White / Caucasian Abraham Axler, a 32-year-old male, met a violent end alongside his longtime associate Eddie Fletcher on November 26, 1933. The discovery was made in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, where a heavily armed Oakland County constable stumbled upon a parked Chrysler sedan on a lonely stretch of road. Inside the vehicle, the bodies of Axler and Fletcher were found slumped in the seats, having been shot at close range.
The scene was gruesome, with both men sustaining fatal wounds to the face from heavy-caliber bullets, rendering them nearly unrecognizable. In a macabre display of disrespect by their killers, the victims’ hands had been intertwined post-mortem, a mocking gesture referencing their reputation in the underworld as the "Siamese Twins" due to their inseparable nature.
Axler and Fletcher were notorious enforcers for Detroit’s Purple Gang, a predominantly Jewish criminal organization that controlled much of the city's illicit alcohol and gambling trade during the Prohibition era. Their deaths marked a significant turning point in the gang's history, as the organization was already fracturing due to internal strife and pressure from rival Italian syndicates. Police investigation revealed that the pair had likely been carousing at a beer garden in nearby Pontiac shortly before they were lured to their deaths. The intimate range of the shooting suggested they had been driven to the isolated spot by individuals they knew and trusted, leading authorities to suspect a betrayal from within their own circle.
Detectives quickly focused on several suspects, theorizing that the killings were retaliation for a "double-cross" involving a business deal or narcotics. Harry Millman, another high-ranking member of the Purple Gang who frequently clashed with the hierarchy, emerged as a prime person of interest. Law enforcement speculated that Millman, possibly working with Harry "H.F." Fleisher, orchestrated the hit to eliminate rivals or settle a score. Despite these strong suspicions and the high-profile nature of the execution-style murders, no solid evidence could be pinned on Millman or any other associates. The investigation hit a wall of silence common in gangland slayings, and ultimately, no one was ever charged or convicted for the murders of Axler and Fletcher.
