Joe Bruno's Mobsters - Six Volume Set (13 page)

By the time he was 23, Madden had at least five other murders to his credit.

One time, Madden's braggadocio almost cost him his life. On November, 6, 1912, at the Arbor Dance Hall, which was in the heart of the territory controlled by the Gopher's rivals, the Hudson Dusters, Madden strolled into the hall by himself during a dance given by the Dave Hyson Association. Madden was watching the proceedings from the balcony, when 11 Hudson Dusters surrounded him and filled his body with six pieces of lead. Madden was rushed to the hospital where a detective asked Madden who had shot him.

“Nothin' doin,'” Madden said. “It's no business but mine who put these slugs into me. My boys will get them.”

By the time Madden was released  from the hospital, six of  his 11 assailants had already been shot dead.

While Madden was recuperating, one of his fellow Gophers, Little Patsy Doyle, thought he could use Madden's weakened condition as a reason to take control of the gang. However, the main cause of Doyle's ire was that Madden had stolen Doyle's girlfriend, Freda Horner, away from him.

When word got back to Madden about Doyle's intentions, Madden used Miss Horner to lure Doyle to a saloon on Eighth Avenue and 41
st
  Street, where Madden and two of his gunmen shot Doyle dead. Madden was arrested three days later, and at his trial, Miss Horner turned the tables and testified against Madden. Madden was sentenced to 10-20 years in Sing Sing Prison, but he did only eight, being released in 1923.

When he hit the streets again, Madden found his Gophers gang had dissipated, so he threw himself headfirst into the bootlegging business. As a result of his great bootlegging success, Madden moved up in class and was considered the equal of mobsters like Lucky Luciano, Frank Costello, Louis Lepke, Bugsy Siegel, and Meyer Lansky. Madden also dabbled in the night club business, opening the legendary Cotton Club in Harlem, which he bought from former heavyweight champion Jack Johnson.

His relationship with Johnson segued Madden into the boxing business, where he nurtured the career of Italian carnival freak, the 6-foot-6-inch, 285-pound Primo Canera. Madden fed Canera so many stiffs and setups, the no-talent Canera was able to win the heavyweight championship of the world. Canera did so by landing an invisible punch against champion Jack Sharkey in the 6
th
round at the Madison Square Garden Bowl, in Long Island City. Sharkey obviously took a dive and was reportedly paid handsomely to do so.

The first time Madden put Canera in tough, against Jewish heavyweight sensation Max Baer, Canera was knocked down 10 times, before the referee mercifully stopped the fight in the 11
th
round. Of course, Madden made big money betting on Baer, who, because of Canera's feared reputation, went into the fight as a slight underdog.

In 1932, Madden was arrested on a parole violation, and when he was released a few months later, he decided he had accumulated enough cash in a lifetime of crime to relocate to Hot Springs, Arkansas. There, Madden opened several casino/hotels, which were used as hideouts for
New York City mobsters on the lam. To perpetuate his guise of respectability, Madden even married the Postmaster's daughter. In 1943, Madden was granted United States citizenship.

In 1965, after being stricken with emphysema, Madden died in his own bed, at the ripe old age of 74.  He was said to have amassed a fortune of $3 million, but not surprisingly, none of that money was ever found after his death.

M
andelbaum, Fredericka “Marm”

Fredericka “Marm” Mandelbaum was born in 1818 in the country of Prussia. In 1848, she immigrated to the United States with her husband, Wolfe Mandelbaum. A big woman, tipping the scales at over 250 pounds, Mandelbaum opened a dry-goods store at 79 Clinton Street on the corner of Rivington. The dry-goods store was located on the ground floor of a three-story building, which Mandelbaum later purchased with her ill-gotten gains.

By 1854, the dry-goods store was a front for the biggest fencing operation in the history of New York City. Mandelbaum lived on the top two floors of the building with her husband, son, and two daughters. Their apartments were as lavishly furnished as any in New York City; furnished, of course, with stolen goods. Among the famous crooks Mandelbaum dealt with on a regular basis, were Shang Draper, George Leonidas Leslie, Banjo Pete Emerson, Mark Shinburn, Bill Mosher, and Joe Douglas.

Mandelbaum was known for throwing lavish parties in her apartment, attended by every known criminal, of both sexes, in New York City, including judges and politicians, whom she had in her back pocket. Knowing women were as good, or even better crooks than men, Mandelbaum became fast friends with female criminals like Black Lena Kleinschmidt, Big Mary, Ellen Clegg, Queen Liz, Little Annie, Old Mother Hubbard, and the notorious pickpocket and shoplifter Sophie Lyons. Lyons, along with her bank-robber husband Ned, moved  right over the Hudson River to New Jersey, and she later became known as the “Queen of Hackensack.”

In 1862, Mandelbaum first caught the eye of the police, and it is estimated that from 1862 to 1884, she handled between 5-10 million dollars of stolen property. Her business was so good, Mandelbaum decided to put some of her best crooks on salaries. However, Mandelbaum abandoned that idea quickly, when she caught a few of them peddling their stolen goods to other fences (What did she expect, honest crooks?).

As her business grew, Mandelbaum, imitating the Dickens character Fagin, decided to start a school for children on Grand Street, where little tykes could learn the noble profession from the ground up, starting as pickpockets and sneak thieves. For the older children, Mandelbaum offered courses in burglary, safe-breaking, blackmailing, and confidence games. Mandelbaum's school became so well-known, the son of a prominent police official applied for admittance, compelling Mandelbaum to shut down her school immediately and permanently.

Whenever  Mandelbaum did get herself into trouble, she could always count on Little Abe Hummel and Big Bill Howe, from the law firm of Hummel and Howe (not to be confused with the law firm of Dewey, Screwem, and Howe), to find whatever loophole they could find, legal and illegal, to keep Mandelbaum out of jail. Hummel and Howe were of such good service to Mandelbaum, she placed them on an annual retainer of $5,000.

In 1884, the New York District Attorney, Peter B. Olney, hired the Pinkerton Detective Agency to infiltrate Mandelbaum's criminal organization. One of the detectives sold her a stolen shipment of silk, and when her house was raided the next day, Mandelbaum was arrested, along with her son Julius and clerk Herman
Stroude. Mandelbaum was charged with grand larceny and receiving stolen goods (pieces of silk and satin worth $633). However, the wily Hummel and Howe arranged for Mandelbaum's release on bail. Resorting to form, Mandelbaum jumped bail, and she moved to Toronto, Canada, where she lived the rest of her life in comfort.

To add insult to injury, the state of New York got hoodwinked by Hummel and Howe, and a crooked bondsman, who was supposed to have held the property Mandelbaum had pledged for bail. Using backdated checks, these three gyp-artists transferred the property to Mandelbaum's daughter, along with other properties the state was in the process of putting liens on.

Jabbing her finger in the eye of the New York City police, Mandelbaum, still wanted for her numerous crimes, traveled several times to New York City, in disguise, to take up with her old criminal pals, helping them plan several heists.

In 1894, after having screwed the American government as much as any woman in American history, Marm Mandelbaum died of natural causes in Canada at the age of 76.

Big Bill Howe died peacefully in his own bed in 1903. However, in 1905, Little Abe Hummel was sent to prison after being convicted of several counts of legal malpractice.

To paraphrase Meat Loaf, one out of three ain't bad.

M
aranzano, Salvatore

Salvatore Maranzano was the Mafia leader who organized the first Cosa Nostra in America.

Maranzano was born in Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, in 1886. As a young man, the college-educated Maranzano studied to become a priest, but then he did a 180-degree turn and became a Mafioso instead. Maranzano came under the influence of Sicilian Mafia Boss, Don Vito Cascio Ferro, who groomed Maranzano to be his second-in-command.

In 1925, Ferro sent Maranzano to America to organize the Sicilian crime families into one powerful group. Ferro eventually planned to come to America himself and assume the title of “Capi de Tutti Capi” (Boss of All Bosses). Unfortunately, Ferro was arrested in 1926 by Sicilian prefect Cesare Mori, on a trumped-up charge and sentenced to life in prison. This opened the door for Maranzano to take Ferro's place at the top of the Mafia heap in America.

When Maranzano arrived in America, he worked ostensibly in the real estate business, when in fact, he was a major bootlegger, who specialized in “homebrew.” Maranzano employed  hundreds of people to produce illegal booze in their homes, which Maranzano's men distributed throughout New York and New Jersey, and even as far as Pittsburgh.

Maranzano's long-range plan was to unseat New York's top Mafia chief, Joe “The Boss” Masseria, then reorganize the fractured crime families, including non-Italians, into one large organization with several “Bosses” leading their individual families. Of course, Maranzano envisioned himself as the “Boss of All Bosses.” Masseria did not exactly agree with Maranzano's vision, and the result was the Castellammarese War, where the casualty count, in both Masseria and Maranzano's ranks, totaled over 50 dead bodies.

In 1928, in order to achieve his goal, Maranzano tried to recruit Masseria's top lieutenant, Charles “Lucky” Luciano, to take out Masseria. Luciano balked at first, but in 1931, Luciano, tired of  Masseria's greed, and also tired of Masseria's ban on Luciano working with non-Sicilians, switched sides and agreed to take out Masseria. Luciano lured Masseria to an Italian Restaurant in Coney Island, and with Luciano conveniently in the men's room, four men, led by deranged killer Bugsy Siegel, filled Masseria's belly with lead, to go with the Chicken Parmesan he had eaten earlier.

With Masseria out of the way, Maranzano was now on top of the American Mafia world. Or
so he thought.

Maranzano summoned more than 500 Mafioso to a meeting in the Bronx. At this meeting,  Maranzano outlined a Roman Empire-style organization, with the entire New York Mafia divided into five families, each with a boss, an underboss, lieutenants, and soldiers. Maranzano dubbed his new organization the “Cosa Nostra,” or “Our Thing.” Of course, Maranzano officially anointed himself “Boss of All Bosses,” which did not sit well with Luciano and his Italian pals, which included Frank Costello, Vito Genovese, and Joe Adonis; nor with Jewish gangsters Meyer Lansky, Louie “Lepke” Buchalter, and Bugsy Siegel.

Maranzano, ever the wily fox, knew Luciano had the adulation of many of the top New York City mobsters and would eventually try to wrest control of the organization from Maranzano. As a result, Maranzano compiled a “death list” of guys who had to go. Luciano's name stood right at the top of the list.

Maranzano struck a deal with kill-crazy, Vincent “Mad Dog” Cole, to murder both Luciano and Genovese, while they were present at a meeting in Maranzano's midtown office. Maranzano gave Cole $25,000 down, with $25,000 more, due upon the completion of his task. However, Luciano caught wind of the plot, and on the same day Luciano and Genovese were supposed to be killed, Luciano sent his own execution squad to Maranzano's office, which consisted of four Jewish gangsters led by capable killer, Red Levine.

On September 10, 1931, while Maranzano was awaiting the arrival of Luciano and Genovese, four men barged into Maranzano's outer office, flashing badges. They threw Maranzano's bodyguards against the wall, frisked them, and relieved them of their weapons. Then the four killers strode into Maranzano's inner office, where they stabbed and shot him to death.

The killers rushed from Maranzano's office, bypassed the elevator, and hurried down the emergency stairwell. They were followed by the two Maranzano bodyguards, who were now out of work, and seeking employment. The killers crossed paths with “Mad Dog” Cole, who was ready to enter the stairwell to do in Luciano and Genovese, who were nowhere near the premises.

When Levine informed Cole about Maranzano's demise, Cole did an immediate about-face, and then  rushed out of the building, whistling a happy tune. Due to the unexpected turn of events, Mad Dog Cole was $25,000 richer, without having to kill anyone.

M
asseria, Joe (The Boss)

Joe “The Boss” Masseria was an uncouth mobster who enjoyed killing as much as he enjoyed eating, and he enjoyed eating a lot.

In 1903, the 5-foot-2-inch Masseria fled Sicily, because he had murdered someone and was not cool about cooling his heels in a Sicilian prison for the rest of his life. Masseria landed in New York City, and he immediately became part of the vicious Morello Gang, America's first Italian organized crime family.

The Morello gang was headed by Joe Morello and his brother Nick; killers so proficient, they were reportedly responsible for scores of murders themselves. The Morello Brothers also employed two other vicious henchmen: Lupo “The Wolf” (real name Ignazio Saietta, of the Black Hand fame), and half-brother Ciro Terranova, who later became the “Artichoke King” in New York City.