Born Benjamin Siegelbaum in Brooklyn in February 1906, he earned the nickname “Bugsy” — which he detested — from his fellow gang members for his notoriously short fuse, according to American Experience. After joining forces with a fellow Jewish mobster, Meyer Lansky, they began bootlegging and moved onto to murder. Siegel eventually headed to the West Coast, where he focused on illegal gambling, prostitution, and drugs as his main rackets. He began seeing Virginia Hill in the 1930s while still married. The pair went to Las Vegas in 1945, where Siegel oversaw the construction of the Flamingo Hotel and Casino, per Biography.
Like Siegel, Hill had a long history tied to the mob. She was a money launderer and courier, according to The Mob Museum. In Hollywood, she was known for the lavish parties she threw at her Beverly Hills home, per the Associated Press. It was there, at 810 North Linden Street, where Siegel met his end when an assassin, hiding in the bushes outside the home’s living room, let loose with nine shots from a .30 rifle, according to “Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel: The Gangster, the Flamingo, and the Making of Modern Las Vegas.”
