Crime and Punishment of George Remus

 This week's theme is "Crime and Punishment." In researching, I've only found a few instances of ancestors being jailed. George Henrickson's father reportedly had minor run-ins with the local authorities in Sweden. My 3x great grandfather, Riley Thompson, was once jailed for a few hours because he cheered for Samuel Tilden at a rally for Rutherford B. Hayes. There is one ancestor, though, who most definitely committed a crime, and then got away with very little punishment.

George Remus was born in Germany around 1878. At the age of about 5 he traveled to America with his mother and sisters. His father had already come to America to find work. The family eventually settled in Chicago. George's mother was Marie Remus, maiden name of Karg. My great, great grandmother was Ottelia Karg, younger sister of Marie. George Remus was my great grandmother Emilia Ashley's first cousin. 

George was a smart kid, and with help from his uncle George Karg became a pharmacist at the age of  19. He later bought the pharmacy, and then another one. He was very successful at it, but he grew tired of it. He attended law school at night and then became a lawyer. He worked as a defense attorney, and was also very successful at that. He was one of the first defense attorneys to use the "temporary insanity" defense. After successfully defending a client with that defense he became very well known. When prohibition started, he noticed his clients were becoming rich while bootlegging alcohol. George found a loophole in the Volstead Act. Alcohol was permitted for medicinal purposes. Using his pharmacy knowledge, he obtained government licenses to make whiskey, for medicinal purposes. Then, he would hijack his own trucks and sell the whisky illegally. He based his whiskey operations in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was said that any whiskey sold East of the Mississippi during Prohibition came from George Remus. Time Magazine called him "King of the Bootleggers." 

During this time George left his first wife, Lillian, and daughter, and ran off with Imogene Holmes and her daughter, Ruth. During Prohibition George and Imogene bought a fancy house, threw lavish parties, and gave diamonds and cars away during parties to guests. There are rumors that George Remus was the main inspiration for F. Scott Fitzgerald's literary character, Jay Gatsby. 

All of this fame and fortune naturally drew the attention of the government. The FBI investigated and the government finally had enough evidence on George to bring him to trial. He was sentenced to 2 years in the Federal Penitentiary in Atlanta, Georgia for violating the Volstead Act. While there, George confided in an inmate that his wife Imogene had complete control of his money. The inmate was an undercover FBI agent who was there to gather more information on George. Instead, the agent, Franklin Dodge, quit his job and began his own affair with Imogene, while George was still in prison. Franklin and Imogene liquidated all of George's assets. They sold paintings and furnishings, cars and jewelry. Cleaned out bank accounts. They left George penniless. They also tried to get him deported, by saying he had never become an American citizen. They also hired a Hit Man to kill George, but the Hit Man didn't follow through as he feared retribution. Needless to say, when George was released from prison and saw what Franklin and Imogene had done, he was not happy. 

George filed for divorce from Imogene. On the morning the divorce was to be finalized, George saw Imogene get into a taxi at her hotel to go to the courthouse. George instructed his driver to follow her. He had his driver run the taxi driver off the road. When the taxi stopped, Imogene got out of the car and ran through a park. George followed her. He caught up to her, pulled a handgun out, and shot her in the stomach. This was in public, with many witnesses. Imogene, along with her daughter, got to a hospital but she later died from her injuries. George turned himself into the police and admitted he had shot Imogene, but claimed he was temporarily insane at the time. He had not been himself, and therefore, innocent. 

The case came to trial and was covered in papers all around the country. Everyone knew who George Remus was. He had shot his wife in public and was now claiming temporary insanity. George had even decided to defend himself and serve as his own attorney.  Prosecuting the case was the son of ex-President William Howard Taft, who was now on the Supreme Court. George's first wife and daughter, who he had abandoned, came to his defense. Imogene's daughter, Ruth, was one of the few to testify against him. After a month long trial the jury returned a verdict in 19 minutes......Not Guilty by reason of temporary insanity. The jury even wanted the judge to let Remus spend Christmas at his house. 

George was sentenced to an insane asylum in Ohio, but he was let go after only 7 months. He tried to find his money that Imogene had taken but was never able to recover any of it. He ended up living the rest of his life quietly in Cincinnati. He passed away after suffering a stroke at the age of 73, in 1952. 

George Remus was mentioned in the Prohibition documentary by Ken Burns. He was a character on the HBO series Boardwalk Empire. There was also a wonderful book written by Karen Abbott about the murder case called The Ghosts of Eden Park.

George Remus is my first cousin, 3x removed.  On my father's side of the family. Through my Grandma Lois Ashley Thompson.