Who was mobster Bugsy Siegel and what happened to him?
THE murder of notorious mobster Bugsy Siegel has sparked mystery for decades.
From Siegel’s life of crime to his unsolved death – here’s everything you need to know about the infamous gangster.
Who was Bugsy Siegel?
Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, born February 28, 1906, in Brooklyn, New York City, was an American Mobster and one of the driving forces behind the development of the Las Vegas Strip.
The mobster, immortalised by Warren Beatty in his Oscar–winning 1991 movie Bugsy, was known as one of the most “infamous and feared gangsters of his day”.
According to reports, he hated the nickname ”Bugsy” because it was based on the slang term “bugs”, meaning “crazy” and was used to describe his erratic behaviour.
He was associated with men engraved in mob history, including ”Lucky” Luciano, Meyer Lansky and Al Capone.
What crimes did Bugsy Siegel commit?
Both Siegal and his childhood friend and fellow gangster Meyer Lansky, were highly influential in both Italian American and Jewish American organised crime.
He was one of the founders and leaders of the organised crime group, Murder Inc. and became a bootlegger within several major East Coast cities, before eventually heading west to lead criminal operations in Hollywood and Las Vegas.
His criminal record, dating from his teenage years, also included armed robbery and murder.
The mobster spent a lengthy period of time working as a hitman for a number of crime families and gained a fierce reputation for being violent and volatile as a result.
What happened to Bugsy Siegel?
On June 20, 1947, Siegel, 41, was sitting in a Beverly Hills mansion reading a newspaper when an unknown assailant fired multiple shots through the window, killing one of the most notorious American gangsters.
No one was charged with the mobster’s murder and the crime remains unsolved and open.
Seigel’s murder became Beverly Hills Police Department’s most famous unsolved case, sparking decades of mystery.
In 2022, the property where the crime took place, also dubbed the ”murder mansion” was put on the market for $17m.
Since Siegel’s murder, the seven-bedroom seven-bath home has had a number of different owners.