This is a round up of some of the most interesting headlines and stories from gangland. As this is just our ‘Top Five’, the choice is limited and there are lots more out there that deserve inclusion here, but we feel these sum up some of the major events in Mob and organized crime history.
This one was published on November 15, 1957 and refers to the ill-fated ‘summit ‘ which took place in Apalachin, New York, on the previous day. Mob chiefs such as Vito Genovese were amongst the 62 attendees arrested.
This is a ‘Daily Mirror’ headline from the UK, announcing that the Kray twins were both found guilty of murder – along with their brother Charlie and six of their seven co-defendants. It’s the headline from the March 4, 1969 edition, and they were also due to face sentencing on that day at the Old Bailey in London.
”No one will ever kill me, they wouldn’t dare.” So spoke Carmine Galante, one-time boss of the Bonanno crime family. In hindsight it has to be one of the most ironic quotes of all time. He was killed on July 12, 1979 at Joe and Mary’s Italian-American Restaurant in Brooklyn. Three gunmen opened fire and he died outside on the patio. This headline is from Friday July 13, 1979.
Pablo Escobar Gaviria rose from the slums of Colombia to become the wealthiest drug kingpin in the world as head of the Medellin Cartel. He was one of the world’s most wanted fugitives, and had evaded the authorities in Colombia for some time. On December 2, 1993, after a phone call was traced, he was surrounded by security forces at his Medellin hide-out and died on a rooftop after a twenty minute shootout. This was the headline in the Daily News the following day.
On April 2, 1992, the FBI finally got their man, after John Gotti was found guilty on all charges in a murder and racketeering indictment. Up until this point, he’d been nicknamed ‘The Teflon Don’ – but after the verdict was announced, New York FBI boss, Jim Fox said ”The Teflon is gone, the Don is covered with Velcro.” This classic headline is from April 3, 1992.
This post contains affiliate links. We hope you love the products we recommend! Just so you know, we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. This is at no extra cost to you, and it helps to keep our website going. Thank you if you use our links, we really appreciate it!