Real Detectives That Are More Interesting Than Fictional – Since the 19th century, literary detectives have been an integral part of our imaginations. Although a number of detective stories appeared in 18th-century China, the work that truly defined the genre was written by Edgar Allan Poe. His eccentric detective character, C. Auguste Dupin, became the inspiration for the later iconic figure of Sherlock Holmes. Over time, more and more authors continued this tradition by creating varied narratives, and detective novels began to capture the attention of readers around the world.
Real Detectives That Are More Interesting Than Fictional
detektiv – However, as the saying goes, “truth is often stranger than fiction.” Throughout history, real-life detectives have performed incredible feats that are no less interesting than fictional stories. The following ten detectives have not only captivated the public with their outstanding skills and charisma, but have also been involved in some of the most historic cases of their time.
1. Izzy Einstein and Moe Smith
Isidor “Izzy” Einstein and Moe Smith were two middle-aged men from New York’s Lower East Side who together arrested 4,932 offenders, seized an estimated five million bottles of illegal liquor, and achieved a 95 percent prosecution rate between 1920 and 1925. Before becoming a Prohibition-era detective, Einstein, an Austrian immigrant, had worked as a street vendor and a mailman, while Smith ran a cigar store. When they first signed up for the Prohibition Bureau for $40 a week, the G-men’s initial reaction was less than enthusiastic.
However, Einstein and Smith managed to convince their superiors that criminals would not suspect two stocky, ordinary men while they were undercover. Like Sherlock Holmes, the pair earned a reputation for crafting highly effective disguises. They often managed to hide in obvious places, although many secret bars had their pictures on their walls.
Ironically, it wasn’t the criminals who stopped Izzy and Moe’s careers, but their fellow agents who began to envy their success. Unlike fictional detectives who are neurotic geniuses with impressive knowledge, Einstein and Smith’s success was due more to their hard work and deep understanding of New York City life. Furthermore, Einstein was able to speak multiple languages, including Yiddish, German, Polish, Hungarian, and even Mandarin, which helped him communicate with suspects and witnesses.
Read Also : Recommended Roller Skates for Kids
2. Dave Toschi
When you’re the inspiration behind iconic characters like Inspector Harry Callahan in the hit film “Dirty Harry” and Lieutenant Frank Bullitt played by Steve McQueen in “Bullitt” (1968), that’s a sign of some serious cool. The man who can rightfully claim that honor is Dave Toschi, who served as an inspector with the San Francisco Police Department from 1952 to 1983. During his time in San Francisco, Toschi was known for his neat appearance, attention to detail, and his habit of wearing his signature quick-draw holster while constantly chewing on animal crackers. He is also credited as one of the lead detectives on the Zodiac case, a series of gruesome murders that remain unsolved to this day.
From December 1968 to October 1969, the Zodiac Killer terrorized San Francisco and its surrounding areas with a series of crimes that terrified the community. To make matters worse, the killer did not hesitate to taunt police and the public with strange letters and codes, even threatening to terrorize schoolchildren. In the midst of this urgency, Toschi and his team at the San Francisco PD never stopped hunting the killer for years, though their efforts never yielded satisfactory results.
The investigation that came closest to catching the Zodiac focused on Arthur Leigh Allen, whom Toschi called the “best suspect” in the entire case. While Toschi is best known for his involvement in the Zodiac case, he also played a key role in the investigation of the Zebra murders, a series of racially motivated attacks and crimes committed by a black nationalist gang against whites in the mid-1970s.
Then there was Johnny Broderick, often referred to as the “Broadway Cop.” He patrolled New York’s theater district as a member of the New York Police Department from 1923 to 1947. During his time, Broderick was known throughout the city as a tough cop. His reputation was built largely on his bravery in dealing with gangsters and suspects, so much so that many stories portrayed “Broadway Johnny” as a tough guy who could outwit fictional detectives created by famous writers like Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler.
Born into an Irish-American family in Manhattan’s Gashouse District, Broderick returned home after serving in the Navy during World War I and became a “labor beater.” He also served as a bodyguard for Samuel Gompers, the founder of the American Federation of Labor. Broderick then became a patrolman in 1923. During his career, he proved his mettle in a fight with legendary New York gangster Jack “Legs” Diamond, even throwing him in a garbage can. He also served as a bodyguard for heavyweight boxing champion Jack Dempsey.
Broderick is best known for his heroic actions against armed prisoners at the Manhattan Detention Complex better known as The Tombs. When the prisoners barricaded themselves behind a pile of coal in an attempt to defend themselves, Broderick charged them and engaged them in a gunfight. His daring act may have led to some of the prisoners committing suicide. Although beloved by many New Yorkers for his courage in confronting crime head-on, Broderick was not without controversy, often being hated by politicians and the target of civil cases accusing him of police misconduct and brutality.
3. William J. Burns
Known as “America’s Sherlock Holmes,” a nickname bestowed upon him by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, William J. Burns made his name as one of the nation’s most prominent detectives. Born the son of Irish immigrants in Columbus, Ohio, he rose to become the former director of the Bureau of Investigation (BOI). Although better known as a private investigator, during his tenure at the William J. Burns International Detective Agency, he led investigations into some of the most notorious crimes of the early 20th century.
Read Also :Detektif Terkenal di Dunia dan karyanya
In 1910, Burns was named one of the lead investigators in the massive bombing of the Los Angeles Times building, which killed 20 people in an attack sparked by a labor dispute. His courage in tracking the attackers paid off, and a year later, he and his team managed to arrest two of the perpetrators, John J. and James B. McNamara, after following a trail of dynamite that led from the Midwest to Los Angeles.
However, domestic terrorism did not stop there. In 1920, the world was shocked by a massive bombing on Wall Street that killed 38 people and injured about 400 others. Burns immediately rushed to the scene and quickly came up with the theory that the attack was the work of Communist sympathizers. Unfortunately, the investigation into the Wall Street Bombing hit a dead end and remains a mystery to this day.
After that, Burns’ path became more complicated. After being appointed Director of the BOI, he became involved in a series of scandals, including one involving the use of his agents to discredit Senator Burton K. Wheeler of Montana. At the time, Wheeler was chairman of the Senate committee investigating the Teapot Dome Scandal, a major case involving the leasing of oil-rich government land to private companies by Harding-era government officials. Burns was allegedly sent to find dirt on Wheeler by people close to President Harding. When Burns’ involvement in the scandal was revealed, he was forced to resign from his BOI position.
After the incident, Burns spent the rest of his life in Florida, writing detective stories while watching J. Edgar Hoover transform the BOI into the modern FBI.
William J. Flynn and William J. Burns were two contemporaries who shared not only similar first names and middle initials, but also striking physical appearances. Both men were burly, had paunches, and had well-groomed mustaches reminiscent of President Theodore Roosevelt. In an interesting coincidence, both began their law enforcement careers in the United States Secret Service under President Roosevelt. They served as private investigators and later headed the Bureau of Investigation, with Flynn serving from 1919 to 1921 and Burns from 1921 to 1924.
Despite their similarities, there were striking differences between them. Unlike Burns, Flynn spent several years as a professional law enforcer in New York City. While serving as deputy commissioner of the NYPD, Flynn was instrumental in restructuring the Detective Bureau, adopting the model used by Scotland Yard and the Secret Service. He was also the first to take on the American Mafia led by the notorious Giuseppe Morello. In 1910, Flynn and his colleagues in the New York Secret Service successfully built a case that led to Morello’s arrest for counterfeiting.
Later, during World War I, Flynn served as chief of the United States Railroad Secret Service, a position that exposed him to potential saboteurs. In 1919, he encountered some of these individuals again when, as a leading expert on anarchists, he was called upon by Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer to carry out an operation known as the “Palmer Raid,” which contributed to the First Red Scare.
4. Ellis Parker
Like William J. Burns, Ellis Parker is also known as “America’s Sherlock Holmes.” However, unlike Burns and Holmes who served to protect the country or a big city, Parker spent his 44-year career as Chief of Detectives in Burlington County, New Jersey, a largely rural area in the Delaware Valley. One might think that being a small-town detective would be a boring job, but during his tenure, Parker was involved in the investigation of approximately 300 crimes, many of which were considered by the local media to be near-unsolved mysteries.
At first, Parker was a national celebrity. However, his name was tarnished after he was involved in the kidnapping case of Charles Lindbergh’s son, when he kidnapped and tortured a suspect who turned out to be innocent. This cruel act landed him several years in federal prison. Ironically, the person Parker suspected of kidnapping and murdering Lindbergh’s 20-month-old son was his own co-worker, Trenton attorney Paul Wendel. The stay of execution of Bruno Hauptmann, the man convicted of the murder of Charles Lindbergh Jr. , for 48 hours following Parker’s accusation against Wendel, shows how respected Parker was as an investigator.
Before he was entangled in scandal in 1936, Parker was widely recognized throughout the United States as a brilliant but humble detective who often received letters of advice from other law enforcement officials. One of his most famous cases, known as the “Case of the Salted Corpse,” is still considered a masterpiece of deduction, early forensics, and meticulous detective work. The case began on October 5, 1920, when William (some sources call him David) Paul, a bank messenger for Broadway Trust Bank in Camden, New Jersey, left for Girard National Bank in Philadelphia with a check for $42,000 and $40,000 in cash, but never returned. Eleven days later, Paul’s body was found in a shallow grave in Burlington County by a duck hunter. Although the $42,000 check was still on him, all of the cash had been stolen.
It turns out that Paul was murdered by two men named Frank James and Ray Shuck, who were his friends and partygoers at the Lollipop Inn, James’s bungalow. After killing Paul to rob him, the two dumped his body in a remote river. Parker, who found a pair of James’s glasses at the scene, also noted that Paul’s body was found downstream from a tanning factory. This suggests that Paul’s body had been submerged in water high in tannic acid, a powerful preservative, for days, and was therefore “salted.” When Parker presented this evidence to James, he broke down and confessed.