Legs Diamond
Jack "Legs" Diamond (possibly born John Thomas Diamond, though disputed;[1][2] July 10, 1897 – December 18, 1931), also known as John Nolan and Gentleman Jack, was an Irish-American gangster in Philadelphia and New York City during the Prohibition era. A bootlegger and close associate of gambler Arnold Rothstein, Diamond survived a number of attempts on his life between 1916 and 1931, causing him to be known as the "clay pigeon of the underworld". In 1930, Diamond's nemesis Dutch Schultz remarked to his own gang, "Ain't there nobody that can shoot this guy so he don't bounce back?"
For other uses, see Legs Diamond (disambiguation).
Jack Diamond
July 10, 1897
Gunshot
- John Nolan
- Gentleman Jack
Burglary (February 14, 1914);
Desertion from US Army (1918–1919);
Kidnapping (1930)—sentenced to 4 years {twice acquitted}
Early life[edit]
Jack Diamond was born July 10, 1897, to Sara and John Moran, who emigrated from Ireland to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1891. In 1899, Jack's younger brother Eddie was born. Jack and Eddie both struggled through grade school, and Sara suffered from severe arthritis and other health problems. Sara passed away on December 24, 1913, following complications brought on by a bacterial infection and a high fever. John Moran then moved his family to Brooklyn, New York.
Diamond soon joined a Manhattan street gang called the Hudson Dusters. His first arrest for burglary occurred when he broke into a jewelry store on February 4, 1914. Diamond served in the United States Army in World War I, but was convicted and jailed for desertion in 1918 or 1919. He served two years of a three- to five-year sentence at Leavenworth Military Prison. After being released in 1921,[3] Diamond became a hired thug and later personal bodyguard for crime boss Arnold Rothstein.[4]
Lifestyle[edit]
Diamond was known for leading a rather flamboyant lifestyle. He was an energetic individual—his nickname "Legs" derived either from his being a good dancer or from how fast he could escape his enemies. His wife Alice was never supportive of his life of crime but did not do much to dissuade him from it. Diamond was a womanizer; his best-known mistress was showgirl and dancer Marion "Kiki" Roberts.
Prohibition and the Manhattan Bootleg Wars[edit]
In the late 1920s, Prohibition was in force, and the sale of beer and other alcoholic beverages was illegal in the United States. Diamond traveled to Europe to acquire beer and narcotics but failed. However, he did obtain liquor, which was dumped overboard in partially full barrels that floated to Long Island as ships entered New York Harbor. Diamond paid children a nickel for every barrel they brought to his trucks.
Following the death of Jacob "Little Augie" Orgen, Diamond oversaw illegal alcohol sales in downtown Manhattan via the Hotsy Totsy Club, an establishment partly-owned by Diamond on Broadway. This work brought him into conflict with Dutch Schultz, who wanted to move beyond his base in Harlem. He also ran into trouble with other gangs in the city. On July 14, 1929, Diamond and fellow gang member Charles Entratta shot three drunken brawlers in the Hotsy Totsy Club; two of the brawlers, William Cassidy and Simon Walker, were killed, while the survivor, Peter Cassidy, was severely wounded. The club's bartender, three waiters, and the hat check girl "vanished" (one of them was found shot dead in New Jersey). Diamond was not charged, but he was forced to close the club.[3]
In 1930, Diamond and two henchmen kidnapped truck driver Grover Parks in Cairo, New York, demanding to know where he had obtained his load of hard cider. When Parks denied carrying anything, Diamond and his men beat and tortured Parks, eventually letting him go. A few months later, Diamond was charged with the kidnapping of James Duncan. He was sent to Catskill, New York, for his first trial, but he was acquitted. However, he was convicted in a federal case on related charges and sentenced to four years in jail. Diamond was tried in December 1931 in Troy, New York, also for kidnapping, he was once again acquitted.
Assassination attempts and prosecution[edit]
On October 24, 1924, Diamond was shot and wounded by shotgun pellets, reportedly after trying to hijack liquor trucks belonging to a rival crime syndicate.[12]
On October 16, 1927, Diamond tried to stop the murder of "Little Augie" Orgen. Diamond's brother Eddie was Orgen's bodyguard, but Diamond substituted for Eddie that day. As Orgen and Diamond were walking down a street on Manhattan's Lower East Side, three young men approached them and started shooting. Orgen was fatally wounded, and Diamond was shot twice below the heart. Diamond was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he eventually recovered.[13] Police interviewed Diamond in the hospital, but he refused to identify any suspects or help the investigation in any way. Police initially suspected that Diamond was an accomplice and charged him with homicide, but the charge was dropped.[14] The assailants were supposedly hired by Louis Buchalter and Gurrah Shapiro, who were seeking to encroach on Orgen's garment-district labor rackets.
On October 12, 1930, Diamond was shot and wounded at the Hotel Monticello on Manhattan's West Side. Two men forced their way into Diamond's room and shot him five times. Still in his pajamas, Diamond staggered into the hallway and collapsed. When asked later by the police commissioner how he managed to walk out of the room, Diamond said he drank two shots of whiskey first. Diamond was rushed to the Polyclinic Hospital, where he eventually recovered.[15] He was discharged from Polyclinic on December 30, 1930.[16]
On April 21, 1931, Diamond was arrested in Catskill on assault charges for the Parks beating in 1930. Two days later, he was released from the county jail on $25,000 bond.[17] Five days later, Diamond was again shot and wounded at the Aratoga Inn, a road house near Cairo. After eating in the dining room with three companions, Diamond was shot three times and collapsed by the front door. A local resident drove Diamond to a hospital in Albany,[18] where he was reputed to have told the attending surgeon, "they have not yet made the bullet that will kill me." Diamond eventually recovered. On May 1, while Diamond was still in the hospital, the New York State Police seized over $5,000 worth of illegal beer and alcohol from his hiding places in Cairo and at the Aratoga Inn.[19]
In August 1931, Diamond and Paul Quattrocchi went on trial for bootlegging.[16] The same month, Diamond was convicted and sentenced to four years in state prison. In September 1931, Diamond appealed his conviction.[20]