Evening star., 1951-10-08
Curious Throngs Jam
Willie Moretti Rites;
Funeral Called Royal
By the Assoeiaisd Pres.

BY the Associated Press
PASSAIC, N. j., Oct. 8.-Willie
Moretti, the clown prince of crime,
was given royal funeral today
amid fancy floral tributes from
underworld lords and a riotous
demonstration by throngs of Curl
GUS townsfolk.
The scene outside the Morocco
funeral home resembled a Roman
holiday.
Several thousand persons
jammed streets outside the white
|pillared home. They broke through
police lines, trampled flowers and
shrubbery in a mad dash for a
last glimpse at the laxative
gambler who was cut down by
gangland guns last Thursday.
Squads of extra police were
helpless to stop the throng. Men
and women, some carrying babies
and tugging at small children.
pushed and showed each other as
they strove for a point of vantage.
Squad cars, with sirens scream
ing. provided an escort for the
sleek, black hearse carrying the
gangster who gave them so much
trouble in life.
The funeral procession included
II flower cars alone. Police said
there should have been more, that
many gaudy floral pieces remained
stacked at the funeral home. Will
lies body reposed in a $2,500
bronze and gold casket.
The procession wound its way
through milling thousands in Pas
saic to nearby Hasbrouck Heights
where a solemn requiem mass was
sung at Corpus Christi Church.
From the church, Moretti's tuxedo
clad body goes to its final resting
place in the family mausoleum
In st. Michaels Cemetery, Lodi.
Additional hundreds of the Curl
GUS gathered around the granite
vault awaiting the arrival of the
funeral cortege. They stood four
or five deep around the vault,
located just inside the cemetery
gate directly across from the
Wright Aeronautical Corp. plant.
Family Members Only.
Only members of Moretti's i'm
mediate family and close friends
were allowed inside the funeral
home, banked on all sides by flow-
er offerings from Frank Costello,
Joe Adonis, Albert Anastasia and
Vito Genovese-big names in crime
and hundreds of others.
Deputy Attorney General Harry
L. Towe declined comment on
which crime czars he would ques-
ton about the bullets pumped into
Morretti's head in a CliffSide Park
restaurant before noon last Thurs
day. He has already quizzed Anas-
tasia, alleged ex-fingerman of
Murder, Inc, who had a ready
alibi.
Fingerprints Found.
Clear prints have repeatedly
been found on several objects and
on the top Of the table where the
self-appointed jester of gangland
sat exchanging Italian quips with
four men before a volley of shots
brought a terrified and confused
waitress running back from the
kitchen. Thus far, the descrip-
tions supplied by the waitress,
Mrs. Dorothy Novack, have proved
of no help in the investigation.
Meanwhile. assistant Bergen
County Physician Arthur w.
Greenfield said that an autopsy
confirmed that Fort Lee Police
Chief Fred Stengel had died from
a self-inflicted shot in the head.
Chief Stengel. indicted last
Wednesday for failure to crack
down on gambling. was found
Saturday in a wooded area sew
eral miles north of the scene of
the Moretti Staying.
Officials said there was no con-
nection between the two events.
Chief Stengel's burial, scheduled
for tomorrow in George Washing
ton Memorial Park. Paramus, is
not expected to be elaborate.