When: 8:45pm on Monday, 4 June 1945
Where: A richly-appointed six-room suite on the 7th floor – apartment #705 – in the 12-story Marguery hotel-apartment building at 270 Park Avenue built in 1917 by Dr. Charles V. Paterno and his Vanderbilt Realty Corporation
The Players
Marion Mayer Grimes Langford (age 55 according to her; age 70 according to reporters) – from Buffalo, NY; Albert’s wife of three years; daughter of public utility magnate Joseph B. Mayer; frequenter of clubs and casinos and hostess of illegal late-night card games; widow of lawyer Robert Harry Grimes; patroness of the arts; resident of The Marguery for eight years
Albert E. Langford (age 63) – From Brooklyn, NY; Marion’s husband of three years; textile, leather, and luggage executive at Conlin & Smith
Wendy – Marion’s black Pekingese
Edison Cable – career criminal with 2 felony convictions and 20 arrests
The Situation
On the evening of 4 June 1945 as Marion and Albert lounged in the bedroom reading, Wendy growled at a secondary service door of apartment #705 to which Albert went to investigate. Two short, dark men (according to eyewitness elevator operator) said they wished to speak with Marion about a mutual friend to which she refused. Upon returning to the door from the bedroom with her answer, the two men shot and killed Albert and then escaped down the stairwell and out into the central courtyard.
After the murder, sixty to eighty people – associates, friends, entertainers, dubious business partners, socialites, night clubbers, matchmakers, and other colorful characters – were interviewed and interrogated to no avail. This roster is as much a part of the story as the actual murder.
Theories
- Extortion – the killers were after Marion’s money
- Thievery – the killers were after Marion’s jewels and artwork
- Murder for Hire – the killers were paid by Marion to eliminate Albert in order to free her up
Aftermath
On 2 July 1946 Marion married her new husband Walter von Elvers, a young dentist.
In April 1950, it was alleged that Cable (age 44) hired two crooks to steal Marion’s jewels. When they shot Albert, who they didn’t anticipate encountering, Cable sped off in the getaway car without them. The crooks sought revenge on Cable who in turn confessed to a burglary charge so that he could be tucked away “safely” in Sing Sing prison.
In 1957 the Hotel Marguery was demolished.
Cable died in 1969 without ever naming his accomplices in fear that he would be accused of murdering Albert E. Langford.
Articles Researched
JUSTICE STORY: Mystery of NYC’s Hotel Marguery murder baffled cops for years NY Daily News JUN 28, 2020
LANGFORD MURDER STILL A MYSTERY NYT June 6, 1945
‘FINGER MAN’ NAMED IN LANGFORD MURDER NYT April 21, 1950
Edison Cable charged with murder of Albert E Langford The Brooklyn Daily Eagle 21 Apr 1950 pg 3