Unable to make a decent living, Birns family moved to Cleveland, Ohio where his mother set up an illegal alcohol still in their apartment during Prohibition. You can contact the show to be a guest or to interview me!For general business inquiries: bloodontherazorwire@gmail.comIn today's video, I talk about the exp. Gmail. Featherstone became upset with the direction the Westies were headed and confronted Coonan about his problems. To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary,click here. Biography [ edit] I know John Thomas Coonan personally. Adlers producing credits include Valkyrie, Superman Returns, Constantine and Starsky and Hutch. Baldwin also wrote an untitled Gregory Hoblit project, set up at Castle Rock, and an untitled Pierre Morel Tokyo thriller for Paramount. Johnny Eng, AKA Onionhead or Machinegun Johnny, was the leader of the Flying Dragons street gang in the 1980s, controlling heroin in the Chinatown area of New York. When Coonan was 18 his father was kidnapped by local mobster Mickey Spillane. It was not long before the feared Cummiskey favored working for Coonan over Spillane. Coonan, 41, was found guilty of attempted murder, murder conspiracy, loansharking, extortion and income tax evasion among other crimes. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. He was raised in a five-room walk-up apartment on West 49th Street. His speciality? Knapp scheduled sentencing for April 18. and our The racketeering charges alleged eight murders, four murder conspiracies and three attempted murders. he learned that he had been set up and framed by his own gang. His father was an accountant and not involved in criminal activity. James Coonan was a baby boomer born December 21, 1946. During the early 1970s, Cummiskey took on a young protg by the name of James "Jimmy C" Coonan, a violent younger generation Irish hoodlum who wanted to take out the old-timer Mickey Spillane. He would usually tell neighborhood youths about his criminal escapades from his violent past interjected with humor that left his audience laughing. He was released from the mental hospital 4 years later. Westies Part 2 Jimmy Coonan goes down - Gangland Wire Featherstones wife, Sissy, wore a wire and engaged other Westies in incriminating conversations to help her husband get out of jail. Two, he made his money via illegal gambling. In 1989, hitman-turned-informant Donald "Tony the Greek" Frankos told Playboy magazine that Hoffa was killed in Mount Clemens, Mich., by Irish mobster Jimmy Coonan. The police and FBI suspected him of a series of mob contract killings. Coonan and Ryan will never see the light of day (Sean Ryan wasn't a Westies anyways). With the bad blood between Coonan and Featherstone, Coonan decided to set Featherstone up for murder. Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Android | RSS | More, Jimmy Coonan brought the Westies into the 20th Century and presided over the most bloody and violent gang in New York City history. One could make the argument that entering the Marine core during the turbulent Vietnam War at the age of 17 essentially sealed his fate: the impressionable young man, possible harbouring underlying schizophrenia, engaged in violent combat in the green hell and white heat hat was the conflict in Vietnam. Investigators assume the killing had Gambino approval. He put the hands in bags in a freezer with the intention of using them to put those fingerprints on a gun he would use later. Upon his return, Coonan and Cummiskey instructed him to leave the bar and get rid of the contents of the carton. But the defense attacked the credibility of Featherstone, an admitted three-time killer, and other informants who testified for the government in return for leniency. He was the brother of Margaret Kagabines, Elaine McCue, Joan Ferrick, Patricia Baeza, Bernard, Robert, Lawrence and Paul. The Westies murdered Stein, dismembered him, and threw the remains in the Hudson River. "The Irish Mob" Mickey Spillane: The Gentleman Gangster/Jimmy Coonan In addition, the jury found Coonan participated in most of the racketeering acts charged against him, including seven murders. Coonan and a number of the Westies gang owed money to a popular Jewish loan shark named Ruby Stein. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. he was slain during the wild 1970s, blown up along with his fancy Lincoln Continental by a bomb planted (purportedly) by the Hells Angels, contacted by his former enforcer Danny Greene. Featherstones violence caught the eye of Coonan. Growing up in Hell's Kitchen he played hockey with many future Westies-aligned criminals at Hell's Kitchen Park and boxed at Boys & Girls Clubs of America and eventually started burglarizing commercial buildings in Lower East Side, Manhattan and cargo from warehouses in West Side, Manhattan. Along with Bouras, Curro was also killed whilst Martonaro and Blavat escaped with minor injuries. Dash cam tour of Hells Kitchen Manhattan, taking you to the murder site of infamous New York City mob loanshark Ruby Stein and headquarters of the westies Irish mob that rivaled the Italian mafia,. Holstein lived it largehe owned many luxury cars, had two swanky apartments in New Yorks Harlem area, a house on Long Island and thousands of acres of land in the state of Virginia. Scan this QR code to download the app now. Although Coonan failed to hit anyone he shot upon he was now well known amongst the Hells Kitchen crew. James Coonan - Crime Museum He instead told prosecutors that Bokun had committed the murder, and he became an informant. The End of The Westies - The Irish Mob Coonan's niece Alberta Sachs was party to the murder, providing the knives and helping with the cleanup. Coonan established ties to the Gambino family when he took control of Hells Kitchen. He passed the money to a girl who remembered seeing his name tattooed on his forearm. During the 70s and 80s, he became the leader of The Corporationa sprawling crime/business empire that consisted of bolita games across the US eastern seaboard as well as holdings in Peruvian casinos and a host of investments in legitimate businesses. In the 1970s Coonan worked as an enforcer and bodyguard for loanshark named Ruby Stein. Coonan, 41, was found guilty of attempted murder, murder conspiracy, loansharking, extortion and income tax evasion among other crimes. The Westies: Jimmy Coonan - GangsterBB.NET He left for England and acquired an English accent years ago. After many years on the run in Peru, Battle was indicted back in the US on racketeering charges, having amassed more than $1 billion from drug trafficking, illegal gambling and loan sharking. Feb 9, 2019 - Rare pic of Club 596 / Jimmy Coonan (The Westies) headquarters. In Japanese, the word is nezumi but that also means mouse in English. From time to time, the Westies worked for the Gambino crime family as a contract killer squad. If your enemies catch you, your face will get blown off. This page is not available in other languages. In 1988, he and his wife went into a witness protection program. Shondor Birns managed to survive the 'golden age' of gangster historythe 20s and 30sand succeeded in the equally violent 50s and 60s. Jimmie Grayson Coan Obituary - The Desert Sun The Westies went on to kidnap, torture, and murder members of Hells Kitchen until Spillane had to go into hiding and turn over power of Hells Kitchen to Coonan. Paul Castellano, who was the Godfather of the Gambinos, requested a meeting in an Italian restaurant with the leader of the Westies, Jimmy Coonan, in an attempt to reel in the gang's worst excesses. Federal Prison. Doing Time With Nicky Scarfo & Jimmy Coonan. Jimmy Coonan? - IRISHORGANISEDCRIMEFORUM Featherstone, if still alive is in the Wit Sec. One of these new recruits was 24-year-old Vietnam Vet by the name of Mickey Featherstone. He received a medical discharge in 1967 after just a year, claiming to have hallucinations. Cummiskey, the so-called "Butcher of Hell's Kitchen" taught young Coonan the "art" of body dismemberment, using Paddy Dugan as the textbook. Mickey Featherstone - Wikipedia Humphries didnt follow that path, but certainly made use of many lessons in how the judicial system worked, becoming an arch manipulator of law enforcement and gatherer of political influence. The Irishman: Who Really Killed Jimmy Hoffa? | Den of Geek Shondor Birns managed to survive the golden age of gangster historythe 20s and 30sand succeeded in the equally violent 50s and 60s. Coonan and Cummiskey soon became known associates, as Cummiskey taught Coonan the "tricks of the trade". Featherstone achieved neighborhood fame for single-handedly running a group of toughs from New Jersey out of a Hells Kitchen bar with a rifle. The Irish Mob: Mickey Spillane And Jimmy Coonan Younger The Elder 3.57K subscribers Subscribe 27K views 3 years ago This episode explores the lives of Mickey Spillane, known as "the last of the. [5] According to testimony given in 1987 by ex-Westies member turned informant William Beattie, Stein was killed and beheaded in 1977 in a move to erase Coonan's debt and prove the Westies power through viciousness. The Westies- Hells Kitchen, NY - IRISHORGANISEDCRIMEFORUM The hit was probably ordered by his greatest rival, famous Florida gangster Santo Trafficante Sr.[10]. Humphries had fallen in with a small-time hood named Fred Evans who wanted to grow his bootlegging operation but was confounded by the size and ease with violence displayed by members of Capones gang. [3] Author T.J. English has credited this event in several books as Coonan's motivating factor in the takeover of the Westies. Featherstone became a valued contract killer for the Westies, working under the direct order of gang leader Jimmy Coonan. He is a little obsessed with lists. Heres a list of hitmen, buttonmen and bagmen who are most certainly not Italian. The son of an accountant for famous mobsters, Coonan was no stranger to the criminal lifestyle. After four weeks of testimony Coonan was found guilty of racketeering and was sentenced to 60 years in prison. When you consider that the same guy also fought for the US-backed rebels in the botched Bay of Pigs invasion, got imprisoned for 2 years by the Cubans before fleeing back to the US to forge a criminal empire I mean, why are we only getting a movie now? Very few mobsters live a long, stress-free life and die of old age. Thats when the Westies, a ruthless gang of Irish American extortionists, racketeers and contract killers, took in the violent young Featherstone and put him to work. In this case, he was found not guilty due to insanity. 10 American Mobsters Who Were Not Italian Americans Edward Cummiskey - Wikipedia This dismembering method of disposing of his victims was used by Coonan many times. [10], He and his wife Edna (b.1942; Julia Edna Crotty) lived in Hazlet and Keansburg, New Jersey, before his incarceration. 2023 Variety Media, LLC. He was operating under the blessing of the Chicago Outfit for decades until, in 1983, the FBI uncovered Etos illegal bolito game. [8][9] Coonan was first eligible for parole in 1998. Famous for his part in the 1971 robbery at the Villa Vizacaya in Florida that saw an estimated $1.5 million worth of art and silver objects, including a priceless silver bowl once owned by Napoleon Bonaparte, Stanimirovic paid his dues to society and went on to write for a living. Jimmy Coonan's son? Coonan authorized the hit of Michael Holly while Billy Bokun was dressed as Mickey Featherstone. His wife, Edna, 44, was convicted of loansharking and tax charges. by John L. Coonan. Coonan used these gang members to lure Stein to the 596 Club bar where he was shot to death. Because the construction site was in Hell's Kitchen that made it Mickey Spillane's territory, but, the Genovese family front boss Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno did not like that, so, he sent a freelance Irish hit man from Queens by name of Joseph "Mad Dog" Sullivan to get rid of some of Spillane's main men. Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. 3.0 out of 5 . The key prosecution witness, former No. Jimmy Coonan is currently being held at Lewisburg Federal Penetentiary, he is 59 years old and is Inmate Number 13874-054 his projected release date is November 6th, 2036, he'll be like 89 or some shit if he lives that long. The 1990 film State of Grace starred Sean Penn as an undercover officer who infiltrates the Westies. Instead of a cross, she hid an inverted pentagram in a flower engraved into the stone. McCarthy, Adler and Baldwin are also collaborating on an adaptation of Ken Bruen and Reed Farrel Colemans Tower that Baldwin is penning. There is a documentary somewhere on YouTube from the early 90s where Mickey is in disguise but talks about his days in the Westies. Organised Crime is a dangerous game. Coonan soon continued his criminal career by creating the Westies gang. Coonan failed to murder Spillane and his followers, not even wounding one man, but Spillane got the message. Several Westies owed money to Stein and were looking to escape these debts. He left for England and acquired an English accent years ago. [6][7], In 1979, Coonan was tried and acquitted for the murder of Harold Whitehead, but convicted on weapons charges and sentenced to four years in federal prison. During this incarceration Featherstone was injected with Thorazine. Dont worry pop, Im all right, Bokun shouted across the courtroom before being led back to jail. Only one defendant, John Halo, was acquitted on all charges. Mickey Featherstone, The Hitman Who Took Down The Westies The tome, published two decades ago, centers on the rise to power of the Westies gang during the 1970s and 80s in the Hells Kitchen section of Manhattan. However, Cummiskey was part of the Spillane crew and Dugan was part of the Coonan crew, and Spillane forbade violence against the Coonan gang unless they struck against his men first. He opened up the gang to the lucrative drug dealing rackets as well as continuing extortion, numbers, loansharking and counterfeiting rackets in the area. Jimmy Coonan's nephew, John "Jackie" Coonan jr. runs things in the Kitchen. Edna put out a family memorial, about their family being chained together in hell in the afterlife. [2] When Coonan was a young man, his father John was kidnapped, pistol-whipped and severely beaten by Mickey Spillane, a well-known mobster who frequently employed the kidnap-for-ransom racket of local merchants to their families. His gang soon outgrew the old Irish mob led by Spillane. Required fields are marked *. Cummiskey would further himself from the Spillane-led faction of the Hell's Kitchen Irish Mob known as The Spillane Gang and become more and more a member and follower of the young Jimmy Coonan. He left for England and acquired an English accent years ago. Members of The Outfit identified Humphries as the gunman and brought him to Al Capone. Thanks to a long history of films, books and TV shows focussed on mob families like the Corleones and the Sopranos, as well as a host of real stories covered in films like The Untouchables, Goodfellas and, of course, the ultimate classic gangster flick Gotti starring John Travolta, when we think about American organised crime, we think Italian. The Irish-American gang led by Jimmy Coonan and Francis (Mickey) Featherstone aligned itself with the Gambino crime family and enforced its racketeering schemes with a campaign of murder and dismemberment until the NYPDs Intelligence Division brought them down. He and the others dismember Steins corpse and dumped it in the Hudson River. NYC tour covers the violent history of Hell's Kitchen and its notorious In another bar room fight in 1971, he shot and killed a guy named Linwood Willi. Coonan now was getting national attention. James Coonan was born December 21, 1946 in Manhattan, New York. Im a long time citizen of Hells Kitchen and Ive seen the Westies still do their thing!! Jimmie Grayson Coan. That was the one thing that stood out to me in the book. At least 30 of Spillanes gang were killed by bombings. Thats the nightmare of RICO (the Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act).. James Coonan is currently serving his 60 year sentence in Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary in Pennsylvania. Those who chose Coonan were immune from these harsh activities because Spillanes gang was on the run and unable to retaliate. The body, Frankos said, was. He testified against Jimmy Coonan and other gang members. Beattie was then instructed to go over to Dugan's apartment and bring down the carton of milk from the refrigerator. ", Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, "Ex-Westies Member Says Gang Boss Cut Off Murder Victim's Head", "Westies Trial: Gruesome Testimony Not For The Squeamish", "United States of America, Appellee, v. James Coonan, Kevin Kelly, James Mcelroy, Kenneth Shannon,william Bokun, John Halo, Edna Coonan, Richardritter, Thomas Collins, Florencecollins, Defendants,kevin Kelly, Defendant-appellant, 938 F.2d 1553 (2d Cir. Edward was born in 1934. Touch device users, explore by touch or with swipe gestures. In 1986, the police arrested Mickey Featherstone for the murder of Michael Holly. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. You can contact the show to be a guest or to interview me!For general business inquiries: bloodontherazorwire@gmail.comIn today's video, I talk about the expriencies I've had with my brother and other various subjects. John Moe is dying and will never get out, he was a bouncer/sometimes collections guy. He set up a numbers game and quickly started raking in the big bucks$200,000 a week, with $3000 finding its way into the pockets of corrupt cops that allowed Eto to prosper. During the early 1970s, Coonan recruited a gang of young Irish hoods and they began kidnapping, beating, and murdering any Spillane loyalists. Jimmy on the left & Larry Sessa, a Colombo Crime Family mobster. Then, it was finally time to begin building the Jacob Javits Center in Hell's Kitchen, which would turn into a tremendous money maker. Coonan decided to remove his gangs debt by murdering Stein. He became known as "Jimmy C." As we said last week, Jimmy C. took over the Hell's Kitchen Irish mob after he made a deal with Gambino member Roy Demeo to kill the previous boss, Mickey Spillane, in 1977 .
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