Philip Davidson

Philip "Red Phil" Davidson (born 1882) was a New York City criminal responsible for the murder of gang leader "Big" Jack Zelig. Although at the time of his arrest police were unable to find a police record, he was a known associate of Jack Sirocco.

A retired Russian Jewish fruit peddler living on East Seventh Street, Davidson shot and killed New York gang leader "Big" Jack Zelig while on a Thirteenth Street trolley on October 5, 1912 following an altercation during a card game at a local cafe. It has been suggested that Zelig's murder was an attempt to keep Zelig from testifying against Charles Becker in the Rosenthal murder case involving the Lenox Avenue Gang. He later turned himself into authorities, freely telling police that he had been attacked with a blackjack and robbed by Zelig earlier that day for which he had gotten his revenge.

Among several underworld figures, Davidson was a petty thief and informer for which he had gotten into an altercation with Zelig on the afternoon of October 5, 1912.

Although Zelig was scheduled to testify during the trial of Lieutenant Charles Becker regarding his connection to the Rosenthal murder case, police were unable to find any connection between Davidson and Becker.

The Becker trial would be interrupted by Davidson's own trial for which he would be sentenced to twenty years imprisonment on November 6 after pleading guilty to second degree murder. While imprisoned in Sing Sing Prison, he came forward to offer to testify for the defense claiming that Zelig had paid him $500 to murder Herman "Beansie" Rosenthal however he himself chose not to participate in the murder. His statement, which he had first told to his cellmate, was hoped to be used by Becker's lawyers to prove the money used to hire the Lenox Avenue Gang did not come from Becker but rather the deceased Jack Zelig.

Davidson's testimony was refuted by police and prison officials however as Sheriff Julius Harburger referred to Davidson as "the most cowardly prisoner he had ever seen".

Further reading

*Asbury, Herbert. "The Gangs of New York: An Informal History of the New York Underworld". New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1928. ISBN 1-56025-275-8
*Fried, Albert. "The Rise and Fall of the Jewish Gangster in America". New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1980. ISBN 0-23109683-6
*Kohn, George C. "Dictionary of Culprits and Criminals". Metuchen, New Jersey: Scarecrow Press, 1986.
*Logan, Andy. "Against the Evidence: The Becker-Rosenthal Affair". New York: McCall Publishing Company, 1970.
*Mackenzie, Frederick Arthur. "Twentieth Century Crimes". Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1927.
*O'Kane, James M. "The Crooked Ladder: Gangsters, Ethnicity and the American Dream". New Brunswick, New Jersey: Transaction Publishers, 1994. ISBN 0-7658-0994-X
*Pietrusza, David. "Rothstein: The Life, Times, and Murder of the Criminal Genius Who Fixed the 1919 World Series". New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, 2003. ISBN 0-7867-1250-3
*Root, Jonathan. "One Night in July: The True Story of the Rosenthal-Becker Murder Case". New York: Coward-McCann, 1961.
*Schiavo, Giovanni Ermenegildo. "The Truth about the Mafia and Organized Crime in America". New York: Vigo Press, 1962.

References

*"Gunman From Whose Gang Rosenthal Assassins Came Shot in 2d Ave. Car.; Weapon Of Choice A Police Revolver. Man Who Used It Says Zelig Blackjacked and Robbed Him and He Killed in Revenge". New York Times. 06 Oct. 1912
*"Zelig's Slayer Gets Long Term In Prison; Justice Golf Sends Davidson to Sing Sing for Not Less Than Twenty Years." New York Times. 07 Nov. 1912
*"Gunmen Hear To-Day The Death Sentence; Sheriff Will Take Them to Sing Sing at Once, Guarding Against Attack". New York Times. 26 Nov. 1912