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Winter Hill Gang
The Winter Hill Gang is a loose confederation of organized crime figures in the Boston, Massachusetts, area. The gang members and leadership are predominantly Irish-American and Italian-American descent. The organization itself derives its name from the Winter Hill neighborhood of Somerville, Massachusetts, north of Boston. Amongst its members several have been notorious Boston gangsters, such as Buddy McLean, Whitey Bulger, Howie Winter, Joseph McDonald, Johnny Martorano, Patrick Nee and Stephen Flemmi. They were most influential from 1965, under the rule of McLean and Winter, to the 1979 takeover led by Bulger. The Winter Hill Gang was given its name in the 1970s by journalists at the ''Boston Herald'', but the name is hardly ever openly used as a reference to them. Winter Hill Gang members are alleged to have been involved with most typical organized-crime-related activities, but they are perhaps most well-known for fixing horse races in the northeastern United ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Somerville, Massachusetts
Somerville ( ) is a city located directly to the northwest of Boston, and north of Cambridge, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a total population of 81,045 people. With an area of , the city has a density of , making it the most densely populated municipality in New England and the 16th most densely populated incorporated municipality in the country. Somerville was established as a town in 1842, when it was separated from Charlestown. In 2006, the city was named the best-run city in Massachusetts by ''The Boston Globe''. In 1972, 2009, and 2015, the city received the All-America City Award. It is home to Tufts University, which has its campus along the Somerville and Medford border. History Early settlement The territory now comprising the city of Somerville was first settled by Europeans in 1629 as part of Charlestown. In 1629, English surveyor Thomas Graves led a scouting party of 100 Puritans from the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Organized Crime
Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally thought of as a form of illegal business, some criminal organizations, such as terrorist groups, rebel forces, and separatists, are politically motivated. Many criminal organizations rely on fear or terror to achieve their goals or aims as well as to maintain control within the organization and may adopt tactics commonly used by authoritarian regimes to maintain power. Some forms of organized crime simply exist to cater towards demand of illegal goods in a state or to facilitate trade of goods and services that may have been banned by a state (such as illegal drugs or firearms). Sometimes, criminal organizations force people to do business with them, such as when a gang extorts money from shopkeepers for " protection". Street gangs may of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, facilitate Irish reunification and bring about an independent, socialist republic encompassing all of Ireland. It was the most active republican paramilitary group during the Troubles. It saw itself as the army of the all-island Irish Republic and as the sole legitimate successor to the original IRA from the Irish War of Independence. It was designated a terrorist organisation in the United Kingdom and an unlawful organisation in the Republic of Ireland, both of whose authority it rejected. The Provisional IRA emerged in December 1969, due to a split within the previous incarnation of the IRA and the broader Irish republican movement. It was initially the minority faction in the split compared to the Official IRA, but became the dominant faction by 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Northeastern United States
The Northeastern United States, also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast, is a geographic region of the United States. It is located on the Atlantic coast of North America, with Canada to its north, the Southern United States to its south, and the Midwestern United States to its west. The Northeast is one of the four regions defined by the U.S. Census Bureau for the collection and analysis of statistics. The region is usually defined as including nine U.S. states: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont. The U.S. Census Bureau–defined region of the Northeastern United States has a total area of with of that being land mass, making it the smallest region of the United States by both land mass and total area. The Northeastern region is the nation's most economically developed, densely populated, and culturally diverse region. Of the nation's four census regions, the N ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boston Herald
The ''Boston Herald'' is an American daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarded eight Pulitzer Prizes in its history, including four for editorial writing and three for photography before it was converted to tabloid format in 1981. The ''Herald'' was named one of the "10 Newspapers That 'Do It Right' in 2012 by '' Editor & Publisher''. In December 2017, the ''Herald'' filed for bankruptcy. On February 14, 2018, Digital First Media successfully bid $11.9 million to purchase the company in a bankruptcy auction; the acquisition was completed on March 19, 2018. As of August 2018, the paper had approximately 110 total employees, compared to about 225 before the sale. History The ''Herald'' history can be traced back through two lineages, the '' Daily Advertiser'' and the old ''Boston Herald'', and two media moguls, William Randolp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stephen Flemmi
Stephen Joseph Flemmi (born June 9, 1934) is an American gangster and convicted murderer and was a close associate of Winter Hill Gang boss Whitey Bulger. Beginning in 1975, Flemmi was a top echelon informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Despite delivering a great deal of intelligence about the inner workings of the Patriarca crime family, Flemmi's own criminal activities proved a public relations nightmare for the FBI. He was ultimately brought up on charges under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, and pleaded guilty in return for a sentence of life in prison. Early years Stephen Joseph Flemmi was the eldest of three sons (the two brothers were Michael Flemmi and Vincent Flemmi) born to Italian immigrants Giovanni Flemmi (1892–1991), and Mary Irene (née Misserville) Flemmi (1912–2000), who was of Irish descent. He was raised in the Orchard Park tenement located at 25 Ambrose Street in Roxbury, Massachusetts. His father was a brickl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Patrick Nee
Patrick Joseph Nee (born December 22, 1944) is an Irish-American former mobster and Irish republican sympathizer. A former member of the Mullen Gang and the Winter Hill Gang, he is a Vietnam War veteran, and author of ''A Criminal and an Irishman; The Inside Story of the Boston Mob-IRA Connection''. Early life Nee was born in Ros Muc, an Irish language speaking village in Connemara, County Galway. He has recalled: Our family had it tough in Ireland, sure, but I'm not going to tell you any of that ''Angela's Ashes'' crap to try to gain your sympathy. We might not have had many good clothes, but Ma washed them every day. There was always good food. In fact, Ma never let my brothers and I go to bed hungry. And I remember falling asleep every night to a penetrating fire that burned until early morning. Nee's four maternal aunts had already emigrated to the US, three to Boston and one to Pittsburgh, influencing the Nee family's decision to settle in Boston. Nee's father emigr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johnny Martorano
John James Vincent Martorano (born December 13, 1940; also known as "Vincent Joseph Rancourt", "Richard Aucoin", "Nick", "The Cook", "The Executioner", "The Basin Street Butcher") is an American former gangster and former hitman for the Winter Hill Gang in Boston, Massachusetts, who has admitted to 20 mob-related killings. Early life John Martorano was born in Somerville, Massachusetts, in 1940. He is the older brother of James "Jimmie" Martorano by eleven months. His father, Angelo "Andy" Martorano was an immigrant from Riesi, Sicily, and with his family he emigrated to the United States around 1915, to East Boston. His mother, Elizabeth Mary "Bess" Hunt, was of Irish descent, who lived in Somerville. Carr, Howie (2011); '' HITMAN: The Untold Story of Johnny Martorano'' Martorano was raised Catholic and served as an altar boy. The Martorano family moved to the Irish enclave of East Milton. Martorano and his brother attended St Agatha's parochial grammar school in Milton throu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joe McDonald (mobster)
Joseph Maurice McDonald (July 14, 1917 – August 6, 1997) was an American mobster and a charter member of the Winter Hill Gang. Early life McDonald was born in 1917 in Somerville, Massachusetts. He was of Scottish and Irish descent. Winter Hill Gang McDonald was one of the originators of the Irish/Italian Winter Hill Gang and was a close friend and mentor to mob bosses Buddy McLean and Howie Winter. A veteran of World War II, McDonald was a skilled contract killer. In 1963, he escaped from prison while serving a 12 to 18 year sentence for armed robbery. Along with twenty-one other associates, including Winter, McDonald was indicted on charges of fixing horse races in 1979. He subsequently went on to be a fugitive in Florida. Later, while on the lam, McDonald and associate, Johnny Martorano, murdered businessman Roger Wheeler in Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Howie Winter
Howard Thomas Winter (March 17, 1929 – November 12, 2020) was an American mobster. He was a leader of the Winter Hill Gang. Early life Winter was born in Boston, Massachusetts on March 17, 1929. He was of German and Irish descent. Winter died on November 12, 2020 at his home in Millbury, Massachusetts. Irish Mob Winter was the right-hand man to the originator of the gang, James "Buddy" McLean and took over the rackets, along with Joe McDonald, when McLean was killed during the Irish Mob Wars in 1965. In 1979 Winter, McDonald and other members of the Winter Hill Gang were arrested and indicted on federal "horse race fixing" charges. James "Whitey" Bulger then replaced Winter as boss of the gang. Winter was released from prison in 1987 and relocated to St. Louis, where he was in contact with gang associate James "Gentleman Jim" Mulvey, who was a close friend of Raymond L. S. Patriarca. In 1993, he was caught dealing cocaine. When the FBI informed him that Bulger had been an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whitey Bulger
James Joseph "Whitey" Bulger Jr. (; September 3, 1929 – October 30, 2018) was an American organized crime boss who led the Winter Hill Gang in the Winter Hill neighborhood of Somerville, Massachusetts, a city directly northwest of Boston. On December 23, 1994, Bulger fled the Boston area and went into hiding after his former FBI handler, John Connolly, tipped him off about a pending RICO indictment against him. Bulger remained at large for sixteen years. After his 2011 arrest, federal prosecutors tried Bulger for nineteen murders based on grand jury testimony from Kevin Weeks and other former criminal associates. Although Bulger adamantly denied it, the FBI revealed that he had served as an informant for several years starting in 1975. Bulger provided information about the inner workings of the Patriarca crime family, his Italian-American Mafia rivals based in Boston and Providence, Rhode Island. In return, Connolly, as Bulger's FBI handler, ensured that the Winter ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Winter Hill, Somerville, Massachusetts
Winter Hill is a neighborhood in Somerville, Massachusetts. It gets its name from the 120-foot hill that occupies its landscape, the name of which dates back to the 18th century. Winter Hill is located roughly north of Medford Street, west of McGrath Highway, and east of Magoun Square. History An early map of the area (dated 1637) from the papers of the family of John Winthrop includes some of this neighborhood and the adjacent Ten Hills section. A Map of the Battle of Bunker Hill from 1775 displays Winter Hill to the northwest, with woody and marshy regions beyond. A map by Henry Pelham published in 1777 includes the Winter Hill Fort as part of the "Military Works" in the area. The Winter Hill Fort was described as "extensive" among other American Revolutionary War installations, but little evidence of the structural features remains. A "Plan of the Rebels Works" in the Library of Congress collection offers a glimpse of the layout. This stronghold is also diagrammed in a map cre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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