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The Colombo Crime Family was the last of New York’s Five families to be created, all the way back in 1928. Their family tree begins with a Sicilian immigrant named Giuseppe Profaci. They were originally a group that profited mainly from bootlegging. The Colombos never quite became the powerhouse family that the Gambinos and Genovese did. Over the years, the Colombos have seen a number of civil wars and renegade members struggling for power. This and a number of high profile defections have brought the family to their knees. The Family OG: Joe Profaci Giuseppe “Joe” Profaci was born in Palermo, Sicily on October 2, 1897. Not much is known about his childhood, except that he had his share of trouble with the law. He spent a year in a Sicilian prison on charges of theft. After being released in 1921, he came to the United States and lived in Chicago for a few years before settling in New York. It was in New York that Profaci became involved with the mafia. In the 1920’s, no Syndicate or Commission had been set up and the mafia families were more like neighborhood Italian gangs. During this wild time, there was not much in the way of structure. Power in the 1920’s came from who was the meanest and who had the best gunslingers. Profaci’s family connections back in Sicily carried a lot of weight. When Salvatore D’Aquila was murdered in 1928, Profaci was given his territory. The other bosses at the time saw Profaci as someone who could manage the wild gangster factions in Brooklyn. Profaci made his brother in law Joseph Magglioco his underboss and 2nd in command. Profaci and Magglioco had a number of diversified rackets that they made money from. They had the standard loansharking and bookmaking operations. Prostitution was another area where they were bringing in the riches. All prostitution networks in the area paid a heavy weekly tribute to Profaci. They also made money from narcotics trafficking. In 1930, when the Castellammarese War broke out, mobsters were being gunned down every day on the streets of New York. The battle was between Joe “The Boss” Masseria and Salvatore Maranzano who were battling for supremacy. Profaci wisely kept a low profile during this time. In the end, both Masseria and Maranzano would be killed. The Five Families When the war ended, the man who took over the mafia and became de facto boss of bosses was Charles “Lucky” Luciano. Lucky decided to formally split the New York mafia into five families. He also created a ruling Commission for resolving disputes. Joe Profaci was named as one of the five bosses and given a seat on the Commission. He was very close with another one of the original five bosses, Joe Bonanno. Bonanno and Profaci were a team within the Commission, which often led to them winning disputes because they were usually in the majority. Their families were also close and years later Profaci’s niece Rosalie would marry Bonanno’s son Salvatore. One thing that separated Joe Profaci from most other mobsters was that he had a number of legitimate businesses. He was known as the “Olive Oil King” because had an olive oil import company which was thriving. He didn’t have to be involved with the mafia. It was in his blood, something that he decided he had to be a part of. Profaci was a mafia boss who knew how to gain the trust of his community. He was known for giving money to locals in need and donating to many charities. These types of actions gave him a good reputation which led to a community that protected him from law enforcement. They saw their community as better because he was in it. He gained vast amounts of wealth over the next two decades while dealing with little scrutiny from the authorities. One of his homes was previously owned by former president, Teddy Roosevelt. Profaci also had a very loyal following in the ranks of his own family. The Profaci family was most stable of all the five families during the 1930s and 1940s. He was so well liked by the public that the Vatican received an overwhelming number of people who asked that Profaci be knighted. A petition was started which gained thousands of signatures in favor. Profaci was honored and considered this to be one of the defining times of his life. In the end, the Brooklyn D.A.’s office put an end to the idea. Colombo Family War #1 Profaci offered up two of his soldiers “Crazy Joe” Gallo and Carmine Persico to kill Albert Anastasia in 1957. It was an extremely dangerous job but Gallo and Persico pulled it off flawlessly. The hit earned Profaci much goodwill with the other Commission bosses who wanted Anastasia dead. It also solidified Persico and Gallo’s reputations in the mafia. Despite Profaci being busted at the infamous Apalachin Summit in 1957, it was yet another prosperous decade for the Profaci family. The family was still considered the gold standard when it came to longevity. All of the other families had seen drastic and often violent leadership changes. Things were about to change in a drastic way. The problems would start in 1959 when high rolling capo “Franki Shots” Abbatemarco began complaining about the amount of tribute he was paying Profaci. Joe Gallo and Persico were in Frankie Shots’ crew. Profaci ordered Gallo to have Franki Shots killed, and by all accounts that is exactly what happened. Abbatemarco was gunned down on November 4, 1959. The Frankie Shots murder isn’t what set off the war, it apparently happened because of some failed negotiations that took place afterwards. Most insiders claimed that Profaci had offered Gallo control over Abbatemarco’s businesses. But when Persico and Gallo refused to hand over Abbatemarco’s son, Profaci refused to hand over the businesses. Crazy Joe Gallo was not someone you would want to be at odds with. He was a stone cold killer and thirsting for power in the mafia. He would kill anybody it took to get what he wanted. Feeling betrayed, he decided to make his move on Profaci. He orchestrated the kidnapping of Profaci’s entire administration, including Magglioco and his brother Frank Profaci. The hostages were released when Profaci promised to come through on his original promise, and then Profaci reneged. He then had Gallo crew member Joey Gioielli killed shortly after. He also got Carmine Persico to switch sides and Persico then tried and failed to kill Larry Gallo. This incident is when Carmine earned his famous nickname, “The Snake”. Becoming The Colombo Family Quite a few more lower level guys died because of this feud in the next year. It would quickly die down after Joe Gallo went to prison in 1961 for murder. On June 6, 1962, legendary mafia Joe Profaci died after battling cancer. Longtime underboss Joe Magliocco was now the boss of the family. The Profaci era had come to an end after more than 33 years. The early 1960’s would continue in a state of turbulence for the family. The Gallo and Persico factions continued to try to kill each other. Carmine Persico would survive two different attempts on his life in 1963. Persico was shot twice in the second incident, once in the arm and once in the face. Carmine, the ultimate tough guy actually spat out the bullet that went in his face. The new boss Magliocco would get himself in big trouble when it was found that he and Joe Bonanno were plotting to kill other Commission members. The person who was supposed to do the killings was family member Joe Colombo. Bonanno instantly disappeared from New York but Joe Magliocco was left to face the other Commission members alone. Very surprisingly, they did not decide to kill Magliocco. They did force him to step down and appointed Joe Colombo the new boss of the family. It’s unclear whether Colombo knew he would get the position beforehand, but the move worked out well for him. It would now forever be known as the Colombo Crime Family and Colombo was the first American born mafia boss in history. Mostly due to his alerting them of the impending murder plot against them, Colombo developed very strong ties with Carlo Gambino and Tommy “Three Fingers Brown” Lucchese. This helped him to earn the respect of the mobsters in his family, which was an incredibly wily bunch. At the very least, it kept him from being moved in on by any renegade members. The family had slipped into an erratic state for the last few years and Colombo knew he had work to do. He would spend the next couple years concentrating on quelling the inner family turmoil. Slowly, all sides in the family began to accept Joe Colombo’s idea of family peace aiding their return to prosperity. A few years would go by without any more family cannibalism. The Activist Mafia Boss Joe Colombo founded the Italian American Civil Rights League in 1969. It was a political movement dedicated to battling discrimination against Italians in America. This move surprised not only the other Commission members, but also the members of his own crime family. Although they may have agreed with his cause, they were rightfully concerned Public activism was not something most mobsters considered a good idea, for obvious reasons. The best mobsters always operated “in the dark”, not drawing public attention to themselves. For his new organization to succeed, Colombo would need to ignore that rule and thrust himself into the public eye. It was something he knew about and was willing to do. Joe Colombo felt it was his duty to fight for the cause and ignored all warnings from his peers and underlings. He was committed to his work, but also very much hypocritical about it too. One of the main goals of the Italian American Civil Rights League was to fight negative stereotypes. Joe Colombo was one of the bosses of New York’s infamous five mafia families. As for the other members of the Commision, they were unhappy about the extra press but never decided to kill Colombo as punishment. They simply blackballed the organization and hoped it wouldn’t bring too much negative attention to the mafia. Their hope was that it wouldn’t catch on and that it would eventually just fade away unnoticed. Their worst fears of the Commission soon became a reality. Joe Colombo and the league began holding huge rallies and protests which drew huge crowds. In just a few months, the organization gained thousands of members. Frank Sinatra even held a benefit concert to support the group at Madison Square Garden in November 1970. Despite the snub from the Commission, Colombo considered his move a success and started to make long term plans for it. He was planning on organizing a huge rally for the summer of 1971 in Columbus Circle in Manhattan. The Commission was dreading this event, but Joe Colombo had other problems too. Renegade family member Crazy Joe Gallo had gotten out of prison. The Return Of Crazy Joe When Crazy Joe got out, he let it be known that any peace agreements were a thing of the past. He wanted to be the boss of the family and was ready to put bullets in anyone who disagreed. Gallo was unpredictable and his return to the streets caused a lot of fear in the New York mafia. After all, this was a man who had the nerve to kill Albert Anastasia and start a civil war in the family years before. Joe Gallo was a true enigma. He was a very handsome guy with devilish grin. Many who knew him said he was personable and even charming. Outside of his mafia life, he hung out with actors and various other high society types. One of his best friends was actor Jerry Orbach who starred in The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight, which was based on Gallo’s story. When it came to the mafia however, Gallo was a menacing individual who regularly had three or more people on his hit list at any time. He was also opportunistic and thought that he may have the sympathy of the Commission if he killed Colombo. He was ready to act with or without their approval, but the activism may have put Colombo in a vulnerable spot. On June 28, 1971, Colombo held his second huge rally in Columbus Circle. It was a massive demonstration with fifty thousand people in attendance. There were dozens of news crews with cameras capturing the event. For whatever reason, Crazy Joe decided that this day would be the right time. Gallo was well aware of the publicity the hit would create, it would be his Anastasia moment revisited. Colombo paid no attention as a man named Jerome Johnson walked toward him disguised as a cameraman. Johnson suddenly pulled out a gun and shot Colombo in the head. Johnson was shot and killed on sight, with cameras catching the aftermath. Police found Johnson to be acting as a lone gunman, but everyone in the mafia knew who was responsible for ordering the hit. He didn’t die in the shooting, but Colombo went into a semi coma until he passed away 7 years later in 1978. Most accounts of the shooting don’t point to other Commission members as active participants in the incident. What is more likely is that they probably knew of Gallo’s plan and simply decided to not get involved. They would just deal with the crazy guy later. Enter Carmine The Snake Persico In the days after the shooting, Gallo was now seeing a clear path to the top of the New York mafia in front of him. He didn’t figure to have to answer for the hit since the Commission didn’t object and the only person to tie him to it was dead, Jerome Johnson. He was now a legend in the mafia, between the Anastasia and Colombo incidents. Even though they weren’t heartbroken about Colombo being eliminated, Crazy Joe was too much for the Commission. He was a bad seed and they weren’t about to let him bring his debauchery to their level. Most of the mobsters in the Colombo family felt the same way, they were less than enthusiastic about having an unstable killer for their boss. The most powerful Colombo members to oppose a Gallo promotion was none other than Carmine The Snake Persico. Together, Carmine and Crazy Joe had killed Anastasia but they had been at war ever since. They were already killing each other but now the position of family boss was on the line and the only person in the way was each other. Persico knew that Gallo was laying low in the mafia and hanging out with his hollywood friends before he reappeared. He got a number of Colombo family members and associates to agree to set up Gallo at the first opportunity. That opportunity presented itself on the early morning of April 7, 1972 when Gallo was spotted at Umberto’s Clam House in Little Italy. Persico had a team of killers that had been on call ready to go for months. When they got the call, four shooters showed up at Umberto’s and entered through the back door. They suddenly appeared in the dining room and emptied their guns into Gallo, who ran toward the door. In the last move of his life, Gallo pulled his own gun but was unable to get any shots off. Crazy Joe, the infamous killer was gone. Carmine Persico was on cloud nine, his biggest enemy in life was gone. This now also opened him up to become the boss of the Colombo family. The rest of the Gallo gang would die off  a couple years later eliminating that threat. His reign as boss would go on to be longer than Joe Profaci himself. Persico has been boss for nearly half a century, but it has hardly been a smooth reign. Back In The Can Again The main problem for Persico as a boss is that he couldn’t stay out of prison. A year after taking over the family, he went back to federal prison for 6 more years in 1973. He made his brother Alphonse “Allie Boy” Persico acting boss at this time. Persico also assigned a “frontman” boss, Thomas DiBella. It was a move designed to confuse the authorities. After getting paroled in 1979, Carmine was quickly back in prison again by 1981. This time he was convicted of trying to bribe an IRS agent. He was an absentee boss but still pulled all the strings from behind bars. DiBella retired in the late 70’s and in his place was Gennaro Langella aka “Jerry Lang”. Lang would become Persico’s most trusted ally over the next few years. In 1986, Persico and Jerry Lang were convicted of RICO charges in the Commision case. The heads of all five families were convicted in this case. It was the biggest ever single victory for the government against the mafia. At the time, the Commission strength and structure made the top bosses untouchable. RICO laws killed their insulation from the actual crimes. Carmine insisted on staying boss of the family even though he got 100 years and would never get out again. The Snake had survived shootings and bombing attempts on his life. With Joe Gallo long gone, he had been the most ruthless man in the New York mafia for years now. Persico had been involved in two of the most notorious mafia hits ever, that of Albert Anastasia and Crazy Joe Gallo. He let his family and the other families know that he would not step down under any circumstances, and that if anyone had an issue with it to come see Carmine. He had serious leadership issues at this point. The capable acting boss Jerry Lang was also convicted in the Commission case and off the streets. Beneath Carmine and Jerry, there was a considerable drop in experience. Carmine Persico would never get out of prison again. Being in prison is a vulnerable place for a mafia boss. He was constantly monitored, making the discussion of business a very difficult venture. Being locked up also weakened his crew. Without the Snake around, they weren’t quite as scary. All of a sudden, other players saw their chances to move in. 3rd Colombo Family War Persico had the experience to know that he was going to have to pick another acting boss. He preferred keeping it in house with Allie Boy, but he was also convicted in the Commission case. He then named Vittorio “Little Vic” Orena new acting boss. Little Vic was a captain at the time. Carmine made it known from the start that Orena was just an interim boss, the family still belonged to him. Orena was no slouch. He was a well connected guy with multiple families. He had working relationships with John Gotti and the Gambinos. There was also his friendships with high level Lucchese family members like Victor Amuso, who shared the same nickname “Little Vic”. Orena was given the right to order murders and induct family members at his choosing. Although Persico gave him a wide berth of power, Orena soon began to resent Persico’s authority. Carmine had his day and he should now do the right thing and retire. Orena began to plot how he could forcefully take control from Persico. He approached the Commission who denied him. The other bosses weren’t necessarily loving Persico, but they were in the Gotti era and weary of more bad press. After word got back to him about Orena’s betrayal, Persico went into a rage and ordered Orena and his top lieutenants killed. He gave the orders to his consigliere Carmine Sessa, the one who alerted him of Orena’s plan. The Colombo Crime Family was now in it’s 3rd civil war and this one would take the highest toll of them all. In 1991, Orena would escape an attempt on his life. He responded by sending two of his nephews on a killing spree of Persico loyalists. 12-15 deaths occurred during the war. Many of the killings during the early 1990’s could be tied to the vicious Persico loyalist Greg “The Grim Reaper” Scarpa. Scarpa was also an FBI informant who died of AIDS in 1994, when there was little treatment for the disease. The war absolutely gutted the family ranks. More than 100 members or associates went to prison and over a dozen people died. Orena also got convicted in a RICO case, so the fight became pointless but continued. The family was kicked off the Commission while the war was going on. The Colombos were taking the mafia back to the 1920’s when power came from having the fastest gunslingers. Limping into the 21st Century While the family war gutted the ranks, they still had some solid earners in the mid 1990s like Sonny Franzese and “Wild” Bill Cutolo. After the violence died down for a few years, they were allowed back on the Commission. Allie Boy was back out and quickly took back the position of acting boss. For the most part, the mobsters tried to put the negative feelings about the war behind them. There was one exception, Wild Bill Cutolo who had been on side Orena during the war. He was allowed to stay in the family and became underboss. Carmine and Allie Boy randomly decided to have Cutolo killed years later in 1999. William Cutolo Jr. was devastated over the murder of his father. He had followed his father into the life and knew who was responsible. He set out to get revenge against Allie Boy and underboss Jackie DeRoss. DeRoss had actually shown up at the Cutolo family residence demanding Wild Bill’s loansharking books and to warn them about cooperating. Young Cutolo would agree to cooperate with the FBI and wear a wire. Cutolo Jr. had originally intended to kill Persico and DeRoss, until he remembered how his father told him he’d much rather be dead than stuck in prison for life. Wearing the wire was a gutsy move and it paid off. Both Persico and DeRoss were indicted and then convicted of killing Wild Bill Cutolo. The position of acting boss then went to “Tommy Shots” Gioeli. His new underboss was a wise and very old gangster named John “Sonny” Franzese. Carmine Persico was still pulling the strings from prison, as he’s still doing to this day. All the infighting had severely damaged the strength and reputation that the Colombo family once had. Michael Franzese is now a well known public speaker. He openly discusses his mafia days under his father Sonny Franzese, although he still has to be coy about certain incidents and memories. He was a one time captain in the family, now retired and one of the few made men who talk openly about the inner workings of the mafia.

Joe “The Animal” Barboza was a terrorizing presence on the streets of Boston for two decades. He was the most feared man in the history of the New England underworld. Barboza would not hesitate to shoot, stab or even bite chunks out of a victim’s face, which he did many times. He was the mafia’s personal contract killer and a pivotal player in the deadly McLean/McLaughlin gang war of the 1960s. Then he decided to take out the entire New England mob’s hierarchy. Joe the Baron Joe Barboza was born on September 20, 1932. He grew up in the town of New Bedford as the son of Portuguese immigrants. Young Joe got into lots of trouble from an early age. He had his own little gang of strong arm robbers who would steal from local businesses. At thirteen years old, Barboza was arrested for breaking and entering and found himself behind bars for the first of many times in his life. He was sent off to Lyman State Reform School, the same school that suspected Boston Strangler Albert DeSalvo attended. Lyman was a very strict and religious environment. Joe claimed to have received regular beatings during his time there.It was a terrible time but he did pick up a skill while there, boxing. He needed the skill, as he was the subject of taunting from older kids. After reform school, Barboza was in and out of prison for years in the 1950s. He became a local household name in 1953 after leading a prison break. Him and six other inmates broke loose and went on a 20 hour crime and bar hopping spree. He was caught in East Boston the next day and sent back to Walpole State Prison. During his time in Walpole, Joe developed some contacts with various organized crime members from the New England area. He could potentially be useful to any of these guys because Joe was a fierce fighter and fearless. He would go after anyone. At the time, New England had a mixture of Italian, Irish and even a few Jewish gangs. After completing his time, Joe concentrated on a boxing career. He knocked out his first opponent in the 3rd round and fought a total of 11 times. His nickname in the ring was “The Baron”. He finished his career with a record of 8 wins and 3 losses as a pro. He had five knockouts and was knocked out in his last fight. He fought in the Boston Garden 3 times. Being in the fight business did nothing to slow down Joe’s criminal behavior. Instead it validated his tough guy image and he was certainly ready to use his hands in the streets, which he did many times. Many of the local mob guys began taking notice of the Baron. They put him to work as a loan shark and the job came natural to Joe. He wasn’t just a fighter, he was a menace. The McLean/McLaughlin War It was during the infamous McLean/McLaughlin war that Joe Barboza gained a reputation as one of the mob’s deadliest killers. He’s suspected of killing up to 10 men during the conflict. Barboza was aligned with James “Buddy” McLean and the Winter Hill Gang of Somerville. On the other side were the dangerous McLaughlin brothers who ran the streets of Charlestown. Both McLean and the McLaughlin brothers were powerful gangsters in their areas of Boston. The McLaughlins were enforcers who did contract killings for the local Italian mafia. The brothers all had reputations as street fighters, especially Ed “Punchy” McLaughlin a former boxer who’d been in some bloody wars over the years. Bernie McLaughlin was the leader of the brothers. The root cause of this deadly war was bizarre. A drunken George McLaughlin was partying with some Winter Hill guys and became belligerent with one of their girlfriends. They beat the hell out of George. Bernie was furious and went to Buddy who he knew. He wanted the two Winter Hill guys killed. Buddy refused and soon found a bomb strapped under his family’s car. The war was on! Buddy McLean killed Bernie McLaughlin in 1961. Barboza and McLean killed Harold Hannon and Willie Delaney on August 4, 1964. Hannon was tortured, having had his testicles burned by a blowtorch. Hannon was a member of the McLaughlin gang. Willie Delaney just happened to be with him. They gave him a bottle of whiskey and 10 sleeping pills before choking him to death. On October 20, 1965, Barboza killed Punchy McLaughlin. Just 11 days later on Halloween 1966, Steve Hughes killed Buddy McLean. Steve and his brother Connie Hughes were the most dangerous members of what was left of the McLaughlin gang. By killing McLean, it looked like the McLaughlin gang was gaining the edge. That was until Joe Barboza decided to wipe out the entire hierarchy. First, he killed Connie Hughes and his partner Sam Lindenbaum on May 26, 1966. Then just four months later on September 23, 1966, Barboza killed Steve Hughes, getting revenge for his friend Buddy McLean. Barboza was on a roll having killed at least six men in the last two years alone. Joe “The Animal” Barboza was emerging as the most feared mob killer in the country at the time. Full Time Hitman Barboza was all about hunting his enemies 24/7. He survived several attempts on his life over the years. Joe wasn’t one of those who hid his gangster image, all you had to do was look at him. He drove a 1965 Olds Cutlass that was rigged to spew thick black smoke from the tailpipe when triggered. Police referred to it as the James Bond car. While he was still killing men in relation to the gang war, Barboza became thirsty for even more action. He began to rent himself and his crew out locally as hitmen. They would kill anyone necessary if the price was right. They did many one off jobs, but their main employer was Raymond Patriarca and the Italian mafia based in Providence, Rhode Island. Barboza was brash and in many ways had an inflated opinion about his status in relation to the mafia. He fully intended to become the first non-Italian man to be officially made. Killing their enemies was the route he would take to get to the destination in his mind. He began to feel that Patriarca and company could not operate at full capacity without his protection. Patriarca used Joe for his killings and pure reputation on the streets. Very few men resisted making a payment when Joe showed up to collect. The ones who did would end up beaten severely, stabbed or even shot dead. As scary as he was, a lot of people did borrow money from him knowing the consequences. He got his loan shark money from the Italians at a low rate and put it back on the streets at a higher rate. Bulger & Flemmi Connections Before Whitey Bulger became a household name, Joe Barboza was the biggest name associated with organized crime in Boston. Their paths never crossed directly as Whitey was younger at the time and operated mostly in South Boston, aka “Southie”. Joe Barboza operated out of East Boston. Joe was a much higher level gangster around Boston than Whitey in the 1960s. The 1960s were not easy for Bulger, he was in prison for the first half of it. He was a broke ex-con working as a janitor and sometimes in construction. Meanwhile, Barboza was running the show in his town and making lots of money. He had a pretty deep crew as well with a dozen or so enforcers on his team. There was Joey Amico, Arthur Bratsos, Tommy DePrisco, Nicky Femia and Ronald Dermody. While Whitey was part of Southie’s Killeen Gang, they weren’t even on the map as far as most powerful organized crime groups in the city. It wasn’t until the early 1970s that Bulger took over Southie. By the time that happened, Barboza was off the streets and testifying against the Italian mafia. For the time being, his Killeen Gang was getting dominated by a rival Southie crew known as the Mullen Gang. Although Whitey and Barboza were not affiliated, they were both closely connected to the Flemmi brothers, Stephen and Jimmy the Bear. Vincent “Jimmy the Bear” Flemmi was one of the only men that Barboza had any fear and respect for. They were partners in crime for years and Jimmy the Bear was the only gangster in Boston who could match Joe’s level of violence and treachery. Mafia Double Cross Barboza was arrested in 1966 on weapons charges and held on $100,000 bail. He expected his mafia friends to pitch in and bail him out. In his mind, it was time that they stepped up for the Animal like he’d done for them in the past. As it turns out, Raymond Patriarca and the family were ready to let Barboza rot. To them, he had served his purpose and was now a liability. A clear message was sent to Barboza when he sent his two henchmen Arthur Bratsos and Tommy DePrisco around to collect. In a desperate move, they were told to go to all the local mob hangouts and collect a contribution. It actually worked early as the two men collected sixty thousand dollars. A highly annoyed Patriarca ordered the two men killed when he learned of the move. They were lured to the Nite Lite Lounge, Larry Zannino’s place with promise of a significant cash tribute. When they showed up, they were robbed of the money already raised and then killed. Their bodies were thrown into the backseat of Arthur’s car and dropped off in Southie. The reason for the location was to throw a curve into the investigation and pin the murder on the Southie gangsters. Another Barboza crew member Joey “Chico” Amico was murdered the same year. Not long after that, Stephen Flemmi visited Joe in prison and delivered the news that Jerry Angiulo and Raymond Patriarca were planning on having him killed. Despite facing only five years, Barboza knew the game was up. His crew had been completely wiped out. Joe was about to surprise everyone. A Dirty Deal From The Start With very little prodding, Barboza decided that he would cooperate with the FBI and testify against the hierarchy of the New England mafia. The feds were well aware of the Animal that they were dealing with but they’d been given a specific initiative, get the Italian mafia. Although the Irish mob in New England was on par with the Italians, the FBI had zeroed in on the mafia. These days you often hear about how the Boston FBI made a bad deal with Whitey Bulger, but the deal with Barboza was just as bad. Barboza was a man with several grudges in his life, several enemies that he wanted to kill or even frame for a crime. He was furious about the death of his friends Chico, Tommy and Tashi Bratsos and crazed with getting some kind of revenge. Barboza tied six mobsters with the murder of Edward “Teddy” Deegan. The mafia was frantically trying to get at Barboza, even blowing up his attorney’s car. All six were convicted of the crime and two of them died in prison but none of them even had anything to do with Deegan’s murder. Barboza knew good and well that it was his close friend Jimmy Flemmi that killed Deegan. The Boston FBI was hit with a class action lawsuit after the truth came out years later. Raymond Patriarca was sent to prison for the rest of his life after Barboza testified to his involvement in the 1966 murder of Willie Marfeo. Barboza and his family disappeared into the witness protection program and were relocated to San Francisco where Joe continued his criminal activities. He kept killing people in San Francisco and in 1971 he was convicted of 2nd degree murder where his real identity was unmasked in court. When he was released in 1975, the east coast mafia got word of his location. Barboza was set up by an associate under the pretense of a meeting. As Joe left the house, New England mobster JR Russo emptied a shotgun into him four times putting an end to the Barboza era. The Animal In His Own Words His warning to people who wanted to borrow money: “When we made the deal, I’d tell every person don’t take this money if you can’t pay it every week. I prefer you not take this money because it could lead you into trouble.” What he did to debtors when they didn’t pay: “I could not let myself accept that they were in trouble. I stabbed them in the face. I stabbed them in the legs. I stabbed them in the arms. I stabbed them in the chest. You understand.?” Justification of punishing his loan shark victims: “Maybe I was wrong in the way I did it as far as the excess violence that I did. But still they said that they deserved it, they didn’t relish it but they knew as far as the deal itself they were wrong.” How the Italian mafia does introductions: “They’ll say, Joe this is Jim, Jim is our friend. If it’s somebody that’s not connected, they never say our friend. I want you to meet so and so. You understand?” On the betrayal from the Italians: “The Office spread the rumor that they were mad at me for shaking certain people and nightclubs down, even though I never moved on any club or person until the Office gave me the ok.” Whether it bothers him being a government witness: “At first it used to reach me, the canary bit, it doesn’t reach me anymore. Because I have a purpose in life, I have only one purpose and that is to get a little piece of mind.”

Frank Amato Killed by the DeMeo Crew on September 20, 1980 Amato was the boyfriend of Paul Castellano’s daughter Connie. After Paul got word that Amato had beaten Connie and caused a miscarriage, he ordered a team of killers to take Amato out. Future bosses John Gotti and Joey Massino were both involved in the hit. Amato disappeared after being summoned to the Gemini Lounge. Roy DeMeo and his crew dismembered Amato and he was never found. Albert Anastasia aka “The Lord High Executioner” Killed by Carmine Persico & Joey Gallo on October 25, 1957 Until the murder of Paul Castellano in 1985, this was the most highly publicized mafia hit of all time. The former Murder Inc. and current Mangano Family boss was sitting down for a shave at the Park Sheridan barber shop when two masked shooters, most likely Carmine Persico and Joey Gallo burst in and blew Anastasia away. Joe “The Animal” Barboza New England Mob Hitman Turned Witness Barboza was the most feared and hated gangster in Boston in the 1960s. He did contract killings for the mafia and killed enemies in the McLean/Mclaughlin gang war. He eventually made a deal and cooperated against the mafia, putting several innocent men behind bars, some for life. He was found years later by the New England mafia in 1974 in San Francisco and killed. Cesare “The Tall Guy” Bonventre Carmine Galante’s Bodyguard Bonanno Family Captain Cesare was one of the “zips” who were supposedly protecting Carmine Galante the day he was killed at Joe & Mary’s. He went on to become the youngest capo in the Bonanno Family history. He only lasted a few years before karma came around. Joe Massino had Bonventre killed in April 1984, because he knew that Cesare was a genuine threat to his own rise. Angelo Bruno “The Gentle Don” Bruno Family Boss (Philadelphia Family) Bruno was killed by his underlings because they felt he was holding them back from some money making ventures, specifically dealing drugs. This hit set off a war in Philly for control of the family. His murderers were taken out on orders of the commission and his successor Phil Testa was blown up by a bomb the next year. James “Whitey” Bulger Winter Hill Boss and FBI Informant After decades of getting FBI help and beating the system, Whitey paid the price in prison. A mafia associate named Fotios “Freddie” Greas was allegedly the one who killed Bulger on October 29, 2018, beating him viciously and doing some unspeakable acts in the process. This incident could have been predicted as Whitey had recently been put in general population. Anthony “Tony Bananas” Caponigro Bruno Family Captain (Philadelphia Family) After Angelo Bruno was killed without commission consent, Tony Bananas was a marked man being one of the known killers. Caponigro resented Bruno’s no drug dealing policies and deference to the New York factions. He was called in to a sitdown on April 18, 1980 but would find Joe “Mad Dog” Sullivan waiting instead. Caponigro was found with dollar bills inserted in his orifices. Paul Castellano aka “Big Paul” Gambino Family Boss Killed by John Gotti’s hitmen on December 15, 1985 The very unpopular Gambino boss was too distracted by his mounting legal problems to realize he was a dead man walking. Big Paul and his underboss/driver Tommy Bilotti were gunned down outside of Sparks Steak House in Manhattan on December 15, 1985. The hit was planned by John Gotti and Sammy Gravano, who then took over the Gambino Family. Vincent “Mad Dog” Coll Killed by Dutch Schultz’ hitmen on February 8, 1932 On February 8, 1932, the most reviled gangster in America, Mad Dog Coll was hit 15 times by machine gun fire while in a phone booth. Coll’s deadly feud with ex-boss Dutch Schultz had caused havoc on the streets and allegedly the death of a young girl. Colls' killers were never named but it’s well known that Schultz had the backing of almost the entire New York underworld in hunting Coll. Eddie “The Butcher” Cummiskey West Side Irish (Westies) Hitman Killed by Joe “Mad Dog” Sullivan Cummiskey was a hit man for the Irish mob who were in a battle with the Italians for control of the Javits Convention Center. Eddie The Butcher was the big muscle so the Genovese Family reached out to notorious hitman Joe Sullivan. “Mad Dog” found Cummiskey at the Sunbrite Bar on August 20, 1976, walked up behind him, killed him and then casually walked out. William “Wild Bill” Cutolo Colombo Family Underboss Carmine Persico had never forgiven Wild Bill for taking Vic Orena’s side in the family war. Persico was also afraid that Cutolo might do a similar power grab, and had him killed on May 26, 1999. Persico was convicted of Cutolo’s murder in 2007. Frank DeCicco Gambino Family Underboss DeCicco was a pivotal player in the Paul Castellano murder and Gotti takeover. The Lucchese and Genovese families were looking for revenge for the unsanctioned murder. On April 13, 1986, a bomb went off under DeCicco’s car as he got in it, killing him and sending parts of his body and the car all over the street. It was orchestrated by Gaspipe Casso and was meant to kill Gotti as well. Roy DeMeo Gambino Family Captain & Hitman Leader of The DeMeo Crew After being directly involved in the killings of some 200 people, Gambino hitman Roy DeMeo faced his own mafia justice in January 1983. Paul Castellano was caught up in a stolen car case because of Roy and sent out the contract, which was turned down by John Gotti who feared Roy. DeMeo was killed by his own crew members and stuffed into his own car’s trunk under a chandelier. Thomas “Two Gun Tommy” DeSimone Lucchese Family Associate Played by Joe Pesci in Goodfellas It likely went down in real life the way the famous Goodfellas scene depicted it, but details of Tommy Two Guns’ killing in January 1979 have never been fully revealed. It’s known that he was under the impression that he was about to be “made”. Henry Hill had claimed a few times that John Gotti was directly involved, which would make sense because Tommy had killed one of Gotti’s associates. “Mad Sam” DeStefano Chicago Outfit Enforcer (Associate) Mad Sam was the most feared and despised member of the Chicago Outfit. A good earner and a great enforcer but also a complete misfit and deviant. He was killed by his own brother Mario and protege Tony Spiltro when the Outfit tired of his antics. It’s alleged that Tony was the shooter, and one of his shots blew Sam’s arm completely off in the process. Jack “Legs” Diamond Irish Mobster - Prohibition Legs was a pretty local flamboyant celebrity gangster in New York who gained some powerful enemies. Jack had taken bullets at least 5 times in his life during the bloody prohibition era. It’s believed that Dutch Scultz orchestrated the ambush that finally killed “The Clay Pigeon” on December 18, 1931 when he was killed at the home of his mistress. Robert DiBernardo aka “DiB” Gambino Family Captain DiBernardo was a massive money maker for the Gambino Family in the 1980s with illegal porno production and distribution. DiB fell out of favor with John Gotti even though DiB had supported Gotti’s takeover. Sammy Gravano claimed that it was Angelo Ruggeiro who had put the bug in Gotti’s ear. And Angelo may have done it because he was heavily in debt to DiBernardo. Arthur Flegenheimer aka “Dutch Shultz” Killed by Mendy Weiss and Charles “The Bug” Workman Dutch was a top level bootlegger of Jewish heritage. He was an original member of Luciano’s Syndicate before he decided that he wanted to kill federal prosecutor Thomas Dewey. Luciano and the other board members demanded Schultz back down which he did not. He was killed shortly after on October 23, 1935. The job was done by Mendy Weiss and Bug Workman of Murder Inc. Carmine “The Cigar” Galante Bonanno Family Acting Boss “Lilo’ was a renegade who brought in the Zips for his drug trade and took over the Bonanno Family by force. When he started boasting about how he would take over all families as boss of bosses, the commission put the contract out. He was gunned down in Joe &  Mary’s restaurant on July 12, 1979 with his trademark cigar cliched tightly. He was set up by the Zips that he had imported from Sicily. Joe Gallo aka “Crazy Joe” Colombo Family Captain Crazy Joe was responsible for starting two major mafia wars. The only reason the first war ended was because Joe was stewing in prison for a decade. He was after Carmine Persico and Joe Colombo, whose shooting he may have ordered in 1971. Gallo was finally caught at Umberto’s Clam House on April 7, 1972 and shot dead in front of family and friends. He was out celebrating his 43rd birthday. Sam Giancana Chicago Outfit Former Boss 1957 - 1966 This was a monumental hit in mafia history. Giancana was the most politically connected mobster in history. Many historians believe he was instrumental in getting Kennedy elected. The CIA supposedly recruited him to kill Fidel Castro. After returning from a long hiatus in Mexico, he was killed in his home on June 19, 1975. This is another mysterious unresolved case, as Sam’s death would have benefited many people. “Nicky Black” Grancio Colombo Family Captain Orena Faction in Colombo War III Grancio was a player on the Vic Orena side of the 3rd Colombo Family war. Nicky was to become the new consigliere if Orena won the war. Notorious hitman Greg “The Grim Reaper” Scarpa and his crew out hunting Orena guys on January 7, 1992 when they spotted Nicky Black. It was thought that Scarpa killed Grancio, but recently Scarpa’s protege Larry Mazza claimed to be the one who shot Nicky Black as Greg bumbled the attempt. James “Jimmy” Hydell Gambino Family Associate Killed by Anthony “Gaspipe” Casso After a failed hit on Anthony “Gaspipe” Casso in 1986, Jimmy Hydell paid the price. He was picked up by the infamous Mob Cops Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa and delivered to Casso who tortured Hydell, later admitting to shooting him at least 10 times before finally killing him. Wilfred “Willie Boy” Johnson Killed by “Tommy Karate” Pitera He’d been running with Gotti since John was 17 years old but Willie Boy was exposed in court as an informant in 1985. Gotti promised not to kill Johnson if he didn’t testify, and kept his word for a few years. The contract went out to Bonanno hitman Tommy “Karate” Pitera who gunned down Johnson on August 29, 1988 as Willie Boy was leaving his house to go to work. Andrei Katz DeMeo Crew Associate First Victim of “The Gemini Method” The killing of Andrei Katz in 1975 was one of the most savage murders in mafia history. Andrei had been doing stolen car business with the DeMeo Crew before a deal went bad. Things quickly went downhill and Katz decided to cooperate. He was abducted by the crew, brought to a Pantry Pride and cut to pieces. It was the first time of many that Roy and his crew dismembered their murder victim. Louie Milito Killed by Sammy Gravano’s crew on March 8, 1988 After more than a decade of being Sammy Gravano’s best friend and top shooter, Milito was upset about Gravano naming someone else as capo of his crew that he left after the Castellano hit. Gravano let Louie’s complaining slide but John Gotti saw Louie as a Castellano loyalist and ordered his death. Sammy’s crew lured him to a meeting where he was shot in the back of the head and killed on March 8, 1988. Anthony “Tony” Mirra Bonanno Family Captain Tonny was Joe Pistone’s first high level contact in the Bonanno Family as Donnie Brasco. He describes Mirra as the most intimidating gangster he ever met on the streets. When Pistone switched to Lefty Ruggiero, Mirra was outraged. After the Donnie Brasco operation was exposed, Mirra was killed on February 18, 1982 by two of his own cousins who were given a contract on him. Dominick “Sonny Black” Napolitano Bonanno Family Captain Sonny Black knew he was about to be killed. He had been outsmarted by his good friend Donnie Brasco and even held no ill will toward Pistone. After the news of Pistone’s status came out, Sunny was called in for a meeting on August 17, 1981. Sonny left his jewelry and some belongings with a friend knowing he wasn’t coming back, and he didn’t. Joe Massino was later charged and convicted in connection with Sonny’s murder. Abe “Kid Twist” Reles Murder Inc. Hitman Turned Witness The death of Abe Reles came via falling 6 stories out of his Coney Island hotel window on November 12, 1941. Abe had turned canary on his Murder Inc. crew and helped to put 7 of them in the electric chair. He was under 24/7 police guard and was soon to testify against Albert Anastasia when he mysteriously became “The Canary Who Could Sing But Couldn’t Fly”. Vladimir Reznikov Brighton Beach Russian Mobster Reznikov was a vicious Russian mobster who was attempting to muscle in on the lucrative Lucchese Family gas scam. Gaspipe called in two notorious hitmen, Joey Testa and Anthony Senter to kill Reznikov and send a message to any rogue gangsters who dared to test the mafia. Reznikov was shot and killed by Testa on June 13, 1986 while trying to collect an extortion payment. Arnold Schuster Clothing Salesman Schuster was not a mobster, he was merely a guy who happened to spot wanted bank robber Willie Sutton. After going on TV, he caught the attention of Albert Anastasia who had him killed on March 8, 1952, even having both of Schuster’s eyes shot out. This murder caused a public uproar. It also upset the rest of the mafia and would eventually contribute to Anastasia’s murder. Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel Bugs & Meyer Mob Co-Boss He was one part of the Bugs and Meyer Gang with his partner Mayer Lansky. Bugsy’s downfall came when he was sent out to Las Vegas to run the newly formed Flamingo Hotel at the mafia’s behest. The experiment was a massive failure and even Lansky eventually agreed that Bugsy must go. He was killed at his girlfriend Virginia Hills’ home on June 20, 1947. Johnny “Keys” Simone Bruno Family Captain (Philadelphia Family) Sammy Gravano recently told the story of the Johnny Keys hit on his new podcast. Keys  took part in the unsanctioned hit on boss Angelo Bruno. The orders came down from the commission. Sammy recounted that Keys died as a man’s man. Keys asked to be killed with his shoes off as a symbolic gesture to his wife. He always told her he’d die with them off. Mickey Spillane Killed by Roy DeMeo and Danny Grillo Spillane was the longtime leader of the west side Irish mafia in Manhattan. Gambino hitman Roy DeMeo killed Spillane outside his home on May 13, 1977. Roy was killing two birds with one stone. The Italians wanted Spillane dead and so did Spillane’s predecessor Jimmy Coonan. The Westies would become aligned with the Gambinos and Roy DeMeo became a made man as a result. Tony “The Ant” Spilotro Chicago Outfit Soldier & Las Vegas Representative Played by Joe Pesci in Casino, Tony was one of the most notorious mob hitmen ever. The Outfit had sent him to Las Vegas to oversee their skimming operations. He became a high profile presence there and brought them heat instead. He and his brother Michael were lured to a basement on June 14, 1986 where they were brutally beaten to death with baseball bats. Charles “Ruby” Stein Killed by Jimmy Coonan and the Westies The killing of loanshark Ruby Stein was a power play by Jimmy Coonan and the Westies. Stein, who was an old timer with connections to the Genovese Family was lured to Jimmy’s 596 Club where he was shot, killed and then dismembered and dumped in the Hudson River. The Italians knew the Westies were involved but the incident actually led to the Westies aligning with the Gambinos. Patrick “Patty” Testa Lucchese Family Soldier Patty started out as an associate of the DeMeo Crew, in the Gambino Family. LIke his brother Joey, he switched to the Luccheses after DeMeo’s murder, which took place at his garage. Patty would also be killed in that garage in 1992. No one has ever been charged with his murder, but the main suspect was Anthony “Gaspipe” Casso. Phil “Chicken Man” Testa Bruno Family Boss (Philadelphia Family) Occasionally in the past, the mafia has used bombs and this was the case for Testa on March 15, 1981. The newly crowned boss of the Philly mafia was killed instantly and blown to pieces outside of his home. This was only a year after the Angelo Bruno murder and it escalated the war for family power, which would eventually be won by Nicodemo “Little Nicky” Scarfo. Salvatore “Salvie” Testa Bruno Family Captain Salvie was the son of Phil Testa and an up and coming star in the family in the 1980s. He was referred to in the press as the “The Crowned Prince of the Philadelphia Mob”. Nicky Scarfo became very paranoid and even jealous about Salvie. Salvie’s friends under Scarpa’s orders set him up on September 14, 1984. His dead body was left wrapped up and on the side of the road in New Jersey.

Anthony “Nino” Gaggi may not be the most recognized name in Gambino Family history, but he was one of their most important captains. Nino was a lifelong ally to Paul Castellano who rose through the ranks to become boss. Gaggi is best known as boss over New York’s most deadly team of hitmen, the DeMeo Crew. It was Gaggi who brought Roy DeMeo into the mafia and showed him the art of doublecross and murder. Nino’s Young Days He was a first generation American whose parents came here from Palermo, Sicily. Nino’s father made an honest living running a barbershop and his mother had worked as a seamstress. Gaggi dropped out of school at 13 and attempted to follow his father’s footsteps as a barber, but soon found his niche in loansharking around the neighborhood. Nino had one distinct advantage over other young thugs looking to join the mafia ranks, as he was a 2nd cousin to Frank Scalise. Scalise would serve as underboss to Albert Anastasia before it became known as the Gambino Crime Family. Gaggi was given a no-show job through Scalise, allowing him vast amounts of time to pursue other criminal money making schemes. Nino became heavily involved in the local car theft scene. He ran a scheme where phony VINs were created and then cars were stolen to match. Gaggi also took cuts from local car thieves as a street tax for working in his area. He was arrested and charged in 1955 for running a stolen car ring. The witnesses all forgot their testimony on the stand and Gaggi was subsequently acquitted. In 1957, Frank Scalise was shot and killed in the Bronx. Nino’s leader was now dead and his future was up in the air. A couple months later, Scalise’s boss Albert Anastasia “The Lord High Executioner” was murdered as he sat in his barber’s chair. Nino’s young nephew Dominick Montiglio remembers the uncertainty and fear that was in the air when he was a child in 1957. Things were looking up for Nino however. He was an ally of Paul Castellano and Carlo Gambino, who took over the family after the Anastasia hit. Carlo was seen as a breath of fresh air by the other bosses in comparison to Anastasia. He was not impulsive. He was consistently on top of his game, like a lion and a fox as he loved to say. There was one unfinished piece of business for Nino after the shift of power. He found out that it was former Anastasia hitman Vincent Squillante who had killed his mentor Frank Scalise. Squillante got caught up in an extortion case in 1960, at which time Paul and Carlo told Nino it was ok to take him out. This would be Gaggi’s first killing and for it, he would be made into the Gambino Family. Developing Monsters It wasn’t the things Nino did personally that made him a Gambino legend, it was his mentoring of Roy DeMeo. DeMeo became an official Gambino associate after Gaggi discovered him and took him under his wing. Roy was a double threat of a gangster, he knew how to make money and he was also a willing savage. The two men worked together to develop money making schemes. Nino made some money in his time with loansharking and stolen cars, but young DeMeo had a different level of earning abilities. He dealt in stolen cars, narcotics, loansharking, pornography and even some legally legit ventures that paid him handsomely. The relationship with Roy was good for Nino Gaggi in many ways. Roy had a crew of young dangerous thugs who were also ready to make money for the Gambinos. The DeMeo Crew were known as the young local mob tough guys. They were eager to earn Roy’s respect just as Roy was to earn Nino’s. Nino, the aging mobster now had a young army at his disposal. DeMeo had always told Gaggi that he’d be willing to kill somebody for the family. In 1973, Nino decided to take him up on the offer. Pornographer Paul Rothenberg was the first victim of Roy DeMeo, whose crew would go on to kill up to 200 other people in the next decade. Nino had been waiting for the right opportunity to unleash Roy. When Rothenberg’s porn lab was raided, he began cooperating with the DA's office and word got back to Nino. Roy was ordered to take out the snitch and he did with deadly efficiency and coldness. Gaggi had previously had his doubts about how tough Roy was, he talked a big game but this time he turned up big. Nino decided since the Rothenberg hit went so well, he could use Roy to take care of another piece of lingering business. Vincent Governara was a local kid who had busted Nino up and broken his nose years earlier. Nino had already tried to kill Governara and failed, but on June 12, 1976 Nino and Roy found him and finished the job. Enter Dominick Montiglio In the Governara hit, Nino had brought his nephew Dominick Montiglio along. Dominick had been raised by his uncle, so he knew what Nino did for a living and grew up with the mob. This would be his first and only actual “hit” as he was there to serve as the driver for Nino and Roy, the shooters. He knew his uncle had killed people in the past and now he got to witness it firsthand. About a year and a half earlier, it was Dominick who Nino ordered to put a grenade under Governara’s car, which he did. Vincent was injured in the blast and left town for a while, but not nearly long enough. Montiglio just happened to notice his car parked in town and reported the news to Nino and Roy, who sprang right into action. Dominick and Roy did not care for each other personally, but they had something of a political relationship and tolerated one another. Montiglio felt Roy was a kiss ass who would betray his uncle one day. He felt that every move Roy made was for personal gain. Roy felt that Dominick was a spoiled lucky punk riding his uncle’s coattails. Gaggi put Dominick in charge of relations with the DeMeo Crew. He was to relay orders from Nino and pick up the weekly tributes which were collected at Roy’s bar, the Gemini Lounge in Canarsie. For the first time in his life, Nino was able to relax and let the young gangsters work for him. He was now in his 50s and spent more time at home. From time to time, Gaggi would warn Montiglio about getting too close to DeMeo or any of his crew members. He wanted Dominick there to do his work only, but Montiglio was getting heavily involved in narcotics trafficking. Drug dealing was supposedly banned by the Gambino Family and punishable by death. The bosses all accepted the profits without question, but if you got caught you died. Riding Paul Castellano’s Wave With the financial boost he got from Roy DeMeo’s crew every week, Nino began to ascend the ranks of importance in the Gambino Family. He stayed very close with Paul Castellano for years and as “Big Paul rose”, Nino rose. At this time, Nino was a soldier in Castellano’s crew. Paul was still a captain. Through Nino, Roy was hoping to develop a personal relationship with Paul Castellano. Even though he was a street guy Roy had delusions that he would be accepted into Paul’s white collar world. It was not to be. Paul strongly disliked Roy, sharing the same opinion as Dominick that Roy was a kiss ass. He was also violent beyond all reason. With all of that said, Paul very much valued DeMeo and was glad to take his money. He employed Roy’s services for other reasons too. Paul’s son in law Frank Amato was accused of cheating on his daughter and causing a miscarriage. Big Paul was disgusted and ordered Nino to have DeMeo kill Amato and make his body disappear. Roy happily obliged Paul’s demands not only on this matter, but also in the murder of Vinnie Borelli, another low level wiseguy who dated Paul’s daughter. Dating Paul’s daughter was not a safe idea if her father didn’t like you. Through these and other murders, Nino and Roy became Paul’s go to when he needed someone eliminated. Longtime boss Carlo Gambino died of natural causes in late 1976. In a move that surprised and angered many members of the family, Carlo named Paul as his successor and not deserving underboss Neil Dellacroce. Dellacroce silently seethed but his crew openly protested, including powerful up and coming soldier John Gotti. Nino was made a captain in the Gambinos after Paul took over. Nino and Roy were firmly on the Castellano side of the split. Gaggi was able to convince Paul to make Roy. DeMeo had become insistent on the matter and knew that he was bringing in more money than nearly anyone in the family. Paul didn’t like him but he had no choice. Gotti and his team were ready for a war but Dellacroce ordered them to accept the result and respect the rules. A Gotti-DeMeo/Gaggi clash could have happened at this time but cooler heads prevailed with Castellano and Dellacroce. Nino and Roy might have had the advantage at the time. Roy and his crew were nothing short of frightening. Eliminating All Potential Threats Nino and Roy were the most feared mobsters in New York in the late 70s. Roy and his crew ran rampant and only answered to Nino and Paul. Roy had begun doing side work as a contract killer, making himself and his crew available to anyone who could pay for their services. Roy had a way of making bodies disappear too, chopping them up. The next person that hit their radar was Jimmy Eppolito, who was a made Gambino member from Nino’s old crew in Bath Beach. Eppolito had gone to Paul and accused Nino and Roy of dealing in narcotics, which they of course were doing. Unfortunately for Eppolito, Paul was profiting from it. Instead of following mafia rules, Paul tipped off Nino and Roy. The ironic part of the whole situation was that Eppolito was also involved in the drug trade. He only complained because his son Jimmy Jr. had been ripped off in a deal with DeMeo’s crew. Paul gave Nino and Roy his blessing to handle the problem however they saw fit, which was essentially handing down a death sentence on the Eppolitos. It was decided that they would lure the father and son to the Gemini Lounge for a “meeting” to resolve the dispute. They were all riding in Jimmy Jr.’s car when Jimmy Sr. started having second thoughts about going to the Gemini. Jimmy Jr. pulled the car over and immediately, Nino and Roy pulled out guns and killed the father and son on the spot. It was a sloppy double murder with multiple witnesses. One of the witnesses named Patrick Penny quietly followed Nino after they jumped out of the car and was able to wave down an off duty cop. Nino ended up shooting at the cop but taking a bullet in his neck. Nino had always talked about dying in the streets with a gun in his hand, and that almost happened. Roy got away after the shooting and right away began looking for Penny, who he killed a few weeks later. Nino then pulled an amazing stunt, he painfully pulled the bullet lodged in his neck out, but gave authorities a different bullet. The murder charges were dropped and he was only then convicted of assault and sentenced to 5-15 years. Roy would take over as acting captain. Big Trouble For Roy Real problems began for the DeMeo Crew when an investigation into his international stolen car ring was launched. Roy had been shipping hundreds of cars per week overseas to wealthy investors in Kuwait. The gig was a money machine that was felt all the way to the top to Castellano who would end up getting pulled into the case. As soon as Castellano found out about the investigation, he considered having Roy killed. He presented the idea to Gaggi, who was able to temporarily talk Paul out of doing it. As much trouble as Roy may have been in, Nino was not yet ready to pull the card of his money maker. He insisted to Paul that they needed Roy both for the money and the protection against Gotti. At one point in time, Castellano approached John Gotti and asked him to kill Roy DeMeo. John’s brother Gene Gotti was heard on a wiretap device talking about how John wanted no part of the job. Castellano didn’t want to kill his protection and main money source either, but was scared that DeMeo was going to crack and cooperate with authorities. In the end, Paul just handed the job to Nino and ordered him to have Roy’s crew members participate. Nino called on the Gemini Twins, Joey Testa and Anthony Senter to assist. They lured Roy to the garage of another crew member where Nino pulled out a pistol and shot him in the face. The twins would symbolically each put a bullet behind DeMeo’s ears for finality. Dominick’s Revenge Nino and Paul hoped that by eliminating Roy that their legal problems would go away, but they were about to multiply. The stolen car investigation had grown into an international case that involved 25 mafia related murders. Nino and Roy had previously attempted to kill any and all potential witnesses but it was all in vain and the floodgates were about to open. A few years earlier, Nino had a very serious falling out with his nephew Dominick Montiglio. Gaggi was furious at his nephew being involved in drugs and essentially banished him from the family. Nino told associates that Montiglio stole $250,000 from him. Dominick knew this was nothing short of a death sentence in this world and skipped town, even with a case hanging over his head. A few months after Roy was killed in 1983, Montiglio came back to New York. He was looking for money that he was previously owed. Not even knowing about DeMeo’s murder, he used Roy’s name as he was threatening a debtor. It proved an unwise move as one went to the police and set Montiglio up. The guy wore a wire to their next meeting and Montiglio was immediately. Knowing he was as good as dead in a New York jail, Dominick quickly decided to cooperate against Gaggi and Paul. Montiglio was able to provide first hand evidence that Nino and Paul took payments and made orders, which included murders. Backing up Dominick’s testimony would be two other former DeMeo Crew members, Vito Arena and “Broadway” Freddie DiNome. DiNome was Roy’s longtime driver and one of his closest friends. He’d done murders with Roy and knew information about many other unsolved homicide and missing persons cases. Freddie decided to cooperate after his brother Richie was killed. Vito had been a thorn in Roy’s side for the last year of his life. They had been looking to kill him knowing that he was an informant, but it was the cops that found him. Vito was able to lead them to a chopped up body that had been put in a 55 gallon drum and thrown in the ocean. With these 3 witnesses, Gaggi, Castellano and the other defendants had no chance. The End Of The Road Before Paul Castellano could go to prison, John Gotti and Sammy Gravano would kill him outside of Sparks Steak House in December 1985. The aftermath of the killing was a major shakeup, Gotti was now boss and no one was powerful enough to go against the Gotti/Gravano alliance. Turned out Paul was unpopular with more than just Gotti. Nino was the one and only captain who didn’t vote in favor of Gotti taking over as boss. He accused Gotti and Gravano of the killing but had no real power to do anything about it. Gotti was heard on a wiretap very aggressively letting it be known that Nino was in hot water. It was very likely that Nino Gaggi would’ve been killed at this time but he went to jail and never got out. After the death of Paul, Nino was now the target of the massive car case. With the testimony of Dominick, Vito and DiNome, Gaggi was convicted of conspiracy in the case. He was soon to go on trial for multiple murders. He was awaiting his second trial on April 17, 1988 when he began having chest pains and complained to his cellmate. When guards arrived, they seemed reluctant and unprepared to help him. They stalled for time before actually making Nino change his clothes before they would bring him to a doctor. Nino died on an examination table that night. One person who had been by Nino’s side throughout his violent life was his loyal wife Rose. She knew what her husband did for a living, but loved the person that she truly felt was a good man. Rose had a case for negligence against the prison, she won and received a cash settlement from the government

James “Whitey” Bulger (1929-2018) - Whitey Bulger was by far the most well known and powerful mobster in the history of the New England mob. He didn’t get to that spot without some serious help though. He was an FBI informant for decades and received special treatment from them. He was often tipped off about the activities of his rivals and more than once was given a heads up about potential informants. All Whitey had to do was provide information about the Boston FBI’s real target, the Italian mafia. Bulger used the relationship to strengthen his position in organized crime. He became the leader of Boston’s Winter Hill Gang. His FBI contact John Connolly gave him advanced warnings when indictments for racketeering were about to come down in 1994. Bulger went on the run and stayed gone for 16 years. He was the FBI’s #2 most wanted man until Osama Bin Laden was killed, and then he was #1. He was caught in 2011 in California. He was convicted of involvement in 11 murders and sent to prison. In 2018, he was beaten to death by another prisoner in West Virginia, the very same day that he was put into general population. Kevin “Two Weeks” Weeks - Kevin Weeks served as Whitey Bulger’s enforcer in the 1970s and 1980s. Kevin was a member of the infamous Winter Hill Gang, Boston’s mainly Irish organized crime gang. Whitey and Kevin extorted local Southie drug dealers, demanding a cut of all their sales. He assisted Whitey in the murder of Brian Halloran and many other violent crimes. After going to prison for racketeering in 1999, he agreed to cooperate with the FBI after being locked up for just two weeks. He had a good reason though, he had just found out that his bosses Whitey Bulger and Stephen “The Rifleman” Flemmi were both informants. Weeks was released in 2005 and retired from mob activity. His testimony helped to convict Steve Flemmi and corrupt FBI agent John Connolly away. Weeks led authorities to several buried bodies around Boston. Eventually Bulger was caught, but not right away. Kevin always thought he was going to come back at some point for revenge. Howard “Howie” Winter (1959-2012) - Howie Winter was the boss of the powerful Winter Hill Gang in the 1870’s. He had gotten his start in the mob as an associate of legendary gangster James “Buddy” McLean in the early 1960’s. When McLean got killed, Winter took over the Winter Hill Gang. He was sent to prison in 1979 for fixing horse races. He would find out later that two of his gang members, Whitey Bulger and Stephen Flemmi had been informing on him. Edward “Wimpy” Bennett (died 1967) - Edward “Wimpy” Bennett was the most powerful Irish mobster in Boston during the 1950s and early 1960s. He was involved in the famous Brinks robbery in 1951. Wimpy had two brothers that assisted him and a crew. One of his crew in the early days was a young Steve Flemmi. Bennett was not a fan of the Italian mafia and wanted to run them out of Boston, which he may have done if the FBI didn’t want the Italians for themselves. Bennett and his two brothers Walter and William were all murdered in 1967. Unfortunately, the betrayal of crew member Stephen Flemmi and the actions of a crooked FBI agent named H Paul Rico led to the complete demise of the Bennett brothers. Ronald Dermody (died 1965) - Dermody was a bank robber who was fresh out of prison in the early 1960’s. He was on a mission to kill Buddy McLean but instead shot the wrong man. Dermody then got scared and called Boston FBI agent H. Paul Rico looking for help. Instead of helping Dermody, Rico alerted McLean who shot Dermody to death at the meeting site where he was supposed to meet with Rico. Wilfred “Willy” Delaney (1937-1964) - Willy Delaney was an enforcer for the McLaughlin brothers in Charlestown during the 1950’s and early 1960’s. After a tough as nails street fighter named Tommy Sullivan put a public beating on Punchy McLaughlin in 1957, Delany hunted down Sullivan and killed him. After being set up by Buddy McLean, Delaney suffered a horrific death in 1964. Medical examiners concluded that a blowtorch had been used on his genitals. Arthur “Butchie” Doe Jr. (1959-2018) - Arthur Doe Jr., also known as Butchie was a bank robber and involved in union corruption. His father had been killed during the McLean-McLaughlin War of the 1960s. Butchie lived a very violent life, having killed three people. He also survived three very high profile attempts on his own life. He was shot three separate times within a year back in 1989-1990. Doe passed away of natural causes in 2018. He was known as a very solitary guy. By all appearances, Butchie seemed to finally calm down and live his last years in a more civilized manner. A long ways from when he was on the front pages of the Boston Herald and Boston Globe during his most violent years. Cornelius “Connie” Hughes (died May 1966) - Connie and his brother Stevie Hughes were by far the most feared members of the McLaughlin crew. When someone needed to be hurt or killed, the job was usually given to the eager brothers. The Hughes brothers were responsible for the majority of the killings coming from the McLaughlin side of the war. Connie was driving home on May 25, 1966 when a car pulled up alongside his. Notorious killer Joe “The Animal” Barboza was the man who killed him. Stevie Hughes (died September 1966) - Stevie Hughes was the man who killed Buddy McLean in 1965, among many others. He and his brother Connie served as the main muscle for the McLaughlins. The Hughes brothers were feared all throughout the Boston underworld. After his brother was gunned down in May of 1966, Stevie was now missing his layers of protection. Connie, Punchy and Bernie McLaughlin were all dead. Stevie was driving in Middleton, Mass on September 23, 1966 when a car pulled up beside him and bullets rang out. It was Joe Barboza again who did the job. Barboza was on a killing spree that year, having killed both Hughes brothers in the space of four months. The death of Steve and Connie Hughes was a major shift of power in the McLean vs McLaughlin war. The brothers were poised to take over the McLaughlin side until they were wiped out. The war would go on for another year or two before finally dissolving. Donald Killeen (1923-1972) - Donald Killeen was one of three Killeen brothers who controlled the bookmaking and loansharking rackets in South Boston during the 1950’s and 1960’s. Killeen’s main rivals were a group known as the Mullen Gang. A young Whitey Bulger was part of Killeen’s crew. Unfortunately for Killeen, the youngsters wanted the power and two Killeen brothers would be murdered in the early 1970’s. The other brother would be warned by Whitey Bulger that he was “out of business, no further warnings”. Johnny Martorano - Born in 1940, Johnny Martorano was the one of the deadliest hitmen in the history of the New England mob. He has admitted in court to being involved in 20 murders, all of which were mob related. Johnny’s father was an old time mobster who groomed his son for a life of crime. Martorano became an enforcer for the Winter Hill Gang. After learning that his bosses Bulger and Flemmi were informants, Martorano became a government witness. Martorano had been assigned by Winter Hill to kill John Callahan and Oklahoma businessman Roger Wheeler. Martorano appeared on 60 Minutes back in 2008, discussing how a former alter boy became a mafia hitman and then a government witness. Joseph “Joe Mac” McDonald (1917-1997) Joe Mac was the best friend and partner in crime of James “Buddy” McLean and a mentor to Howie Winter. McDonald was the man who actually organized the Winter Hill Gang. He would get indicted in the horse race fixing scandal in 1979. He decided to go on the lam, and while in hiding committed a murder for Whitey Bulger in Oklahoma. McDonald would die of natural causes- a stroke, in 1997. Bernie McLaughlin (died 1961) - Bernie McLaughlin was the leader of the McLaughlin brothers and the most powerful gangster in Charlestown. When he found out his brother George had been beaten senseless by some friends of Buddy McLean, he set out for revenge. After trying to blow up McLean’s family car, Bernie himself was hunted down and killed by McLean in 1961. The war continued to rage after his death. Ed “Punchy” McLaughlin (died 1965) - Ed McLaughlin was known as “Punchy”. He was a former boxer turned street enforcer known for violent and unpredictable behavior. Puchy had been in many bloody street fights. When the McLean-McLaughlin War broke out, Punchy was right in the middle of it, killing McLean’s friend Russell Nicholson. Punchy was gunned down in 1965 at a bus stop while on his way to his brother George’s murder trial. The shooter was Stephen Flemmi. George McLaughlin - It was George McLaughlin’s drunken and disrespectful behavior that started the McLean-McLaughlin War. He groped an associate’s girlfriend and received a beatdown that almost killed him. A street war ensued and bullet riddled bodies started turning up all over the streets of Boston. Ironically, George was the only brother to survive the war, it is unclear if he’s still alive today. He would be in his early 90’s. James “Buddy” McLean (1929-1965) - Buddy McLean was the original boss of the Winter Hill Gang. Winter Hill ran the rackets in Boston. They worked with and for the Patriarca Family but Winter Hill had a huge share of control. Buddy had a handsome babyface but was a feared streetfighter. McLean was one of the most important gangsters in Boston history. In the early 1960s a major gang war broke out between McLean and a group from Charlestown led by the McLaughlin brothers. The war had started when a drunken George McLaughlin had groped a girlfriend of one of Buddy’s friends. Georgie was given a vicious beating but not killed. George’s brother Bernie McLaughlin vowed revenge and when McLean wouldn’t give up his friends, the war began. Some 60 men died in the next couple years as the two sides hunted each other. In the end, Buddy McLean and two McLaughlin brothers, Bernie and “Punchy” were killed. McLean was shot and killed on October 31, 1965 by McLaughlin enforcer Stevie Hughes. Patrick Nee - Patrick Joseph Nee is a retired former Winter Hill Gang member. He was at one time a heated rival of Whitey Bulger but eventually joined forces with him after Whitey took over the gang. Nee was a supporter of the IRA and spent a significant amount of his efforts raising money to send them firearms. He was involved in the murder of Arthur “Bucky” Barrett in 1983, along with Bulger enforcer Kevin Weeks. He was suspected in multiple other murders but never charged. Russell Nicholson (1931-1964) Russell Nicholson was a police officer, but also a close associate and actual member of the Winter Hill Gang. Nicholson was with Buddy McLean the day that Bernie McLaughlin was killed outside of the Morning Glory Cafe in Charlestown. A huge crowd witnessed the murder but no one cooperated. Nicholson would be murdered three years later by George and Punchy McLaughlin, avenging their brother’s death. James “Spike” O’Toole (1929-1973) - He was a close friend of Buddy McLean and a member of the Winter Hill Gang. O’Toole was actually murdered by his own men. His killer was Johnny Martorano. In a brutal killing, Martorano actually ran over O’Toole with his car after walking out of a bar in Dorchester. It was a love triangle that got O’Toole killed, another Winter Hill member wanted his lady. John “Red” Shea - Red Shea is a retired gangster from South Boston who was once a part of the infamous Winter Hill Gang. He grew up in Southie and came up under Whitey Bulger’s wing. Shea was given 12 years for trafficking in cocaine. While in prison, stories about Bulger being an informant came out. Shea turned his back on organized crime. He wrote a book called Rat Bastards: The Story Of South Boston’s Most Honorable Irish Gangster.

Roy DeMeo and Jimmy Coonan were two of the most violent mobsters in the history of New York City. Roy was a Gambino Family soldier in Brooklyn while Jimmy was the leader of the Westies in Hell’s Kitchen. Both were experienced in killing and even dismemberment. The joining of their forces in 1977 spread fear through the entire New York underworld. Formation of Two Murderous Crews While the west side Irish were causing trouble with the Italians who could crush them, the Italians would rather make a deal with them. There were various large construction projects going on in the neighborhood, including the Jacob Javits Convention Center, which would be a multi million dollar project on concrete alone. The west side boss Mickey Spillane was a bit of a pain in the ass for the mafia. He was known for occasionally kidnapping mafia members and then holding them until a ransom was paid.It was a weird relationship because Spillane was also paying the mafia a tribute to operate. They basically tolerated Spillane for the time being. Meanwhile, a young Irish gangster named Jimmy Coonan was making a name for himself in Hell’s Kitchen. Jimmy Coonan also had a major ax to grind with Spillane who had pistol whipped and held his accountant father for ransom. Young Jimmy was no accountant, he grew up to be a stone cold killer with a fierce reputation in the neighborhood saloons. Another young tough guy in Hell’s Kitchen making noise was Francis “Mickey” Featherstone. He had shot and killed men in the neighborhood bars in front of witnesses multiple times and was able to beat the charges. During one of these shootings, he had borrowed a gun from Jimmy Coonan, who then recruited Mickey to become his number 2 guy. Roy DeMeo was known as the man who did a large percentage of the Gambino Families’ dirty work. He was a full time hitman whose crew usually murdered at least one person a week.They operated out of the Gemini Lounge in the Canarsie section of Brooklyn. They were the most savage mafia crew since Murder Inc. was around back in the 1930s. DeMeo also made the bosses tons of money by importing stolen luxury cars to Kuwait for a massive profit. But he was frustrated because he was still a lowly associate and not a made man. Roy knew Casellano wanted to expand the families’ influence on the west side. DeMeo had some connections to the west side. He reached out to them and was introduced to Coonan. New Blood in Hell’s Kitchen By the mid 1970s, Jimmy Coonan had essentially taken over the streets of Hell’s Kitchen. Mickey Spillane left the neighborhood for Queens and many of his old crew like Eddie “The Butcher” Cummiskey and Billy Beattie had switched to the Coonans side. Jimmy still wanted Spillane dead but now had bigger fish to fry. Coonan saw an opportunity to make a lot of money if he killed a loan shark named Charles “Ruby” Stein and got his black book. It was a risky plan at best. Stein was well connected to the Genovese and Gambino families. Jimmy wasn’t phased by the risk at all. He was ready to do something that would shock even his own crew members. On May 5,1977, Ruby was lured to Jimmy’s 596 Club. When the door closed, someone immediately hit the lock behind Stein while another man walked up and shot him in the head. Stein died quickly but the job wasn’t done. Jimmy ordered his team to drag Steins’ body to the club bathroom where they would dismember the body. Billy Beattie and Mickey Featherstone were at the club for the Stein job. Both guys were experienced with violence and murders, but the experience of seeing Ruby Stein being taken apart was a nightmare. Coonan took way too much joy in their opinion. In Billy’s case, he owed Coonan a lot of money and was wondering if he might be next. Roy knew the real story about Ruby Stein which should’ve been a death sentence for Coonan, but Roy took another stance. DeMeo had heard many stories about Jimmy Coonan and the brutality of the Westies.Roy’s crew member Danny Grillo was the connection between the two men. Roy was impressed with Jimmy and decided to recruit him and his west side crew. The play Roy used to get Coonan’s loyalty was by killing the semi-retired Mickey Spillane. Roy killed Spillane outside of his home on May 13, 1977, just 8 days after the Westies killed Ruby Stein. In truth, the Italian mafia wanted Spillane dead for reasons unrelated to Coonan. It was the fight over the Javits Center construction profits. But it had the intended impact on Jimmy. The Sitdown with Big Paul Jimmy was ecstatic to be associated with Roy and the Gambino Family. He had big mafia dreams that went beyond the west side streets and Roy was his inroad to the top. It wasn’t long until Coonan needed Roy’s help. When Ruby Stein’s torso was found, suspicion fell on Coonan. Jimmy and his number 2 Mickey were called to sit down with Paul Castellano, the boss of the Gambino Family. When Jimmy and Mickey got to Tomasso’s for the sitdown, Roy DeMeo greeted them. Roy calmly told them to just deny any involvement. That’s exactly what they did and it worked. Paul scolded them for their reckless behavior, but eventually told them that the Westies would now officially be associates of the Gambino Family. Jimmy and Mickey were happy to walk out of that meeting alive. They had told their guys to be ready to go into Tomasso’s and be ready to kill everyone on sight if they hadn’t returned in 2 hours. That time came and went while Jimmy and Mickey were still in the restaurant but no one showed up. It turns out Billy Beattie and the boys got stoned and lost track of time. Castellano charged Coonan 10% of Westies earnings that would go to the Gambinos. Coonan of course was happy with the deal but the rest of his crew, including Mickey were not. Mickey did not want to associate with the Italians. They were junior partners at best and had to adhere to all of Paul and Roy’s demands. Jimmy wasn’t entertaining any complaints from Mickey or the other guys. There were some get-togethers with Roy DeMeo’s guys and the Westies in these days. Mickey met Joey Testa, Anthony Snter and Chris Rosenberg. In Murder Machine, it says that Mickey got into a heated argument with one of these men. After that incident, there was less interaction between the crews but the business deal was still in play. With a new stream of income created and some new connections made, Roy was rewarded for the alliance by becoming a made man in the Gambinos. Paul Castellano had been resisting this for years because of his hesitancy about Roy, who he considered a street level thug. But Roy was not only handing up thousands every week, he also killed anyone Paul asked him to. Downfall of DeMeo The Westies were on a roll in the late 1970s. Jimmy and Mickey both beat a murder case, as did Jimmy McElroy. But by 1980, Coonan and Featherstone were both in prison for a few years. During this time, Coonan was still collecting the neighborhood rackets but Mickey was getting nothing. Jimmy also was still paying the Gambino Family their dues. Both guys were released a few years later, but the dynamic changed. Jimmy had left the neighborhood and was now spending most of these days with the Italians. The disenchantment with Jimmy was growing with all of his guys. There were even a few conversations about killing Coonan but that was a scary job that was never taken. As rough as things were in Hell’s Kitchen, it was much worse for Roy DeMeo and his crew. Roy’s international luxury car theft ring had been busted. Gambino boss Paul Castellano was indicted in the case which was serious trouble for Roy. By mid 1982 he was basically in hiding, knowing full well what happened to people in his situation. In January 1983, Roy was called to a meeting by Nino Gaggi. When he got there, he was killed by his own men. Its’ thought that Joey and Anthony each put a bullet behind one of Roy’s ears as a symbolic gesture.  DeMeo was such a dangerous guy that both John Gotti and Frank DeCicco had turned down the contract. Only his own crew were crazy enough to take the job. Roy had been killing and dismembering his victims for a decade, even the NYC detectives of that era have said that his crew’s body count may have been 150-200 people. Danny Marino would step in as Jimmy Coonan’s Gambino Family contact. Mickey Featherstone was no fan of Marino and that only added to the tension in the Westies ranks. End of the Coonan Era Jimmy Coonan was so unpopular with his crew by the mid 1980s that they were actively looking to kill him for a while. In their opinion, he had completely sold out the neighborhood. Mickey, Billy, Jimmy McElroy and a group of the younger guys all agreed that Jimmy needed to go. They all agreed that Mickey should be the one who steps into his place of leadership. Despite the plot, Jimmy was able to get McElroy and the young guns back under his wing. Featherstone turned down a murder request by Coonan. When that happened, Jimmy started plotting against Mickey. He had a Westies member named Billy Bokun put on a disguise and makeup to look like Mickey. It actually worked and Mickey was convicted of the murder! Mickey soon found out that Jimmy was behind the hoax and he decided to get revenge. He made a deal with the government to testify against Coonan and the Westies on RICO and murder charges. Mickey was on the stand for four weeks and Coonan was convicted and sentenced to 75 years in prison. Featherstone’s murder conviction was overturned. It was through Mickey Featherstone that the FBI learned the true extent of the Gambino and Westies alliance. They had always known there was a connection there having seen Coonan at some of the Gambino Families’ known hangouts. They tried to crack Coonan but Jimmy was not talking, but some other Westies were. Jimmy McElroy was sentenced to 60 years in the same trial. A few years later he was desperate to get out of prison and also offered to make a deal. He had information that Gotti ordered a shooting of a union official named John O’Connor, which the Westies did. McElroy was not found credible and Gotti was acquitted in the assault trial. Westies Help Rig Gotti Jury While the relation between the Westies and Gambinos dissolved somewhat, the two groups would be reunited for something big. New Gambino boss John Gotti was on trial for racketeering in 1986. His bombastic but clever attorney Bruce Cutler put on quite a performance in court and received the credit for Gotti’s eventual acquittal, there was a more sinister reason. At this time, the Westies were being led by Bosco Radonjich, a Serbian who had come to America in 1970. He was affiliated with an anti communist group known for various bombings. A friend of his named George Pape informed him that he was on the Gotti jury and willing to sell his vote to acquit Gotti for $60,000. Pape had lied about his mob ties during jury selection. Boscoe immediately reached out to Sammy “The Bull” Gravano. Needless to say, the new Gambino leadership was thrilled with the help of their friends on the west side. Gravano and Gotti immediately agreed to the proposal and happily paid the $60,000 up front, knowing that the worst case scenario now would be a hung jury. This was a massive victory for Gotti. He and his co defendants were all  acquitted of murder, loansharking and armed hijacking charges. John was known in the press as “the Teflon Don” because none of the charges against him stuck. The FBI suspected foul play but was never able to put the pieces together until Sammy the Bull became a government witness in 1992. Pape would be convicted of jury tampering in November 1992 and sentenced to three years in prison. Radonjich fled the U.S. that same year to avoid prosecution. He was brought back in 1999 to face the charges. Gravano was soon arrested and convicted in an ecstasy ring. He was the main witness, but now no longer a credible witness. Boscoe went free and fled the country again. By the 1990s, Hell’s Kitchen had completely gentrified from a working class tough Irish neighborhood to a more expensive place where wealthier people flocked. The hardcore criminal element in the neighborhood was effectively dissolved with the change. The Westies who ruled the area for decades are now a distant memory. The Gambino Family is still very much active.

The Italian mafia and the Irish mob have existed in America for well over a century. They have fought bloody wars for supremacy and at many times even worked together. The Italians have always had the upper hand in New York with their deeper ranks and influence. There have been times when the Irish got the advantage though. The initial battles were waged during prohibition and have occurred often ever since the 1920s. (Irish) White Hand vs (Sicilian) Black Hand New York City Waterfront 1910 - 1925 The first big mob war to break out between the Irish and Italian mobsters took place in the 1910s and early 1920s. The Irish mobsters under their leader Dinny Meehan had early control on the New York waterfront. The gang had a severe hatred for the influx of young Italians that were starting to flood into the country. The Irish were going to defend their territory until the death, and sure enough the Italians quickly moved in on the rackets. The Italian mobs back at this time were often referred to as the “Black Hand” gangs. In response, Meehan and the Irish crew became the “White Hand Gang”. Things got violent quickly between the two groups and Meehan was murdered in 1920. He was replaced by the notorious “Wild Bill” Lovett who had wars going with the Italians and even against fellow Irish gangs. Wild Bill only lasted until October 1923 when he was beaten and then shot to death. The killings of both Lovett and Meehan went unsolved. Frankie Yale was suspected in both cases but police also pointed to the possibility of fellow Irish gangsters being involved. The White Hand Gang was now hurt but not ready to give up. They rallied behind their ambitious and ruthless new leader Richard “Peg Leg” Lonergan. Peg Leg immediately declared war against the Italians. He was up against the likes of Yale, Joe Adonis, Albert Anastasia, Vincent Mangano and dozens of other dangerous killers. Lonergan was up to the challenge and upped the ante by muscling in on more waterfront territory. He was brash, daring and downright foolish but strongly felt that he could take on and defeat this massive force. It all came to a bloody end for the White Hand on December 26, 1925. Peg Leg and five of his lieutenants showed up at Joe Adonis’s social club causing trouble. They were ambushed and Peg Leg and two others died. The other members were shaken and refused to cooperate with authorities. They did not regroup however, and the White Hand Gang soon went extinct. New England Mafia vs The Gustin Gang Prohibition in Boston 1925 - 1931 During the first decade of bootlegging, the Irish mob controlled the profits in Boston. The premier gang was known as the Gustin Gang and their leader was Frank Wallace. They were based in South Boston, an area which has always been dominated by the Irish mob. The Gustins were a strong unit because of their ruthlessness and their vast influence with local politicians and law enforcement. Wallace and his brother Steve created the group in the 1910s. They were involved in gambling, loansharking and robberies back in those days. Prohibition was fantastic for the brothers as they found their earnings skyrocketing. Steve Wallace was the chief enforcer, an ex boxer with a streak for savagery. Another brother Jim Wallace also played a role. No one else in South Boston dared to challenge the notorious Wallace brothers. Meanwhile in New York, the Italians had swiftly and forcefully taken over the waterfront and bootlegging rackets from the Irish. They had their eyes on taking over the entire country and decided that Boston was an area the Italians needed. A couple of young Italian mobsters named Philip Buccola and Joe Lombardo would be the ones selected to take on the powerful Gustin Gang. They began building their base in Boston’s North End and the rivalry began. What gave the Italians their confidence was the backing they had from New York’s five families. They began moving in on Gustin Gang territory and killing their members in the mid 1920s. Buccola became the first boss of what would later become known as the Patriarca Family or the Office. The Wallace brothers upped the stakes of the rivalry when they started hijacking the liquor trucks of Lombardo and Buccola. The Italians reached out saying that they wanted a meeting to set up a truce. They set up a trap and ambushed Frank Wallace and his lieutenant Bernard Walsh, killing both men. The move allowed the Italians to gain prominence in New England. Remnants of the Gustin Gang carried on and the Irish/Italian feud continued. They would also work together at various times when corroboration was needed. Mickey Spillane vs The Five Families Battle for the Javits Convention Center 1975 - 1977 Mickey Spillane was the boss of the Irish mob in the west side of Manhattan for nearly two decades. He controlled a crew of 25-30 loosely affiliated guys in the neighborhood known as Hell’s Kitchen. For most of his reign, Spillane was able to coexist with the Italians and they basically allowed him to operate freely on his turf. Spillane did poke the bear on many occasions. He sometimes kidnapped mafia members and held them for ransom. The Italians sometimes used the west siders for jobs so they considered the occasional kidnapping just a cost of doing business. Spillane also never killed any of the hostages. But in the late 1970s, the construction of the new Jacob Javitz Convention Center on the westside changed everything. The project was huge and it was square in Spillane territory. Mickey made the mistake of expecting the mafia to respect that. He offered them a position as “junior partners” on the project, which was going to make the mob millions. Spillane also greatly overestimated his power by making such an offer, his gang had two dozen guys while the Italians numbered in the hundreds. What came next was an absolute wipeout. In the summer of 1976, Spillane’s top two enforcers Eddie “The Butcher” Cummisky and Tom Devaney were killed by mafia hired gun Joe “Mad Dog” Sullivan. A few months later, Spillane loyalist Tom “The Greek” Kapatos was killed. Spillane saw all of this and smartly moved his family out of Manhattan to Queens where he was hiding out. On the night of May 13, 1977, someone rang the Spillane doorbell. Mickey said goodnight to his son and went downstairs, where he was shot to death by someone sitting in a car. The mafia was not about to let Spillane walk away. It was none other than Gambino hitman Roy DeMeo that killed Spillane that night. The story of the westside Irish was not over though, it was just warming up. Over the years, Spillane’s story has echoed that of Angelo “The Gentle Don” Bruno in Philadelphia. They were both bosses that preferred to use violence as a last resort, preferring the art of negotiations. Both would be replaced by a polar opposite, Jimmy Coonan in Hell’s Kitchen and “Little Nicky” Scarfo in Philadelphia. These were two of the most violent men in the history of the American mo. The Westies & Gambinos Make A Deal The Meeting at Tomassos 1977 - 1987 Jimmy Coonan was a young ambitious gangster in the 1970s who had set out to replace his rival Mickey Spillane. Spillane had once smacked his father around and extorted his accounting business when JImmy was a kid. After Spillane left town, Coonan took over the neighborhood, and the group became known as “The Westies''. He teamed up with the ultraviolent Gambino soldier Roy DeMeo. Coonan was reckless though. He killed a major Italian loan shark named Ruby Stein, maybe the biggest loan shark in New York. After luring Stein to his bar, Coonan and his buddies cut up Stein’s body and dumped it in the Hudson River. Stein’s torso washed ashore and Connan and company were the prime suspects. He and his top guy Mickey Featherstone were called to a meeting by Gambino boss Paul Castellano at Tomassos in Brooklyn, a Gambino hangout. They feared they’d be killed but somehow DeMeo was able to convince Castellano that the Westies were worth more to them alive than dead. DeMeo advised Coonan to just simply deny the murder. That’s what Jimmy did and by the time they walked out of the meeting at Tomassos, he had become an official associate of the Gambino Family. The deal gave the Gambinos a cut of Westies action and it gave the Westies affiliation. For Jimmy, the meeting went better than anything he could’ve expected. Roy DeMeo realized a dream and became a made man as a result of the alliance. The Westies teaming up with the feared DeMeo Crew made for an alliance very similar to Murder Inc., the famous hit squad of the 1930s and 40s. No mob family in the country would want to go against these kinds of killers. Coonan’s fellow Westies were much less pleased with the turn of events. They felt that Jimmy had sold out the neighborhood. This led to the demise of the crew as Featherstone and a few others actually cooperated with the FBI against Coonan and the Gambinos. They testified about how Coonan cut off the head of Stein and linked him to dozens of other murders, effectively killing the Westies for good. Danny Greene vs The Cleveland Family New York City Late 1960s - 1973 The Irish mobster who the mafia had the most fear for was Cleveland gangster Danny Greene, who battled them tooth and nail during the 1960s and 1970s. He was a very influential as a union organizer who had control of extortion on the waterfronts. Businesses would cooperate or face labor shutdowns or supply blockages. For a time, Greene was actually affiliated with the local Italian mafia and did some work for them. His closest associate John Nardi was a one time member of the Cleveland Family but decided to team up with Greene. A battle for supremacy ensued. By the mid 1970s, dozens of car bombs were going off and Cleveland was now known as “Bomb City USA”. For whatever reason, car bombing was the far and away number one weapon used in this particular war. Between 1975 and 1977, at least 35 of them were set off in and around Cleveland. Green and Nardi were fighting against the new boss James Licavoli and killed a number of his men. By 1976, it looked like with the help of Greene, Nardi might be able to seize the entire family. In May 1977, Nardi was blown up, losing both his legs. His last words before dying minutes later was that it “didn’t hurt”. The Cleveland Family tried to kill Greene at least 10 times and failed during this time. Then they decided to enlist some outside help. Seasoned hitman Ray Ferritto took a more cautious and surgical approach. They put a bug on Green’s phone and waited for the right moment. On October 6, 1977, Green went to a dentist appointment and his enemies knew he was there. Led by Ray Ferritto, they parked an explosive rigged car next to Greene and waited for Greene to come out. When he did, they detonated the bomb and killed him on the spot. Pieces of Greene’s body were scattered around the scene. Greene had waged a hell of a war but it was all over now. Winter Hill vs Patriarca Family (The Office) New England Mob 1960s - 1980s This was one where the Irish truly got over on the Italians, but not without some serious outside help. The mainly Irish crew known as the Winter Hill Gang was created in the 1950s, a couple decades after the Gustin Gang disbanded. The Italians had been in charge in the years since, but the Winter Hill crew were about to push the Irish back to the top of organized crime in Boston. “The Office” is based in Providence, Rhode Island and was ran by the longtime boss Raymond Patriarca Sr. They had a working relationship with the Winter Hill Gang, often using them for jobs. Patriarca also got a cut of what the Winter Hill members were making for many years. In turn, Winter Hill was basically able to expand throughout Boston most unchallenged. When Whitey Bulger and Stephen Flemmi took over Winter Hill in the 1970s, they continued the association. What the Office.didn’t know was that Whitey and Flemmi were FBI informants. The FBI wanted the Italians and were unconcerned about the Irish mob. A dirty deal was struck between Bulger and an FBI agent who was once just a young neighborhood kid that Whitey protected. FBI agent John Connoly looked the other way as Bulger and Flemmi bludgeoned their way around New England. The Angiulo brothers were running the office at the time and they soon felt the heat. Because of the info provided to Connoly, the Boston FBI was able to place bugs in one of Angiulo hangouts and catch boss Jerry Angiulo with a racketeering charge. Angiulo went to prison and was out of the picture. The informants kept feeding Connoly and slowly tore apart the entire hierarchy of the Office. With the protection of the FBI, Bulger was able to become the mob king of New England and the most powerful Irish mob boss in the country. The Irish mob usually got the worst of it when they collided with the Italian mafia, but not so much so in Boston. This wasn’t the first time a Winter Hill member used the FBI to get over on the Office. Years earlier, Winter Hill hitman Joe “The Animal” Barboza testified against Patriarca and several other Italians. He put many of them away for life. This was another burn for the Boston FBI because years later it was revealed that Barboza had lied many times on the stand, convicting other men in murders he committed. “Jimmy from Queens” vs. Carlo Gambino The Kidnapping of Manny Gambino 1972 - 1973 Jimmy McBratney led a crew of Irish gangsters who were involved in a rather bold and dangerous racket. They would kidnap high level mafia members and hold them for ransom. The scheme worked many times and they were able to make a couple hundred thousand dollars off of it. They had an inside source with the Italians who gave them leads and then took a percentage of what the gang made. To a certain extent, the mafia bosses were slow to react to McBratney’s crew and other Irish mobsters like Mickey Spillane doing the same thing. They paid the ransom and often just brushed it off as the cost of doing business. Jimmy and his team had always safely delivered the mobsters back after a payment was made, but that was about to go out the window. McBratney had someone inside the mafia who gave them leads for a cut of the ransom. They called McBratney “Jimmy from Queens”. The group decided to go for big fish, kidnapping Lucchese Family soldier Frank Manzo. The Luccheses paid $150,000 but now they were actively looking for revenge. McBratney had something even bigger in mind, the Gambino Family. In May 1972, McBratney and his thugs kidnapped Manny Gambino, nephew of the boss of bosses Carlo Gambino. They grabbed him at gunpoint in front of his home and threw him into the back seat of a car. Carlo then paid a huge ransom to get Manny back but somehow this time, Manny was killed. It is likely that Manny was able to see and recognize his kidnappers, leading to his death. One of McBratney’s Italian partners soon spilled the beans on the arrangement. Word was out among all five families that Jimmy from Queens and his whole crew must die, per Carlo’s order. They looked for a year with no success. The death of Manny was the only time that Carlo ever expressed rage in front of his criminal underlings. It was a miracle that McBratney would live for almost another year. The hit was assigned to the ultra well connected young associate John Gotti, also from Queens like McBratney. Gotti scoured his Irish connections and found out that McBratney liked to hang out at a pub in Staten Island. When they found him there on May 22, 1973, there was a struggle and Jimmy from Queens was murdered right in the pub. Gotti went to prison for his involvement but was later made because of the McBratney hit.

#1 The Godfather It was for a time the highest grossing film in history with an estimated $250-$286 million made at the box office. The Godfather still to this day is the greatest mobster movie ever made. It was based on the best selling book by Mario Puzo. The movie was directed by the legendary Francis Ford Coppola whose career of movies went from 1962 all the way to 2011. The big star of the film was obviously Marlon Brando, but the breakthrough star was Al Pacino. It won Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Brando as Vito Corleone won Best Actor at the Academy Awards. The Godfather also won five Golden Globe awards. #2 Goodfellas This 1990 Scorsese classic features one of the most powerful casts of stars ever assembled in any film ever. Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci, Ray Liotta, Lorraine Bracco, Paul Sorvino and Samuel L. Jackson all starred in the film. The film tells of the life and crimes of notorious mob turncoat Henry Hill. While the film was only based on a true story, it played out very accurately with the real life events with the exceptions of actual names. This movie cemented Joe Pesci as an all time great, and he won Best Supporting Actor while the film was nominated for five other awards. #3 The Godfather II The sequel to the first Godfather pulled in about $55 million at the box office after its’ release in 1974. Francis Ford Coppola was given 100% creative control this time and put the film together on a $13 million dollar budget. This was by all accounts a great movie, hurt only in hindsight when comparing it to the original. What was lost by not having Brando back was made up for by the presence of a young Robert DeNiro in only his 3rd role. The Godfather II dominated, winning Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor and four other Academy Awards #4 The Untouchables This was a huge success, grossing $106 million at the box office on a $25 million dollar budget. The cast featured three of the absolute best actors of their era: Robert DeNiro, Sean Connery and Kevin Costner. With those stars, it’s not surprising that 50% of the people who went to see the movie in theaters were women, very unusual for a mafia film. The film is actually more about Elliot Ness than it is about Al Capone. It shows how his team of Untouchables was built and how they attacked the titan that was Al Capone. There were some fictional extras added, like Ness throwing Frank Nitti off a rooftop to his death. Nitti was played by expert vilain Billy Drago. #5 Donnie Brasco This 1997 blockbuster was based on the autobiography written by undercover FBI agent Joe Pistone. It turned out to be one of the highest grossing mob movies of the decade, pulling in $125 million at the box office. Al Pacino was brilliant in his role as “Lefty”. Michael Madsen, James Russo and Anne Heche as Mrs. Pistone round out the deep supporting cast. This was easily the best performance in a role by Johnny Depp. One of the only complaints you could make is that they strayed off course with the story with the murder of Lefty, which never happened. It was the captain Sonny Black, played by Madsen who left his wallet and jewelry at home in real life. #6 Casino This movie changed the names but pretty accurately followed the real story of the Chicago Outfit’s operation in Las Vegas. Robert DeNiro plays Sam “Ace” Rothstein, the character based on Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal. Joe Pesci plays Nicky Santoro, who was based on Tony “The Ant” Spilotro. The rest of the supporting cast is equally as impressive: Sharon Stone, James Woods, Don Rickles, Kevin Pollak and the legendary Frank Vincent. Pesci and DeNiro were both great as usual, but it was the performance of Stone as Ace’s wife Ginger that really stood out in Casino. She was nominated for Best Actress and won a Golden Globe for her memorable performance. #7 On The Waterfront This tremendous mob classic has flown under the radar over the years, mainly because Marlon Brando went on to the Godfather fame. On The Waterfront was released all the way back in 1954 with Brando in the lead role as Terry Malloy, It was a monster success, raking in $9.6 million on a $910,000 budget. It won Best Motion Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Brando won Best Actor at the Academy Awards. This movie built the legend of Marlon Brando. His character is a dock worker being harassed by the local mobsters and then gets unintentionally gets caught up in the killing of another dock worker. This film is an absolute must for anyone remotely interested in mob movies. #8 A Bronx Tale This fictional tale of a young Italian boy Calogero Anello who falls under the wing of neighborhood mobster “Sonny” despite the fierce resistance of his father. Of course, Robert DeNiro plays the father, Lorenzo Anello and Joe Pesci appears in a supporting role. The film is diverse, it deals with not only the mafia but involves biker gangs and the black/white violence of the 1960s. Calogero was played by Lilo Brancato Jr., a young actor who looked to be on the way to superstardom before going to prison for 10 years for a robbery that ended in the death of an off duty police officer. He has gone on to get released and continue his acting career. #9 Black Mass Johnny Depp was as much into his groove as Whitey Bulger than he was as Donnie Brasco. He truly immersed himself into the role and brilliantly captured the persona of Whitey. Depp attempted to meet with Whitey but was not granted access, instead he studied all available film and audio. Unlike The Departed, Black Mass is a true story with near 100% accuracy to real events. This movie really hits home with Boston residents who lived through this time. It’s one of the most successful mob movies in recent history and grossed nearly $100 million at the box office. #10 Analyze This Of course this is not a serious movie about the mob, but it is a hilarious satirical comedy about mob boss Paul Vitti, played by Robert DeNiro. The 1999 film is hilarious and mostly centers around the tumultuous relationship between Vitti and his psychiatrist Ben Sobel, played by Billy Crystal. Vitti is in the middle of a power struggle with rival mob boss Primo Sindone, played by Chazz Palminteri. This was a blockbuster in theaters, grossing nearly $177 million at the box office and spawned a sequel in 2002. DeNiro showed just how talented he was by being very funny while playing the role of a mob boss. #11 The Godfather III After a few years, fans were thirsty for the third version of The Godfather trilogy. While this one wasn’t as critically acclaimed as the first two, it was massively successful at the box office earning more than $136 million. In this movie, the story of Michael Corleone comes full circle. The powerful supporting cast includes Talia Shire, Andy Garcia, Diane Keaton, Bridget Fonda, George Hamilton and a young Joe Montegna. The Godfather III was nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture. #12 American Gangster This 2007 blockbuster film created a few new faces in great gangster roles. Danzel Washington plays 1970s Harlem gangster and heroin trafficker Frank Lucas and Cuba Gooding Jr. played his rival in the heroin game, Leroy “Nicky” Barnes. Russell Crowe is detective Richie Roberts, who convicted and made a deal with Lucas to turn in crooked cops who were involved with the drug trade. Some of the facts were mixed up in the movie which drew criticism from Lucas and Barnes who both were alive at the time of the film’s release. Regardless, it was a mega success, drawing in over $266 million dollars at the box office, making it one of the highest grossing mobster films of all time. American Gangster is 158 minutes long and covers a ton of ground. #13 The Departed This fictional tale is very loosely based on actual Boston mob events. Jack Nicholson is mob boss “Frank Costello” who plants a mole, Matt Damon, in the police department. Leonardo DiCaprio simultaneously is an undercover cop infiltrating Costello’s circle. It  was a smashing success at the box office, reeling in a massive $293 million dollars. The film won tons of awards including Best Picture, Martin Scorcese as Best Director, Best Film Editing and Best Adapted Screenplay. Scorcese had been nominated six times previously. Mark Walhberg was nominated for Best Supporting Actor. Veteran actors Martin Sheen and Alec Baldwin played supporting roles, adding to the star power. #14 Angels With Dirty Faces This is the 1938 movie that made the legend of James Cagney. He was nominated for Best Actor and the film was nominated for Best Story. Cagney plays “Rocky Sullivan”, a mobster fresh out of prison eager to climb the ranks. The well traveled Pat O’Brien played Jerry Connolly, Rocky’s former partner in crime turned Catholic priest. The legendary Humphry Bogart plays the part of Jim Frazier, another former partner in crime turned nemesis. While Rocky is busy eliminating his enemies, it was his old friend Jerry who decided that he needed to turn him in. #15 Lansky This 1999 film starred Richard Dreyfuss as Meyer Lansky and Eric Roberts as Bugsy Siegel. Lansky fully covers the cast of characters who were dominant in this era: Lucky Luciano, Frank Costello, Albert Anastasia, Vito Genovese, Joe Adonis and Arnold Rothstein. It’s a reflective story that tells the tale of Meyer and Bugsy’s childhood rise from young hoodlums to becoming the most powerful Jewish mobsters in the country. Meyer possessed the business smarts while “Benny” was feared for his ruthlessness. After initially being rivals with Luciano, they eventually join forces and take over the New York mob. Eventually, Bennie is sent out to Las Vegas to run the Flamingo, a situation that would eventually cost him his life. #16 Scarface When it came to playing gangster roles in the 1930s and 1940s, no one was better than the legendary actor George Raft. He starred in dozens of great films but it was this one that put his name on the map. Scarface is based of course on the famous bootlegger Al Capone and the Chicago Outfit in the 1920s. Names and places are only slightly altered. In the years after its release, Scarface became one of  the most censored and altered movies ever. It was considered to be too glorifying of the lifestyle when it came out in 1932. Despite the resistance, it was one of the most discussed movies of the year and is considered a classic now. #17 The Iceman This was a dark and sinister thriller about the crimes of notorious mob hitman Richard “The Iceman” Kuklinski. Michael Shannon gave a memorable performance as Kuklinski while Winona Ryder played his wife. The movie was a box office flop but very entertaining. Ray Liotta plays the part of feared mafia hitman Roy DeMeo. The Iceman stays closer to the factual story than Richard Kuklinski himself did, but still displayed the evil of him appropriately due to the skills of Shannon. The movie did flop making only $4.4 million on a $10 million dollar budget. #18 Murder Inc. This 1960 film was based on the book Murder Inc. which was written by prosecutor Burton Turkus who prosecuted the group for various murders. Peter Falk who would go on to Columbo fame stood out in his role as Abe “Kid Twist” Reles. For his performance, Falk was nominated as Best Supporting Actor at the Academy Awards and many people claim that this was the original great gangster role. Murder Inc. is a very dark movie and stayed true to actual events. Like some others sleepers, it performed poorly at the box office. #19 Analyze That While the original act was tough to follow, Analyze That didn’t miss the mark by much. DeNiro and Crystal were just as enjoyable in their roles as mob boss Paul Vitti and psychiatrist Ben Sobel but the film was criticized for recycling a very similar storyline. This time Vitti is fresh out of prison and contemplating his life in the mafia in the midst of a street war. A good addition to this version was Joey “Coco” Diaz, who played the meathead enforcer known as “Ducks”. It made $55 million at the box office but that was only good enough to break even with the huge budget they had. #20 Underworld USA Underworld USA is a neo-noir mobster flick starring Cliff Robertson and Delores Dorn, two of the most well known actors of the era. The film made a healthy $1 million at the box office, not bad for 1961. Robertson plays Tolly Devlin, whose father was beaten to death by a group of young thugs who later became high level mobsters. Tolly swears revenge against the men and goes after them years later. Dern plays his girlfriend Cuddles. Tolly resorts to criminal behavior and becoming an informant to succeed in taking out his rivals. #21 Once Upon A Time In America It is a shame that this movie flopped so miserably at the box office. It starred Robert DeNiro, but this was 1984 before The Untouchables, Goodfellas and Casino so it wasn’t carrying as much weight at the time. This movie is a story of two young hoods Deniro and James Woods as they rise through the ranks of the very powerful Jewish mafia. Joe Pesci, Danny Aiello, Burt Young and William Forsythe all appear in the movie making for a powerful cast. The original version of this movie is nearly 4 hours long and revered as a great movie but the 139 minute edited version received heavy criticism. #22 The Public Enemy This was another classic gem from the original Hollywood gangster James Cagney, released all the way back in 1931. Cagney plays Chicago bootlegger Tom Powers who rose to the top of the underworld. Jean Harlow, who is the most legendary sex symbol in movie history plays Tom’s girlfriend Gwen Allen. The film was produced on a $150,000 budget and made $557,000 at the box office, a tremendous success. This film is notorious for the controversial “grapefruit scene” and didn’t glamorize the gangster lifestyle. #23 State Of Grace This 1990 movie starring Sean Penn, Gary Oldman, Ed Harris and a young John Turturro is loosely based on the story of Mickey Featherstone and the Westies. The movie got tremendous reviews but was a disaster at the box office, bringing in less than $2 million. It didn’t help that it came out right around the same time as other mob hits like Goodfellas. All of the names are changed which takes away from the overall experience, and if anything, the theme of the movie was toned down from the real story. Penn was decent as Terry Noonan the undercover cop. Gary Oldman like usual was excellent and stood out, nailing the gangster role. #24 The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre This very good but forgotten 1967 film is based on the Chicago mob war of the 1920s and the killing of 7 Capone rivals in one incident in 1929. It’s essentially as close to a true story as you could get as far as the Capone war with George “Bugs” Moran. The cast was solid with noted actor Jason Robards playing Al Capone. Several talented young actors like Alex Rocco, Bruce Dern and Jack Nicholson played supporting roles. The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre was narrated by the legendary “man of a thousand voices” voice actor Paul Frees. Frees does a tremendous job narrating the transition from scene to scene and telling the story. #25 Witness To The Mob This originally made for television 1998 film stars Nicholas Turturro as Sammy “The Bull” Gravano. The cast was very strong. Tom Sizemore played John Gotti and the one and only Frank Vincent was cast as Gotti’s original underboss Frankie DeCicco. The beautiful Debi Mazar was great in the role of Sammy’s wife Karen. Vincent Pastore of the Sopranos played Gravano victim Mickey DeBatt. Witness To The Mob is the most comprehensive story and maybe the best when it comes to Gotti films. It runs a full 240 minutes. ****Didn’t Quite Make The Cut**** Kill The Irishman Released in 2011, Kill The Irishman is based on the life and crimes of 1970s Cleveland mobster Danny Greene. Greene is one of the few Irish mobsters to take on the Italian mafia and have any success. He terrorized the Cleveland mafia for years before they killed him via remotely detonated car bomb in 1977. The story itself is very interesting but the movie somewhat fails to meet the standard even though it certainly was entertaining. Ray Stevenson plays the role of Danny Greene with Val Kilmer and Christoper Walken in supporting roles. Legendary mob actor Paul Sorvino plays a memorable role as the cigar chomping Genovese boss Fat Tony Salerno. Kill The Irishman was about a somewhat obscure real life mob story and didn’t have a powerhouse lead actor, and thus it flopped hard at the box office. Mobsters This 1991 film is based on Lucky Luciano and the making of the commission. Lots of young blood was used in Mobsters. Christian Slater starred as Lucky Luciano and Patrick Dempsey played the role of Jewish kingpin Meyer Lansky. Richard Greico of 21 Jump Street fame played Bugsy Seigel. Mobsters made $20 million at the gates but that was just shy of breaking even so it wasn’t considered a success. The young cast brought a great energy but the criticism that came involved the accuracy and scope of the story. The film was only 104 minutes long which is way too short to tell such a tale, thus many things were downsized or omitted. Mean Streets This was only the second role in the epic career of Robert DeNiro and this one validated him as a future star. Harvey Keitel starred as Charlie Chappa, a well connected mobster with a reckless friend “Johnny Boy”, played by DeNiro. Martin Scorcese the legendary filmmaker played the role of rival mobster “Jimmy Shorts”. The theme of the movie is Charlie protecting his vulnerable friend from other mobsters who want Johnny Boy dead. Mean Streets was released in 1973 on just a $500,000 budget. It was a big success, raking in $3 million dollars at the box office and launching the careers of DeNiro, Keitel and David Carradine. Gotti What killed this movie from the start was the sky high expectations that it came with. John Travolta played John Gotti and his real life wife Kelly Preston plays Gotti’s wife Victoria. Travolta didn’t fall completely flat but this was not one of his better performances and the critics roasted the movie relentlessly. One of the big problems is that the movie did not reveal anything new about an aging story that’s been told in many forms before. The lack of new plot twists caused the film to just become one of many about Gotti and it died a quick death in theaters, making only $6 million. Wiseguys This was the original mob comedy when it was released in 1986. Danny DeVito and Joe Piscopo play Harry Valentini and Moe Dickstein, two friends and low level mob associates who keep finding themselves in trouble with the boss. After losing the bosses’ money at the race track, Harry and Moe are both told that they need to kill the other. They go on the run and the shenanigans ensue. Legendary pro wrestling manager Captain Lou Albano was a perfect fit for the role of “Frank the Fixer”, Harry and Moe’s main mob contact. Harvey Keitel was great in Wiseguys as local mob boss Bobby DiLea, unfortunately the film only made $8.5 million while having a $13 million dollar budget. The Revenge Of Al Capone This 1989 made for television movie starring Keith Carradine is a very different flavor than most mobster flicks. It’s essentially a fictional continuation of Al Capone’s criminal activities after he went to prison. “Scarface” was played by the very talented actor Ray Sharkey Jr. who passed away in 1993. The movie follows what has always been a conspiracy, that Capone and Frank Nitti were responsible for the attempted assasination of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933. Very little of what is in the film is factual but it is a fun trip into the land of “what if?”. Road To Perdition A couple of legends, Tom Hanks and Paul Newman both received tremendous reviews although stepping out of their realm into something new. Hanks plays “Michael Sullivan”, an Irish mobster who works for a boss named “John Rooney”, played by Newman in the 1930s. The two have a major falling out, leading to a bloody war. The movie was a huge hit grossing a very impressive $181 million at the box office. It was nominated for five Academy Awards and won Best Cinematography. Newman was nominated for Best Supporting Actor. It was not a true story but did mix in some real life mobsters, like Frank Nitti. The Cotton Club This memorable film was based on the happenings at the famous Cotton Club, the famous New York nightclub in the 1930s. Like many others, this film is not a true story but does include many real mobsters from the day: Lucky Luciano, Dutch Schultz, Owney Madden and Mad Dog Coll. Richard Gere stars as “Dixie Dwyer”, a musician/actor who mingles with mobsters. Dixie becomes involved with the girlfriend of notorious killer Dutch Schultz, played by the underrated James Remar. Nicholas Cage, Dianne Lake, Laurence Fishburne and Jennifer Grey also appear in The Cotton Club. Very good movie but it fizzled out making only $26 million on a $58 million dollar budget. Johnny Dangerously This movie is simply a mob parody, but a very funny one at that. Michael Keaton is Johnny Kelly, a man forced into a life of organized crime to find a way to pay for his ailing mother’s medical bills. His younger brother becomes the new District Attorney and this draws the ire of Danny Vermin, who was well played by Joe Piscopo. Johnny Dangerously is based on the 1920s and does a great job of capturing the styles of the time. Richard Dimitri nearly steals the entire movie with his portrayal of “Roman Moronie” the foul mouthed rival mob boss. Peter Boyle, Marilu Henner, Dom DeLuise, Danny Devito, Dick Butkus and Griffin Dunne make up one of the strongest supporting casts in any mob film. Bugsy Warren beatty was revered for his great performance as 1940s high flying Jewish gangster Bugsy Siegel. He was nominated for Best Actor and the film itself was nominated for ten Academy Awards. Annette Bening plays Virginia Hill and the core of the movie revolves around the relationship between Bugsy and Virginia. Harvey Keitel plays Jewish mob boss Mickey Cohen and Ben Kingsley plays the legendary Meyer Lansky, both were nominated for Best Supporting Actor. The film did good but not great at the box office, making $49 million on a $30 million dollar budget.

The Gambino Crime Family is known universally as the “First Family” in organized crime. They are the most well known and storied of New York’s 5 Families. More books have been sold about them than the other 4 families combined. Their lineage traces all the way back to the beginning of the 20th century. “Lupo the Wolf” Ignazio Lupo made his way to the United States in 1898 as a 21 year old from Palermo, Sicily. He had come to America for two reasons, to make money and to escape a murder charge back home. He had a classic nickname, “Lupo the Wolf”. Lupo owned multiple stores around Manhattan. His father Rocco would help him run his businesses He made his real money at what was called “Black Hand” extortion in those days. This type of extortion deals in kidnapping and ransoms, as well as murder when necessary. By way of lineage, Lupo was the first boss of what would evolve into the Gambino Crime Family. Lupo was one of the first prominent Sicilian mafia members to come to America. Lupo the Wolf had some powerful allies in New York. The Morello Gang which Lupo was affiliated with became the first real mafia family in the United States. Giuseppe Morello’s lineage would lead to another of the 5 Families, the Genovese Crime Family. The merger between Lupo in Little Italy and Morello’s Italian Harlem crew that Italian organized crime on the map in New York. Lupo is suspected of up to 60 murders. He and Giuseppe organized their crews in order to make a power play in the underworld and it actually created the New York mafia as we understand it today. Their numbers made intimidation and extortion of businesses easy money and it served as a deterrent to any potential competition. Without eyewitnesses, it was very difficult to solve random murders at the time. It was a common thing for the Morello Gang to stuff victims' bodies into barrels and then leave them on street corners. The message to the community was clear and that led to less resistance. They became the leaders when it came to organized crime in New York City. In 1910, the Morello Gang suffered a huge loss when both Lupo and Morello were busted for counterfeiting. Lupo was sentenced to 30 years but got out in 10. Giuseppe would get out of prison and lead his gang again but Lupo never regained his status. He was later forced to retire by Lucky Luciano, who was redefining the underworld. Toto D’Aquila Era Salvatore “Toto” D’Aquila got his start under Lupo the Wolf in the New York mafia. He had only come to America 4 years before when he took over Lupo’s crew in 1910 after his counterfeiting conviction. D'Aquila, who had previously been just a captain in the Morello Gang, now found himself considered the boss of bosses in New York City. Toto was a longtime member of the Morello Gang but for reasons unclear, split with them in 1910. The two crews went from allies to enemies. While they fought for territory, D’Aquila kept full control over Lupo’s former stomping grounds in Little Italy. Giuseppe Morello’s half brother Nick Terranova would take over the Morellos until he was shot and killed in 1916. D’Aquila was able to squeeze in on a considerable amount of territory in East Harlem, which heightened tensions between the two outfits. D’Aquila had the advantage in this rivalry and his crew was growing. He had some prominent young talent in his crew, guys like Alfred Mineo and Frank Scalise. By this time in the 1910s, there was an explosion in mafia connected crews all over New York City. In the early 1920s, a rather unassuming young Sicilian immigrant named Carlo Gambino became a part of the D’Aquila Crime Family. Carlo would become a legendary figure in the mafia. But at this time he was at the bottom of the ladder quietly working his way up. Although a ruthless and cunning gangster, young Carlo was soft spoken and respectful of mob rules and traditions. Like many of the young future mafia legends at the time, he was just trying to survive the street wars that were going on during the 1920s. The tensions between Toto’s family and the Morello’s increased greatly when Joe “The Boss” Masseria took over the Morello Gang. Masseria began pushing back on D’Aquila and reclaiming some of the territory that the Morellos had previously lost. Masseria also began moving in on the rackets in Little Italy. Masseria gunmen finally caught up to Toto D’Aquila and he was killed on October 10, 1928. Alfred Mineo was named boss of Toto’s family. It is common theory that Mineo may have double crossed D’Aquila and set him up to be killed. Giuseppe Morello was also back in the action, teamed up with Masseria. Mineo then reunited the two crews by again joining forces with Joe Masseria and the Morellos. A violent mafia war was on the horizon though, and it would alter the course of history. Castellammarese War Effects At this time in 1930, Masseria was considered the boss of bosses. There was a powerful rival on the rise however, and his name was Salvatore Maranzano. Maranzano had a crew with future mafia royalty on it. Both Lucky Luciano and Joe Bonanno were in Maranzano’s ranks, and the family would later be known as the Bonanno Crime Family. A bloody battle broke out between the two families, which became known as the Castellammarese War. It went on for two years and bodies were turning up everywhere. It was initiated by Maranzano who sought to take over the coveted position of boss of bosses. This was during the age of prohibition, which was the biggest gift ever given to the Italian mafia. While the Masseria/Mineo side was winning early, Maranzano kept the pressure on and began to score some major points. His men killed Giuseppe Morello on August 15, 1930. Mineo was promoted to underboss by Masseria. Unfortunately, they started losing ground fast after the death of Morello. Things were about to get much worse. Maranzano was alerted that Masseria had been spotted multiple times visiting an apartment in the Bronx. He sent a hit team to rent an apartment across the street and watch the apartment 24/7. While waiting on Masseria, the hitmen saw Alfred Mineo arrive. They shot and killed him and his lieutenant Steve Ferrigno. Mineo’s brief control of the Gambino Crime Family lineage would come to a brutal ending. As for Masseria, he was now losing the war although he continued to act like he was still the boss of bosses. Some of his men realized that Masseria was no longer good for business, the most notable being Lucky Luciano. Luciano knew that as long as these old bosses were in charge, there would be less money and more street wars. Luciano had his young assassin Albert Anastasia take out Masseria on April 15, 1931. Lucky was not done however, he was ready to usher in an entirely new structure for the New York mafia. Salvatore Maranzano had appointed himself boss of bosses, and acted with an arrogance of invincibility. Luciano decided that Maranzano must also be eliminated, and he was shot dead on September 10, 1931. This would effectively end the bloody Castellammarese War. Joe Bonanno would take over Maranzano’s rackets, with the blessing of the new boss of bosses Lucky Luciano. Frank Scalise would take over after Alfred Mineo was murdered. Scalise would not last long in the position as he was very unpopular with Luciano, who demoted him. Luciano then named Vincent Mangano the new boss of what would later become the Gambinos. Lucky then created a mafia commission to mediate business between the five mafia families that controlled New York City. The leaders of those families would be the representatives on this board of directors. The Mangano Family Vincent Mangano was one of the lucky mobsters who survived and even thrived after the Castellammarese War. Mangano was considered something of an old “Mustache Pete, but Luciano and the newly formed Commission members allowed him to Stay in power. Mangano wasn’t very popular but he was a force. After a series of boss changes before and after the war, Vincent Mangano would run the future Gambinos for twenty years. During the Mangano era, the family was filled with powerful gangsters and future bosses. Carlo Gambino was maturing and rising through the ranks, currently holding the position of captain. Another future elite level mobster in the family was the young “Big” Paul Castellano. Paul and Carlo were cousins and he had come to America first. As Carlo rose in the family, so did Paul Castellano. Paul was not much of a street guy and actually prided himself on being a white collar criminal, even back in his younger days. The most powerful and sinister man in the family during this time was Albert Anastasia. Albert was undeniably the most dangerous man in the mafia. He ran a team of killers which the press nicknamed Murder Inc., which served as an enforcement arm for the mafia. Because of his efforts, Anastasia was given the position of underboss under Mangano. Although they worked together for more than 20 years, Anastasia and Mangano butted heads often. If Mangano wasn’t in his position, he’d have been killed long ago. Mangano gave Anastasia a wide base of power and stayed out of his hair for the most part. Mangano knew about Albert’s history of killing mob bosses. The problem that caused the most tension between the two men was Albert’s relationship with the other  bosses, Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky and Frank Costello. Mangano felt disrespected by the other bosses for dealing only with Albert. He was mad at Albert because he felt like Albert went over his head and broke the chain of command. The Lord High Executioner These periodic arguments got very tense and the two would yell and threaten each other. Mangano had thought several times of demoting or killing Albert, but never acted. Instead, cooler heads usually prevailed to. Albert was so busy with Murder Inc. that he probably didn’t have the time to be boss. He was making a fortune in the murder industry. Murder Inc. came to a halt in the early 1940s when Abe “Kid Twist” Reles turned canary. Seven members including Anastasia’s partner Lepke Buchalter went to the electric chair. The crew had killed upwards of 1,000 people in the 1930s. Just before Reles was to testify against Albert, he mysteriously fell 6 stories to his death while under 24/7 police guard. Anastasia escaped Murder Inc. unscathed and laid relatively low for a few years to avoid heat from law enforcement. Mangano let Anastasia control cargo profits on the waterfront. Mangano and Anastasia controlled the longshoreman’s union and had the ability to cause a full shutdown of the docks if they weren’t paid accordingly. Predictably, Anastasia became bored after a few years. He wanted to be a boss again, like he was over Murder Inc. Now he wanted to be the boss of his own crime family, the Anastasia Crime Family. This would never happen with Vincent Mangano around. Albert had Mangano and his brother killed in 1951, ending Mangano’s 20 year reign. Anastasia’s decision to murder Mangano was a bold move. Albert was a powerful Commission member, but there was a very polished group of guys in the family. You had Carlo Gambino, Castellano, Neil Dellacroce, Frank Scalise and Joe “Piney” Armone. Every one of these men had a crew of killers, none of them took action, for now. He never admitted to the Commission that he killed Mangano. He did offer in his defense that Mangano wanted him dead, thus justifying the action had it actually happened. A rising member of the Commission named Vito Genovese was the only one to openly confront Albert’s story. The bosses knew exactly what happened to Mangano. For the time being, no one would dare take on Albert. Then he ordered his most notorious murder in 1952, the killing of Arnold Schuster. Schuster was a good samaritan who had turned in bank robber Willie Sutton. He was shown on t.v. and Anastasia exploded in rage watching the footage. The Schuster murder was very alarming to the other bosses. They worked hard to stay out of the public eye. Now Anastasia was making them front page news again with some of the worst headlines possible. The press dubbed him as “The Lord High Executioner”. Carlo Takes Out The Lord High Executioner Anastasia had now killed a mafia boss and an innocent civilian in a year’s time. Both were offenses that should be punishable by death. Schuster was shot in both eyes, which added to the public outrage over the incident. Anastasia and his murderous ways were becoming more trouble for the mafia than he was worth. The only thing holding back Genovese from killing Anastasia was having the proper backup. Albert was backed up on the Commission by Frank Costello. His mentor Lucky  was long gone but he still had the support of legendary Jewish mobster Meyer Lansky. Vito Genovese was held in check for a few more years because of the lack of support. Vito was looking to kill Costello to take over his crime family. He had to kill Anastasia to make the plan work. The tide soon turned in Vito’s favor however. Albert had gotten greedy and moved in on Lansky’s Cuban gambling rackets, a move that destroyed one of his last big alliances. Lansky began to warm up to Vito’s plan. Then Carlo Gambino started quietly communicating with Genovese. He knew that Albert was off the rails with murder and treachery. The future mafia boss saw backing Vito’s plan as killing two birds with one stone. He could get rid of his unpredictable boss and take his spot at the top. A plan was hatched and slowly, other mob bosses got involved. On May 2, 1957, Frank Costello was shot in the head but survived. The man who shot him was a young Vincent “The Chin” Gigante, who would become the family boss many years later. Costello resigned which opened the door for Vito to become boss of what would now forever be known as the Genovese Crime Family. Anastasia’s underboss Frank Scalise was killed on June 17th of the same year. While it looked like Anastasia was under attack from all sides, it was actually him who had Scalise killed. He felt Scalise was selling memberships into the family, thus he must die. It was a bad move, Albert had now peeled back one of his last layers of protection. It happened on October 25, 1957, the most infamous mob hit in history. Albert was relaxing for a shave at the barbershop inside the Park Sheraton in Manhattan. He had a towel over his face as the killers burst through the door and blasted him. It is believed that “Crazy” Joe Gallo and future Colombo boss Carmine Persico were the shooters. Like A Lion and a Fox With the blessing of the Commission who were relieved that Anastasia was gone, Carlo was given the blessing to take over the family. He proved to be one of the best mafia bosses in history. He prided himself on being like the “lion and the fox”. He was a ruthless killer of hundreds, but extremely intelligent and cautious in how he operated. Under Carlo, the Gambino Crime Family became number one among New York’s five families. Gambino himself would become the boss of bosses. His cousin Paul Castellano and his partner Nino Gaggi were both promoted. Powerful Manhattan mobster and longtime family member Neil Dellacroce was named as his underboss. A simple nod or a wink from Don Carlo meant the difference between life and death. He was an unassuming older man who looked like someone’s nice old grandfather. He was cunning and brilliant at insulating himself from infiltration. No law enforcement or mafia enemies ever got to him and he died peacefully of natural causes in 1976. While he made great decisions all throughout his career, Carlo made a rather surprising misstep during his last days alive. He appointed his cousin Paul Castellano to be the next boss, denying the promotion to underboss Neil Dellacroce. This move would cause massive tension and for the Gambino Crime Family to be split into two rival factions. A majority of the family felt that Paul was a bad choice for boss. Paul was resented as a man who rode Carlo’s coattails while never doing any real work on the streets. A captain in Neil’s crew named John Gotti was particularly upset about the snub. Dellacroce who respected mafia rules was the only one preventing a war and he died on December 2, 1985. Two weeks later, Paul Castellano and his new underboss Thomas Bilotti were gunned down in front of Sparks Steak House in Manhattan. Gotti took over the family and quickly destroyed it. He had a love for the limelight and loose lips. His reign would be highly publicized, more than any boss since Al Capone Gotti’s underboss Sammy “The Bull” Gravano would turn witness against him and bury the entire hierarchy of the Gambinos. They never recovered from the defection. The Gambinos still exist today in a much smaller capacity. It is unlikely that they will ever become the powerhouse mafia family that they once were.

The history of Irish mob in America goes back over 200 years. It started in the early 1800s with street gangs like the Forty Thieves and the Dead Rabbits. The gangs became more organized units in the 1900s with the North Side Gang, the Westies and the Winter Hill Gang. Here are 17 of the most prevalent Irish gangs in American history The Forty Thieves New York City 1825 - Early 1850s The very first criminal gang in New York. The Forty Thieves were formed by their leader Edward Coleman in 1825 in the Five Points section of Lower Manhattan. When first formed, the gang was a revolt against low social status but it evolved into a violent criminal entity that terrorized the area. Coleman became the first prisoner ever executed at “The Tombs”, now known as the Manhattan Detention Complex. By the 1850s, the Forty Thieves had pretty much dissolved. Most of their members branched off with some of the newer gangs, or even formed their own gangs. The Kerryonians New York City 1825 - 1830s The Kerryonians were the 2nd oldest New York gang. They formed shortly after the Forty Thieves. The two groups both operated in Five Points and pretty much existed peacefully with each other while teaming up to fight any outsiders. The Kerryonians feuded hard with another gang known as “The Pelter”. The majority of the gang were first generation immigrants from County Kerry, Ireland. The Kerryonians in particular had a lot of problems with British immigrants. One of the things that the gang was most known for was shutting down famous British actor William Charles Macready’s performance at Astor Place. Roach Guards New York City 1820s - 1860s The Roach Guards were originally formed as a means to protect the local Five Points liquor merchants. They were led by a gangster named Ted Roach, hence the group’s name. Like all the other Irish gangs in Five Points, they were rivals with the Bowery Boys. Internal dissent would be the downfall of the Roach Guards. Some of their members branched off to start the Dead Rabbits and a deadly battle between the two groups ensued. The Roach Guards began to wane in the 1850s and would be completely gone by the Civil War in 1861. Dead Rabbits New York City 1830s - 1850s Also known as The Mulberry Street Boys. They operated in lower Manhattan in the 1830s through the 1850s. The Dead Rabbits are the gang that Martin Scorceze’s Gangs of New York was based on. The gang got their name after a dead rabbit was ceremoniously tossed into the center of their gang meetings. When they were ready to fight, they would carry a dead rabbit on the end of a pike. The gang started as a spinoff gang involving some unhappy members of the Roach Guards. The most famous member of the gang was “Hell Cat” Maggie. Maggie was a vicious fighter who filed her teeth and fingernails to points. She has an Irish whiskey named after her. Hell Cat Maggie is the original female gangster in New York. Later there would be Battle Annie with the Gopher Gang. The Chichester Gang aka The Chichesters New York City 1820s - 1860s They were named after their leader John Chichester. This gang had almost 100 members. They were into robbing local businesses and fencing the stolen goods. The Chichester Gang was aligned with the Dead Rabbits in their fight against the Bowery Boys. The gang was formed all the way back in the 1820s. They maintained a constant existence for over 40 years in Lower Manhattan. Like many of the other gangs at the time in Five Points, they were absorbed into the Whyos after the end of the civil war in 1865. Whyos Gang New York City 1860s - 1890s The Whyos Gang was the coming together of several Five Points gangs after the civil war ended. The police had been attacking the smaller gangs, causing the merger. The Whyos were led in their glory days 1870 - 1888 by Danny Lyons and Danny Driscoll. They were absolutely the most powerful gang in the country during the late 1800s. They were big into extorting local business owners and running prostitution rings. What they were most known for was being enforcers and hitmen for hire. Danny Lyons was executed by hanging in 1888 for the murder of a rival gangster John Quinn. Danny Driscoll was hanged the same year, weakening the group. Another one of their members was also arrested in 1888 and actually was carrying a “price chart” where murder was for $100, a broken arm or leg for $19, gunshot to the leg for $20, and an ear bit off for $15. The remaining Whyos members soon began fighting over control of what was left of the gang. It all came crashing down for the Whyos when the Monk Eastman Gang moved in on their territory in the 1890s. The Whyos quickly dissolved and the Eastman Gang took control, and also became the first non-Irish gang to become prominent in New York City. Eastman and his gang were mostly Jewish. The Jewish mob prospered in NYC for the next 50 years. Joseph “Legs” Laman Gang - Detroit 1920s - 1930s This Irish gang terrorized the streets of Detroit, Michigan back in the bootlegging era. Their top racket was hijacking liquor trucks that came through the city. They also kidnapped local bootleggers and then demanded a massive ransom. They brutally took their share of the Detroit underworld profits by force. The Legs Laman Gang also liked to kidnap legitimate business owners for sport as well. During one of these incidents in 1929, Laman himself was shot and arrested. After his gang killed the businessman, Laman actually cooperated with authorities and testified against his own gang. This brought an end to the Legs Laman Gang. Northside Gang Chicago 1910s - 1930s The Northside Gang vs. the Capone Gang was the biggest war that ever broke out between the Irish mob and the Italian mafia.And for good reason, The Northside Gang was one of the most powerful Irish gangs in American history. The two gangs battled for supremacy of the Chicago bootlegging rackets for nearly a decade. The gang was led by fearless Dion O’Bannion. He had a force crew of hitmen all with interesting nicknames: Earl “Hymie” Weiss, Vincent “Schemer” Drucci and George “Bugs”  Moran. The Northsiders had tremendous political and law enforcement connections in Chicago. O’Banion set Johnny Torrio up to be arrested which caused the violence to start. O’Banion would be killed at his flower shop in 1924. Hymie Weiss became new Northside leader and they tried many times to kill Torrio and Al Capone. Weiss was killed by the Capone gang in 1926. Schemer Drucci was now in charge, he was killed by a cop the next year. It was now George “Bugs” Moran’s turn. Bugs continued hijacking Capone’s liquor and killing his men, so Al Capone decided it was time to send a message. On February 14, 1929, seven Northside members were killed in the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. After this, the Northside Gang slowly faded to obscurity. Gustin Gang Boston 1910 - 1930s This is Boston's original Irish gang run by Frank Wallace from South Boston aka Southie. Wallace and his tough as nails ex-boxer brother Steve and another younger brother Jim as his lieutenants. The gang’s origins go all the way back to the 1910s but they became the heads of the Boston underworld during the 1920s. The Gustins made their money in lots of different ways. Bootlegging, truck hijacking, robbery and extortion were just a few of their many rackets. While there was a growing Italian mafia presence in Boston in the 1920s, the Gustin Gang had firm control of the territory in this era. It wasn’t until 1931 that the gang would feel the mafia’s presence. The Gustin Gang hijacked several trucks associated with North End boss Joe Lombardo. Lombardo called for a sit down where Frank Wallace and his partner Bernard “Dodo” Walsh were ambushed and killed when they arrived. The gang existed for many more years under the leadership of Steve Wallace. They began a slow decline that continued until they were essentially dissolved, or absorbed by other Irish gangs. This led to the New England mafia gaining control in Boston, which would be challenged years later when the Winter Hill Gang was formed. Hudson Dusters New York City 1890s - 1910s This New York City Irish gang was started all the way back in the 1890s by a gangster named “Circular Jack”. Their main operations were on Hudson Street in Manhattan. The Dusters controlled most of the west side. They had a big presence on the New York waterfront in the early 1900s and 1910s. They demanded extortion payments from local businesses and just flat out robbed the local push cart vendors in the neighborhood. Most of the gang’s members were drug addicts,which helped lead to their eventual demise. By 1917, other gangs had stepped into the territory of the Dusters and the gang was essentially finished. Gopher Gang New York City 1890s - 1920s Battle Annie   This was one of the original Hell’s Kitchen Irish gangs, formed in the 1890s. Their membership was at its peak around 500 members. Their most famous member was Owney “The Killer” Madden, who went on to become a major underworld figure in the bootlegging era. The Gopher Gang were into burglary, muggings, armed robberies, hijackings, illegal gamblinga nd running prostituton rings. They had a younger generation of members that they called the Baby Gophers. There was also a female contingent known as the Lady Gophers, which was once led by the infamous Battle Annie aka “The Queen of Hell’s Kitchen” By the mid 1910s, the gang was in the midst of a war with multiple other gangs moving into Hell’s Kitchen. Owney Madden was serving a long prison sentence. Their Gopher’s leader “One Lung” Curran died in 1917. After that, the Gopher Gang basically broke up into other gang sets. White Hand Gang New York City 1900s - 1920s Before the Italian mafia took over the New York City waterfront, it was run by the White Hand Gang, an all Irish group. They were severely opposed to other immigrants coming into their territory with a particular hatred for the Italians that were becoming far more prevalent by the 1920s. The Italians at that time were called the Black Hand Gang, thus why the Irish became known as the White Hand Gang. White Hand leader “Wild Bill” Lovett led an aggressive resistance to the Italians and was able to keep them at bay for a few years. He was killed in 1923 by Willie “Two Knife” Altieri, a Black Hand hitman. Lovett’s successor Richard “Peg Leg '' Lonergan was killed two years later by the Italians as well. By this time, the Italians had many powerful gangsters on the rise like Lucky Luciano, Albert Anastasia and Joe Adonis. The White Hand began to quickly back off, and by 1928, the Italians were 100% in control of New York City’s waterfront rackets. K&A Gang Philadelphia 1950s (still in existence) The K&A Gang is also known as the Northeast Philly Irish Mob. They were formed all the way back in the 1950s and remnants of the group still exist today. The gang dealed heavily in loan sharking and drug dealing. They also extorted many local Philadelphia businesses. They have been one of the biggest methamphetamine trafficking organizations in the country for the last 40+ years. Philly has been called “meth capital of the world” and the K&A Gang are the biggest reason why. They have strong connections to the Philadelphia and New Jersey mafia families, and to gangs in Ireland. A string of drug arrests rocked the gang in the 1980s and 1990s. One member was convicted of selling $52 million dollars worth of meth. Later in the 2000s, one of the men involved in their drug trade Dave Criniti testified against K&A, putting a bunch of their members in prison. The Westies New York City - Hell’s Kitchen 1960s - 1990s The Irish mob had been in Hell’s Kitchen, New York since the late 1800s. They became known as “the Westies” when Jimmy Coonan took over the west side in 1977. Long time Irish boss Mickey Spillane was killed that year by the Gambino Family, much to Coonan’s delight who wanted Spillane dead for an old grudge. Jimmy’s right hand man was the violent Mickey Featherstone. The mention of these two men struck fear in all of the locals in the know. Mickey had killed multiple guys in Hell’s Kitchen bars. Coonan had killed and even dismembered many victims. He also went around bragging about it, once carrying a man’s testicles in a milk jug to show around the local saloons. A partnership was set up between the Westies and the Gambino Family. They became enforcers for the mafia. Jimmy had made the connection through Roy DeMeo, the infamous Gambino hitman. Years later, when John Gotti wanted a union official shot or “busted up”, he went to the Westies who shot John O’Connor in the buttocks. Although the partnership gave the Westies prestige, it actually led to the Westies' downfall. The gang became fractured because Mickey and most of the other guys hated being associated with the mafia. Coonan ended up having Mickey set up for a murder he didn’t comitt. Mickey then decided to make a deal and testify against Jimmy and the Westies. In 1988, Jimmy was sentenced to 75 years in prison and after testifying, Mickey went into the Witness Protection Program. Many of the other Westies also got heavy sentences. They were pretty much decimated by this. Later, they played a role in Gotti’s racketeering trial when they were able to rig the jury for Gotti to get acquitted. The Winter Hill Gang Boston 1950s - 2000s The mostly Irish Boston gang that was run by James “Whitey” Bulger. Winter Hill is one of the most prosperous Irish gangs in American history. They controlled the criminal rackets in Boston and worked with the Patriarca Family who ran the Italian mafia in New England. Buddy McLean was the first leader of the gang. He was from the Winter Hill neighborhood in Somerville, Mass. He was in a deadly street war with the McLaughlin brothers from Charlestown. The war raged from 1961 - 1967, sixty young men were killed, including Buddy in 1965. Two McLaughlin brothers were killed. In total, 3 sets of brothers were killed in this bloody war. After Buddy McLean’s death, Howie Winter became boss of Winter Hill, and he would keep that post for 13 years. The gang was thriving as the biggest organized crime family in the city of Boston. All of the other major cities were dominated by the Italian mafia, but the Winter Hill Gang made the Irish mob the dominant force in this city for many years. Patriarca did not challenge the territory of the Winter Hill Gang, although he often took a percentage of their earnings. The relationship between the two groups went back for decades. In the late 1960s, Winter Hill hitman Joe Barboza testified against Patriarca which caused a strain. But they would still work together by the time Whitey Bulger took over Winter Hill in 1978. When Bulger and Steven Flemmi’s  informant statuses were revealed in 1998, the gang took a big hit, from which it would not recover. While Whitey was on the run, his successor Kevin Weeks became a cooperating witness in 2000. Boston was changing, and street level organized crime is no longer tolerated like it once was. Winter Hill has been mostly inactive for the last decade. The Charlestown Mob Boston (Charlestown) 1950s - 1960s They were called the Charlestown Mob but also referred to as the McLaughlin Gang. They ruled one of Boston’s toughest towns and served as hitmen and general muscle for the Patriarca Family. They had a jovial relationship with the Winter Hill Gang until 1961 when George McLaughlin was beaten badly by a couple of Buddy’s friends. His brother Bernie McLaughlin reached out to McLean, who informed him that George had deserved the beating for abusing a Winter Hill guy’s girlfriend. Bernie waged war and tried to blow up Buddy’s car. Buddy responded by killing Bernie that same year in 1961. Then on October 20, 1965, another brother Ed “Punchy” McLaughlin was shot and killed. Just ten days later, Buddy McLean himself was killed on October 31, 1965. That was exactly four years to the day that he killed Bernie McLaughlin. The war went on for two more years, and the McLaughlin Gang would get wiped out in the process. The only surviving brother was George, who had gotten sloppy drunk in 1961 and caused the entire war. The McLaughlins had another pair of brothers who were experienced killers, Steve and Connie Hughes. Unfortunately for them, Winter Hill had Joe “The Animal” Barboza, the most prominent hitman in Boston history. Barboza made it his mission to kill both Hughes brothers, and he got both of them within one year of each other. Winter Hill would take over the McLaughlin territory. The Mullan Gang Boston (Southie) 1950s - 1970s The Mullans were a South Boston gang that operated from the 1950s through the 1970s. Stealing from the ships that came into Boston Harbor full of goods was a specialty of the Mullans. At the height of their power, the gang had about 60 members. They battled for supremacy in Southie with the Killeen Gang, who Whitey Bulger started out with. That rivalry started in 1971 when one of the Killeen brothers bit off the nose of Mickie Dwyer, a Mullan inside of a Southie bar.  A shooting war broke out on the streets of Southie after that. After several men including Killeen boss Donald Killeen was killed, Pat Nee of the Mullans reached out to Whitey Bulger and a truce was reached. The current Winter Hill boss Howie Winter mediated the dispute between the two sides and then merged the remainder of both gangs, which helped Whitey take over Southie.

The mafia was well known for their long standing ability to get away with murders. When someone breaks a rule they may have to pay with their life. Sometimes, the mafia has failed miserably in carrying out the hits. These men were high level targets and the consequences of failing to kill them proved to be deadly. How Charles Luciano became Lucky Charles “Lucky” Luciano was a rising young star in the New York City underworld in 1929. He was the leader of a group of up and coming mobsters known as the Young Turks. The Turks consisted of a bunch of future mafia legends: Albert Anastasia, Vito Genovese, Carlo Gambino, Joe Adonis, Tommy Lucchese, Joe Bonanno and Joe Profaci. The New York mafia at that time had two main bosses, Joe “The Boss” Masseria and Salvatore Maranzano. The men were arch enemies and the battle between them was leaving bullet riddled bodies on the city streets on a weekly basis. Lucky was working for Masseria at this time. Masseria was the definition of what they called a “mustache Pete”. That year, Maranzano decided to make a move on Masseria’s young superstar. One day, Lucky was snatched by Maranzano’s men at gunpoint and thrown into the back of a limousine. He was viciously beaten and stabbed in the face. Somehow, Luciano managed to get away from his attackers. He was forever scarred by the incident and had a permanent droopy eye. It was after this incident that he earned the nickname “Lucky” from his mafia peers. Luciano did not back down after the attack, instead he decided that he was going to take over the New York underworld and make it a more sophisticated empire than just groups shooting at each other in the streets. He had a vision that didn’t include the two current bosses. He had Masseria killed first in 1931. His plans would not get off the ground if Joe the Boss was around. Then later that year, he killed Maranzano. After this he rallied the Young Turks and created the mafia commission. A ruling board that would mediate disputes between the 5 different families. This turned the mafia into the bonafide kings of organized crime. Greg Scarpa’s war comes home In 1991, a cold war was underway in the Colombo Family. Acting boss “Little Vic” Orena was attempting a hostile takeover of the family from imprisoned boss Carmine “The Snake” Persico. After polling the family captains, about 75% of them sided with Orena. When word reached Carmine in prison, a hit team was dispatched but failed to kill Orena, starting a war. Orena responded by sending a team of shooters to kill Persico’s top hitman and loyalist, Greg “The Grim Reaper” Scarpa. On the morning of November 18, 1991, they waited outside Scarpa’s home until he came out with his daughter Linda and her infant child. They took off in two different cars with Linda behind Greg’s car. At the intersection, the shooters jumped out of their van and began firing at Scarpa’s car. They hit the car several times, and hit Linda’s car which was stuck in the middle of the shootout with her baby. Everyone survived but Scarpa went ballistic and vowed right in front of his own family that he would kill the entire Orena faction. It was just a couple weeks later that Scarpa started fulfilling his promise. He killed Vincent “Vinny Venus” Fusaro outside of his home hanging Christmas lights. Scarpa and his crew didn’t stop. They went out every night looking for Orena supporters and killed 4 more of them over the next few months. Eventually, the Orena side was forced to back down. Scarpa would not be able to enjoy the spoils of victory for long. He had AIDS and then lost his eye in a shootout before going to prison. He died in a prison hospital bed in 1994 from the disease. A year later, it was revealed in a courtroom that the notorious hitman Scarpa had been a 30 year FBI informant.. The McLaughlins fails to kill Buddy McLean and starts a war The McLaughin brothers were the most feared Irish thugs that ever walked the streets of Charlestown, Massachusetts. The leader Bernie McLaughlin was a hitman for the Italian mafia. Brother Ed “Punchy” McLaughlin was an ex boxer and rabid street fighter. The other brother George was the least imposing of the three. One night George got beaten to a pulp by some Summerville gang members for harassing one of their girlfriends. Bernie reached out to Winter Hill boss James “Buddy” McLean to set the two gangsters up for death. Buddy was having no part of it. He let McLaughlin know that his brother was a jerk and deserved the beating he got. He refused to help and Bernie was livid. The next day, McLean found a bomb planted under his car, which his wife and child were going to be driving on that day. This started an all out war that would rage for years. Buddy McLean had the psychopath Joe “The Animal” Barboza and the Winter Hill Gang on his side. The McLaughlins had a group of shooters, most notably the feared Hughes brothers, Steve and Connie. The first to die was Bernie McLaughlin, shot dead by Buddy McLean on Halloween day 1961. Buddy and Barboza killed several more men over the next 3 years. On October 20, 1965 they gunned down Punchy McLaughlin. Now two of three brothers were dead, it looked like McLean was winning, then 11 days later he was killed. Barboza continued hunting the McLaughlin side after Buddy’s death. He killed both Hughes brothers in 1966. He would then get into some legal trouble which caused him to become a witness against the mafia. His false testimony put several innocent people behind bars. The war was over by the late 1960s but some 60 young men had been killed. “Donnie Brasco” gets the contract on Bruno Indelicato This contract never was going to be fulfilled from the beginning. It was 1981 and there was a bloody civil war going on in the Bonanno Family. Two factions of capos were at war. On one side was Sonny Bleck Napolitano and Joe Massino, two up and coming capos. On the other side was Dominick “Big Trin '' Trinchera, Philip Giaccone and Alphonse “Sonny Red” Indelicato. On May 5th, Sonny Black and Massino called a meeting with the three capos. When they got there they were met by a hail of gunfire and all three were killed. There was one last piece of business to complete the takeover, they had to find and kill Sonny Red’s son Anthony “Bruno” Indelicato. Bruno was a drug addicted hitman guaranteed to strike back. Bruno had killed many people in the past. He was later convicted in the famous killing of Bonnano Family acting boss Carmine “The Cigar” Galante. He was no easy target and the Massino side could not rest easy until he was off the streets for good. For now, he had disappeared. The job of finding and killing Indelicato went to Donnie Brasco. Donnie had been a high earning member of Sonny Black’s crew for 6 years. Sonny had confidence that Donnie would do the job and in turn, it would be Donnie’s ticket to become a made man in the Bonanno Family. But there was one big problem. Sonny and the rest of the crew had no idea that Donnie was really undercover FBI agent Joseph Pistone. Pistone had been sent on a mission years before to infiltrate the Italian mafia. He earned his way into their trust by posing as a skilled jewel thief. Over the years, his operation yielded tons of evidence that would be used against the family. When the murder contract came down, the FBI decided to quickly pull the plug on Donnie Brasco. Bruno was found by authorities before the Massino side could get to him. Sonny Black and Tony Mirra were both killed for vouching for Donnie Brasco. The other men involved all got long prison sentences and the Bonanno Family was thrown into chaos. One man who escaped the Donne Brasco scandal was Joe Massino who later became boss, then a cooperating witness. A sloppy miss on Fat Pete Chiodo The failed hit on “Fat Pete” Chiodo and the attacks on his family represents one of the darkest chapters in the history of the New York mafia. The long time claim has always been that the mafia only kills each other and not innocent family members. Those norms meant nothing to guys like Lucchese Family boss Vic Amuso and former underboss Anthony “Gaspipe” Casso. Fat Pete was a Lucchese captain. He was a high level union fixer who had killed and beaten enemies of the family. In 1991, Chiodo was hit with RICO charges and decided to plead guilty in hopes of a lighter sentence. This infuriated Amuso and Casso, who then ordered that Chiodo be killed. Gaspipe and Fat Pete had been friends for a long time before this. Chiodo was ambushed and shot 21 times on May 8, 1991. Amazingly, doctors credited Chiodo’s 400 plus pound physique that helped to absorb the damage and he survived. While he was recovering, Casso and Amuso sent word that his family would be killed if he cooperated. This disgraceful behavior and the threat against his family led Chiodo to do just that. Fat Pete showed up for court in a wheelchair that September and testified against the Lucchese Family. His family would suffer as a result. Chiodo’s sister was shot and her husband killed on March 10, 1992. Three more of his relatives got killed in the next year, including his cousin who was stabbed 40 times. All this violence and doublecross did not help Amuso and Casso. They both ended up going to prison for life. Fat Pete was called in to testify later against Chin Gigante and several other mobsters. Because of his cooperation, Chiodo did not serve any prison time for the RICO conviction and quickly disappeared into the witness protection program. Casso died from covid-19 complications in 2021 and Amuso still sits behind bars.

Louis “Lepke” Buchalter was a ruling partner over the group of contract killers known as Murder Inc. way back in the 1930s Their job was to eliminate anyone designated for death by Lucky Luciano’s newly formed Syndicate. Lepke was named as one of the original board members, and he would become the only mafia boss in American history to be sentenced to death and executed. Lepke and Gurrah Louis Buchalter was born in the lower east side of Manhattan on February 6, 1897 as the last of seven children. He was a great student in school, and was also considered a mama’s boy in the neighborhood. Louis was not a big kid at all, as a man he got to 5’6” but was very thin. “Lepke” as he was known, at 12 years old was about to grow up quickly however. His father, who was a very hard worker and good provider for the family died from a diabetic shock in 1909. Lepke’s comfortable childhood ended right there. Soon after his father’s death, he dropped out of school to help support his struggling mother. At first, he was working legitimate jobs but was soon involved with robbing and extorting local push cart vendors in the neighborhood. Lepke showed as much skill on the streets as he did in the classroom. Instead of fighting with another bruiser named Jacob “Gurrah” Shapiro, formed a partnership with him that would see them both rise through the ranks among the local gangsters. Gurrah brought the muscle while Lepke brought the brains. Together, they became a powerful team and soon were recognized by the local mobsters. They both went to work for a notorious labor racketeer named “Little Augie” Orgen. Augie was a mere 5’2” but ran a big crew that controlled the garment industry unions. They resolved labor disputes with violence, and were employed by both workers and management. Lepke quickly became a master in this game, and outgrew his position in Little Augie’s gang. Buchalter enlisted his partner Gurrah in a plot to kill Orgen and take over his rackets. On October 15, 1927, they did just that. They found Little Augie in midtown Manhattan and killed him in a driveby. Gurrah shot Orgen 22 times in front of multiple witnesses, none of whom were willing to testify. It was a bold move and it made Lepke and Gurrah a lot of money in the process. The two Jewish gangsters would spend the next couple years shaking down the unions. Most mobsters at this time were involved in the bootlegging industry. So the unions were a very lucrative racket with less competition than most. Lepke’s ascent caught the attention of two of the biggest up and coming New York mobsters, Meyer Lansky and his Italian partner Charles “Lucky” Luciano. The New York Takeover Lansky and Luciano were impressed with the young mobster. Lepke was a double threat in the mob world. He was a huge earner and he was also an ice cold killer. Luciano at the time was hatching a plan to take over New York City and he was thrilled to have the ambitious Jewish gangster on his side. In fact, Lucky had very specific plans for Buchalter. Among Lepke’s crew in the rackets was a gang called the Brownsville Boys. They were led by a vicious killer named Abe “Kid Twist” Reles. The second in command was Harry “Pittsburgh Phil” Strauss, who would go on to become one of the prolific mob hitmen in American history. Buchalter kept these men working and now that he was an elite gangster, business was good. Luciano teamed Buchalter up with Italian mobster Albert Anastasia, who also had an eager team of killers. Together they formed what later would be dubbed “Murder Inc.” by the press. The way it worked was when someone needed to be killed, Murder Inc. would be used. They would serve as the official enforcers for Luciano, who in 1931 had succeeded in taking over New York City. Throughout the 1930s, Murder Inc. would quietly and systematically kill between 500-1,000 people. Lepke’s killers hung out at an all night Brooklyn store named Midnight Rose’s and were on call 24/7. The hitmen were used so often that they were actually paid full time salaries, as well as $5,000 per murder. It was a frightening machine that ran unchallenged for nearly a decade. Murder Inc. was responsible for the high profile killing of Dutch Schultz on October 24, 1935. Schultz had started out as a member of Luciano’s National Crime Syndicate, but things went downhill after he threatened to kill famous prosecutor Thomas Dewey. Lucky decided that Dutch was no longer worth the trouble and should be killed immediately. He knew killing Dewey was a bad idea. With the help of Murder Inc, Lucky Luciano during this era completely transformed the mafia from a group of unconnected street gangs into a massive connected group with a structured hierarchy. Lepke was one of the highest ranking and most important bosses in the Syndicate. He still ruled over the labor unions with an iron fist while simultaneously running the business of Murder Inc. Feeling The Heat The FBI in the late 1930s was finally able to do some damage to the upper ranks of the New York mafia. Lucky Luciano was given a 30 year sentence after being convicted in connection with a prostitution ring. Although the legitimacy of the case was in question, it sent a chilling message to the Syndicate that their glory days may be coming to a crashing halt. Lepke and Gurrah would both go into hiding in late 1936 to avoid going to federal prison for violating antitrust laws. They planned to wait it out and use their political influence to get out of doing prison time. Shapiro grew weary and gave himself up in April 1938. Lepke stayed hidden, and was getting support from his Murder Inc. partner Albert Anastasia. Buchalter was constantly being talked about in the newspapers. There was a $25,000 reward for his capture, as he was now a suspect in multiple murders. Eventually the Syndicate decided that keeping Lepke on the run was too much trouble. Anastasia would doublecross his partner by promising that he would only do a short prison stint if he turned himself in, it was a trick. Anastasia would deliver his partner to the FBI. After turning himself in, Buchalter realized he was in deep water. Dewey had him facing a racketeering case and there was much more in the works. Lepke now could only hope to one day be released from prison, but things were about become even more grim for the notorious mafia boss Special prosecutor Thomas Dewey who put Luciano in prison would pass the torch to prosecutor Burton Turkus who would take over several cases against the mafia. Dewey would go on to become governor of New York in 1943. Turkus would take the fight to Murder Inc. like never before. One of the biggest advantages Murder Inc. had in their favor was that the hitmen were mostly not connected to the victims or the mafia. Lepke and Anastasia would simply hand down the “contracts” with information on the intended target. It worked so well that for years, law enforcement had no idea that group even existed. All that would change when one of their members began to sing. Murder Inc. Unmasked It was none other than Kid Twist Reles, one of their top hitmen who agreed to cooperate with authorities after getting charged for a 1933 murder. Reles began filling in the holes on many unsolved murders and disappearances. Lepke had fulfilled many contracts through Reles and he knew this spelled doom. Kid Twist could have him put in prison for life, or worse. It was the 1936 murder of Brooklyn candy store owner Joe Rosen that would lead to Lepke’s demise. Reles tied Lepke to the killing along with Murder Inc. hitmen Harry “Pittsburgh Phil” Strauss, Mendy Weiss, Louis Capone and a few other lower level members. The four men would all be convicted in and sentenced to death, in Sing Sing’s notorious “Old Sparky”. There’s no doubt that Lepke must have regretted his choice to trust his partner Albert Anastasia. Although Reles also had the goods on Anastasia, he was found thrown out of a 6th story window in November 1941, just before he was scheduled to testify against him. It was one of the mob hits that went into folklore because Reeles was under 24 hour guard. Anastasia walked away untouched, but the rest of Murder Inc. was absolutely decimated. Pittsburgh Phil Strauss and Martin “Buggsy” Goldstein were executed on 6/12/1941 for the gruesome murder of Puggy Feinstein. Harry “Happy” Maione and Frank “The Dasher” Abbandando were executed on 2/19/1942 for the murder of George “Whitey” Rudnick in 1937. Next up were Lepke, Weiss and Capone. All three were executed via Old Sparky on 34/1944 with Lepke the last to go. Buchalter refused the opportunity for any final words. To this day, Lepke Buchalter is the only mafia boss to ever be executed in the United States. His story is mostly a forgotten one, but he is a throwback to a time when the Jewish mafia held power.