Page "Murder, Inc." Paragraph 21

Jacob (" Jack ") Drucker and Irving (" Big Gangi ") Cohen were put on trial separately for the murder of racketeer Walter Sage in the Catskills.

Sage was killed with an ice pick and had the frame of a slot machine tied to his body, which was found in Swan Lake on July 31, 1937.

After the Sage murder, believing he was also going to be killed, Cohen fled to California and managed to secure small roles in films.

According to the chief prosecution witness, Abraham " Pretty " Levine, Sage was riding in a car with Cohen and Drucker when he was stabbed 32 times with an icepick as Levine and Harry Strauss were following in another car.

During the assault and struggle, Drucker stabbed Cohen once in the arm as Sage had grabbed the steering wheel and wrecked the car.

Levine also testified that he observed Drucker wiping the icepick clean before helping dispose of the body.

Cohen testified in his own defense, stating that Levine had stabbed him with an icepick as he was walking home from a casino.

Cohen stated that he was assaulted by Levine and another man on Drucker's orders since he refused to pay 25 % profit on a game of chance that he operated.

Cohen was acquitted on June 21, 1940.

Drucker, who was a suspect in four murders in the Catskills, was a fugitive for over three years, until the FBI located him in Delaware.

Drucker was convicted of second-degree murder on May 5, 1944, and received a sentence of 25 years to life.

Drucker died in Attica prison in January 1962.