“My friends call me Ben, strangers call me Mr. Siegel, and guys I don’t like call me Bugsy, but not to my face.”
Bugsy Siegel

This marker is a tribute to gangster Bugsy Siegel, one of the founders of Las Vegas. Using investments from the mob, he took over the plans to build the first casino resort, the Flamingo. Unfortunately the budget ran way over, plus Bugsy was suspected of skimming. The mob was not happy, as they had already fronted about 5 million dollars into the project. Long story short, when Vegas started turning a profit, the mob decided they didn’t want Bugsy involved any more, so they retired him.

On the night of June 20, 1947, as Siegel sat reading the Los Angeles Times, an unknown assailant shot him through the window with a .30-caliber military M1 carbine, hitting him many times, including twice in the head. No one was charged with the murder, and the crime remains officially unsolved.