Story Summary:
Morris Kessler was the personal chauffeur and a mobster working with Joseph Amberg, one of the leaders of a criminal organization.
Morris was murdered as he and Amberg were about to collect "protection money" from neighborhood barbershops and restaurants.
Their executioners, believed to be from Murder, Inc. organization, machine-gunned them to death. Morris was only 23 years old.
This crime has remained unsolved.
Morris Kessler: Personal Chauffeur and Bodyguard for a Mobster

Morris L. Kessler (Morrie) was born in New York City on January 6, 1912. Little is published about his family or his early years.
Morrie opened his own hair salon and wig accessories store, both called "For Men Only", using a bridge loan. He became acquainted with the Lucchese crime family member Henry Hill and soon became involved with organized crime, becoming an independent bookmaker. Prior to meeting Henry Hill, Morrie had no known criminal record.
Morrie joined the criminal organization of Brooklyn mobsters with Joseph and Louis "Pretty" Amberg at the helm during the early 1930s. He also became Joe Amberg's personal chauffeur and bodyguard. Morrie was gunned down at 23 years of age. There is some speculation regarding the reasons that Morrie was murdered.

A fabricated story regarding the cause of Morrie’s death was featured as one of the most important subplots in Goodfellas, a show about crime figures. In the show, Morris had a part planning the Lufthansa heist. Because of his involvement in planning the heist, Morrie asked Jimmy for a big cut of the money. Morrie insisted a bit too much on getting that money, and Jimmy ended up getting him killed. Since Morrie died in 1935, which predates the Lufthansa heist by several decades, Morrie could not have been involved in orchestrating or participating in this crime as it was portrayed in Goodfellas.
On the afternoon of September 30, 1935, at 12:45 pm, Kessler and Amberg stopped at the Blake-Christopher Auto Garage prior to collecting “protection money” from neighborhood barber shops and restaurants. Morris and Joe Amberg had just entered the Brownsville garage to take out the new La Salle sedan which was in Kessler’s name but was the property of Amberg. The two men were about to step into the car when the three executioners, believed to be members of Murder, Inc, entered. They were dressed in mechanics overalls with grease-grimed faces. In the mobster method of killing, they lined up Morris and Amberg, two rival racketeers, against the wall with their noses pressed against the concrete. From the pockets of their mechanics overalls, the executioners drew their guns. The executioners shot Amberg first and then Kessler; police later found Kessler had been shot once in the forehead and three times in the back. There is speculation that a rival gang machine-gunned the men to death. Morris and Amberg were dead almost before they struck the grease pools on the floor with a dozen bullets in their backs. The three murderers escaped in the crowded street.
Louis Amberg had been killed only three weeks before his brother Joseph was executed. the Ambergs had been involved in a gang war with rivals Louis "Lepke" Buchalter and Jacob "Gurrah" Shapiro, though authorities believed the murders of Kessler and Amberg were linked to the then-recent deaths of small-time racketeers Abe Meer and Irving Amron. Although the getaway car used in the murder was later found by authorities, the crime remained unsolved.

Morris Kessler died at age 23 and was buried in Mount Hebron Cemetery.
Blog by Renee Meyers