In 1945 rising Michigan senator Warren Hooper was gruesomely gunned down in his car in gangland style characteristic of the notorious Purple Gang. State power broker Frank Donald McKay was the suspected of ordering the hit, but not until the 1985 was evidence uncovered that showed that McKay had sent an order with the help of the prison warden who released gang members from prison long enough to do the job.
The Purples were a Jewish gang with roots in Eastern European immigrants that was dominant in the liquor racket and were responsible for some 500 murders including the St Valentines Massacre and suspected in the Lindbergh kidnapping. Investigators determined that Hooper was to testify in a grand jury about corruption in the state government, They focused on state power broker Frank Donald McKay who was known to take care of both his friends and his enemies, and had connections with the gang. Four men were convicted of conspiracy to commit murder in August of 1945 and sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison each, but they were in prison at the time. McKay and no one was ever charged with the actual murder of Hooper.
Much later in 1985 researchers for a book uncovered that the gangs essentially ran the prisons. The warden and deputy warden delivered the order to the hit to the gang, and gave then clothes, phony license plates and guns and drove them thugs from the prison to get a car for the attack. In a 1951 a journalistic predicted "The Hooper case will continue to come back to remind the people and politicians of Michigan of the black days of 1945 when almost every official of the state had his price." and "the Hooper murder has endured as one of the most intriguing unsolved mysteries in the annals of Michigan crime"
This may explain why so much of contemporary staged terrorism events are related to organized gangs, such as the murder of the Colorado prisons head, and two Texas district attorneys
The Purples were a Jewish gang with roots in Eastern European immigrants that was dominant in the liquor racket and were responsible for some 500 murders including the St Valentines Massacre and suspected in the Lindbergh kidnapping. Investigators determined that Hooper was to testify in a grand jury about corruption in the state government, They focused on state power broker Frank Donald McKay who was known to take care of both his friends and his enemies, and had connections with the gang. Four men were convicted of conspiracy to commit murder in August of 1945 and sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison each, but they were in prison at the time. McKay and no one was ever charged with the actual murder of Hooper.
Much later in 1985 researchers for a book uncovered that the gangs essentially ran the prisons. The warden and deputy warden delivered the order to the hit to the gang, and gave then clothes, phony license plates and guns and drove them thugs from the prison to get a car for the attack. In a 1951 a journalistic predicted "The Hooper case will continue to come back to remind the people and politicians of Michigan of the black days of 1945 when almost every official of the state had his price." and "the Hooper murder has endured as one of the most intriguing unsolved mysteries in the annals of Michigan crime"
This may explain why so much of contemporary staged terrorism events are related to organized gangs, such as the murder of the Colorado prisons head, and two Texas district attorneys
Reference -
- Mark Grow
- Wikipedia - no entry
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Abramoff Ready to Drop the Other Shoe As Political Fates Hinge on Scandal
Corrupt Days of Michigan Politics in the 1930s and 1940s Recalled
January 31, 2006 Leave A Comment
By: Dave Rogers
The bootlegging Purple Gang was in prison by the 40s. Trouble was they were running the prison. The Purples came and went as they pleased, got drunk with the wardens and even drove their cars.
One day two members of the gang were called to the warden's office. Got a job for you guys, the warden said. Here's $25,000. All youhave to do is kill Senator Warren G. Hooper. That way he won't be testifying tomorrow to the grand jury investigating bribery charges against McKay. The warden and deputy warden even gave them clothes, phony license plates and guns and drove the thugs from the prison to get a car for the bloody job.
Hooper was found with three bullets in his body, his car in a ditch between Lansing and Albion.
Although state officials heard testimony implicating Purple gangster Ray Bernstein in the murder, no indictment was ever handed down.
They were still talking about the officially unsolved murder when I covered the State Capitol 1957-59 while a Journalism student at Michigan State University.
You can read all about it in acouple of books: "The Purple Gang: Organized Crime in Detroit," by Paul R. Kavieff (Ft. Lee, NJ: Barricade Books, 2000) and "Three Bullets Sealed His Lips," by Bruce A. Rubenstein and Lawrence E. Ziewacz, (East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1987.)
One day two members of the gang were called to the warden's office. Got a job for you guys, the warden said. Here's $25,000. All youhave to do is kill Senator Warren G. Hooper. That way he won't be testifying tomorrow to the grand jury investigating bribery charges against McKay. The warden and deputy warden even gave them clothes, phony license plates and guns and drove the thugs from the prison to get a car for the bloody job.
Hooper was found with three bullets in his body, his car in a ditch between Lansing and Albion.
Although state officials heard testimony implicating Purple gangster Ray Bernstein in the murder, no indictment was ever handed down.
They were still talking about the officially unsolved murder when I covered the State Capitol 1957-59 while a Journalism student at Michigan State University.
You can read all about it in acouple of books: "The Purple Gang: Organized Crime in Detroit," by Paul R. Kavieff (Ft. Lee, NJ: Barricade Books, 2000) and "Three Bullets Sealed His Lips," by Bruce A. Rubenstein and Lawrence E. Ziewacz, (East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1987.)
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The Purple Gang: Detroit's Most Ruthless Racketeers
The Purples were the most dominate gang in the flow of liquor, and according to the police, were responsible for some 500 murders (Whitall 1). There were also three major hits through the late 20's and early 30's the Gang had been linked to. One was called the Milaflores Massacre in 1927 at the Milaflores Apartments. While doing my research I could not find any information that the apartment complex still exists. The massacre was named for three bullet-riddled bodies near the doorway of Apartment 308 (Kavieff 42). Amongst those who were shot was the barely-alive body of Frank Wright. He moved from Chicago to Detroit in 1926. It was believed that Wright was hired to murder an associate of the Purple Gang by Mike Dipisa, who came from Chicago to Detroit in 1923. The associate Johnny Reid ran a kidnapping scheme for the Gang to make money from wealthy gamblers and racketeers. There was a feud between Dipisa and Reid. When word got out that Wright was responsible for the murder of Johnny Reid, the Purple Gang set a trap. The Gang made Wright believe his friend Meyer Bloomfield had been kidnapped. When he arrived at the Milaflores Apartments, waiting in the same hallway were his friends Isaac Reisfield and William Harrison, who got caught in Detroit's first Machine gun slaying (Kavieff 34-37). Another big hit that the Gang had been allegedly apart of was the St. Valentines Day Massacre. On February 14th, 192, a siren-fitted black Cadillac with five men inside stopped at the S.M.C. Cartage Company in Chicago (Kavieff 67). Four of the men walked to the door of the garage, two dressed as police officers and two in trench coats. Inside were six gangsters from George "Bugs" Moran's North side Gang. The Gang thought that it was a routine police raid, and they all formed against the wall. Then the four men pulled out their machine guns and opened fire on the gangsters, shooting the back of their heads, back and legs. Leaving the bloody bodies on the floor, the two trench coat gunmen then gave their guns to the uniformed men. As if it was a real police raid, the men raised their hands over their heads and left at gunpoint by the officers (Kavieff 68). |
- History ·
- Origins ·
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- In popular culture
The Purple Gang, also known as the Sugar House Gang, was a mob of bootleggers and hijackers, with predominantly Jewish members. They operated out of Detroit, Michigan ...- The Purple Gang - Jewish Organized Crime Its reign was brief but the Purple Gangmade enough of an impression to have become suspects in everything from the St ...
- Led by Abe Bernstein, the Purple Gang was a mob of bootleggers and hijackers who operated out of Detroit, Michigan in the 1920s.
- During Prohibition, The Purple Gang, The violent Jewish gangsters of Prohibition Era Detroit, used the frozen Detroit River river as an easy way to get booze from ...
- THE PURPLE GANG . There are tales of hidden floors and boarded up tunnels in the storefronts along Gratiot at the entrance to Eastern Market. The word on the street ...
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Aug 20, 2010 · Frank Donald McKay made plenty of enemies in his time as a political boss, but perhaps the most bizarre action by one of his foes came in October of 1935.
McKay was known to have connections to such gangsters, including the infamous Purple Gang, through their transition from illegal to sanctioned liquor sales.
The case had a dramatic ending. The state had targeted several people on corruption charges, charging some 50 people with crimes. State senator Warren G. Hooper, a legislator who had confessed to state corruption and agreed to turn state's evidence, was set to be the star witness in the trial of McKay and his cohorts. The state's case rested heavily on this man, and in January of 1945 he was found shot to death inside his burning car outside Springport. It was an indisputable gangland murder, and it received a bizarre twist when state attorney general John R. Dethmers charged widespread malfeasance at the Jackson State Penitentiary. Dethmers alleged that the inmates had essentially taken over control of the prison, with officials allowing them to pay for prostitutes to be brought in and accepting bribes to sanction escapes. In such an atmosphere, Dethmers said, it was entirely possible that imprisoned gangsters could have been granted a temporary release to murder Hooper, then return to the prison for a perfect alibi.
Four Detroit youths were charged with conspiracy in such a scheme. Prosecutors argued that one of the defendants was allowed to confer with members of the Purple Gang prior to the murder, and that the men conspired to arrange Hooper's death for a $15,000 payoff. The state made several thinly veiled accusations of McKay's involvement in the plot, though McKay himself was never directly charged. Dethmers said the murder was specifically meant to silence testimony against McKay, and special prosecutor Kim Sigler identified McKay as "the one man most interested in the death of the death of the Albion senator." The four men were convicted of conspiracy to commit murder in August of 1945 and sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison each. No one was ever charged with the actual murder of Hooper.
The case had a dramatic ending. The state had targeted several people on corruption charges, charging some 50 people with crimes. State senator Warren G. Hooper, a legislator who had confessed to state corruption and agreed to turn state's evidence, was set to be the star witness in the trial of McKay and his cohorts. The state's case rested heavily on this man, and in January of 1945 he was found shot to death inside his burning car outside Springport. It was an indisputable gangland murder, and it received a bizarre twist when state attorney general John R. Dethmers charged widespread malfeasance at the Jackson State Penitentiary. Dethmers alleged that the inmates had essentially taken over control of the prison, with officials allowing them to pay for prostitutes to be brought in and accepting bribes to sanction escapes. In such an atmosphere, Dethmers said, it was entirely possible that imprisoned gangsters could have been granted a temporary release to murder Hooper, then return to the prison for a perfect alibi.
Four Detroit youths were charged with conspiracy in such a scheme. Prosecutors argued that one of the defendants was allowed to confer with members of the Purple Gang prior to the murder, and that the men conspired to arrange Hooper's death for a $15,000 payoff. The state made several thinly veiled accusations of McKay's involvement in the plot, though McKay himself was never directly charged. Dethmers said the murder was specifically meant to silence testimony against McKay, and special prosecutor Kim Sigler identified McKay as "the one man most interested in the death of the death of the Albion senator." The four men were convicted of conspiracy to commit murder in August of 1945 and sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison each. No one was ever charged with the actual murder of Hooper.
Return to the Frank Passic Home Page ... “Three Bullets Sealed His Lips,” which reopened the case of the murder of Albion’s state senator Warren G.Hooper ...
Authors say Frank McKay hatched murder plot there, but political kingmaker beat the rap.
Hooper was the key witness in the case against former state treasurer FrankMcKay, ... • The Hooper murder prompted the publishing of the books …- Three Bullets brought to life new evidence on the 1945 murder of Michigan Senator Warren Hooper. ... his grand jury testimony against republican boss Frank McKay, ...
- Three Bullets brought to life new evidence on the 1945 murder of Michigan Senator Warren Hooper. ... his grand jury testimony against republican boss Frank McKay, ...
Payoffs in the cloakroom
the greening of the Michigan Legislature, 1938-1946Publication Year: 1995Payoffs in the Cloakroom is a spellbinding follow-up to Rubenstein and Ziewacz's critically acclaimedThree Bullets Sealed His Lips. Three Bullets brought to life new evidence on the 1945 murder of Michigan Senator Warren Hooper. Payoffs in the Cloakroom takes up where Three Bullets left off, unraveling a complex web of political corruption, dirty state politics; and in the end, they finger the "hitman." In the process, they demonstrate that Senator Hooper was murdered to prevent his grand jury testimony against republican boss Frank McKay, who was facing bribery charges.
Making use of actual court proceeding, personal interviews, and newspaper accounts, and even a re-evaluation of police evidence, Rubenstein and Ziewacz tell a story that contains all the ingredients of first- class detective fiction—only in this instance, the story is based on fact. With chapter titles such as "Charlie and His Little Black Book," "I Never Dreamed Murder," and "Them Bones, Them Bones," the authors have, once again, provided a stimulating and absorbing account of one of the darker chapters of Michigan's political history. 
- Rating: 4.2/5 ·
- 4 reviews ·
- Paperback
... the Hooper murder has endured as one of the most intriguing unsolved mysteries in the annals of ... The press attacked Republican State Party leaderFrank McKay.The gangland style slaying if State Senator Warren G. Hooper on January 11, 1945, three days before he was to testify before a grand jury investigating alleged corruption in the Michigan legislature, forced coverage of Allied war triumphs from the state's newspaper headlines. National media representatives flocked to Michigan to join local reporters in following the efforts of grand jury special prosecutor Kim Sigler and the State Police to apprehend the killers. Because no arrests ever were made, a 1951 journalistic prediction has proven true: "The Hooper case will continue to come back to remind the people and politicians of Michigan of the black days of 1945 when almost every official of the state had his price." For this reason, the Hooper murder has endured as one of the most intriguing unsolved mysteries in the annals of Michigan crime.
Utilizing interviews, trial transcripts, State police files, and a collection of grand jury testimony long thought to have been destroyed, Professors Bruce A. Rubenstein and Lawrence E. Ziewacz set forth the reason for Hooper's assassination. Written in a lively style, using dialogue taken from court records and correspondence, Three Bullets Sealed His Lipsdemonstrates that historical writing need not be dull.- Another book "The Purple Gang" by Paul Kavieff (2000) also deals with the Hoopermurder. ... (bio by: Frank Passic, Albion Historian) Family links: Spouse:
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