 A Russian-Jewish immigrant gang member, Morris Bolber, known as 'Louie, the Rabbi', turned state's evidence.Gang members, associates and 'dupes' (many of them Italian-born, superstitious women, dubbed 'poison widows' by an excited press) were brought to trial and mostly convicted to death sentences (commuted) or varying prison sentences.One or two were found not guilty, notably the widow Stella Alfonsi, whose husband's 1938 death by poison brought the case to light, and who was successfully defended by advocate Raymond Pace Alexander.