Recently, I heard that the long mystery (of Crater’s disappearence in 1930) may be resolved: a note left by a dead woman claims that crater was abducted , murdered, and buried (under Coney Island pier), by a cab driver and a NYC policeman. This guy crater-was he a pretty shadey character? Was he killed because he was about to talk to the police?
Anybody know more on this?
The basic facts are here:
The simple answer is, we still don’t know. SOMEBODY’s remains were found at Coney Island, but there’s no conclusive proof as to whether it was Judge Crater, and we have only hearsay evidence to suggest that the policeman and cab driver (both long dead) were involved.
Crater was largey unknown when he disappeared. He had become a judge just four months earlier, and historians agree that he bought his appointment with a $20,000 payment. He wasn’t a “mob judge”, but he was well connected in local politics during the Tammany Hall era. There has been speculation that he was killed because he was going to testify about some of the crooked bosses, and other speculation that he was being blackmailed for his own transgressions (perhaps an affair with a showgirl). Nobody knows for sure.
But I think it’s worth noting that he wasn’t a particularly shady character, although he inhabited a political environment that was one of the most corrupt in our nation’s history.
…ala Judge Crater? I read that when Crater was declared dead (and his estate closed), he was worth only $30,000. Given that he paid $20K for the position, maybe he wasn’t all that corrupt. Still, I imagine that a guy in his position could make a LOT of money-and as part of the Tweed machine, he certainly had it made. Just for the sake of it; did any "psychics’ ever report contact with the good jugde?