Milaflores Massacre
Encyclopedia
The Milaflores Massacre is the name given to the shooting of three gangsters in retaliation for two murders and a kidnapping in the winter of 1927 in Detroit, Michigan
. The crime was suspected to have been perpetrated by the Purple Gang
.
By the mid-1920s, the Purples had formed a working alliance with former members of the Egan's Rats
gang, specifically Fred “Killer” Burke
and Gus Winkler
. These two, and a group of gangsters associated with them, were responsible for distributing Purple Gang booze and handling any strong-arm work that was needed. The trouble began on Christmas night, 1926, when saloon keeper Johnny Reid was shotgunned to death in the rear of his apartment building at 3025 East Grand Boulevard. Reid was an ex-Rat and liquor agent for the Purples. Earlier in the year, he and his St. Louis friends had gotten into a shooting war with Sicilian gangster Mike Dipisa. The ex-Rats defeated their opponent, but he was assumed to have arranged Reid's murder in revenge.
Johnny Reid's killer was assumed to have been Frank Wright
, a Chicago
-based jewel thief and all-around hood who had recently relocated to Detroit. Wright, along with two New York burglars, Joseph Bloom and George Cohen, began kidnapping local gamblers for ransom. Many of the people they snatched were connected with the Purple Gang. The foolhardy trio crossed the line when they gunned down Purple drug peddler Jake Weinberg in the North End on February 3, 1927. The Bernstein brothers hired Fred Burke and Gus Winkler to avenge their friend.
Frank Wright was lured into the open with the kidnapping of his friend Meyer "Fish" Bloomfield. Winkler telephoned Wright and told him he could re-acquire his friend in Apartment 308 of the Milaflores Apartments, located at 106 East Alexandrine Avenue. At 4:30 on the morning of March 28, 1927, Frankie Wright, Joseph Bloom, and George Cohen arrived at the Milaflores and knocked on the door of 308. As they did, the fire door at the end of the hallway opened, and three men opened fire with a concentrated volley of pistol and submachine gun fire. All three gangsters fell to the ground. The three triggermen escaped down the back stairway once their weapons were empty.
Bloom and Cohen were DOA (they had been so riddled with bullets the coroner could not tell how many times they have been shot.) Frank Wright was still alive despite fourteen bullet wounds. When asked if he saw the killers, he moaned, "The machine gun worked. That's all I can remember." Wright died of his wounds about twenty hours later. The shooting made multiple headlines in the local newspapers. It was the first time the Thompson submachine gun
had been used in Detroit gang warfare. While searching Apt. 308, police found items implicating Purple gangsters Eddie Fletcher, Abe and Simon Axler, Joe "Honey Boy" Miller, and John Tolzdorf.
The day after the massacre, Detroit police pulled over a car on Woodward Avenue and arrested Abe Axler and Fred Burke. While both men were suspected in the slaughter, neither was charged, nor was anyone else. The incident solidified the reputation of the Purple Gang in Detroit. It was believed at the time the Fred Burke had been the machine-gunner, assisted by Purple hitmen Abe Axler and Eddie Fletcher aka The Siamese Twins.
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. The crime was suspected to have been perpetrated by the Purple Gang
Purple Gang
Purple Gang can refer to:*The Purple Gang, Jewish American bootleggers and hijackers in the 1920s*The Purple Gang , British rock band active intermittently since the 1960s*East Harlem Purple Gang, Italian American gang of drug dealers and hitmen...
.
By the mid-1920s, the Purples had formed a working alliance with former members of the Egan's Rats
Egan's Rats
Egan's Rats was an American organized crime group that exercised considerable power in St. Louis, Missouri from 1890 to 1924. Its 35 years of criminal activity included bootlegging, labor slugging, voter intimidation, armed robbery, and murder...
gang, specifically Fred “Killer” Burke
Fred “Killer” Burke
Fred "Killer" Burke was a Midwestern armed robber and contract killer responsible for many crimes during the Prohibition era. He is considered a prime suspect in the infamous St. Valentine's Day Massacre of 1929-Early life:...
and Gus Winkler
Gus Winkler
Gus Winkler was a St. Louis mobster who, with Fred “Killer” Burke, was head of a criminal gang specializing in armed robbery and murder for hire....
. These two, and a group of gangsters associated with them, were responsible for distributing Purple Gang booze and handling any strong-arm work that was needed. The trouble began on Christmas night, 1926, when saloon keeper Johnny Reid was shotgunned to death in the rear of his apartment building at 3025 East Grand Boulevard. Reid was an ex-Rat and liquor agent for the Purples. Earlier in the year, he and his St. Louis friends had gotten into a shooting war with Sicilian gangster Mike Dipisa. The ex-Rats defeated their opponent, but he was assumed to have arranged Reid's murder in revenge.
Johnny Reid's killer was assumed to have been Frank Wright
Frank Wright
Frank Wright or Francis Wright may refer to:* Frank Lloyd Wright , American architect* Frank Wright , English cricketer* Frank Wright , free jazz musician and saxophonist...
, a Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
-based jewel thief and all-around hood who had recently relocated to Detroit. Wright, along with two New York burglars, Joseph Bloom and George Cohen, began kidnapping local gamblers for ransom. Many of the people they snatched were connected with the Purple Gang. The foolhardy trio crossed the line when they gunned down Purple drug peddler Jake Weinberg in the North End on February 3, 1927. The Bernstein brothers hired Fred Burke and Gus Winkler to avenge their friend.
Frank Wright was lured into the open with the kidnapping of his friend Meyer "Fish" Bloomfield. Winkler telephoned Wright and told him he could re-acquire his friend in Apartment 308 of the Milaflores Apartments, located at 106 East Alexandrine Avenue. At 4:30 on the morning of March 28, 1927, Frankie Wright, Joseph Bloom, and George Cohen arrived at the Milaflores and knocked on the door of 308. As they did, the fire door at the end of the hallway opened, and three men opened fire with a concentrated volley of pistol and submachine gun fire. All three gangsters fell to the ground. The three triggermen escaped down the back stairway once their weapons were empty.
Bloom and Cohen were DOA (they had been so riddled with bullets the coroner could not tell how many times they have been shot.) Frank Wright was still alive despite fourteen bullet wounds. When asked if he saw the killers, he moaned, "The machine gun worked. That's all I can remember." Wright died of his wounds about twenty hours later. The shooting made multiple headlines in the local newspapers. It was the first time the Thompson submachine gun
Thompson submachine gun
The Thompson is an American submachine gun, invented by John T. Thompson in 1919, that became infamous during the Prohibition era. It was a common sight in the media of the time, being used by both law enforcement officers and criminals...
had been used in Detroit gang warfare. While searching Apt. 308, police found items implicating Purple gangsters Eddie Fletcher, Abe and Simon Axler, Joe "Honey Boy" Miller, and John Tolzdorf.
The day after the massacre, Detroit police pulled over a car on Woodward Avenue and arrested Abe Axler and Fred Burke. While both men were suspected in the slaughter, neither was charged, nor was anyone else. The incident solidified the reputation of the Purple Gang in Detroit. It was believed at the time the Fred Burke had been the machine-gunner, assisted by Purple hitmen Abe Axler and Eddie Fletcher aka The Siamese Twins.