Fred Goetz

Fred Samuel Goetz (February 14, 1897-March 20, 1934), also known as "Shotgun" George Ziegler, was a Chicago mobster and a suspected participant in the Valentine's Day Massacre in 1929.

Born in Chicago, Illinois, he was stationed at Langley Field, Virginia during World War I as a pilot in the US Army's aviation branch and rose to the rank of 2nd lieutenant before the war's end. He later earned a degree in landscape engineering from the University of Illinois after graduating in 1922. Goetz worked as a lifeguard at Clarendon Beach until he was charged with assaulting seven year old Jean Lanbert. Goetz denied the charges however and later jumped bail on June 10, 1925.

Almost four months later, Roger Bessner implicated Goetz and Hymie "The Romeo" in a recent failed robbery of a Dr. Henry R. Gross in which the family chauffeur Barney Hernandez was killed. Detective questioning Bessner believed Goetz had been attempting to recoup the loss of $5,000 he forfeited when he fled earlier that year.

During the next several years, Goetz would become associates with underworld figures such as Yallow Kid Weil and Morris Klineman as well as participating in several armed robberies including the robbery of $352,000 from the Farmer and Merchants bank in Jefferson, Wisconsin with Gus Winkler and four others in 1929.

After the Valentine's Day Massacre, Goetz left Chicago and began bootlegging operations in Kansas City, Missouri before becoming associated with the Barker Gang. He later participated in several bank robberies with Alvin Karpis, Fred and Doc Barker as well as the 1931 kidnapping of millionaire Edward G. Bremmer in 1933. He collected the ransom and released Bremmer.

Returning to Chicago, Goetz was killed in a drive by shooting while outside a closed Cicero restaurant "The Minerva" on March 20, 1934. The motives for is murder are unclear, however a number of his former associates had motives for his murder including the Barker Gang who may have feared he may have been talking about their recent heists as well as the Chicago Outfit and the North Side Gang for his alleged involvement in the St. Valentine's Day Massacre.

External links

* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=12227 Fred Goetz] at Find-A-Grave
* [http://www.myalcaponemuseum.com/id107.htm My Al Capone Museum: Fred Goetz]
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,770474-2,00.html TIME.com - Illinois' Goetz]