Today. Coonan, 41, was found guilty of attempted murder, murder conspiracy, loansharking, extortion and income tax evasion among other crimes. There was also testimony by several witnesses that the Westies had forged an alliance with the Gambino organized crime family, said to be the largest and most powerful Mafia group in the country. 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, While explaining the gruesome details of the murder and dismemberment. 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. Top 10 Movies About Italians That Dont Involve The Mafia. Humphries quickly falling into to the favourite pastimes of early twentieth century kids in Chicagofist fighting and burglary. Birns was born in Czechoslovakia in 1907. After Danny Grillo and Jimmy Coonan clipped Ruby Stein, Big Paul and Funzi Tieri had a mini sit down to discuss the volatile 'West Side Irish Mob'. Spillane was the mob boss who ran Hells Kitchen and was said to have pistol whipped Coonans father before kidnapping and beating him. Last edited on 22 September 2022, at 01:02, Learn how and when to remove this template message, New York City Department of Environmental Protection, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Edward_Cummiskey&oldid=1111624835, This page was last edited on 22 September 2022, at 01:02. Follow my Instagram @MOONEYDashCamhttps://www.instagram.com/mooneydashcam/Follow me on tiktok @mooneydashcamhttps://vm.tiktok.com/ZMJ5EQm4A/For business inquiries you can get in touch at mooneydashcam@gmail.comAlso dont forget to leave me some suggestions for future videos in the comments. Is this the same man I know? DB Dec 15, 2006 #6 Is Jimmy Coonan still alive? The hit was probably ordered by his greatest rival, famous Florida gangster Santo Trafficante Sr.[10]. He testified against Jimmy Coonan and other gang members. Touch device users, explore by touch or with swipe gestures. In 1986, the police arrested Mickey Featherstone for the murder of Michael Holly. In the 1970s Coonan worked as an enforcer and bodyguard for loanshark named Ruby Stein. When Coonan was 18 his father was kidnapped by local mobster Mickey Spillane. James Michael Coonan (born December 21, 1946), nicknamed "Jimmy C", is an Irish-American mobster and racketeer from Manhattan, New York who, served as the boss of the Westies gang, an Irish mob group based in Hell's Kitchen, from approximately 1977 to 1988. 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. The son of an accountant for famous mobsters, Coonan was no stranger to the criminal lifestyle. At the time of his death he was married to Shirley Forstmann and father of three- Tammy Ann, Clifford and Terrence." His wife Edna was given 15 years. At least 30 of Spillanes gang were killed by bombings. 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. Mickey Spillane: The Gentleman Gangster/Jimmy Coonan and the Westies Gang: Directed by Datha Keane. this awesome character was inspired by one of the most fascinating men in 20th century African American history: Casper Holstein. This story of Jimmy Hoffa's death first entered the public consciousness in 1989 when Donald Frankos gave an interview to Playboy Magazine where he claimed that Hoffa was killed by a New York Irish mafia boss by the name of Jimmy Coonan and buried at the home field of the New York Giants and New York Jets football teams. Defense lawyers had contended that there was no such organization as the Westies. Very few mobsters live a long, stress-free life and die of old age. https://api.spreaker.com/v2/episodes/49257984/download.mp3, Crooked: Interview about a Corrupt 1920s Attorney General. Featherstones violence caught the eye of Coonan. Although Coonan failed to hit anyone he shot upon he was now well known amongst the Hells Kitchen crew. At thirty-nine years old, he had already been convicted of assault and robbery and had been sent to Attica Correctional Facility in Attica, New York and at 37 was witness to the Attica Prison riot September 9, 1971 during his incarceration. But that simply is not the whole story. Spillane went to Coonan's father, slapped him around and told him to get his son under control. In order to clear his name Featherstone recorded conversations between the Westies and Coonan so that he would be cleared of the murder charge and he could use the evidence he had to put Coonan behind bars. Later that evening, Paddy Dugan came across Dennis Curley walking around the streets of Hell's Kitchen and shot Curley twice in the head, killing him instantly. Turn on post notifications so you dont miss a video! [5] Coonan wanted more, and several West Side neighborhood thugs gathered around him, including Francis "Mickey" Featherstone. If the authorities catch you, your habits will blow up in your face. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. Francis T. "Mickey" Featherstone (born September 2, 1948) is a former Irish American mobster and member of the Westies, an organized crime syndicate from Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan in New York City, led by James Coonan. His son, Pavle (pictured), followed in his fathers criminal and journalistic footsteps, spending 16 years in jail over two stints and now covering criminal stories for publications such as The Washington Post and online work with The Daily Beast.[7]. Shady doings, ambitious heists and international political skulduggery are elements covered by great journalists like Vojislav Stanimirovic. Eddie Cummiskey was among those unhappy about this killing. He was discharged on medical grounds in 1967, claiming to be experiencing hallucinations. [1] An amateur boxer and street fighter, he dropped out of school aged seventeen and embarked on a career in organized crime. His son Clifford was charged and later found not guilty of being involved in a drunken bar brawl on September 21, 2009, in Hell's Kitchen. Privacy Policy. Since his marriage a year ago, in 1974, he'd moved out of the neighborhood to a modest, two-story house just across the river in Keansburg, New Jersey, a quiet, lily-white middle-class suburb. Coonan reportedly killed a loan shark victim who could not pay his debt, dismembered him and cut off his hands. Coonan joined with the Italiansbecause Spillane had refused the Mafias efforts to control criminal activities in and around the Jacob Javits convention center. Thats my son there.. . He allegedly murdered Mike "The Yugo" Yelovich claiming he had to because Yelovich had accidentally shot Cummiskey in the shin bone with a rifle. 2023 Variety Media, LLC. Only one defendant, John Halo, was acquitted on all charges. Afraid that Eto would turn states witness, the mob decided to take him out. Copyright 2022 Crime Museum, LLC - All Rights Reserved | Privacy Policy |. McCarthys also producing When Corruption Was King, set up at Paramount with Temple Hill Entertainment and based on a screenplay by Baldwin that made the 2009 Blacklist; and Havana Nocturne, for Eric Eisners L + E Pictures. The body, Frankos said, was. He died whilst awaiting a prison transfer in 2007 at the age of 77.[8]. 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. Convicted hitman Donald Frankos claimed that Irish mob boss Jimmy Coonan shot Hoffa in Michigan before dismembering his body with a power saw and meat cleaver, according to a 1989 Detroit Free press story. Eto entered the witness protection programme, relocated to Georgia where he lived a long, event free life. Mickey Spillane or someone in his gang kidnapped Mr. Coonan for ransom and someone pistol whipped Coonans father. 2 Westie Francis Mickey Featherstone, said the gang had even shot a union leader as a favor to reputed Gambino boss John Gotti. Despite being innocent of this particular murder, he was convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison. All Rights Reserved. A Westie named John Bokun went to Hollys bar and shot him. Dont forget to listen to Aaron on the Big Dumb Fun Show, live on Monday nights. Coonan failed to murder Spillane and his followers, not even wounding one man, but Spillane got the message. Shondor Birns managed to survive the 'golden age' of gangster historythe 20s and 30sand succeeded in the equally violent 50s and 60s. He left for England and acquired an English accent years ago. Coonan had a following amongst the younger Irish in the neighborhood (including Billy Beattie, Billy Bokun, Kevin Kelly, Jackie Coonan, Eddie Coonan, Mickey Featherstone, James McElroy, Joey Schultz, Richie Ryan and Tommy Hess) as well as earning the respect of some old timers such as Tommy Collins, who shifted their allegiance to Coonan from Spillane. Featherstone plead guilty to one racketeering charge and was soon released for his cooperation. In this case, he was found not guilty due to insanity. Featherstone, if still alive is in the Wit Sec. Mickey Featherstone was a complete nut case. [10], He and his wife Edna (b.1942; Julia Edna Crotty) lived in Hazlet and Keansburg, New Jersey, before his incarceration. 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. Among other members of the Westies arrested were Jimmy McElroy, a top enforcer, who was sentenced to 60 years and Richard Ritter, a loan shark and drug dealer, who was sentenced to 40 years. Shane McCarthy, Gil Adler (Superman Returns) and Frank Baldwin are developing a feature version of T.J. Englishs mob tale The Westies and will produce through McCarthys Blue Engine Entertainment and Gil Adler Prods. Coonan's niece Alberta Sachs was party to the murder, providing the knives and helping with the cleanup. While serving time in an upstate New York prison, Cummiskey learned the trade of butchery and became a butcher with the Amalgamated Meat Cutters, allowing him to take advantage of his sentence to perfect a new and gruesome murder method. Westie members murdered and dismembered him in the back of Coonan's bar, then threw his remains in the Hudson River. 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. The way he became part of Al Capones Chicago Outfit is pretty amazing, tantalisingly lacking in enough key info to render the tale legendary as opposed to simply a footnote in mob history. After four weeks of testimony Coonan was found guilty of racketeering and was sentenced to 60 years in prison. In May 1977, Jimmy Coonan owed a substantial amount of money to loan shark Ruby Stein and decided to forgive his own debt by murdering Stein. Cookie Notice Featherstones wife, Sissy, wore a wire and engaged other Westies in incriminating conversations to help her husband get out of jail.
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