Edwin Helfant

Edwin Helfant (April 12, 1926- February 15, 1978) was an Atlantic City lawyer and part-time municipal court judge, he was murdered by Philadelphia mafiosi Nicholas Virgilio in a cocktail lounge for failing to rig a Supreme Court murder trial.

In 1972 Virgilio was convicted of murder, his friend and fellow mafiosi, who became boss in 1981, Nicodemo Scarfo, contacted crooked lawyer Helfant and paid him $12,000 to be given to the Supreme Court judge handling the murder case for a lenient sentence.

However Virgilio instead of receiving the lenient sentence he'd paid to receive he received a 12-20 year sentence. In 1978 he walked free and was bent on seeking revenge on Helfant who'd not fulfilled his end of the deal.

Virgilio tracked Helfant and his wife to a cocktail lounge and on February 15th Virgilio, equipped with a shovel and ski mask, walked into the lounge. He shot Helfant 5 times with a .22 caliber pistol.

It's likely Helfant had forgotten about his betrayal of Virgilio because he was facing being convicted of taking bribes to kick out cases in the Somers Point municipal court where he worked part-time as a judge, he would likely be convicted and disbarred.

In 1988 the then boss of the Philadelphia mafia and 16 co-defendants were charged under the 1970 RICO act and as well as several other murders and drug dealing, extortion and loan-sharking the defendants were convicted of Helfant's murder.

His killer Virgilio is currently serving a 40 year jail sentence, partly for this murder.

External sources

*Blood and Honour, Inside the Scarfo Mob, George Anastasia