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. Allegedly, they brought the head of Dugan with them, set it down on the bar stool, ordered his favorite whiskey, lit one of his cigarettes and put it in his mouth. In 1966, Coonan fired a machine gun at Spillane and his associates from atop a Hell's Kitchen tenement building. A longtime gangster of the Manhattan's Westside ghetto known as Hell's Kitchen, Cummiskey served under Mickey Spillane following his release from prison. The body, Frankos said, was. By 1976, Coonan and Featherstone were engaged in taking over Spillane's territory, culminating in the 1977 shooting of Spillane, for which Featherstone was arrested and acquitted, and the death of Stein. 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. Thats the nightmare of RICO (the Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act).. A member of the Westies forgot to deflate the lungs before throwing the torso in and Steins torso washed up on shore and was found a few days later. Dont forget to listen to Aaron on the Big Dumb Fun Show, live on Monday nights. In another bar room fight in 1971, he shot and killed a guy named Linwood Willi. 2023 Variety Media, LLC. At the time of his death he was married to Shirley Forstmann and father of three- Tammy Ann, Clifford and Terrence." Any resident of Hells Kitchen who who took Spillanes side were subject to beatings, kidnappings, store vandalism, and robberies. Featherstone committed several mob killings before he was convicted in 1986 of a murder he had not committed. Jimmy Coonan brought the Westies into the 20th Century and presided over the most bloody and violent gang in New York City history. Despite being innocent of this particular murder, he was convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison. The New York Daily News August 23, 1976 death notice for Cummiskey reports "Edward was the son of Edward Cummiskey Sr. and Mary Cummiskey nee Hyndes. Murrays family emigrated to the US from the small rural village of Llandinam in Powys, Wales in the late 1800s. 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. Very few mobsters live a long, stress-free life and die of old age. Why AI Has Some Viewers Asking Which Film Actors Are Real. Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. In 1977 when Mickey Spillane was killed outside his apartment, Featherstone was arrested but acquitted for his killing. He was a habituate of the Sunbrite Bar on 10th Avenue and 50th in Chelsea, Manhattan and The Market Diner in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan. Coonan decided to remove his gangs debt by murdering Stein. 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. 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. Coonan's niece Alberta Sachs was party to the murder, providing the knives and helping with the cleanup. Jimmy C. purchased a machine gun and got on top of a Hells Kitchen tenement building waited for Micky Spillane. In 1980, the Secret Service put Featherstone in jail for using fake currency at a massage parlor. Coonan and Ryan will never see the light of day (Sean Ryan wasn't a Westies anyways). The association between Italian Americans and the Mafia is as strong as the association between Italian Americans and pizza. Coonan was incarcerated and began serving a 75-year prison term in 1988. 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. Copyright 2022 Crime Museum, LLC - All Rights Reserved | Privacy Policy |. Gmail. [1] An amateur boxer and street fighter, he dropped out of school aged seventeen and embarked on a career in organized crime. Pinterest. Mickey Spillane or someone in his gang kidnapped Mr. Coonan for ransom and someone pistol whipped Coonans father. John Gotti began running the Gambino Crime Family after Roy DeMeo had died and he used Coonans Westies as a killer squad for the family. 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. 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. Although Coonan failed to hit anyone he shot upon he was now well known amongst the Hells Kitchen crew. Hell's Kitchen ~ West Manhatten Mickey Spillane, known as "the last of the gentleman gangsters," and Jimmy Coonan, who led the much-feared Westies.The Westie. During his time as boss of the Westies, they gained a reputation as a vicious crew of murderers. In addition, the jury found Coonan participated in most of the racketeering acts charged against him, including seven murders. His speciality? Wall was from a wealthy family, his father was a respected physician and his mother was the daughter of the former mayor of Tampa. years back I had read.I read one of Featherstone's kids joined military.There is an youtube video of Eddie Cummiskey's son in a street fight in New York.He beat the hell out of some guy that was . 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. James Coonan was a baby boomer born December 21, 1946. After Coonan took over as boss of the Westies, he had Stein murdered to gain control of his gambling and loansharking customers. His wake was held at the former Buckley Funeral Home at 445 West 43rd Street (now Crestwood Funeral Home and Cremation Services) in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan and the funeral was held at Holy Cross Church (Manhattan) and he was buried in Saint Raymond's Cemetery (Bronx). McCarthy founded production-financing company Blue Engine to focus on developing crime stories for film and TV. 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. Is this the same man I know? Heres a list of hitmen, buttonmen and bagmen who are most certainly not Italian. Jimmy Coonan (1977-1986)- Jimmy Coonan led the most violent Irish gang Hell's Kitchen and New York has ever seen. The gang then tipped the cops thatFeatherstone killed Holly. 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. He passed the money to a girl who remembered seeing his name tattooed on his forearm. We hope you enjoy the video!We also have new memberships! 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. But that simply is not the whole story. Spillane was the mob boss who ran Hells Kitchen and was said to have pistol whipped Coonans father before kidnapping and beating him. 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. /r/Mafia features stories, interviews, documentary and news articles about organized crime around the world. Out of all the things he did, cutting hands off and saving body parts etc. Featherstone plead guilty to one racketeering charge and was soon released for his cooperation. He is a little obsessed with lists. His numbers racket was very popular during the 1920s amongst the residents of Harlem and he was a pillar of African American societyhe paid for young black men to attend college, gave out food parcels to the needy and even financed dormitories in southern black universities. A rat is a rat in any language. Two, he made his money via illegal gambling. Today. Although Coonan wounded no one, Spillane understood that the younger hoodlum was not to be taken lightly. He took aim and fired a whole 30 round magazine in one long burst at Spillane and some men with him. Home Crime Library Organized Crime James Coonan James Coonan was born December 21, 1946 in Manhattan, New York. He became known as Jimmy C. As we said last week, Jimmy C. took over the Hells Kitchen Irish mob after he made a deal with Gambino member Roy Demeo to kill the previous boss, Mickey Spillane, in 1977. This dismembering method of disposing of his victims was used by Coonan many times. 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. On Feb. 11, 1984, two Westies drove Leone to New Jersey, pulled over to offer him a hit of cocaine, and shot him in the head. He had also spent almost a year on the FBI most wanted fugitive list after being a stowaway on an International Longshoremen's Association freighter to Itagua, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to avoid a murder charge. 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'. Since his death, and the slaying of other prominent Greek mobsters in the 80s, the Greek mob has struggled to regain any foothold in the American underworld.[6]. Watch. Investigators assume the killing had Gambino approval. 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. Featherstones violence caught the eye of Coonan. Well, whatever the correct Japanese terminology, Chicago-based mobster Ken Eto blabbed to the feds about the Chicago Outfit. Tools Edward "Eddie The Butcher" Cummiskey Jr. ( 1934 Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan to August 20, 1976 Chelsea, Manhattan) was a New York mobster who served as a mentor to Jimmy Coonan, leader of the Westies. Born July 31, 1965, Hell's Kitchen. NEW YORK (AP) _ Seven people were convicted Wednesday on federal racketeering charges for taking part in the violent activities of a murderous gang known as the Westies, which terrorized Manhattans Hells Kitchen neighborhood for 20 years. Scan this QR code to download the app now. Coonan used these gang members to lure Stein to the 596 Club bar where he was shot to death. Coonan joined with the Italiansbecause Spillane had refused the Mafias efforts to control criminal activities in and around the Jacob Javits convention center. and our If your enemies catch you, your face will get blown off. Nobody hustles like the Hump Capone said. [8][9] Coonan was first eligible for parole in 1998. He got involved with the Milano family out there, and Jimmy Caci, and was huge into the cocaine and porn business in the late 80's and early 90's. Wore a wire during the Colombo wars against Teddy Persico Jr and Luchese capo John Baudanza. Roy DeMeo, his Gambino contact, was murdered and Coonans Gambino family connection became Daniel Marino, a capo from Brooklyn. Although reportedly on good relations with both Spillane and Coonan (despite rumors of Cummiskey defecting to the Westies), he was shot at point blank range and killed by Joseph "Mad Dog" Sullivan while drinking at the Sunbrite bar on August 20, 1976. One month after his birth, Birns family emigrated to New York city. Coonan, 41, was found guilty of attempted murder, murder conspiracy, loansharking, extortion and income tax evasion among other crimes. The Genovese crime family took over Spillanes construction business, and all of his organized crime businesses, and from that point on the Genovese crime family also ruled all of Hells Kitchen with an iron fist. Your email address will not be published. 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. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. 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. 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. The hit was probably ordered by his greatest rival, famous Florida gangster Santo Trafficante Sr.[10]. He was with the Colombo's in NY and went out to work in NYC I think. 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. Ken Eto recovered and proceeded to testify, allowing for the state to get 15 mobsters in prison along with a clutch of corrupt cops. Coonan, looking for a more feared and respected gangster like Cummiskey on his side, decided to use Dugan to lure in Cummiskey. According to lore, the carton contained Dugan's penis, which was later rumored to have been placed in a pickle jar and kept in a refrigerator. When autocomplete results are available use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. by John L. Coonan. Westie Eddie "The Butcher" Kaminsky and Jimmy Coonan murdered a druggie who killed one of their fellow members and carried the man's body across the rooftops from one tenement building to the. 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? Jimmy Coonans criminal career started in his teens. He has been a guest speaker on numerous national radio and television stations and is a five time published author. 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 and a number of the Westies gang owed money to a popular Jewish loan shark named Ruby Stein. An eighth defendant was acquitted of all charges as the five-month trial ended. The judge sentenced Featherstone to 6 years and he did time in the Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield Missouri in the psychiatric ward. He drove up and shot and killed Michel Holly on the street in front of witnesses. Coonan, 41, was found guilty of attempted murder, murder conspiracy, loansharking, extortion and income tax evasion among other crimes. The Westies is a riveting true crime saga and also one of the great untold stories of the 20th century Irish-American experience, McCarthy said. DB Dec 15, 2006 #6 Is Jimmy Coonan still alive? He allegedly murdered Mike "The Yugo" Yelovich claiming he had to because Yelovich had accidentally shot Cummiskey in the shin bone with a rifle. 2 Westie Francis Mickey Featherstone, said the gang had even shot a union leader as a favor to reputed Gambino boss John Gotti. 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,. After being released from jail in 1970, he started building up his own Irish gang so he could take over the rackets from Mickey Spillane. . Its just a matter of the government, piling it all together. (completely optional)Chad's Book: https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Razor-Wire-Prison-Memoir/dp/B08NJR548L/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1\u0026keywords=blood+on+the+razor+wire\u0026qid=1625283431\u0026sr=8-1Check out our website:www.myfreedomfighters.comPaypal.me/ChadMarks2020Cashapp: $ChadMarks102 Engs brutal reign came to an end in 1993 when he was sentenced to 24 years in jail, having to pony up $3.5 million in fines and giving up his massive Pennsylvania estate as further punishment. Variety is a part of Penske Media Corporation. 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 . 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.