Charlestown Mob
| Founded | c. 1950s |
|---|---|
| Founders | Bernard "Bernie" McLaughlin |
| Founding location | Boston, Massachusetts, United States |
| Years active | c. 1950s–1966 |
| Territory | Charlestown |
| Ethnicity | Predominantly Irish American |
| Activities | Racketeering, gambling, loan sharking, extortion, armed robbery, auto theft, murder |
| Rivals |
The Charlestown Mob, also known as the McLaughlin Gang, was an Irish American organized crime gang in Charlestown, which figured prominently in the history of Boston for much of the 20th century.[1] The gang was headed by the McLaughlin brothers Bernie, Georgie, and Edward "Punchy" McLaughlin, along with their primary enforcers, the brothers Stevie and Cornelius "Connie" Hughes. The gang's associates included Will Delaney, Harry Hannon, William Bennett, Edward Bennett, John Shackelford, Frank Murray, Leo Lowry, Ron Dermody and Joe "Rockball" O'Rourke.
The Charlestown Mob became involved in a gang war with a rival Irish mob group, the Winter Hill Gang of Somerville led by James "Buddy" McLean, beginning in 1961. By 1966, two of the McLaughlin brothers, Bernie and "Punchy", had been killed, while the other, Georgie, was sentenced to life in prison for murder. The Hughes brothers suffered almost identical fates, as they were both shot to death on separate occasions.
History
[edit]The Irish American McLaughlin siblings from the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston originally consisted of five brothers, two of whom were killed in World War II. The remaining brothers were Edward "Punchy" McLaughlin, a prize fighter and enforcer; Bernard "Bernie" McLaughlin, a gang leader and organizer; and George "Georgie" McLaughlin, a psychopathic and violent alcoholic. The McLaughlin brothers had a reputation as a treacherous, ruthless, and murderous gang.[2] Their primary territory was the Boston Navy Yard in Charlestown.[3]
The McLaughlin brothers were recruited as "hit men" for the Mafia, carrying out contract killings in Boston and New York City.[2] In the late 1950s, the brothers aligned themselves with New York gangsters in an attempt to take control of waterfront rackets in Boston, but the move was successfully resisted by an alliance of hoodlums from Somerville and South Boston. A truce followed, during which the McLaughlin brothers and their partners, the brothers Stevie and Cornelius "Connie" Hughes, would regularly drink with gangsters from the neighboring suburb of Somerville, including James "Buddy" McLean and Joseph "Joe Mac" McDonald, at the Celtic Tavern in Charlestown.[3]
During a party at Salisbury Beach on Labor Day weekend 1961, Georgie McLaughlin made an advance on the girlfriend of Alexander "Bobo" Petricone, a member of the Somerville Winter Hill Gang.[4] McLaughlin was subsequently beaten unconscious by Somerville gangsters and dumped outside Anna Jaques Hospital in Newburyport.[5] Bernie McLaughlin then visited Winter Hill Gang leader McLean at his headquarters, the Tap Royal Bar in the Winter Hill neighborhood of Somerville, and demanded that he hand over the members of the gang who beat his brother, to which McLean refused.[6]
In the early hours of October 30, 1961, Bernie[6] and Georgie McLaughlin[3] and another unidentified man were planting a car bomb on the undercarriage of McLean's automobile, which was parked outside his home, when the sleeping McLean was awakened by his barking dog.[2] McLean chased off the three Charlestown gangsters by firing at them with a Luger pistol, and found five sticks of dynamite attached to his car.[7][8] The following afternoon, McLean and two accomplices tracked down Bernie McLaughlin as he collected loan sharking debts and shot him dead in front of over a hundred witnesses outside the Morning Glory Café in Charlestown's City Square.[3][6]
In early 1962, the McLaughlin Gang bombed the unoccupied car of Petricone's wife, prompting him to flee Boston. Afterwards, there was a lull in hostilities between the Charlestown and Winter Hill gangs as McLean was sentenced to two years in prison.[6] Although he was arrested for McLaughlin's murder, the charge was dismissed when witnesses refused to testify, and he was convicted of weapons offenses.[3]
The corrupt Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent H. Paul Rico aligned with the Charlestown Mob's Somerville rivals after he heard Georgie and "Punchy" McLaughlin refer to him and his boss, J. Edgar Hoover, as "fags" on an illegal wiretap.[9][10] Rico began leaking information to the Winter Hill Gang which allowed them to ambush members of the McLaughlin Gang.[11]
Georgie McLaughlin shot and killed a bank teller during a drunken argument at a christening in Roxbury in 1964. He was added to the FBI's Most Wanted list in 1965.[10]
Former members and associates
[edit]- John "Maxie" Shackelford – Shackleford fled Boston for New Hampshire in 1965.[3]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Getting to Know Your Neighborhood: Charlestown". Boston University. 11 December 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
- ^ a b c "A Mob is Born". Bloody Boston. Season 1. Episode 1. 5 April 2022. Reelz.
- ^ a b c d e f Confessions of a Loan Shark Springs Toledo, City Journal (Autumn 2021) Archived March 28, 2024, at archive.today
- ^ Teresa, Vincent. My Life in the Mafia.
- ^ Carr, Howie (2006). The Brothers Bulger: How They Terrorized and Corrupted Boston for a Quarter Century. Hachette Book Group. ISBN 9780446506144. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
- ^ a b c d The Boston Irish Gang Wars Terrify a City New England Historical Society Archived April 13, 2025, at archive.today
- ^ Dynamite The Boston Globe (October 30, 1961)
- ^ Bomb Found Wired To Car of Figure In Assault Trial The Boston Globe (October 31, 1961)
- ^ Carr, Howie (July 26, 2009). "Rifleman's 'Fifth' toll rises". Boston Herald. Archived March 9, 2025, at archive.today
- ^ a b Mobster of the Week: George McLaughlin Howie Carr, Boston Herald (June 5, 2011) Archived April 12, 2025, at archive.today
- ^ Former mob boss tells of access to FBI Shelley Murphy, The Boston Globe (February 13, 2004) Archived February 16, 2004, at the Wayback Machine