In the early hours of November 27, 1933, the bodies of two men were discovered in the back seat of a Chrysler at the corner of Telegraph and Quarton roads in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. The victims were 35-year-old Eddie Fletcher, also known as Edward Samuel Fleischer, and his associate, Abe Axler. Both men had been shot to death, their bodies positioned side-by-side with their hands intertwined in a sign of disrespect.
Fletcher and Axler were known as 'The Siamese Twins' and were prominent members of Detroit's infamous Purple Gang.
The murders were a result of an internal power struggle within the gang. An intra-gang trial had been held, and Fletcher and Axler were sentenced to death for allegedly being police informants. The execution was carried out by fellow gang members. In the aftermath of the killings, three high-ranking members of the Purple Gang, Harry Keywell, Irving Milberg, and Raymond Bernstein, were arrested and ultimately convicted of first-degree murder for their roles in the slayings. They were sentenced to life in prison.
Despite the convictions of Keywell, Milberg, and Bernstein, the man believed to be the actual triggerman, Harry Fleisher, managed to evade justice. He fled the area and was never apprehended or convicted for the murders of Eddie Fletcher and Abe Axler. The deaths of Fletcher and Axler marked a significant moment in the decline of the Purple Gang's power and influence in the Detroit underworld.
