The New York herald., 1920-12-29
MONK EASTMAN'S
SLAYER IDENTIFIED
ONE OF HIS GANG
District Attorney Knows
Name, Expecting Arrest
Soon, Says Hennis.
FULL STORY is KNOWN
Motive of Ex-Convict for
Killing Gangster Alone
Remains Mystery.
TO GET MILITARY BURIAL
Body Lies in U. s. Uniform
With Wound Stripes and
Insignia Of 27th.
FULL STORY is KNOWN
TO GET MILITARY BURIAL

Monk Eastman was shot down by
and ex-convict who ran" with the
Monk Eastman gang IN the days when
the name spread terror throughout the
lower East Side.
That much was established yester-
day by the examination of witnesses
in the District Attorneys office. As
sistant District Attorney John r. Hen
mis-. chief Of the homicide bureau, says
he knows who the man is and that he
and Eastman were often seen together.
Whether they quarrelled about money
or a woman or whether the Monk was
shot on suspicion of "squealing" re-
mains a mystery.
The arrest of the murderer is ex-
pected soon, Mr.. Hennis said. The po-
lice also are hunting for six men who
were drinking and singing with East
man in the Blue Bird Cafe, 81 East
Fourteenth street, Christmas night.
While Monk and his friends were get
ting drunk in the cafe. 1t was learned,
his pal" waited on the curb to kill
him.
May Have Been DoubIe-CrOssed.
At 4 o'clock Sunday morning the party
staggered out into the street. The man
with the revolver stepped UP to the
Monk and exchanged a few words with
! him in an undertone. Five shots fol-
lowed in rapid succession and the one
time Gear Of the Bowery fell to the side
walk.
His six companions scattered, desert
ing their leader In true gang fashion
when they saw him go down. The assas-
sin threw his gun across Fourteenth
street md escaped unmolested. PATROL
man Joseph Maloy. on whose beat the
murder occurred was then at the corner
| of Fifth avenue, two blocks away.
Mr.. Hennis was enabled to reconstruct
the scene from the testimony of Max
Weinstein cashier of the Blue Bird Cafe.
and John Bradley and John McKenna,
walters. They were questioned Tor sew
eral hours and are still retained as ma
tcrial witnesses. A waiter named Lewis.
who waited ION the Eastman table. dis
appeared yesterday. He is being sought,
as Is also the chauffeur of the automo-
bile which brought the party from WILL
iamsburg Saturday night.
Eastman had dinner Christmas day
with one OF his married sisters In
Brooklyn. About midnight he came to
New York with six friends in an auto
mobile and stopped at the Blue Bird.
The police. as yet, have not traced the
automobile. II II waited in front OF the
cafe and Monks friends escaped in It..
they are inclined to believe he was
double crossed.
I'VE cannot tell whether Monk Was
double crossed" Mr.. Hennis said. But
we do know that the man who shot him
was known to all the rest. He Is a well
known character, although not so ia
nous as Monk
zone thing is clear: II was a deliber-
ate murder. The gun was pressed so
close that II burned a hole two inches
wide in his overcoat."
Comrades Arrange Funeral.
Eastman's body lay last night in a
plain black coffin in the undertaking
establishment of A. c. Yannaco in 348
Metropolitan avenue. Williamsburg,
dressed In the uniform OF the United
States Army, with a silver Victory but
ton on his left breast and the insignia
of the Twenty-seventh Division on his
left shoulder. Three service stripes are
on the left sleeve Of the former gang
ster's uniform blouse. and there are two
wound stripes on the right sleeve. There
Is a silver plate on the coffin, inscribed
"Our lost pal. Gone but not forgotten" I"
Tive men who were soldiers with East
man In France will pay the expenses OF
his funeral. so that the man with whom
they fought will not be buried in Potter's
Field. They are John J. Boland OF 16S
Broadway and Henry Miller. sergeant
-. n
dougnboy. The BODY will be burfeq IN
the army plot in the Cypress Hills Gene
terry, and a military escort will be fur
nished by a detail from the l06th Infan-
try Post of the American Legion. East
man will be buried with military honors