall. There is no question - if  Plitt was telling the truth on the stand – then Becker was certainly guilty. But if Plitt was telling a pack of lies, the question is why?

Was Plitt paid a handsome sum of money by someone to do so? Was he involved in the Rosenthal murder himself, and by pinning the murder on Becker, it would remove all suspicion from himself. Or was there some other crime that Plitt wanted to be absolved from? 

That’s all speculation, but Plitt’s testimony had a ring of insincerity to it: the stink of rancid fish.

On the morning of May 18, 1914, Plitt took the witness stand, and he told Whitman that on July 15, 1912, the night before Rosenthal’s murder, Becker had told him, “Keep a memorandum of your movements tonight, so you can have an alibi. And above all things, keep away from Times Square tonight.”

Then the following morning, after Rosenthal was dead, Plitt said Becker said to him concerning the owner and driver of the murder car, “What in the hell was the matter with that bunch? Were they all cock-eyed drunk? From the way they acted in pulling off that trick, you would think they were setting the stage for a motion picture show.”

Plitt also said that, while Becker was imprisoned in the Tombs before his first trial, an emissary from the gunmen approached Becker, through Plitt, asking for $500. Plitt said Becker told him, “Tell them I’ll pay them the money as soon as I can get it.”

However, the most incriminating evidence against Becker supplied by Plitt was when Plitt testified that after Becker’s first trial, while Becker was en route to Sing Sing prison on a train, he told Plitt, “If anything happens to me, I want you to kill that squealing Rose.”

Even though almost everything Plitt said in court could be categorized as sensational, the man himself was decidedly not. According to newspaper reports, “Plitt looked insignificant in the witness chair, and he spoke so low the jury could hardly hear him. His eyes seemed gazing at something far away; his face was devoid of expression and his body almost inert.”