Julie Morrell
Encyclopedia
Julie Morrell or Jules Morello (died December 2, 1911) was a freelance gunman associated with the Eastman Gang
during the turn of the century. Hired by Jack Sirocco
and Chick Tricker
to murder Eastman leader Jack Zelig
, who had been engaged in a gang war over control of the Eastmans. However, upon being informed by local saloonkeeper Ike the Plug to whom Morell had bragged "I'll fill that big Yid so full of holes he'll sink !", Zelig lured the unsuspecting assassin to a Second Avenue
dance hall, the Stuyvesant Casino, where the Boys of the Avenue were holding an annual grand ball on December 1, 1911.
Morrell, who had become intoxicated while drinking at Ike the Plug's saloon, staggered in to the dance hall at around one o'clock and began yelling for Zelig as he walked onto the dance floor. Suddenly, the lights were turned off. When the lights came back on seconds later, Morrell had been shot and was lying dead on the dance floor.
Remaining in hiding for two weeks, Zelig was eventually arrested by detectives in New York's East Side and released shortly after. In 1912, Zelig himself was murdered while riding a trolley car.
Eastman Gang
The Eastman Gang was the last of New York's street gangs which dominated the city's underworld during the late 1890s until early 1910s. Along with the Five Points Gang under Paul Kelly, the Eastmans succeeded the long dominant Whyos as the first non-Irish street gang to gain prominence in the...
during the turn of the century. Hired by Jack Sirocco
Jack Sirocco
Jack Sirocco was a New York gangster involved in labor racketeering and strikebreaking. Originally a lieutenant in Paul Kelly's Five Points Gang, where he was the immediate boss of Johnny Torrio , Sirocco defected to the rival Eastman Gang, which he led in its last days.-Biography:Sirocco, known...
and Chick Tricker
Chick Tricker
Chick Tricker was an early New York gangster who, as a member of the Eastman Gang, served as one of its last leaders alongside Jack Sirocco. A longtime member of the Eastmans, Tricker had made a name for himself as a well known Bowery and Park Row saloonkeeper who first came to prominence in a...
to murder Eastman leader Jack Zelig
Jack Zelig
"Big" Jack Zelig was a Jewish American New York City gangster and one of the last leaders of the Monk Eastman Gang.-Early years & the Eastmans:...
, who had been engaged in a gang war over control of the Eastmans. However, upon being informed by local saloonkeeper Ike the Plug to whom Morell had bragged "I'll fill that big Yid so full of holes he'll sink !", Zelig lured the unsuspecting assassin to a Second Avenue
Second Avenue (Manhattan)
Second Avenue is an avenue on the East Side of the New York City borough of Manhattan extending from Houston Street at its south end to the Harlem River Drive at 128th Street at its north end. A one-way street, vehicular traffic runs only downtown. A bicycle lane in the left hand portion from 55th...
dance hall, the Stuyvesant Casino, where the Boys of the Avenue were holding an annual grand ball on December 1, 1911.
Morrell, who had become intoxicated while drinking at Ike the Plug's saloon, staggered in to the dance hall at around one o'clock and began yelling for Zelig as he walked onto the dance floor. Suddenly, the lights were turned off. When the lights came back on seconds later, Morrell had been shot and was lying dead on the dance floor.
Remaining in hiding for two weeks, Zelig was eventually arrested by detectives in New York's East Side and released shortly after. In 1912, Zelig himself was murdered while riding a trolley car.
Further reading
- Brownlow, Kevin. Behind the Mask of Innocence. Knopf, 1990. ISBN 039457747
- Pietrusza, David. Rothstein: The Life, Times, and Murder of the Criminal Genius Who Fixed the 1919 World Series. Basic Books, 2004. ISBN 0786714530