On this day in 1902 the head of Lucky Luciano‘s hit team, Samuel Levine was born. Also known as Red, he would take part in many prominent mob hits from the Salvatore Maranzano hit in 1931 to the Dutch Schultz hit of 1935. He died in April 1972 at the age of 69.

Born on this day in 1902, Samuel “Red” Levine was one of the most reliable and feared enforcers in the early American organised crime landscape, a man whose trigger finger helped shape the destiny of the National Crime Syndicate itself. Operating at the very heart of Lucky Luciano’s enforcement apparatus, Levine earned his place in mob history not through political manoeuvring or flashy notoriety, but through cold, efficient violence carried out at precisely the right moments in history.

Levine’s nickname “Red” almost certainly derived from his hair colouring, but there was an unmistakable double meaning for those who knew his profession. He served as the head of Luciano’s personal hit team, a role that placed him among the most trusted and dangerous men in New York’s criminal underworld during one of its most turbulent periods. His loyalty to Luciano was absolute, and that loyalty was rewarded with some of the most consequential assignments the mob had to offer.

His most celebrated piece of work came on 10th September 1931, when Levine was part of the team that walked into the Park Central Hotel in New York and executed Salvatore Maranzano, the self-declared “Boss of Bosses” of the Italian-American underworld. Maranzano’s death was a watershed moment, effectively ending the Castellammarese War and clearing the path for Luciano to restructure organised crime in America along the lines of what would become the Commission. The hit was a masterpiece of timing and audacity, and Levine’s involvement placed him at the very pivot point of mob history.

Four years later, Levine would again be called upon for a killing of seismic significance. On 23rd October 1935, members of Murder Inc. entered the Palace Chop House in Newark, New Jersey, and gunned down Dutch Schultz along with three of his associates. Schultz, the volatile and unpredictable Bronx beer baron, had been making reckless threats to assassinate special prosecutor Thomas Dewey, a move the Commission feared would bring catastrophic heat down on the entire organisation. Luciano ordered the hit, and men like Levine ensured it was carried out with professional precision.

Samuel Levine lived out the rest of his days quietly, dying in April 1972 at the age of 69, a remarkable feat of longevity for a man who had walked so close to death for so long. His career stands as a testament to the brutal efficiency that underpinned the golden age of American organised crime.