The Purple Gang: Organized Crime in Detroit, 1910-1945 by Paul R. Kavieff

1930 Joe Bernstein drove to the
home of his close friend and business partner, Harry Kirschenbaum.
Harry, ex-convict and Purple gangster, was an opium addict who'd
promised to kick his narcotics habit once and for all.
    Kirschenbaum's
filling pad company was a good front for Joey Bernstein's end of the
Purple Gang's lucrative wire service operation. It provided Detroit's
700 handbooks with indispensable daily horse racing information.
Subscribing to the Purple Gang's wire service was not an option for
handbook operators—those who went elsewhere or objected to
paying for protection went out of business, permanently.
    Bernstein
depended on Kirschenbaum. He was one of the Purples' most capable
lieutenants. Lately, however, Harry's use of opium had been creating
serious problems.
    The
responsibility to oversee the Purple Gang's handbooks was a job which
required daily monitoring, but Kirschenbaum would disappear for days
at a time. Bernstein had begun to lose his famous hair trigger
temper. He was known in the underworld for moodi-ness and for being
the most physically dangerous Bernstein brother.
    Several
days earlier, Bernstein stopped by Kirschenbaum's home but was told
by his wife that Harry was out. Joe noticed the pungent smell of
opium in the house and suspected Kirschenbaum was back on the pipe.
On this day he went to the house unarmed but had already decided that
if he found Kirschenbaum smoking he would beat him within an inch of
his life.
    He
burst into the house and asked where Harry was. Mrs. Kirschenbaum
cried that her husband had been on a six week binge and was laying
practically motionless
in an upstairs bedroom.
    "I'll
take care of that baby!" Joe yelled as he pulled off his coat,
and bounded up the stairs. He lunged at Kirschenbaum, who,
anticipating the brutal beating, promptly pulled a pistol. Bernstein
doubled back but Kirschenbaum shot him. The bullet tore through
Bernstein's spleen as he stumbled down the steps and crashed through
a locked door into the street.
    Kirschenbaum
then continued after Bernstein, firing as he ran. Joe staggered up
Courtland Avenue and finally collapsed in front of a grocery store.
Assuming that Joe Bernstein was dead, Kirschenbaum tossed the Mauser
pistol into some bushes and ran back to his home for another pistol
before racing off in his car.
    A
construction worker named George Barrett heard the commotion and saw
Kirschenbaum throw away his pistol. He picked up the gun and fired at
Kirschenbaum, who returned fire as he roared away in his car.
Bernstein was rushed to the hospital with little hope for survival.
    These
were fellow gang members, who'd survived the street and gotten rich.
Now they were turning on each other like common thugs. In view of
their pasts, their lack of conscience was not surprizing. But during
the strong years of the Purple gang, partners would never have sunk
to this and it was rather a pathetic ending to their long careers.
    §
§ §

    Joe
Bernstein had come a long way in thirty years. Right before the
shooting he had built a beautiful Tudor style mansion in an exclusive
neighborhood. He appeared in public as a prosperous businessman. He
wintered in Florida, drove luxury automobiles, and seemed to have
unlimited amounts of money.
    Unlike
legitimate businessman, Joey Bernstein was chauffeured
by a bodyguard in a custom built Cadillac limousine. The luxury sedan
was really an armored car. Its inside was lined with bulletproof
steel and the windows were made of bulletproof glass.
    Police
Department records and underworld rumor painted the true picture of
the suave thug. He'd been arrested fifteen times in ten years, but
was convicted only once. He pled guilty and was given probation
because of his youth. Other arrests included assault, extortion,
gambling and murder.
    By
the time Joe was in his late twenties, he had become a Purple mob
boss, respected and feared. He had muscled the Detroit handbook
operators into line and started the first wire service.