1. Abraham "Kid Twist" Reles was a New York Jewish mobster who was a hit man for Murder, Inc.
19 Facts About Abe Reles
1. 2.
Abe Reles later turned government witness and sent several members of Murder, Inc to the electric chair.
3.
Abraham Abe Reles, the son of Jewish immigrants from Galicia, was born in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, New York, on May 10,1906.
4.
Abe Reles soon teamed up with two of his childhood friends, Martin "Buggsy" Goldstein and Harry "Pittsburgh Phil" Strauss, who eventually rose to power with him in the group conventionally known as Murder, Inc His first arrest came in 1921 for stealing $2 worth of gum from a vending machine, and he was sent to the Children's Village at Dobbs Ferry, New York, for four months.
5.
Abe Reles's mother-in-law was still sleeping in the back of the house, which he believed would be no problem, but before the victim arrived, he had to wake her up to ask where there was a rope and where the ice pick was.
6.
On one such occasion, Abe Reles was caught and sentenced to two years in an upstate New York juvenile institution.
7.
The Shapiro brothers failed to help Abe Reles, prompting Abe Reles to plan revenge.
8.
On that occasion, Abe Reles dragged Irving from the hallway of his home out into the street.
9.
Abe Reles beat, kicked, and then shot Irving numerous times, killing him.
10.
Two months later, Abe Reles met Meyer Shapiro on the street and killed him by shooting him in the face.
11.
In 1940, Abe Reles was implicated in a number of killings.
12.
Abe Reles implicated his boss Lepke Buchalter in the murder of Brooklyn candy store owner Joseph Rosen; Buchalter was eventually convicted and executed for this crime.
13.
Abe Reles's information implicated Louis Capone, Mendy Weiss, Harry Maione, Harry Strauss, Frank Abbandando, Irving Nitzberg, and even his own childhood friend "Buggsy" Goldstein.
14.
Abe Reles was to implicate Anastasia in the murder of union longshoreman Pete Panto.
15.
The trial, based solely on Abe Reles' testimony, was set for November 12,1941.
16.
Until then, Abe Reles was under constant guard by police detectives at the Half Moon Hotel in Coney Island.
17.
Abe Reles had shown no inclination to escape from protective custody and indeed had demonstrated a fear of even being out of earshot of the police.
18.
However, in 1951 a grand jury concluded Abe Reles died accidentally during an attempted escape.
19.
Abe Reles is buried in Old Mount Carmel Cemetery in Glendale, Queens.