02.28
Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel was born on February 28, 1906 in Brooklyn, New York. He was an American gangster who was involved with the Genovese crime family. He was a major driving force behind large-scale development of Las Vegas. On the night of June 20, 1947, as Siegel sat with his associate Allen Smiley in Virginia Hill’s Beverly Hills home reading the LA Times, an unknown assailant fired at him through the window hitting him many times, including twice in the head. No one was charged with the murder, and the crime remains officially unsolved. Siegel is buried at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California.
Dorothy Stratten was born on February 28, 1960 in Vancouver, Canada. She was 1980 Playboy Playmate of the year. She was murdered at age twenty by her estranged husband/manager Paul Snider, who committed suicide the same day. Her death inspired two motion pictures. Shortly after noon on August 14, 1980, Snider and Stratten met at Snider’s house, where the two had once lived as a couple, and in which Snider was by then sharing with its owner, their mutual friend, Dr. Stephen Cushner. She had come to talk about an amicable divorce and brought along $1,000 to give to Snider. At about 11:00PM Snider’s private investigator called Cushner on his private line, saying he had been trying to telephone Snider for several hours, but Snider would not answer his phone. Cushner broke into Snider’s room and found them both dead from shotgun blasts. Stratten is buried at Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles.
