Detective William T. Feitz was born in 1903 to William and Pauline Anne Feitz in New Jersey. At the time of the 1920 Census, the Feitz family lived at 1125 Liberty Street. William T. Feitz worked as an apprentice machinist in 1919 and 1920, while his father worked as a machinist in one of Camden’s shipyards.
William T. Feitz got married during the 1920s but by April of 1930, the marriage had ended, and he had returned to his parents’ house. He joined the Camden Police Department on March 1, 1928, and was promoted to detective, along with Joseph H. Leonhart, after being cited for bravery for breaking up a grocery store robbery at Locust Street and Kaighn Avenue and arresting three suspects.
On Sunday, September 2, 1934, Detective Feitz was investigating suspicious behavior on the part of three men who had entered a home at 243 Sycamore Street when he was gunned down from behind. He was pronounced dead upon arrival at West Jersey Hospital. He was survived by his widowed mother, ex-wife, and children.
After an intense investigation, many underworld characters, including Mickey Blair and Felix Bocchicchio, were questioned. Finally, an arrest was made. Charles Zied, an associate of the notorious Mais-Leganza gang, was arrested in Philadelphia, tried, and convicted of the murder of Detective Feitz. Zied was executed in New Jersey’s electric chair on June 2, 1936.
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