Burton Turkus

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Burton B. Turkus (December 2, 1902 – November 22, 1982) was an attorney and arbitrator best known for prosecuting members of the Brooklyn gang known as "Murder, Inc.". He served as Assistant District Attorney and Chief of the Homicide Division in the Office of the District Attorney, Kings County (Brooklyn).

Career

As an assistant district attorney in Brooklyn in 1940, Turkus interrogated mobster Abe Reles, who had been arrested for murder. Reles became a government informant who revealed the existence of a violent gang of racketeers in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn. The group was named "Murder Inc." by the press. Reles's revelations led to numerous other prosecutions. Turkus prosecuted Murder Inc. and sent seven of its members to the electric chair.[1] He was later an arbitrator and a member of the State Board of Mediation.

Turkus later wrote about his experiences in a book entitled Murder Inc., published in 1951. In the early 1950s, Turkus became host of the TV series Mr. Arsenic. He was portrayed in the 1960 movie about Murder Inc. by Henry Morgan, while Peter Falk portrayed Reles.

The Burton Turkus Papers, which document his career, are housed in the Lloyd Sealy Library Special Collections at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.[2] Additional documents and papers relating to the career of Burton Turkus can also be found at the Brooklyn Collection, Brooklyn Public Library's local history division.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Gargan, Edward A. (24 Nov 1982). "Burton B. Turkus, 80, prosecutor of Murder Inc. in the 1940s, dies". New York Times. Retrieved 5 March 2013. 
  2. ↑ "Lloyd Sealy Library Special Collections, Manuscript Collections". Lloyd Sealy Library Special Collections, John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Retrieved 17 December 2013. 
  3. ↑ "Burton Turkus Papers, collection description". Brooklyn Collection, Brooklyn Public Library. Retrieved 11 December 2013. 

Further reading

  • Turkus, Burton, and Feder, Sid. Murder Inc. New York: Da Capo Press, 1992 (reprint edition).
Authority control


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