Harry Maione: Difference between revisions

As a young man, Maione led the Ocean Hill Hooligans, an Italian street gang in the [[Ocean Hill, Brooklyn]] section of New York. His protégé in this gang was [[Frank Abbandando|Frank "The Dasher" Abbandando]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Turkus|first=Burton |title=Murder, Inc. The Story of the Syndicate|year=2003|publisher=Da Capo Press|location=New YorkBoston |isbn=978-0-306-81288-0|pages=109–110}}</ref> Maione had a son, Albert Maione, who eventually became an associate with the [[Gambino crime family]]. Maione's older brother was Louis "The Duke" Maione.<ref>{{cite news|title=Hope Maione Jailing Ends Intimidation|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2033888/may_stop_intimidation_clip/|work=[[The Brooklyn Daily Eagle]] |date=18 September 1932|page=13}}</ref>

In 1931, Maione and Abbandando helped [[Abe Reles|Abe "Kid Twist" Reles]] and [[Martin Goldstein|Martin "Bugsy" Goldstein]] eliminate their gangster rivals, the [[Shapiro Brothers]] (Meyer, Irving, and William).<ref>{{cite book|last=Turkus|first=Burton |title=Murder, Inc. The Story of the Syndicate|year=2003|publisher=Da Capo Press|location=New YorkBoston |isbn=978-0-306-81288-0|pages=116–118}}</ref> Previously that year, the Shapiros had unsuccessfully tried to murder Reles and Goldstein. Meyer Shapiro then abducted Reles' girlfriend and raped her.<ref>{{cite book|last=Turkus|first=Burton |title=Murder, Inc. The Story of the Syndicate|year=2003|publisher=Da Capo Press|location=New YorkBoston |isbn=978-0-306-81288-0|pages=111–112}}</ref> Reles and Goldstein wanted revenge and the two wanted to take over the Shapiro operations. On July 11, 1931, Irving Shapiro was gunned down near his apartment. On September 17, 1931, Meyer was found shot to death in the basement of a tenement building on Manhattan's [[Lower East Side]].

The gang started picking up murder contracts from the [[National Crime Syndicate]] with the help of Syndicate Board Member [[Joe Adonis]]. The gang soon became the official murder-for-hire squad of the Syndicate, and was dubbed "Murder, Inc." by the press. Maione acted as the Italian liaison to the Jewish members of Murder, Inc.; Reles was his counterpart on the Jewish side. Murder, Inc. was directed by the brutal [[Louis Buchalter|Louis "Lepke" Buchalter]] (another member of the Syndicate board) and the nefarious [[Albert Anastasia|Albert "The Executioner" Anastasia]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Raab|first=Selwyn |title=Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires|year=2006|publisher=St. Martin's Press|location=New York |isbn=978-0-312-36181-5|pages=[https://archive.org/details/unset0000unse_s8f3/page/67 67–68]|url=https://archive.org/details/unset0000unse_s8f3/page/67}}</ref> Maione reportedly killed at least 12 men himself while working for Murder, Inc.

In the mid-1930s, New York District Attorney [[Thomas E. Dewey]] targeted Buchalter for prosecution. In response, Buchalter started eliminating all potential witnesses. [[Murder, Inc.]], rubbed out anyone that Buchalter even suspected of being an informant.<ref>{{cite book|last=Raab|first=Selwyn |title=Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires|year=2006|publisher=St. Martin's Press|location=New York |isbn=978-0-312-36181-5|pages=[https://archive.org/details/unset0000unse_s8f3/page/70 70]|url=https://archive.org/details/unset0000unse_s8f3/page/70}}</ref> [[Loan shark]] George "Whitey" Rudnick was one such victim; he was killed by Maione, Abbandando, and Strauss on May 11, 1937.

In May 1940, Maione was convicted of [[first degree murder]], but the verdict was overturned on appeal. After a second trial, Maione was convicted again. This time, the conviction was not overturned by an appeals court. On February 19, 1942, Harry Maione, along with Frank Abbandando, was executed in the [[electric chair]] at [[Sing Sing]] Prison in [[Ossining (town), New York|Ossining, New York]].

* [[ListCapital of individuals executedpunishment in New York (state)]]

*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080528081537/http://users.bestweb.net/~rg/execution/NEW%20YORK2520YORK.htm Executions in New York]

{{American Mafia}}{{Murder, Incorporated}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Maione, Harry}}

[[Category:American20th-century mobstersexecutions of ItalianAmerican descentpeople]]

[[Category:American people convictedexecuted offor murder]]

[[Category:PeopleExecuted convictedAmerican of murder by New Yorkgangsters]]

[[Category:ExecutedPeople mobstersconvicted of murder by New York (state)]]

[[Category:20th-centuryPeople executionsexecuted by New York (state) by electric chair]]