Category: Boston Gang Wars

November 18, 1969 Fifty-one years and one week after the Armistice that ended the fighting in World War I, Donald McGonagle was murdered on November 18, 1969.  Although it is attributed to the Killeen/ Mullen war, in part because his brother Paulie was one of the Mullen’s leaders, it had nothing to do with it….

South Boston (Southie) is somewhat of an isolated perimeter on the southern part of Boston harbor. It played a significant role in the Revolutionary War. George Washington mounted cannons on a hill in the center of Southie called Dorchester Heights. The cannons arrived there after a 300-mile trek from Boston to Fort Ticonderoga in New…

Frank Salemme said Peter Poulos was a non-violent guy. He kept the books for the hoodlums. He did the books for Salemme’s football cards; he did the Bennett/Flemmi numbers books. He was, as we have seen, a witness to their murder of Billy Bennett. When word came down that indictments were going to be issued…

Richard Grasso, the driver in the Billy Bennett fiasco, had to know that his life was not worth a plug nickel. Looks can be deceiving but Grasso’s looks would not make you think he was the brightest bulb on the marquee.  The police considered him: “a two bit hood” – “a small time thief and…

Like in the old Westerns, Wimpy and Walter’s elder brother, William “Billy” Bennett, decided he must find out what happened to his two younger brothers. Billy was known to carry his .38 caliber pistol with him in a shoulder holster. He was arrested in 1950 for booking but he was not as prominent in the…

Walter Bennett, Wimpy’s brother, was last seen by his wife on April 4, 1976 when he left his home in his sister’s 1966 Green Impala.  Wimpy had been missing for four months by the time of Walter’s disappearance. Walter was supposedly a big earner for the Mafia. He had a partnership with Larry Baione’s brother…