Republican farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1810-1920, 1918-04-05
ABOUT TO
MURDERED
Sam Schepps, Noted in
Gambling Circles, Is
Arrested by Police.
PARALLEL TO CASE
OF II. ROSENTHAL
Harry Cohen Killed in
Hallway 7 Hours Be-
fore Appointment.


ney's office was to be informed
by Harry Cohen, also known as
Harry the Yot, of the name of
the man higher up" in the.
prosecutors anti-gambling cru
SADIE, Cohen was shot and killed
at $50 o'clock this morning.
District Attorney Swami imme-
diately ordered the arrest Of
Sam Schepps, who was one of
the prosecutors star witnesses
against Charles Becker, the
police lieutenant who was cleo
trocuted for the murder of
Herman Rosenthal, gambler, in
1912.
Pending the police search for
Schepps, the district attorney with
held the reason for desiring his an.
pearance. 1t was not asserted tina:
schepps was near when Cohen was
shot, but the police declare he is iden-
titled in the inquiry as a friend oe a
woman who, with two men, was a.
rested last week on information fur.
nished by Harry the Yot.
Cohen, according to Assistant Dis
trict Attorney James F. Smith, hal
for several weeks been a secret in
former, known to the underworld as
stool pigeoR Cohen telephoned t.,
the prosecutor some time ago and said
he had been rtrimmed at a crooke il
Wheel in hotel and volunteered his
services in helping in the gambling
crusade.
Against the advice of the assistant
prosecutor Cohen several times Wis
tied Mr.. Smiths house openly with
information regarded as valuable. At
dawn today Cohen telephoned to Mr..
Smith asking him to meet him at
Fifth avenue and Seth street at 1870
O'Clock this afternoon.
| BE ready to hit the mob" said CO.
hen, abiding to the gamblers. i've
got the goods on the principal man.
The next Mr.. Smith heard was that
Cohen was dead with three bullets in
his body. Hurrying to the scene of
the shooting, hall lobby in the West
s2nd street apartment where Cohen
lived with his wife, Mr.. Smith was
informed that Cohen was killed by
man as yet unidentified. A negro hall
boy furnished the police with de-
scription Of the slayer, whom he had
pursued as far as Central park west,
Sam Schepps and two other men
F, who were with him when the police
visited Schepps' jewelry shop in
Sixth avenue, were taken into custody
a few hours after the shooting.
They were hurried to the district
attorneys Office.
The police said Schepps' place, es-
tablished after the Rosenthal shooting
and the convictions that resulted, has
recently been under their observa-
ton.
Mr.. Smith said he assumed the
gamblers had planned to fleece a
prospective victim through their
crooked methods this afternoon and
that Cohen, having learned of it, pur-
posed to give the district attorney in
formation that would lead to a raid
at the proper time. The gamblers
learned of Cohens intention, Mr..
Smith surmised, and forestalled it by
killing him.
One phase Of interest to the police
is statement made by the negro hall
boy that he saw money passed be-
| tween Cohen and the man who shot
him, as they stood in the lobby. The
boy was not certain which man re-
ceived the money.
The authorities believed "Yot' was
a contraction for "Yotsky," an East
Side term applied to distinguish him
from other Harry Cohens living in
the district.
At the district attorneys offica
Schepps and the others were ques-
toned regarding Cohen. Beforehand
| Schepps told newspaper men that
while he had heard of Cohen, he had
no connection with him, as he,
Schepps, had been out of touch with
gambling and the under world for
three years.
schepps was one of the picturesque
|
He was an associate of the four gun
men who paid the death penalty in
the electric chair for the Rosenthal
murder.
Mr.. Smith said that while he was
aware that Cohen had a police record,
he had not inquired into these ante
cedents for the reason that he did
nos regard it as necessary or desir-
able as long as Cohen made good
in his revelations. Cohen cid make
good, Mr.. Smith said. his information
being at all times reliable and val
liable.
Information that the gamblers whom
the district attorney IS --aG - :.
gun men ready to kill any person who
played the role of inDormer was placed
in Mr.. SWANS possession on Satur-
day night, the prosecutor announced.
"On Saturday night said Mr..
Swami, "a man whose identity 1 can
not reveal now came to me and said.
Boss. you've got US licked This man
has been a gambler for 25 years. Ho
gave me valuable information in tina
form of a confession. He said fur.
Their that the gamblers had gun men
ready to get any one who squealed'
Fhis gambler added: If it became
known that I am here my life would
not be worth pin
Mr.. Swami said this gambler, wh1
could summon gun men within 81
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