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 Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, in 1929.
Four months later, Roger Bessner implicated Goetz in a failed robbery of Dr. Henry R. Gross, in which the family chauffeur was killed.
[2] 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.
After the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, Goetz left Chicago and began bootlegging operations in Kansas City, Missouri.
One of the most violent of the armed robberies in which Goetz participated with the Barkers was carried out at the post office in South St. Paul, Minnesota on August 30, 1933.
[9] However, Goetz loved to brag over drinks to fellow wiseguys in Chicago pubs about his involvement in the Bremer kidnapping and even hinted about the names of his co-conspirators and the hiding place of the ransom money.
[9] On March 20, 1934, Goetz walked outside The Minerva Cafe in the mob-controlled Chicago suburb of Cicero, and was shot in the face by a shotgun at close range.
[9] Goetz's expensive coupe was found in Greater Grand Crossing, Chicago, and it was believed to have been abandoned there by his wife Irene, who along with Fred was a wanted fugitive by the FBI.