Sean Paul Murphy, Writer

Sean Paul Murphy, Writer
Sean Paul Murphy, Storyteller

Friday, May 27, 2022

Grave Tales #27: Benjamin Kulpe


I am an avid genealogist. The past is very important to me. I spend a lot of time in cemeteries photographing tombstones to upload on website the FindAGrave.

I enjoy recognizing long dead people by putting memorials to them online. However, every once and a while something grabs me about a specific grave. It could be the name, or the dates or a ceramic photo. In those cases, I feel compelled to dig a little deeper. That's what this series of blogs is about: The tales behind those graves. Some of my subjects will be heroes. Some will be villains. Some will be victims. And some will linger in between, like most of us. However, don't be surprised if the tales are inherently tragic. These are grave tales. They all end in death.

Having finished my work at Ohr Knesseth Israel Anshe Sfard and Knesseth Israel Anshe Kolk Wolyn cemeteries on German Hill Road, I was invited by fellow Findagrave volunteer Dianne Feldman to help her document some graves across the street at the Hebrew Orthodox Memorial Cemetery. How could I say no? I found so many interesting folks across the street that I was hopeful I would find more grave tales there. And I was right.

For the most part, the monuments in Hebrew Orthodox Memorial Cemetery are modest and unobtrusive. It would have been easy to walk past the grave of Benny Kulpe without giving it a second thought. In fact, I am hard pressed to remember what inspired me to research him, but I'm glad I did. I found it to be a fascinating case. Here's the story:

The Evening Sun (Baltimore, Maryland), 17 November 1938, Thu:


GROCER SHOT DEAD BEHIND HIS COUNTER
-----
Benjamin Kulpe Apparently Slain While Resisting Bandits
-----
Two Other Places Held Up --
Family Locked In Cellar By Robbers
-----

     A 51-year-old grocer, Benjamin Kulpe, was shot and killed last night as he stood behind the counter of his store in the 900 block North Eden street.
     Members of his family who live in quarters above the store heard the shot, but found no one else in the store when they ran to the first floor.
     Although the cash drawer was untouched, police believe the shooting occurred when the grocer resisted a holdup man.

Shot In Right Side
     
     A package of cigarettes was found on the counter, indicating the assailant or assailants asked for them before drawing a gun.
     The grocer's wife, Mrs. Sarah Kulpe, was the first to reach the store. Kulpe was taken to Johns Hopkins Hospital, where physicians pronounced him dead. He had been shot in the right side, and it was believed the bullet penetrated the heart.

I'm stopping the news story there. After that point, the reporter discusses two other armed robberies that happened the same night. I don't mean to diminish the tragedy of any death, but the murder of a store owner during a robbery was not uncommon in Baltimore. Look at the way the newspaper treated the story: They just lumped it in with two other robberies. However, I decided to keep looking. I wanted to see if the killer was brought to justice.

Here's a story from the morning paper the next day:

The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, Maryland), 18 November 1938, Fri:


Police Without Clues In Holdup Murder
-----

     Police last night were without clues in the holdup murder Thursday of Benjamin Kulpe, 51-year-old proprietor of a grocery store in the 900 block of North Eden street. He was found shot to death behind the counter.
     Capt. John A Cooney, head of the Detective Bureau, assigned four members of the homicide squad to the case, but said they were unable to locate any finger prints or other clues which might lead to the identity of the slayer.
     Dr. Howard J. Maldeis, city post-mortem physician, conducted an autopsy yesterday and recovered the slug, which had been fired from a .32-caliber pistol. It penetrated Mr. Kulpe's left side, puncturing a lung and severing an artery.

That morning the prospects were not good for finding Mr. Kulpe's killer, but prospects improved a few hours later with the release of the evening paper:

The Evening Sun (Baltimore, Maryland), 18 November 1938, Fri:



MAN HELD IN MURDER OF BENJAMIN KULPE
-----
Police Say Suspect Bought Gun Night Grocer Was Shot.
Comparing Bullets
-----

     After five days of investigation, Sergt. Thomas McHale and Patrolman Arthur Smallwood today arrested a suspect in the murder Monday night of Benjamin Kulpe, who was shot as he stood behind a counter in his grocery at 912 North Eden street.
     Sergeant McHale and Patrolman Smallwood canvassed all hardware stores and pawn shops in the eastern section of the city for trace of a recent purchase of a .38-caliber revolver.

Report Suspect Bought Gun

     The man they arrested, they found, bought a gun on Monday. The officers also have established that he is in the habit of visiting a young woman in the neighborhood of Kulpe's grocery and was in the neighborhood the night of the murder.
     The officers found their suspect about 2.30 o'clock this morning in the 1500 block McElderry street with a young woman -- not the one he has been visiting in the Eden street area.
     He was taken to his home where, the officers said, they found the newly bought gun, fully loaded.
     The weapon was turned over to Capt. James Downs, department ballistics expert, for tests and comparison of its bullets with the one which proved fatal to Kulpe.

Okay, okay. First off, Kulpe was not killed five days earlier. He was killed the previous evening. That was a reporting error. Secondly, it appears that the police were acting on some mighty thin evidence -- particularly if what the previous story reported was true: That Kulpe was killed with a .32-caliber pistol, not a .38-caliber one. That said, I think the evidence was strong that the suspect was cheating on his girlfriend. I doubt a lawyer could clear him of that!

I assume that the suspect was cleared and released. A few days later another suspect emerged:

The Evening Sun (Baltimore, Maryland), 21 November 1938, Mon:


HEAVILY ARMED MAN SEIZED IN HOLDUP MURDER
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Arrested As He Reaches For Four Guns Under Seat Of Auto
-----
Faces Questioning In Grocer's Killing And Other Crimes

     Arrested by three police as he was trying to reach an arsenal of four loaded guns under the front seat of his automobile, a 29-year-old man was held at the Northwestern Police Station today as a suspect in the murder last week of Benjamin Kulpe, North Eden street grocer.
     Victims of recent holdups in all parts of the city were requested to visit the police station on Wednesday to try to identify the man, whom the police believe to have been involved in a long series of holdups and robberies.
     The suspect was arrested about 1.30 o'clock yesterday morning as he sat in his automobile at Marlen and Calhoon streets.

Police Draw Guns

     Sergt. Joseph E. Wagner, with Patrolmen Edward Burns and Roger Stocksdale, approached the machine. The suspect, they reported, jumped out and began digging under the front seat.
     Drawing their guns the police ordered him to move away from the car. He obeyed and the officers found three revolvers and an automatic, all loaded, under the front seat.
     At the station house they searched him again and found a blackjack in an inner pocket.

Booked On Weapons Charge

     He was booked on a charge of possessing deadly weapons, and at a hearing yesterday before Magistrate Harry Fine the police asked a postponement of the case so that the man might be held pending investigation.
     Bail was set at $5,000 and the further hearing was set for next Wednesday.
     Police in all city districts were requested to notify victims of recent holdups to go to the Northwestern Police Station today to try to pick their assailant out of a lineup.

Guns To Be Checked

     The four guns, a .32-caliber revolver, a .22-caliber revolver, a .38-caliber revolver and a German automatic, were turned over to the police ballistics experts to determine whether any one of them could have been used in the murder of Mr. Kulpe last week.
     The German automatic was identified by William Dude as a weapon stolen from the tavern he operates at 1233 North Gilmor street last Wednesday by a burglar who scaled an eight-foot wall in the rear of the place and forced a window. The burglar also took a money bag containing $30, ten cartons of cigarettes and four cases of whisky.
     One of the holdups police believe the man implicated in was the robbery of Joseph T. Turner, attendant in a filling station at Myrtle and George streets. Two holdup men took $54 from Turner, after forcing him to open the station's safe, and then demanded his car keys, driving away in Turner's own machine.

Well, at least this suspect had a .32-caliber pistol. Aside from that, the evidence against him in the Kulpe murder was slim to non-existent. Not surprisingly, this unnamed suspect disappears from the story. I couldn't even find any reference to him in the court proceedings on the following Wednesday.

I found no further reference to an active investigation into the Kulpe case after this story. However, I found some interesting stories prior the shooting. Benjamin Kulpe and his daughter Katie were facing charges regarding an illegal lottery. Take a look at this court schedule printed on 28 October 1938:

Here are the results of Benjamin and Katie's trial:

The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, Maryland), 29 October 1938, Sat:


State's Witness Held On Charge of Perjury
-----
Negro Jailed In Default of Bail After Testifying
In Lottery Case in Criminal Court

     A State's witness in in a lottery case was held on a perjury charge yesterday by Judge George A. Solter, in Criminal Court, and sent to jail in default of $500 bail pending grand jury action.
     Richard Martin, Negro, was identified in court as having testified at a police station hearing that he played a number at a store in the 900 block of North Eden street, September 15, and as a result a man and his daughter were placed on trial yesterday.
     When he took the stand yesterday, however, Martin had a lapse of memory, but finally recalled playing a number at the store of Benjamin Kulpe. The defendants, Kulpe and his daughter, Kate, were dismissed.

Nineteen days before his murder, Benjamin Kulpe was acquitted in a numbers case. That's quite a coincidence, and I don't believe in coincidences. I'm sorry, but I can't help but connect the two incidents.

I believe it is highly-possible that Mr. Kulpe was not killed in a holdup. I believe he might have been the victim of a mob hit.

I know I am treading on dangerous ground here. I certainly do not want to defame the dead or blame the victim. I am not accusing Mr. Kulpe of being a criminal. That said, do I believe he was selling numbers out of his store? Yes, I do. Was that illegal? Yes, it was. However, he might not have been doing it willingly. The numbers were a hugely-profitable racket controlled by organized crime. If they decided you had good location for their product, you had little choice but to agree. 

Additionally, look at the behavior of Richard Martin, the unfortunate witness in the numbers case. Could his "memory lapse" be a result of witness intimidation? That would be my first guess. Back in the day, snitches still got stitches -- or worse. Do I believe he was intimidated by Benjamin Kulpe or his daughter Katie? Absolutely not. Still, it's not difficult for me to see the mob influencing this trial.

Additionally, isn't it possible that Benjamin Kulpe said the wrong thing, perhaps inadvertently, to a police officer, prosecutor or judge during his arrest and trial? Something that might have angered the gangsters who ran the numbers? Possibly.

One additional news story about Benjamin Kulpe appeared in the Sunpapers in 1939 before he disappeared entirely from their pages. On August 6th, his death was one of many homicides unsolved murders listed from the previous year. It reads: "On November 16, 1938, a grocer, Benjamin Kulpe, was shot and killed by what was believed to be holdup men as he stood behind the counter of his store in the 900 block of North Eden street." Eight months later, the authorities still weren't sure of the motive....

I admit this is all speculation. Do I have any evidence that Mr. Kulpe's murder was a mob hit? No. But, on the other hand, there is no evidence his murder was the result of a failed robbery either. Nothing was stolen.

I'm just surprised that no one seemed to connect the two incidents. It was all public information. If they had investigated that angle, perhaps Mr. Kulpe's murderer might have received the justice he deserved in this world. Fortunately, I'm sure by now he has received perfect justice in the next one.

Rest in peace, Mr. Kulpe. You deserved better.

Remember, there is a story behind every grave. You never know what you're missing when you walk past one....

Grave Tales:

My novel Chapel Street is now available! You can buy the Kindle and paperback at Amazon and the Nook, paperback and hardcover at Barnes & Noble. Chapel Street is the tale of a young man battling a demonic entity that has driven members of his family to suicide for generations. It was inspired by an actual haunting. 


Learn more about the book, click Here.

Listen to me read some chapters here:


Read about the true haunting that inspired the novel here:

The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 1, An Introduction
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 2, The House
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 3, This Is Us
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 4, Arrival
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 5, Methodology
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 6, Clara's Tale, Pt. 1
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 7, Clara's Tale, Pt. 2
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 8, My Tale, Pt. 1
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 9, My Tale, Pt. 2
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 10, My Tale, Pt. 3
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 11, Natalia's Tale, Pt. 1
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 12, Natalia's Tale, Pt. 2
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 13, John's Tale, Pt. 1 
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 14, John's Tale, Pt. 2
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 15, Come Inside!
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 16, Marion's Tale, Pt. 1
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 17, Marion's Tale, Pt. 2
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 18, Jeanne's Tale, Pt. 1
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 19, Jeanne's Tale, Pt. 2
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 20, Lisa's Tale
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 21, Recap, Pt. 1
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 22, Recap, Pt. 2
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 23, Recap, Pt. 3

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4 comments:

  1. AnonymousMay 27, 2022 at 7:28 AM

    Sean, just wanted to pass this along to you, you partially inspired me to write my first novel, Brock O’Conor, light keeper! I am currently negotiating with readers digest over the first of 12 novels in this series! Should hit the stands by July,23!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sean Paul MurphyMay 27, 2022 at 11:06 AM

      Thanks. I'm glad I partially inspired you. Be sure to send me a link when the book is out! Good luck!

      Delete
    2. AnonymousJune 1, 2022 at 4:25 PM

      I love your stories and the tales of the graves is awesome stuff ,keep up the amazing work.

      Delete
    3. Sean Paul MurphyJune 11, 2022 at 7:49 PM

      Thanks! I will.

      Delete

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