From mob hitman
​to movie extra: the story
of ‘Big Gangy’ Cohen

Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly
August 4, 2023
 
The film “Golden Boy” was released in 1939, featuring, among others, Barbara Stanwyck as Lorna Moon and a very young and barely recognizable William Holden playing Joe Bonaparte. Billed as a drama, one today cannot quite hold back some well-deserved snickering with Holden playing a violin-playing boxer. In the pivotal fight scene, Holden pummels his opponent, who promptly dies, causing Joe and Lorna to re-evaluate their lives. Joe gives up boxing, returns to his beloved violin, and presumably lives happily ever after.
 
When the movie was released, many New York boxing fans eagerly attended, anxious to see the Madison Square Garden fisticuffs. One such attendee was Murder, Inc. killer Abe “Pretty” Levine, who while viewing the match also saw brief shots of the screaming crowd cheering on the fighters. His mouth opened in shock when he spotted one particular ringside fan.
 
What in God’s name was Irving “Big Gangy” Cohen doing there? When Levine last saw him two years earlier, they were murdering Walter Sage. Read more.

Cold as Ice - Unsolved Boston Murders

Discussion at Lynnfield Historical Society 

Read: "A New Chapter"  

“Who’s the No. 1 comedian working today?” Appeals Court Judge R. Marc Kantrowitz asks more than a dozen wide-eyed, mostly young law clerks seated around a long conference-room table. A few moments of tense silence follow. This, after all, is a bit less serious of a query than a judge might typically pose to a student clerk, so it takes a few seconds to warm to the task. Read more.

About the author

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R. Marc Kantrowitz is the most highly published lawyer on state law in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.  He has written numerous books on criminal law, motor vehicle tort law, juvenile law, evidence, and mental health, as well as numerous law-related articles.  He also writes a column entitled Law  'n History.
Read more.

Podcasts

To listen to the latest podcast from R. Marc Kantrowitz, "Ponzi Scheme: The Notorious Namesake," click here.

For previous podcasts, click here.

Old Whiskey and Young Women

“Murder and mystery, society, sex and suspense were combined in this case in such a manner as to intrigue and captivate the public fancy to a degree perhaps unparalleled in recent annals.”  Ohio vs. Sheppard, 165 Ohio St. 293, 294 (1956).

While this should no longer occur in a criminal trial, it can in a book.  And this is the book in which it does.

Here, some of the most notorious legal cases in American history are explored.  What they have in common is that they titillated, if not repulsed, the entire nation when they first occurred.  What they still have in common is that, for the most part, they are today nearly totally forgotten.

From the unfair framing for murder of America’s most famous comedian, to America’s first capital case involving an older woman and her much younger lover murdering her husband, to Mad Harry Thaw, the wealthy and mad son of a steel magnate, killing America’s foremost architect over a beautiful woman, all come to life in gripping detail and drama.  And meet the real Norman Bates of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, whose mother fixation and real life gruesome crimes far outmatched those of any fictional character.  

This book brings to life these notorious characters and many more from the rich pages of history.  

Law 'n History

R. Marc Kantrowitz writes a column entitled "Law 'n History" for Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, the Patriot Ledger, and the sister publications of both. His goal for these articles is to have the reader look at history through a different view. He likes to pick topics about past events that people know little about, himself included. Through his writing he likes to show readers that people are generally the same today as they were hundreds of years ago;  the smart, wise and generous vying against the petty, vengeful and stupid. Read more.