In September 1986, Judge Alvin Schlesinger overturned Featherstones conviction in the murder of Michael Holly. if you want to support the channel, we have multiple options for you. 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. . 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'. In 1969, Police arrested Coonan on kidnapping and murder beefs. In retaliation and to set Mickey Featherstone up to take the fall, Billy Bokun, Johns brother got a car identical to Mickey Featherstones and put on a long haired wig and fake mustache to look like Featherstone. He went on trial with Coonan for the killing of Harold Whitehead, and they were acquitted in December 1979 after one witness killed himself and another refused to testify. The Peter Pan wiseguy they killed in NJ taught them that move. Shondor Birns managed to survive the golden age of gangster historythe 20s and 30sand succeeded in the equally violent 50s and 60s. He turned states witness in 1987, his testimony helping to bring down the Westies, seeing many members, including Coonan himself, sent to prison. This Serbian mobster turned journo was an arch opportunist, driven in part by the love he held for his native Serbia, (along with his love of stealing shiny objects). Out of all the things he did, cutting hands off and saving body parts etc. Pinterest. Its just a matter of the government, piling it all together. I hope you enjoyed, please subscribe if you did! He volunteered for combat in Vietnam and would claim he spent time killing with the Special Forces. He held sway over the citys illegal gambling rackets for years, making millions and allowing him to gain political connections that solidified his position. In 1977 when Mickey Spillane was killed outside his apartment, Featherstone was arrested but acquitted for his killing. Variety and the Flying V logos are trademarks of Variety Media, LLC. and our During this incarceration Featherstone was injected with Thorazine. He passed away in 2004. ! Cummiskey, the so-called "Butcher of Hell's Kitchen" taught young Coonan the "art" of body dismemberment, using Paddy Dugan as the textbook. In addition to the racketeering convictions, some of the defendants, including reputed Westies boss James Jimmy Coonan, were found guilty of crimes ranging from attempted murder and loansharking to drug dealing and tax evasion. he is the son of the notorious gangster Jimmy Coonan of the Westies, the Irish Mob in New York. The younger Bokun, 30, of Manhattan, who was convicted of drug dealing as well as racketeering, tried to comfort his weeping, cursing father. Dont worry pop, Im all right, Bokun shouted across the courtroom before being led back to jail. Defense lawyers had contended that there was no such organization as the Westies. . Privacy Policy. Required fields are marked *. Along with Bouras, Curro was also killed whilst Martonaro and Blavat escaped with minor injuries. Born July 31, 1965, Hell's Kitchen. Mickey Spillane, known as "the last of the gentleman gangsters,' and Jimmy Coonan, who led the much-feared Westies. Eto survived three gunshots to the head due to the bullets being hand-loaded with an insufficient amount of gunpowder (a method designed to stop investigators tracking the shooters via the spent ammo), the underpowered round grazing Etos skull as opposed to blowing off his head. this awesome character was inspired by one of the most fascinating men in 20th century African American history: Casper Holstein. Coonan soon continued his criminal career by creating the Westies gang. Coonan was incarcerated and began serving a 75-year prison term in 1988. 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. Jimmy Coonans criminal career started in his teens. Ken Eto recovered and proceeded to testify, allowing for the state to get 15 mobsters in prison along with a clutch of corrupt cops. Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. Feb 9, 2019 - Rare pic of Club 596 / Jimmy Coonan (The Westies) headquarters. Humphries quickly falling into to the favourite pastimes of early twentieth century kids in Chicagofist fighting and burglary. Turn on post notifications so you dont miss a video! When Mickey returned to the notoriously violent, Irish dominated Hells Kitchen area of New York, his violent tendencies continued. This page is not available in other languages. 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. 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. Coonan was incarcerated and began serving a 75-year prison term in 1988. Copyright 2022 Crime Museum, LLC - All Rights Reserved | Privacy Policy |. He has been a guest speaker on numerous national radio and television stations and is a five time published author. The story is that the Genovese crime family sent a team of heavily-armed hitmen to kill off Spillanes gang. He drove up and shot and killed Michel Holly on the street in front of witnesses. 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 Genovese crime family wanted to run all mob activity associated with the convention center. A longtime gangster of the Manhattan's Westside ghetto known as Hell's Kitchen, Cummiskey served under Mickey Spillane following his release from prison. 2023 Variety Media, LLC. Facebook. It would also see a string of gang members turn on their former friends too, Jimmy McElroy, Billy Beatie and Tony Lucich being the main ones Jimmy Coonan was sentenced to 75 years in prison on racketeering charges, including seven murders and other crimes. In addition to the Coonans, both of Hazlet, N.J. and Bokun, the others convicted of racketeering and racketeering conspiracy were: James Jimmy Mack McElroy, 42; Richard Muggsy Ritter, 50; Thomas Collins, 53, and his wife Florence, 52, all of Manhattan. The body, Frankos said, was. Coonan, looking for a more feared and respected gangster like Cummiskey on his side, decided to use Dugan to lure in Cummiskey. Then, it was finally time to begin building the Jacob Javits Center in Hell's Kitchen, which would turn into a tremendous money maker. This murder between friends rocked the entire neighborhood, violent as it was known for being. Featherstone and Coonan were tried for the murder of a Hells Kitchen barman in 1979 but were acquitted, not for want of evidence; one juror perjured himself at trial and a key witness just so happen to take his own life riiiight. Two, he made his money via illegal gambling. Coonan reportedly killed a loan shark victim who could not pay his debt, dismembered him and cut off his hands. James Coonan is currently serving his 60 year sentence in Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary in Pennsylvania. At the time of his death he was married to Shirley Forstmann and father of three- Tammy Ann, Clifford and Terrence." One, he was black. When Benicio Del Toro has been cast to play a real-life figure, you know that person is bound to be a badass. 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. I know John Thomas Coonan personally. All Rights Reserved. he is the son of the notorious gangster Jimmy Coonan of the Westies, the Irish Mob in New York. He was raised in a five-room walk-up apartment on West 49th Street. Knapp scheduled sentencing for April 18. 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. During the early 1970s, Coonan recruited a gang of young Irish hoods and they began kidnapping, beating, and murdering any Spillane loyalists. Mickey Spillane or someone in his gang kidnapped Mr. Coonan for ransom and someone pistol whipped Coonans father. [8][9] Coonan was first eligible for parole in 1998. 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 . They are reputed to have said that "Although he fucked up, he was still a good Irishman". When Coonan was 18 his father was kidnapped by local mobster Mickey Spillane. 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. Bad blood between Coonan and Featherstone, in part due to Featherstones distaste for Coonans Italian Mafia connections, eventually led to Featherstone being framed for the murder of Michael Holly, a construction worker and neighborhood bar owner who refused to give the Westies protection money. Roy DeMeo was a close friend of James Coonan and as a favor to Coonan he found Spillane and murdered him. 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. The hit-squad killed 68 members of Spillanes gang with most of them killed by being gunned down. Adler is also producing the latter, which Matt Cirulnick is adapting from the bestselling T.J. English book about organized crime in Cuba in the 1950s. He formed an alliance with a man named Mickey Featherstone and a few former members of Hells Kitchen who were afraid of Coonan. [11][a], "The last few years had been good to Jimmy Coonan. https://api.spreaker.com/v2/episodes/49257984/download.mp3, Crooked: Interview about a Corrupt 1920s Attorney General. Coonan wanted to restore his fathers pride so he went to a tenement ran by Hells Kitchen and purchased a fully automatic machine gun before firing an entire clip at Spillane and his crew. McCarthy founded production-financing company Blue Engine to focus on developing crime stories for film and TV. 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. His wife, Edna, 44, was convicted of loansharking and tax charges. 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]. Coonan eventually interacted directly with John Gotti, who took over the Gambino crime family after the murder of Castellano in December 1985.
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