On this date in 1947, Bugsy Siegel got whacked. Iced. Taken out. Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel — who hated that nickname, by the way — was shot while sitting next to a window in the Beverly Hills house he shared with girlfriend Virginia Hill. According to his death certificate, the cause of death was “cerebral hemmorage” (apparently spelling was not a high priority at the L.A. County Registrar’s Office) due to “gunshots of the head” (neither was grammar, I guess). One shot hit Siegel right near his eye. If he saw it coming, he didn’t see it for long.
The murder was never solved, but theories abound. Who was behind it? Was it Meyer Lansky? Lucky Luciano? Some investors who were less than happy about the profitability of the Flamingo Hotel and Casino? Author Warren Hull has a theory about the identity of the trigger man. Check out this interview with Hull.
Further reading:
Crime Library – Bugsy Siegel
Wikipedia – Bugsy Siegel
Family Secret, by Warren Robert Hull
Nobody Move! 
Thanks for the link, John.
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🙂
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John D.:
Excellent theory w./that link to Warren Hull.
(just be glad Oliver Stone didn’t make a movie of it).
LOL…love your take on the L.A. County Registrar…yeah, goes to show that learning MEANS something (just not so much in LA-LA-LAND…even today).
Very good post.
Stay safe out there.
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Apparently, there’s even more to the story, as Warren explains below.
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Hey John – Thanks for the mention on Family Secret – We are in the process of completing a new book on the Siegel murder – After the book came out in 2004, I began hearing from a number of simply fascinating people who extended me the opportunity of discussing my theory with them and picking their brains a bit on their thoughts. Some of the folks included a former Beverly Hills Police Captain, Robert Maheu – Right hand man to Howard Hughes, our shooters son (who was 6 at the time of the Siegel murder, Luellen Smiley (whose father Alan was the LONE EYEWITNESS to the killing) and Millicent Siegel (We provided here with a 2 hour presentation of the story) – Who was a simply incredible woman. Needless to say Family Secret was about 1/3 of the story. There are some great television reports on the two different aspects of the murder on my IMDB page – 1 from Las Vegas, 1 from Los Angeles and 1 from Seattle – If anyone wants to take a look they can go to http://www.imdb.com and they search Warren R Hull – It will take folks to the webpage where they can view the videos – BTW – We were contacted by a representative from Mr. Stone’s company – They requested a copy of our script on the story – We graciously declined. Thanks again – Warren Hull
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Thanks for the update, Warren. I’ll be keeping an eye out for your next book. As for a film adaptation, I’d hold out for Clint Eastwood. But that’s just me. 😀
Here’s a direct link to Warren’s IMDb page. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3887776/
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