Victim in The Disappearance of Judge Crater
New York Supreme Court justice who disappeared on 6 August 1930; declared legally dead on 6 June 1939.
1930–1979 · West 45th Street, Manhattan, New York City · Unsolved
On 6 August 1930 a New York judge left a Midtown chophouse and was never seen again. The 'missingest man in America' and the Tammany scandal around him. Read the case.
Dated events
Governor Roosevelt appoints Crater to the New York Supreme Court.
On holiday in Belgrade, Maine, Crater receives a telephone call and returns to New York.
Crater leaves Maine for New York for the last time, promising to be back for his wife's birthday.
Crater clears papers from his chambers, has two cheques cashed, buys a theatre ticket and dines on West 45th Street, then disappears.
Crater fails to appear for the opening of the court term.
Stella Crater finds envelopes of money, securities and a note from her husband in a dresser drawer.
Crater is declared legally dead.
Stella Crater publishes The Empty Robe, saying she believes he was murdered.
Police disclose a posthumous claim that Crater was killed and buried at Coney Island; no evidence is found.