20 Most Infamous Mob Hits

20 Infamous Mob Hits

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’ll be discussing 20 Infamous Mob Hits.

For this video, we’ll be looking at some examples of organized crime at its most violent.

Did any of these crimes shock you? Let us know in the comments.

The M&M Murders

There have been a number of infamous mob hits that received the dramatization treatment on the silver screen. The M&M Murders were one such hit, a gruesome scene that was showcased in director Martin Scorsese’s 1995 classic, “Casino.” The incident in question occurred in 1962, and was perpetrated by two of the mafia’s most easily-angered associates. Tony Spilotro and “Mad” Sam DeStefano eradicated two burglars, James Miraglia and William McCarthy, in truly gruesome fashion. They sought out McCarthy on the first night, torturing him to the point where he then gave up his partner, Miraglia. Spilotro and DeStefano then proceeded to finish the job.

Dino Bravo

The world of professional wrestling is full of larger-than-life characters. But sometimes, truth is stranger than fiction. This is particularly true when it comes to the story of Dino Bravo, a former superstar in the WWF that reportedly ran afoul of organized crime syndicates in his native Canada. Bravo, who was born Adolfo Bresciano in 1948, was allegedly involved with smuggling cigarettes, alongside his professional wrestling duties. The athlete’s situation was dramatized on the docuseries “Dark Side of the Ring,” where it was revealed that Bravo possessed some real reservations about his dangerous side hustle. These reservations were well founded, as Bravo was found dead of multiple gunshot wounds on March 10th, 1993.

Shondor Birns

Organized crime doesn’t take holidays off. Perhaps this explains why the well known Jewish-American gangster Shondor Birns was taken down on Easter’s Holy Saturday back in March 1975. Birns had been feuding with Irish-American mob boss Danny Greene. This feud had escalated to the point where Greene had actually survived an assassination attempt plotted by Birns. The latter, however, wasn’t so lucky. Birns was taken out by a car bomb, the explosion of which was described by police as being one of the strongest they’d ever witnessed. This was the result of the bomb being composed of C-4, a deadly, military-grade explosive.

Philip “The Chicken Man” Testa

Philip Testa’s moniker of “The Chicken Man” may sound silly, but there was nothing humorous about the manner in which he met his demise. “The Chicken Man,” known by this name due to his day job working with poultry, was allegedly whacked by members within his own circle. Testa was walking into his Philadelphia home when a homemade device known as a nail bomb went off. This is an explosive that shoots off deadly nail shrapnel into its target. Testa died on his front porch, but his killers would soon see retaliation for their crimes. Underboss Peter Casella was exiled, while capo Frank Narducci Sr. was shot down for his involvement in the “Chicken Man” hit.

Irving “Puggy” Feinstein

Don’t get too big for your britches. Irving “Puggy” Feinstein learned this the hard way when he ran afoul of the mob back in the late 1930s. Feinstein’s low-level gambling and racketeering operations allegedly hid desires for future expansion. This ambition did not sit well with others in the Organization. A hit was put on Puggy, and the sentence was carried out by the infamous enforcement outfit, Murder, Inc. Harry Strauss, Abe Reles and Martin Goldstein did the deed with an icepick, but Puggy wasn’t going down without a fight. The mobster fought tooth-and-nail with his attackers, literally taking a bite out of Strauss during the hit. Feinstein’s burned body would later be found abandoned in a vacant lot.

The Big Tuna Murders

Operation Family Secrets was an FBI investigation that uncovered the details of numerous murders that took place within the world of Chicago organized crime. A number of these deaths were the brazen-but-foolish burglars who decided to rob the home of crime boss Tony “Big Tuna” Accardo. This inside job was performed by associates within the mob, and it didn’t take long for Accardo to connect the dots. Soon, everyone involved with the burglary was found slain in gruesome fashion. Then, a number of the hired assassins were also whacked, in order to keep things quiet. As for Accardo, he died of natural health complications at the age eighty-six.

The Blackfriars Massacre

The world of organized crime in Boston, Massachusetts has its own laundry list of infamous murders and hits. One such incident took place at the Blackfriars Pub back in June of 1978. The Downtown Boston spot was closed, but a number of men known to police, as well as a local news reporter, were playing backgammon in the pub’s basement. Their bodies would later be found by authorities, slain “gangland style,” while money and narcotics were found at the scene. The Blackfriars Massacre remains unsolved, with some theories pointing to both the Patriarca Crime Family and the notorious Winter Hill Gang as potential suspects.

Danny Greene

We mentioned earlier how Danny Greene narrowly avoided an assassination attempt by his rival, Shondor Birns. Well, this wasn’t the only time the Irish-American mob boss had cheated death. In fact, Greene had become pretty good at avoiding nearly every attempt on his life, of which there were more than a few. His lucky streak finally ended, however, on October 6th, 1977. Greene was leaving an otherwise innocuous dentist appointment, not knowing that his phone had been tapped. He was killed by a car bomb, but it wasn’t his car that blew up. Instead, hit man Ray Ferritto had planted a bomb in the car next to Greene’s. The boss would be found dead at the scene.

Dutch Schultz

A word to the wise: if even the Organization tells you not to do something, don’t do it. The infamous mobster Dutch Schultz didn’t listen when his request to assassinate New York prosecutor Thomas Dewey was denied. Instead, he tried to go ahead with his plan and paid the price. A hit was put out on Schultz, and, by all accounts, it got messy. Hitmen from Murder, Inc. tried to take out Schultz and his associates at the Palace Chop House on October 23rd, 1935. It was a bullet-riddled affair, with the assassins getting away, while all of Schultz’s gang received grave injuries. They would be taken to a local hospital, but all of them, including Schultz, eventually died from their wounds.

Joe Masseria

You may not be aware of the name Joe Masseria, unless you’re a mob historian, of course. However, most everyone has probably heard of the man responsible for Masseria’s murder: “Lucky” Luciano. Luciano was actually a lieutenant of Masseria’s, while the latter was operating as a boss in the Genovese Crime Family. The hit took place at an Italian restaurant, the Nuova Villa Tammaro, where Masseria was shot repeatedly. Masseria was actually made aware of Luciano’s treachery beforehand, and attempted a counter-hit, but was further betrayed by another associate, Joe Adonis. “Lucky” Luciano’s plan was successful, while some of the gunmen involved included Adonis, as well as other big name mobsters, such as Vito Genovese and “Bugsy” Siegel.

Sam Giancana

Over the years, this Chicago mobster has been linked to CIA efforts to assassinate Fidel Castro during the Kennedy presidency. At the time of his death, “Momo” was sixty-seven years old and known for his gambling and refusal to spread the wealth. In 1974, he even relocated to Cuernavaca, Mexico to avoid legal hassles. But a life of crime caught up to Giancana on June 19, 1975, as he was gunned down while cooking sausage and peppers. Aside from those responsible, nobody knows who killed “Sam the Cigar,” and conspiracy theories persist.

Joe Gallo

Known as “Crazy Joe,” this New York Mafioso was raised in Brooklyn, New York. During the ‘50s, he joined the Profaci crime family, working as a hitman and extortionist. But eventually, Joey started a war with the gang and kidnapped Joe Profaci’s brother-in-law, Joseph Magliocco. That’s not something a crime lord forgets. On April 7, 1972, “Crazy Joe” celebrated his forty-third birthday in Manhattan. Later that night, Gallo was ambushed and shot at Umberto’s Clam House, and later died at Beekman-Downtown Hospital.

Anthony Spilotro

This Chicago gangster was the inspiration for Joe Pesci’s character in the 1995 film “Casino.” And if you’re familiar with the Martin Scorsese classic, then you know that Anthony Spilotro suffers a horrific fate. In 1963, “The Ant” was officially a “Made Man,” and in 1976, he established “The Hole in the Wall Gang.” Spilotro eventually became suspected of skimming allegations at the mob’s Las Vegas operations. He swiftly disappeared in 1986 and was later found buried with his brother Michael. Police suspected Spilotro may have been involved in almost two dozen murders.

Jack McGurn

Born Vincenzo Gibaldi, this man ultimately settled in Chicago and began boxing as a teenager. By 1923, however, Jack McGurn joined Al Capone’s crime organization and became known as the “Machine Gun.” He’s known for killing singer Joe E. Lewis and allegedly helping plan the infamous St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. Exactly one day and seven years after the massacre, McGurn was gunned down in Chicago, and the killers left a telling clue: a Valentine with a poem. Jack McGurn, a Sicialian immigrant, was thirty-three years old, and his half-brother Anthony De Mory was also murdered two weeks later.

Angelo Bruno

Known as “The Gentle Don,” this iconic gangster was actually known to avoid violence. For twenty years, Bruno headed the Philadelphia mafia, but he began making enemies within the organization because of his greed. On March 21, 1980, his own underboss, Antonio Caponigro, allegedly had “The Docile Don” killed outside his home on a south Philadelphia street. This did not go over well with the Commission, the Mafia’s ruling body, which had not given their okay for the hit. As a result, Bruno’s death was immediately avenged, as Caponigro was murdered for ordering his own boss’ murder.

Paul Castellano

For years, “Big Paulie” was a legend of the New York mafia. By 1975, he succeeded Carlo Gambino as head of the Gambino Crime Family and once reportedly put a contract out on an undercover FBI agent. In the mid-80s, Castellano was arrested for racketeering, just as an associate named John Gotti put a deadly plan in motion. On the evening of December 16, 1985, Castellano and his underboss Thomas Bilotti were both gunned down outside Manhattan’s Spark Steakhouse, a brazen act that announced a changing of the guard.

Carmine Galante

Born in Harlem to Sicilian immigrants, this man became involved with organized crime before his teenage years. In the ‘40s, Carmine Galante worked as a hitman and later teamed up with Joseph Bonanno, leader of the Bonanno Crime Family. After twelve years in prison from 1962 to 1974, Galante attempted to run the drug trade, which greatly disappointed the Five Families. On July 12, 1979, the sixty-nine-year-old Galante was murdered in Bushwick, Brooklyn at Joe and Mary’s Italian-American restaurant. The Commission had officially ordered the hit, and Galante famously died with a cigar in his mouth.

Albert Anastasia

The American mafia exists because of this Italian immigrant. In 1919, Albert Anastasia first arrived in the United States and was soon sentenced to death for a 1921 murder. But “The Mad Hatter” received a new lease on life when several witnesses disappeared. By 1957, Anastasia was a fifty-five-year-old legend in the criminal underworld. But the crime boss met a violent end when associates of Carlo Gambino, including the aforementioned Joe Gallo, allegedly murdered Anastasia at a midtown Manhattan barber shop. Decades later, it remains one of the most aggressive power moves in mob history.

Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel

Along with his friend Albert Anastasia, this Jewish mobster was a founding member of Murder, Inc. Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel is also responsible for developing a small desert town called Las Vegas. Born in Brooklyn, Bugsy began a life of crime as a young man, and his organizational skills led him all the way out west. Unfortunately for Siegel, his brash demeanor and lavish lifestyle made him many enemies, and one of them showed up at his Beverly Hills home on June 20, 1947. As Bugsy read the L.A. Times inside, an unknown assassin fired through a window, killing the gangster.

Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre

Throughout history, individual mob hits have symbolized a transfer of power. In 1929, Al Capone made a major move by taking out several members of an Irish gang led by George “Bugs” Moran. Two supposed police officers arrived at a North Chicago warehouse and, along with two other hitmen, massacred seven gangsters with Thompson submachine guns and shotguns. A contract killer named Frank Gusenberg survived the attack, but he refused to identify the assassins before passing away hours later. It’s the stuff of movies, but it’s also a disturbing real-life mob hit that sheds light on the brutality of Prohibition-era America.