Zuta began working for Al Capone in the mid-1920s.[1][3] He helped contribute $50,000 of Capone's money to Chicago Mayor William Hale Thompson's reelection campaign in 1927. However, Zuta defected to Bugs Moran's North Side Gang during the gang war between Capone and Moran.[1][3][5]
In June 1930, Moran and Zuta allegedly ordered the assassination of mobbed-up Chicago Tribune reporter Jake Lingle[5][6][7] after Lingle demanded a cut of their illegal gambling operations on the Chicago Outfit's behalf.[1][8][9] After the murder (for which former Egan's Rats gangster Leo Vincent Brothers was convicted),[8] Zuta was arrested and questioned by police. He was released the next day. While being given a police escort the police cruiser was fired on by several unidentified gunmen.[1][4][8] The attackers killed two bystanders before being driven off by police.[3] Zuta fled Chicago, and hid out in Upper Nemahbin Lake, west of Milwaukee, living under the alias "J. H. Goodman". Zuta was shot to death, most likely by the Chicago Outfit in revenge for the murder of Lingle, on August 1, 1930, at a roadhouse in Delafield, Wisconsin.[1][2][5][6][9] He lies buried in the Jewish cemetery located in Middlesboro, Kentucky.[8]
Aftermath
Zuta's death exposed a large amount of political corruption in Illinois. Zuta, a meticulous record keeper, had much information later found in various safe deposit boxes.[8] This information lead to the confiscation of a large whiskey shipment intended for Moran and to information about police raids on several breweries, as well as detailing kickbacks by the North Side Gang to both state and city officials.
All denied involvement, however, particularly Crowe and Starr, who insisted that the money was campaign contributions rather than bribes. In reference to Lingle's murder, the name, "Zuta", later became slang for a revenge killing. In 1931, after a $50,000 bounty was placed on his head, Capone joked, "Nobody's gonna' 'Zuta' me."[5][6]
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