Selwyn Raab

Early life and education Born in New York City on June 26, 1934, Raab grew up on Manhattan's Lower East Side, the son of Berdie (Glantz) and William Raab. His father was a bus driver from Austria and his mother was a homemaker from Poland; his family was Jewish. He attended Seward Park High School and later graduated from the City College of New York, where he received a B.A. degree in English literature in 1956.

New York World-Telegram and Sun (1960–1966) From 1960 to 1966, he joined the New York World-Telegram and Sun. He was originally assigned as an education reporter.

Later, as an investigative reporter He also uncovered evidence that led to the dismissal of a third murder accusation against Whitmore.

NBC News (1966–1971) While producer and news editor for WNBC television news, (1966–1971), Raab also wrote a book about the Whitmore case, Justice in the Back Room, published in 1967. Universal Studios bought the television rights, transforming Raab into a fictional detective named Theo Kojak, portrayed by Telly Savalas in the series Kojak. The series ran for five years. The series was spun off from the CBS television movie, The Marcus-Nelson Murders, which won two Emmy Awards in 1973.

The 51st State – WNET-13 (1971–1974) In 1971, he became a reporter-producer at the public broadcasting television station WNET-13 on the news program The 51st State, where he continued working on the Whitmore case. He proved that Whitmore was elsewhere on the day of the killings and helped clear him. It took seven more years to locate a witness whose testimony exonerated Whitmore in 1973 from an unrelated attempted rape conviction. Whitmore was released from prison after serving nine years for a "wrong man" conviction for attempted rape. Raab received a New York Press Club Award for Outstanding Television Journalism for his work on the case. He became Executive Producer of The 51st State until he left for The New York Times in 1974.

The New York Times (1974–2000) In 1974, Raab became a metropolitan staff reporter for The New York Times where he covered criminal justice and government corruption stories, particularly those that involved the American Mafia. During this period, he exposed perjured testimony and police and prosecutorial misconduct surrounding the triple murder convictions of boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter and his co-defendant, John Artis, which led to the ultimate dismissal of all accusations against them.

Raab co-authored with Frank Ragano his 1994 memoir Mob Lawyer.

Five Families (2000–2025)

Raab left the Times in 2000. His book, Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires, He was a consultant on organized crime for TV documentaries, primarily on the History and Biography channels. He was involved as a consultant for the six-part series Inside the American Mob, being interviewed with prominent Cosa Nostra members as well as current and former FBI agents, US Attorneys and detectives who were heavily involved with the pursuit of the Mafia and giving first-person accounts of major events involving the mob. He was an adviser on scripts for the 10-part television series, The Making of the Mob: New York,

Death Raab died of intestinal complications in Manhattan, New York, on March 4, 2025, at the age of 90.

Awards and honors Sigma Delta Chi Award for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism from the Society of Professional Journalists (1971, 1972) The New York Press Club Award for Outstanding Television Journalism (1973) The New York Press Club Best Feature Story Award (1984) Page One Award from the Newspaper Guild of New York (1975)