Boston's Tommy Gun-Wielding 1930s Gangsters

12:46

May 12, 2015

Norma Brighton, Murton Millen and Irving Millen at the New York City Police Station. Boston Public Library/Leslie Jones Collection

The year was 1934. The place was Needham. The crime, a bank robbery and the murder of two police officers, cut down with a "tommy gun."

What followed was a police investigation and the arrest of four suspects: two Jewish brothers, an MIT graduate and an 18-year-old minister's daughter, the beautiful Norma Brighton.

The whole thing is chronicled in "Tommy Gun Winter," a new book from Nathan Gorenstein, a former investigative reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Murton Millen, Irving Millen and Abe Farber. Boston Public Library/Leslie Jones Collection — Murton Millen, Irving Millen and Abe Farber at the start of their trial. (Courtesy Boston Public Library)

Guest

Nathan Gorenstein, former investigative reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer and author of "Tommy Gun Winter: Jewish Gangsters, a Preacher's Daughter and the Trial That Shocked 1930s Boston." He tweets @Murtscuz.

courthouse shot — Murt, Irv and Abe leaving the Norfolk County Courthouse surrounded by reporters. (Courtesy Boston Public Library)

Wicked Local Medford: "Tommy Gun Winter," By Nathan Gorenstein Explores 1934 Needham Bank Robbery

"The subtitle, 'Jewish Gangsters, a Preacher’s Daughter and the Trial that Shocked 1930s Boston,' only scratches the surface of a saga that dominated the front page of all seven Boston daily newspapers at the time."

A courtroom visit to the Needham Bank. Boston Public Library/Leslie Jones Collection — A courtroom visit to the Needham Bank. (Courtesy Boston Public Library)

This segment aired on May 12, 2015.

Boston's Tommy Gun-Wielding 1930s Gangsters

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