Little Man, great to see some Frank Bals talk here; the guy was no fucking good & O'Dwyer almost certainly had to know it..

One important clarification: a living Morris Diamond was scarcely any threat to Albert; rather, the May 1939 Diamond hit was done to protect Lepke, who was still on the lam from a FEDERAL racketeering retrial (Southern District NY) & also facing further STATE racketeering charges in Manhattan thanks to Thomas Dewey.

For everything that's been written about so-called "Murder Inc.," the relationship-- both business & friendship-- between Lepke & Albert is still rather mysterious.

Though he was, by all accounts, a violent hothead, I also think Albert was more intelligent-- "shrewd" at least, & adept at mob politics than he's portrayed-- at least until the last moment he wasn't.