Owney Madden: From Gang Leader to Prohibition Powerhouse

Late night channel surfing one weekend, I happened on the movie, Goodfellas, a classic retelling of Nicholas Pileggi’s book, Wiseguy. Robert Di Niro’s character is based on the real-life Jimmy Burke, and Ray Liotta plays the part of Henry Hill. The two were of Irish descent, with strong connections to the Luchesse Crime Family.

In the book, Hill remembers Burke as being exceedingly generous with his partners but noted he could also be violent and unpredictable. Hill said of Burke, “The thing you’ve got to understand about Jimmy is that he loved to steal. He ate and breathed it. I think if you ever offered Jimmy a billion dollars not to steal, he’d turn you down and then try to figure out how to steal it from you. It was the only thing he enjoyed. It kept him alive.”

The movie chronicles Burke and his crew’s robberies and hijackings. Their specialty was to hijack trucks coming in and out of JFK Airport. Jimmy was given the nickname “Jimmy the Gent” because of his habit of sticking a few hundred dollars into the shirt pockets of the drivers as he relieved them of their trucks and cargo.

The Lufthansa Heist

The movie also tells the story of The Lufthansa Heist. Jimmy and his crew, armed with rifles and pistols, entered the Lufthansa terminal at JFK and walked out with over five million dollars in cash and another $875,000 worth of jewelry. It was the largest theft in America at the time. Jimmy survived as long as he did in New York because he was sure to line everyone’s pockets.

He was a top earner for the Lucchese Family, who referred to him as “The Irish Guinea.” He was ruthless and daring but smart enough not to be too ambitious. Jimmy Burke had patterned his life of crime after New York’s most infamous Irish mobster, Owen Vincent Madden.

The Killer

Owen Vincent Madden was born in Leeds, England, on the 18th of December, 1891, to Irish immigrant parents. His father died shortly after his birth, and his mother placed Owney and his brother and sister in an orphanage in Britain. She emigrated to New York to work as a maid. By 1896, she had saved enough to bring her children to join her in the city.

The children were often left to fend for themselves while their mother worked long hours to pay the rent on their tenement house apartment and put food on the table. Owney quickly adapted to life on the streets of New York, joining a gang known as “The Gopher Gang” by the age of twelve. They stole from anyone they could and fought with the police and rival gangs. Madden became proficient in the ways of gang life, including fighting with all manner of weapons. By the age of twenty-one, he was the recognized leader of the Gophers and had earned the nickname “The Killer.”

The Killer Earns His Name

On September 6, 1911, he shot and killed a rival gang member of the “Hudson Dusters.” The following February, Madden was on a trolley arguing with a man named William Henshaw about a woman. The argument escalated, and Madden shot Henshaw in the face. Henshaw was not a gang member, and as he lay dying, he named Owney Madden as his killer to the police. Madden never went to trial, even though the police had his name, and there were multiple witnesses to both murders. In both killings, witnesses were intimidated and refused to cooperate with authorities.

The Gophers were involved in all types of criminal activity, but Owney made them well known for raiding and robbing the railroad yards on New York’s westside. He would lead members of the gang in brazen raids, breaking into cargo shipments and making off with whatever they found. Recognized by the authorities as the leader of the Gophers, Madden was arrested many times—fifty-seven times by the time his career in crime ended.

On the streets, it wasn’t just the law Owney had to watch out for. There were always rival gangs and even members of his own gang that wanted to see him gone.

The Hit

In November of 1912, Madden was at the Arbor Dance Hall when he found himself surrounded by eleven gunmen, some of them members of the Dusters. Owney pulled out his gun, but when the shooting ended, he was on the floor with a half dozen bullets in him. The police and ambulance arrived to rush him to New York Hospital. Thinking he would soon be dead, the police asked him to identify his attackers. Owney refused, saying, “The boys’ll take care of them.” Within a week, three of the shooters were dead.

It was a feud with a minor member of the Gophers that finally put Owney behind bars. While Madden was recovering in the hospital from the attempt on his life, Patsy Doyle declared himself the new boss of the gang. The day after Madden’s release from the hospital, Doyle was found beaten half to death and lying on the street. Doyle lived to retaliate, attacking and shooting one of Owney’s favorite young protégés. Owney had enough and plotted the demise of Patsy Doyle once and for all. With the help of two of the gang’s girls, he lured Doyle to a bar on Forty-First and Eighth Avenue. When Doyle entered, he was shot numerous times by two gunmen. He staggered out into the street and fell dead into the gutter.

Conviction and Prison

Even though Owney was nowhere in sight, the district attorney had enough to build his case against him. The two women were coerced into testifying against Owney and the shooters. The judge sentenced Madden to ten to twenty years for orchestrating the killing. When Madden entered prison, the police and the D.A. went after the rest of the Gophers, putting sixteen of them behind bars for various charges by the year’s end. That pretty much ended the Gophers.

After eight years, Owney was released on good behavior. He was tired of gang life and aspired to bigger things. He worked for a taxi company as a strong arm for a while but found he had lost his taste for violence.

Prohibition

Owney put a small gang together and began hijacking illegal alcohol shipments. There was so much liquor going into New York during Prohibition that it was usually given up without a fight. Madden wasn’t satisfied, though; he wanted more. He fancied himself as someone bigger than a mere hijacker.

He became inspired when he found out that Big Bill Dwyer, the king of the rum runners, was looking for him. The two knew of one another by reputation, and Owney saw Big Bill as his big break. At their first meeting, Owney told Big Bill that gangsters were picking off his shipments because it was so easy. Madden told him he could organize and protect the shipments, and he and Big Bill could open speakeasies and nightclubs and drive their rivals out. A deal was struck. The New York Irish Mob was born.

About the Author

Bob Carney is a student of Irish language and history and teaches the Speak Irish Cleveland class held every Tuesday at PJ McIntyre’s. He is also active in the Irish Wolfhound and Irish dogs organizations in and around Cleveland.

Wife Mary, hounds Rían, Aisling, and Draoi, and terrier Doolin keep the house jumping. He can be reached at [email protected].