On November 22, 1939, Harry “Big Greenie” Greenberg was murdered in the driveway of his home in the Hollywood Hills. Greenberg was an associate of Bugsy Siegel who had recently made some fatal errors in judgement.
Greenberg was a Brooklyn born hood who had grown up with Siegel. He is believed to have committed his first murder in 1927 at the age of 18. He and Siegel became major players in Murder Inc and worked for Meyer Lansky and Lucky Luciano.
Siegel moved out to California and Greenberg went with him. They had fled New York due the pressure that Thomas Dewey was putting on major organized crime figures. Greenberg, fearing an indictment, had exiled himself to Canada for a brief time. It was here that he made his fatal error. Short on funds in chilly Canada, he requested $5,000 to ensure that he didn’t rat out other members of the mafia.
When he returned to California, it was only a matter of time that he would be eliminated. Greenberg was allegedly killed by Siegel, Whitey Krakow and Frankie Carbo. Prosecutors claimed that Siegel had brought them to his house and drove the getaway car, and that Carbo shot Greenberg in the head 5 times. Siegel stood trial in 1940 but was acquitted due to the disappearance of witnesses.
PHOTO BY LOUIS DU MORT 
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