Elena Semander

popular name: Meyer Lansky

date_of_death: January 15, 1983

age: 80

cause_of_death: Lung cancer

claim_to_fame: Crime and their Victims

best_know_for: Meyer Lansky was one of the most important figures in the development of organized crime in New York, nationwide and worldwide in the 20th century. Known as "The Mob's Accountant" Lansky’s work spanned the pre-Prohibition days of the New York City rackets, where he had an early partnership with Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, to the consolidation of the New York Mob under Charlie “Lucky” Luciano, and on to the development of Las Vegas and Havana, Cuba, as “open cities” for the Mob. He controlled casinos in the Bahamas and in London, as well as, reportedly, a Swiss-based bank through which he laundered profits. The authorities described him as a genius of finance who applied his Midas touch to bootlegging in the Prohibition era, to gambling in Cuba, the Bahamas and the United States and to loan-sharking, stock manipulation and underworld penetration of legitimate businesses throughout the United States. Upon his death, he was laid to rest at Mount Nebo Miami Memorial Gardens in West Miami, Florida.

popular name: Frank Nitti

date_of_death: March 19, 1943

age: 57

cause_of_death: Suicide by gunshot

claim_to_fame: Crime and their Victims

best_know_for: Frank Nitti, nicknamed “The Enforcer,” was an Italian-American gangster and one of Al Capone‘s top henchmen, Nitti was in charge of all money flowing through the operation and upon Capone's arrest and conviction on tax charges, Nitti succeeded Capone as boss of the Chicago Outfit. Intensely claustrophobic and facing serious charges from the feds, Nitti shot himself three times (3rd time was the charm) and committed suicide rather than spend years in a jail cell.

popular name: Charles Lawson

date_of_death: December 25, 1929

age: 43

cause_of_death: Suicide by Gun

claim_to_fame: Crime and their Victims

best_know_for: Charles Lawson was a North Carolina tobacco farmer born on May 10, 1886, who became infamously known for the tragic and shocking murders of his own family on Christmas Day in 1929 in Germanton, North Carolina. Lawson, reportedly a hardworking man, had recently moved his wife, Fannie, and their seven children into a new home and was thought to be relatively prosperous. Just days before the killings, he took his family to town to buy new clothes and have a formal family portrait taken—an unusual gesture that later seemed eerily significant. On December 25, 1929, Lawson brutally murdered his wife and six of their children before turning the shotgun on himself. Only his eldest son, Arthur, survived, as he had been sent into town on an errand. The motive behind the murders has remained a subject of speculation for decades, with theories ranging from financial stress and mental illness to dark rumors of incest. The case has since become a haunting part of North Carolina folklore, inspiring books, songs, and documentaries. Charles Lawson and his entire family were all laid to rest is one large grave at the Browder Family Cemetery in Germantown, North Carolina.