Harry 'Pittsburgh Phil' Strauss

Harry 'Pittsburgh Phil' Strauss

Harry 'Pittsburgh Phil' Strauss was a prolific contract killer for Murder, Inc. in the 1930s. He purportedly killed over one hundred men including: shooting, ice picks, drowning, live burial, and strangulation. Killers were paid a regular salary as retainer as well as an average fee of $1,000 to $5,000 per hit. Strauss was arrested 18 times but wasn't convicted until he was found guilty of the homicide that sent him and fellow Murder, Inc. hitman Martin 'Bugsy' Goldstein to the electric chair.

After hitman Abe 'Kid Twist' Reles turned informant, Strauss was arrested for the murder of Irving 'Puggy' Feinstein. Strauss tried to avoid conviction by feigning insanity in the courtroom and on death row. Strauss and Goldstein were convicted September 19, 1940, and executed by electrocution using Sing Sing's Old Sparky on June 12, 1941.

Harry Strauss and Martin 'Bugsy' Goldstein.

Abe 'Kid Twist' Reles