Fred Goetz

Fred Goetz
Born	February 14, 1897 Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Died	March 21, 1934 (aged 37)
Resting place	Irving Park Cemetery
Education	Lane Technical College Prep High School
Alma mater	University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Occupation	Businessman
Parent(s)	Samuel T. Goetz Ottillie Bensel

Fred Samuel Goetz (February 14, 1897 – March 21, 1934), also known as "Shotgun" George Ziegler, was a Chicago Outfit mobster and a suspected participant in the Valentine's Day Massacre, in 1929.

Born in Chicago to Samuel T. Goetz and his wife Ottillie Bensel who both emigrated from Germany and moved to 1338 Eddy Street in the Wrigleyville enclave of Lake View. Ottillie bore Samuel two children: Fred and Sophie. Fred graduated from Lane Technical College Prep High School in 1914. After graduating Lane Tech, he went on to attend the University of Illinois and graduated in 1918 where he earned a degree in engineering. Following his graduation at UOI Fred enlisted in the US Army and after basic training was stationed at Langley Field, Virginia, during World War I, as a pilot in the United States Army Aviation Branch where he rose to the rank of 2nd Lieutenant.

By 1922, Goetz worked as a lifeguard at Clarendon Municipal Bathing Beach in the neighbourhood of Beach Park, Illinois until he was charged with sexually assaulting seven-year-old Jean Lanbert by an alley near her house where she lived in Edgewater, Chicago. Goetz denied the charges and jumped bail on June 10, 1925. Four months later, Roger Bessner implicated Goetz in a failed robbery of Dr. Henry R. Gross, in which the family chauffeur was killed. On October 20, 1925 the Illinois State Attorney had a lawsuit brought against Fred's parents, Samuel and Ottillie, who scheduled some of their empty real estate property to be used as collateral for their son's bond. They would later divorce, his mother moving to 1503 Ardmore Avenue in Edgewater, Chicago and his father Samuel relocating to Cincinnati.

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