Harry "Pittsburgh Phil" Strauss (July 28, 1909 – June 12, 1941) was a prolific contract killer for Murder, Inc. in the 1930s. He killed over 30 men using a variety of methods; shooting, stabbing with ice picks, drowning, live burial and strangling rope. In one case, he reportedly considered using a fire axe on the wall of a theatre. Paradoxically, Strauss never carried a weapon unless he was about to make a hit. Harry Strauss was born in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, not Pittsburgh. Most of his associates called him Pep. In the 1930s, he was committing assaults, larcenies, and drug dealing. He was arrested 18 times but was never convicted until he was found guilty of the homicide that sent him and fellow Murder Inc. hitman Martin "Buggsy" Goldstein to the electric chair. After hitman Abe "Kid Twist" Reles turned informant, Strauss was arrested for a murder of Puggy Feinstein and five other murders. Strauss tried to avoid conviction by feigning insanity in the courtroom and even on death row. He was executed in the electric chair at Sing Sing on June 12, 1941.
See also
References
- Turkus, Burton B. and Sid Feder. Murder, Inc: The Story of "the Syndicate". New York: Da Capo Press, 2003. ISBN 0-306-81288-6
