Mob FilesPublic-domain archive of American organized crime
Page 4 of the Washington Times, 29 July 1929, mostly department store advertising, with a narrow news column at left containing the item Detroit Gangster Slain
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Washington Times, 29 July 1929, page 4: Detroit gangster slain; 'Purple Gang' clue seen

Detroit Gangster Slain; 'Purple Gang' Clue Seen

Paper
The Washington Times (Washington, D.C.)
Date
1929-07-29
Page
Page 4
Headline
Detroit Gangster Slain; 'Purple Gang' Clue Seen
Source
Library of Congress, Chronicling America
Rights
A United States newspaper published in 1930 or earlier. Public domain in the United States. The Library of Congress serves the page from Chronicling America.

Page 4 of the Washington Times for Monday, 29 July 1929. The page is mostly advertising; the narrow news column includes “Detroit Gangster Slain; ‘Purple Gang’ Clue Seen,” credited to the International News Service and datelined Detroit, July 29.

It reports that three bullets ended the life of Irving Shapiro, 25, a racketeer, and that police inspectors Fred W. Frahm and Henry J. Garvin said he was affiliated with the “Purple Gang,” which had made enemies by levying on drinking places for protection from hijackers.

The theory is the police inspectors’, as the wire service reported it. Inspector Garvin appears again in the February 1930 pages on the Detroit police trial board.