Dutch Schultz: Menace to Society

• Documentary

Episode overview

He was considered, even among gangsters, "totally evil." When his father abandoned the family, he quit school and began a life of crime to help his mother. He changed his name to Dutch Schultz from Arthur Flegenheimer while serving his first prison sentence. Here is the story of one of the nation's most ruthless and brutal criminals. He ended one argument by sticking his .45 automatic pistol into the mouth of a friend and pulling the trigger. He combined such merciless acts with a keen instinct for business to become the most feared and successful gangster of the Prohibition era. He lived the gangster version of the American dream--fast bucks, fast cars and fast women. Lucky Luciano is said to have arranged one of gangland's most infamous massacres, one that killed Schultz and his men. His death cleared the way for Luciano and other organized criminals to take over Shultz's various operations. Schultz goes down in crime history as the last truly independent Jewish gangster.

60 minutes