Reason First: The Murdered Man Just Wanted to be a Playboy

A man in blue silk pajamas laid out on the floor motionless and unresponsive. The man on the deck claimed the name Serge Rubinstein. This financial mastermind also lived life as a playboy and denizen of Café society. In his years he had generated a fortune of at least a million dollars and almost as many enemies.

The womanizer hosted parties with a harem of women and quickly kicked them out once he grew weary of them.

On Thursday, January 27, 1955, an unknown murderer strangled Rubinstein to death. His memory will forever be a point of contention. As no killer has surfaced to this day, the mystery behind the millionaire’s murder continues to feed the minds of the morbidly curious.

What had caused a great deal of press and inquiry remained Rubinstein’s dodge of the draft. Why? His individual life, no matter how tumultuous and apparently unseemly, still mattered. Why should he had been lost in a war when he could continue making money?

Most people vilified him for avoiding conscription to fight in World War II. But this is evil. He had every right to deny being drafted and witnessing the hell of war. No man should be forced to be killed or mutilated or psychologically disturbed following the traumas of war. Only a military of volunteers is rational and righteous. Rubinstein paid a $50,000 fine and spent two years locked behind bars for his evasive nature. Though this may seem like a self-centered, self-absorbed action, the truth is that this was rationally selfish and good. He paid in dollars and time but he stuck to his principles.

The man just wanted to live a life as a player. His lifestyle consisted of finance and fun with women. Why should he be subjected to the horrors of war if he had not mentally and physically prepared to enter into the armed services of the United States?

So, there he lay in his night clothes in his New York City mansion. With the life drained from him and no suspects in sight, the newspapers possessed wit. A newsman said, “They’ve narrowed the list of suspects down to ten thousand.” This statement is a testament to the fact that Rubinstein had made such a wondrous mess of his life. He had intentions to be the Hugh Hefner of New York but he ended up being swallowed up by some beast in the streets.

Rubinstein’s murder signalled the last gasps of the Café society. The playboy lifestyle afforded the man a sense of living the good life. With his understanding of economics and markets he became a “wizard.” His exploits as far as running around with beautiful women solidified his status as a man about society.

His death brings to mind an era where the country looked down on men who bypassed being drafted. But he was a playboy. What good would he have done on the beaches of Normandy or the jungles of the Philippines? As much of a lowlife as this man has been depicted to be (a film was loosely based on his life titled Death of a Scoundrel in 1956), what the world may never know is who slayed the society man. Most of the people who could have been culpable of the crime have perished over time.

The way that Rubinstein’s death can be avenged is for schools to be privatized and children taught economics. Whatever their social lives, their learning should consist of financial concerns from pre-school to PhD. Rubinstein’s ability to turn a dollar resulted from his attention to how different fiscal instruments worked. Yes, he was a villain in people’s eyes. But what was it about his character that led him to stand up to the draft? What prompted him to make a fortune based on his business acumen?

In life he may have been viewed as low-down on some fronts. On others, he should be remembered as a man of alleged ethics.