Charles Reiser

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Charles "The Ox" Reiser (1878–October 10, 1921) was a safecracker as well as a mentor to many of the organized crime leaders of the early 20th Century including Dion O'Banion, George "Bugs" Moran, Hymie Weiss [1], and John Mahoney.

Born in 1878, little is known of Reiser's early life before his first arrest for safecracking in 1902. While released on bail however, he reportedly killed the witness testifing against him and the case was subsequently dropped. Two years later, he was arrested in 1905 and again the case was dropped after another witness disappeared. In 1907, he was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon and sentenced to 30 days. In 1909, Reiser was apprehended in Seattle, Washington and charged with burglary and murder yet, as in Chicago, the witnesses against him were killed and Reiser returned to Chicago shortly after.

Around 1914, Reiser met Dion O'Banion who, along with several of his friends, would later accompany him in several safecraking jobs. During this time, while living under the alias Charles Shopes, he would use most of his money gained from robbery investing it into real estate eventually becoming the owner of a large apartment building and later remarried shortly after. His first wife had previously died of asphyxiation although Reiser had allegedly bragged to friends he had beaten her to death after she threatened to turn him in to the police.

In 1920 Reiser killed partner Clarance White, who had earlier contacted Reiser that Chicago police had called him in for questioning regarding the robbery of a Standard Oil Co. safe which he and White had stolen, making it appear White had committed suicide. John Mahoney, who had been arrested while safecracking himself, reported this to the police as well as additional information however he was also murdered by Reiser in April 1921.

While recovering in a Chicago hospital after an attempted robbery he apparently committed suicide, shot over 10 times, after a visit from his wife. While Reiser's wife was charged with the suspicious death the case was later dropped.

[edit] References

Sifakis, Carl. The Mafia Encyclopedia. New York: Da Capo Press, 2005. ISBN 0-8160-5694-3
Sifakis, Carl. The Encyclopedia of American Crime. New York: Facts on File Inc., 2001. ISBN 0-8160-4040-0