Besha Starkman

Besha Starkman (14 April 1889-15 August 1930) was the romantic and criminal partner of Canadian gangster Rocco Perri serving as his aide and underboss. She was murdered in 1930. .cite book|title=Dictionary of Hamilton Biography (Vol III, 1925-1939)|first=Thomas Melville |last=Bailey|publisher=W.L. Griffin Ltd|year=1992]

Bio

Besha (Bessie) Starkman's parents, Shimon and Gello Starkman, who were among the thousands of destitute Ashkenazi Jews who arrived in Toronto at the end of the 19th century. The family settled in "The Ward" (St. John's Ward), the overcrowded home of many poor immigrants. She later married Harry Tobin, a Russian Jew who worked as a bakery teamster. Starkman and Tobin had two daughters--Lilly and Gertrude.

For three months during 1912, they took in an Italian boarder named Rocco Perri. Starkman allegedly invited him home, since he needed a place to stay. Besha was quickly smitten by the charismatic Perri and, abandoning her family and Jewish faith, fled with him to St. Catharines, Ontario. Once there, Perri secured a job as a labourer on the Welland Canal enlargement project. Some of the Italians shunned them because Bessie was Jewish. It was also said that Starkman left him several times times, but returned.

After Canada's entry into the First World War in August 1914, the Canadian government cut off funding for the canal project, leaving Perri again unemployed. He found work in a bakery, then as a labourer, and relocated to Hamilton, Ontario with Starkman in 1916. He went to work at a travelling salesman for the "Superior Macaroni Company", but Starkman and Perri wanted more for themselves.

In late 1916, the ambitious couple saw an opportunity. The Ontario Temperance Act (OTA) was introduced in 1916 as a temporary wartime measure by Conservative Premier William Hearst (Ontario premier) (a temperance advocate and pillar of the Methodist church). It made possession of liquor and beer outside one's home illegal. Although one could retain a 'cellar supply' for personal consumption, it was illegal to sell a drink. As a result, the government closed bars, taverns, clubs and liquor stores. Almost overnight, selling liquor in Hamilton became a five million dollar business. Bessie's brains and ruthless drive combined with Perri's connections and charisma, got them started.

Starkman was more than just a common law wife to Perri. She was his underboss and the financial brains of the gang. Perri had ignored the major rule that a woman had no place in the mob. Starkman had been his right hand from the beginning.' Many considered Starkman the boss of the 'Perri mob.' She handled money, bookkeeping, and day-to-day business. She also commanded respect from gang members. Yet Starkman 'never forgot that Rocco was the boss.' They were said to have been 'grossing well over a million dollars a year--about 2.4 million dollars a month in today's currency .(December 2006) They had established a crime family that continued to dominate Hamilton until Starkman's death.

Murder victim

Starkman and Perri were out from one o'clock in the afternoon of 13 August, 1930, and returned home from visiting friends about 11:15 in the evening. After Perri drove the car into the garage from the Bold Street entrance, Starkman and Perri remained in the car finishing a conversation. Then Starkman got out of the car first and headed for the garage light switch so that Perri could close the garage door. Before Starkman could reach for the switch, shots rang out. One hit her in the neck, the other in her side, and another struck a tin pan in the garage. Perri moved towards his wife, heard a second shot, and ran out of the garage into the street, where a neighbour was out walking his dog, heard him yelling, 'My girl has been shot!' Reports implied that there had been three men--two who had shot Starkman and one who had driven the getaway car. Two twelve gauge, double-barrelled rifles, found near the garage, had been wiped clean of fingerprints. The police had virtually no concrete evidence about the identity of the murderers. Perri later said that he believed the motive had been robbery. However, though Starkman was wearing $10,000 worth of diamonds, none of the jewellery was taken.

Funeral

Starkman's funeral took place two days after the death and was the most flamboyant Hamilton had ever seen. The $3,000 casket was described by the funeral directors, Brown Brothers, as 'bronzed silver steel, full couch length, of state design with silver extension handles.' In their opinion, 'it was one of the finest and costliest made, similar in design to the one Rudolph Valentino was buried in and much like those 'obtained for many New York gangsters.' Huge crowds were drawn to the funeral. The burial itself was brief; Perri openly sobbed and the crowd quickly became uncontrollable. Finally, however, Starkman's body lay buried in the "Ohev Zedek" Cemetery, which means, ironically, "Lovers of Justice."

The full extent of police investigation into the murder was not clarified until later. Several theories were developed to explain the killing. The most popular theory is that Starkman's failure to pay for a shipment of narcotics from the Rochester crew of Stefano Magaddino's Buffalo crime family family led to her death. The results of the investigation, however, were inconclusive.

ee also

*Rocco Perri, Starkman's common-law husband and business partner.
*Charles William Bell, Playwright, Politician and Perri's Lawyer. 1876-1938.

References

Resources

* "King of the Mob: Rocco Perri and the women who ran his rackets" by James Dubro & Robin F. Rowland (Toronto)-1987
* Rocco Perri Scrapbook (Hamilton Herald Newspaper articles) 12 April 1927, 14, 16, 18 August 1930
* Hamilton Public Library clippings, Hamilton, Famous and Fascinating, Thomas Melville Bailey and Charles Ambrose Carter.