William Webber (criminal)

Louis William "Bridgie" Webber (1877 – July 30, 1936) was an underworld figure in New York City and a former associate of gang leader Monk Eastman who later testified against police lieutenant Charles Becker during his murder trial in 1912.

Biography

He was born in 1877. Starting around 1900 he and Harry Vallon operated various stuss games as well as an opium den on Pell Street and a popular poker room at the corner of 42nd Street and Sixth Avenue[1] which was often frequented by Becker and other police officials (and thus never subject to police raids).

In 1911, two thugs were hired by gambler Herman Rosenthal to assault Webber, who left him severely beaten. When Rosenthal further attempted to lure customers away from Webber's Sans Souci Music Hall, Webber used his political connections to have Rosenthal's Hesper Club raided by police, but other sources claim he had been hired by Rosenthal for protection from Charles Becker to whom Rosenthal had refused to pay off for running his gambling operations at the Hesper Club and that he was severely beaten by Jack Zelig and members of the Eastman Gang, who destroyed his clubhouse as well.

Brought into custody by a police detective two days following Rosenthal's murder, Webber claimed he had been at his clubhouse during the night. Although he was held in custody, his testimony against Becker and members of the Lenox Avenue Gang helped convict the five men who were sentenced to death.

Fearing reprisals from the city's underworld, he was under police guard after his testimony and traveled to Cuba. Shortly after his return to the city, Webber was stabbed by an unidentified youth on July 14, 1913 and fled New York. He became a successful manufacturer in Passaic, New Jersey for a number of years and later served as vice president and secretary of the Garfield Paper Box Company.

He later died of peritonitis while he was undergoing surgery for appendicitis at St. Mary's Hospital or Passaic General Hospital on the night of July 30, 1936 on the 21st anniversary of Becker's execution.[2][3] His funeral was attended by over 300 people, including Mayor Benjamin F. Turner.[4]

References
  1. "3 New Arrests Put Murder Plot Close to Becker". New York Times: 1. 22 July 1912.
  2. "Bridgie Weber, Ex-Gangster In Manhattan, Dies. Key Witness in Famed Rosenthal Murder Case". Chicago Tribune. August 1, 1936. Retrieved 2010-12-14.
  3. "Died". Time magazine. August 10, 1936. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved 2011-06-02. Louis William ("Bridgie") Webber, 59, Manhattan gambler who turned State's evidence in 1912 to convict Manhattan Police Lieut. Charles Becker and four gunmen—"Lefty" Louis Rosenberg, Harry ("Gyp the Blood") Horowitz, "Whitey" Lewis and "Dago" Frank Cirofici—of murdering Gambler Herman Rosenthal; of peritonitis; on the 21st anniversary of Becker's electrocution; in Passaic, N. J., where for 22 years he had managed a paper-box factory.
  4. "Becker Accuser Dies. Hid From Under World. Bridgie Webber, Who Helped to Send Five to Chair, Became a Prosperous Manufacturer". New York Times. August 1, 1936. Retrieved 2010-12-14. Funeral services will be held at 11 A.M. Sunday for Louis William (Bridgie) Webber, former New York gambler, whose testimony helped to send Police Lieutenant Charles Becker and four gunmen to the electric chair for the murder in 1912 of Herman Rosenthal, a gambler.

Further reading
  • Becker Witness Dies; William (Bridgie) Webber Succumbs After an Operation. New York Times 31 July 1936
  • Rites for Bridgie Webber. New York Times 3 August 1936
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