Depression-era New York was a tough time for a guy just looking to get by. The pressure of feeding a family, the lack of available work, the poor conditions suffered from much of the work that was available and at the end of the day, you couldn’t even relax with a drink or drown your sorrows in the bottom of a bottle. At least, not legally. Whilst laws attempted to stop people from drinking alcohol, the culture of the speakeasy ripped through the underground. It was a place where one could relax and unwind, listen to some live music, play some cards, or set up an insurance fraud with a few of the friendly locals. It was the latter that took place in a small dive in The Bronx over several months in 1933 that would highlight how desperate the times could really be. It would also prove to be one of the most catastrophic displays of disorganised crime that the 19th-century newspapers would ever write about in what was dubbed as New York’s “most fantastic” murder.

SOURCES

Read, Simon (2005) On The House: The Bizarre Killing of Michael Malloy. Berkly Publishing Group, NY, USA.

Funderburg, Anne (2014) Bootleggers and Beer Barons of the Prohibition Era. McFarland Incorporated Publishers, NC, USA.

Brooklyn Times Union (1933) Gang Murderers “Rub Out” 4 Men, Wound Another. Brooklyn Times Union, 20 March, 1933. P.3. NY, USA.

Brooklyn Times Union (1933) Two Gun Girl Seized In Bronx Holdup. Brooklyn Times Union, 17 April, 1933. P.1. NY, USA.

Daily News (1933) 5 Indicted As Murderers In Insurance Ring Probe. Daily News, 17 May, 1933. NY, USA.

Daily News (1933) When Justice Triumphed. Daily News, 29 October, 1933, P.42. Daily News, NY, USA.

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The Dark Histories Butterfly was drawn by Courtney, who you can find on Instagram @bewildereye

Music was recorded by me © Ben Cutmore 2017

Other Outro music was Paul Whiteman & his orchestra with Mildred Bailey - All of me (1931). It's out of copyright now, but if you're interested, that was that.