March 17, 2025 • 34 mins
The notorious life of Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll unfolds as a tragic tale of an Irish immigrant who became one of New York's most feared gangsters during Prohibition, meeting his violent end at just 23 years old.
• Born in Ireland in 1908, Coll immigrated to the Bronx where he lost five siblings and both parents by age eight
• Sent to reform schools by age 12, where child labor and abuse replaced education and nurturing
• Caught the eye of Dutch Schultz and became his enforcer during Prohibition
• Earned his "Mad Dog" nickname after killing a 5-year-old boy during a street shooting in 1931
• Despite numerous criminal charges, Coll was acquitted when his defense attorney exposed the prosecution's witness as a paid informer
• Falling out with Schultz led to a bloody gang war with casualties on both sides
• Met his end in a hail of gunfire in a phone booth after accepting a contract to kill Lucky Luciano
• His short, violent career illustrates how trauma, poverty and discrimination drove some immigrants toward organized crime
Join us next week for another deep dive into true crime and criminal justice issues that continue to shape our understanding of crime and justice in society.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
So this is the St Patrick's Day episode of Deviant
Criminology.
I'm Richard, I'm Heather and,to start off, I would like to
dedicate this episode to myamazing bunny, who is my wife,
and this is her birthday.
So this week we wanted to kindof do a little dedication to
somebody that had Irish history.
(00:59):
Unfortunately, we are a truecrime podcast.
It also means this guy is kindof an asshole.
So, to start off, we're talkingabout Vincent Mad Dog Cole, who
I'm going to let Heatherpronounce this name.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
Thank you, I appreciate that we think it's
Unseen Okola.
It'sU-I-N-S-E-A-N-N-O-C-O-L-L-A.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Who was born on July 20th 1908 in Gweedore County,
dongle in Ireland.
He was destined for a life ofinfamy from the earliest days,
so born this Irish name that Icannot pronounce.
We've looked it up.
Unfortunately I don't have callan Irish friend on my phone,
(01:48):
but at some point when he getsto the US which we'll talk about
here in a second he changes hisname to Vincent Cole and then
earns the nickname Mad Dog.
So he was born into poverty inan Irish-speaking district,
which is kind of an importantthing, as we're talking about on
St Patrick's Day, because evenright now in Ireland there's
(02:08):
kind of this big push to forcethe in Northern Ireland, the
government to recognize thetraditional Irish language.
So the fact that he came froman Irish speaking district even
back in the 1900s would havebeen something that was seen as
more of a detriment because ofthe Irish control, the English
(02:29):
control of Ireland at this time,because this is before the
revolution in 1916.
So in 1909, paul's familyemigrates to the United States
and they settle in Bronx, newYork City.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
The young Vincent faced immense hardships early on
, with five of his siblingsdying before he reached the age
of 12.
Tragedy struck again when hisfather abandoned the family and
his mother succumbed totuberculosis in 1916.
So since he was born in 1908,he's like eight years old and
he's already lost both parents.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Yeah, I do think it's interesting and again, like a
lot of his history focuses onhis crime, not this, like eight
years old and he's already lostboth parents.
Yeah, I, I do think it'sinteresting and I again like a
lot of his history focuses onhis crime, not this.
But 1916 is kind of when therevolution um in ireland started
.
So I don't know if maybe hisfather tried to escape ireland
because of the troubles thatwere going on, because obviously
the late 1800s into the early1900s a lot of irish were
fleeing um ireland, ireland,because of the English control
(03:26):
that was going on.
So just having some Irishhistory which of course around
St Patrick's Day everybody hassome Irish history it's really
interesting to look at kind ofthose connections in the history
of Ireland and seeing that thiswas a family that was trying to
come over here for a betterlife and lo and behold, who
knows if they really did, whenyou're having five siblings die
(03:47):
the poverty that they would havebeen exposed to coming here as
a group of people that were verydemonized and villainized at
the time as immigrants coming tothis country from Ireland.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
And not speaking English, which is just another
obstacle.
Not speaking English, which isjust another obstacle.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
So, left in the care of his elderly sister, Cole's
troubled youth began to takeshape.
So by the age of 12, he wassent to his first reform school,
marking the beginning of atumultuous relationship with
authority.
And that's kind of somethingthat we saw a lot in some of the
classes I've taught and some ofthe things I've done research
(04:25):
on with reform schools, Becausewe kind of think of those now as
like oh, that's where we'd sendlike truant kids and stuff.
But back in the 1920s thesewere more of a very strict
military style institution thatwas ran by the states and
sometimes by non-profits orreligious organizations.
But they were used.
(04:49):
There were sensitive facilitieslike this.
They had to live at thefacility.
It was a boarding school therewas a lot of problems with.
They were used as manual labor.
So some of the things that theywere required to do was
building and maintaining schoolfacilities.
They would do farming andagricultural work.
They were used to do thecleaning and cooking, laundry
(05:16):
services, and then part of whatwas considered their vocational
training was also doingindustrial training and
workshops and providing services, so kind of like we've talked
about in prior, in prisons in1930s and even going back into
the 1800s.
These were some of this stuffthat they were doing, the
products they were producingwith the farming and agriculture
or the industrial training werebeing used to income for the
(05:36):
facilities to continually thriveand there were a lot of
controversies with these type ofschools, including abuse and
maltreatment, exploitation,again, of child labor.
There was no real emphasis oneducation, so there was a lot of
(05:56):
inadequate education becausethey were focusing more on
manual labor and punishment.
You had racial segregation insome of these sorry facilities
and also you obviously wouldhave had a separation of maybe
the Irish, the Italians anddifferent people that were
considered lesser on the scaleat the time, and then again,
(06:17):
forced assimilation Like thiswas forced and utilized to make
kids have to live together, evengroups that didn't get together
, that may have had differentrivalries and things, maybe
because of cultures they camefrom, the areas they came from,
but this was not an environmentthat you wanted to be sent to,
let alone would be used for a12-year-old kid that's getting
in trouble to start having anyfaith in the system or trust of
(06:39):
the government or otherinstitutional organizations.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
Or any type of familiar support.
I mean he's, he's losteverybody at this point and I
mean 12 is not that old, andespecially when you've lost your
parents when you were seven oreight years old, that this is
one of the ones that kind ofgets me where I have a little
bit more sympathy for him, causeI just can't imagine being in
that position at that age andanything good coming out of it.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
And you you don't have.
You know, and this is somethingthat you and I have talked
about and like comes up indifferent episodes, and I know
it'll come up for a long time,because one of the things that
go on to any youth developmentis attachment and having like a
caring figure that you canattach to.
He doesn't have that and theonly authoritative figure in his
(07:26):
life is the state.
It's basically using him forchild labor and abusing him in
these reform schools.
So of course he's going to havea misdeveloped and almost
stunted social aspects.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
And, of course, since he has all those issues, he
ends up running to a life ofcrime and ends up on the streets
joining up with the notoriousGopher Street Gang, and that
association sets him on his pathof escalating criminal activity
, with Vincent quicklydeveloping a reputation as a
wild and unpredictable force inthe streets of New York.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
Prohibition took hold of America, cole's criminal
career flourished and this issomething that we've done
episodes on and there's a lot ofreally great documentaries and
films out there about this andstuff.
But Prohibition really did kindof bring in this new era of
organized crime in the UnitedStates.
You already had some that washere.
I mean, organized crime hasbeen around for probably since
(08:25):
basically humans walked.
But with prohibition you reallystarted to see the development
of the Italians and the Irish.
The Irish especially becausethey had a lot of knowledge of
distilling and things fromcoming from Ireland over here
and then just the Italians hadalready a lot of control and
relationships with lawenforcement, the government and
(08:46):
things.
So it's no surprise that heends up turning this life a
crime, especially whenprohibition comes in.
So by 23, he had alreadyamassed dozens of arrests.
At 16, he was arrested forcarrying a gun.
So it was during this time thatCole caught the eye of Dutch
Schultz, who was a prominentJewish gangster who recognized
(09:09):
the young Irishman's potentialfor violence.
Schultz hired Cole as anenforcer, trusting him to
protect their illegal alcoholdistribution delivery chucks
that they utilized.
And this partnership wouldprovide a launching pad for
Kohl's notoriety in theunderworld and this is kind of
(09:29):
something we talk aboutorganized crime in this time
period.
So many people immediatelythink like to the Italian mobs
and the Costa Nostra and thingslike that.
But really the Irish and theJewish community were just as
powerful, and one of anorganization that would develop
later.
It's not we're not talkingabout it here, this is much
later.
But murder Inc was primarilyJewish and Irish hitmen that
(09:51):
would take contracts for theItalian mob, which of course
they never called themselves themafia, they were the Costa
Nostra.
But so here I Cole is anIrishman, is kind of developing
his trade and his place insideof this criminal underworld.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
So Cole's criminal activity escalates rapidly.
Under Schultz's employment,when he's 19 years old, he's
charged with the murder ofAnthony Borrello, a speakeasy
owner, and Mary Smith, who was adance hall hostess.
The charges were eventuallydropped, likely due to Schultz's
influence with the New YorkPolice Department.
This brush with the law,however, did little to deter
(10:31):
Cole's violent tendencies.
Cole was found not guilty andacquitted, which was no surprise
, as Schultz uses influence totamper with the jury, and it was
one of those matters of findCole innocent or else.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
So Vincent walked free and the jury got to
continue to live a life withoutthe or else part yeah, I mean,
that's uh, that's kind ofsomething that if you've studied
, studying the mob and I knowyou you know obviously going
through um, becoming a lawyer,like you've heard a lot about
(11:06):
this, about.
There was a lot of corruption atthis time, but a lot of it had
to do with just the violentnature of these organized crime
people.
They had no harms of killingcops, of killing jurors, of
killing.
There really was no limitationsexcept, most of the time, women
and children and of course, atthis time women weren't really
serving on juries yet, like the,you know, you weren't really
considered as equal to the men.
(11:26):
So when we and we've and you'vetalked about this before but
that, like you're a jury of yourpeers, if it's white men, then
yes, it's a jury of your peers,but if it's you're anything but
a white man, then it's not.
And it was very easy tothreaten and pay off people or
judges at this time and there'sa lot of history of that.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
So around January of 1931, vincent and Schultz have
had a falling out and at thatpoint Vincent got arrested.
Vincent and Schultz have had afalling out and at that point
Vincent got arrested and Schultzbeing the intelligent man that
he was, put up the bail money toget Vincent out, even though
they had had this falling out.
And he did that because hedidn't want Vincent to be
telling the authorities what heknew.
And he decided he'd rather paythe money to get him out of jail
(12:10):
on bail bond than to haveVincent telling the police the
information that he had, vincentbeing the pal, that he was
decided to skip out on the trial, which meant that that bail
bond was forfeited.
So then Schultz was out themoney he had put up to bail
Vincent out.
Schultz of course told Vincenthey, you need to pay me back.
(12:32):
And Vincent said, nope, I'm notpaying you back.
And that was the finalbreakdown of their relationship.
And after that those twofactions started what was
basically a war between the twomen.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
It's so sad to see murderers fall out of love with
each other.
It always ends badly.
Murderers fall out of love witheach other.
It always ends badly.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
It really does.
I mean it's it.
It turns into well a lot moredrama, to be honest, and people
flip flopping sides and stabbingeach other in the back.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
Yeah, I mean, it's the, the godfather of one, two
and three, even though we reallyonly talked about two.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
um which of course then, like after this cause,
they've had their falling out.
Then Vincent ratchets up theviolence and starts killing
people in Schultz's close circleof people and then, in
retribution, May 1931, Schultzkills Vincent's brother, Peter,
who was becoming a gangster inhis own right but was Vincent's
(13:30):
right-hand man.
And things at that point areescalating and it gets so bad
that Schultz offers a large sumof money to several policemen to
murder Cole, and Vincent isknown as such a badass that they
say nope, no, thank you, Don'twant any part of that.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
So the event that would forever cement Cole's
reputation as Mad Dog occurredon July 28th 1931.
During an attempted kidnappingof Joseph Rowell, one of
Schultz's associates, cole andhis gang opened fire on a
crowded street.
In the chaos, five-year-oldMichael Vengali was caught in
the crossfire and killed.
This tragic incident drewnational attention to New York's
(14:12):
gang problem and earned Colehis infamous moniker for Mayor
Jimmy Walker.
And this is a time that you'restarting to see we're about two
years before the development ofthe FBI, as we kind of see, as
more of a law enforcement agency.
So it was events like this andthe Kansas City shootout that
really kind of brought nationalattention and the crackdown that
(14:35):
would almost kind of inspiremore of what we see as the deep
police involvement across thecountry in crime like this.
So following the Bengalikilling, cole went into hiding,
alternating his appearance bydyeing his blonde hair black,
growing a mustache and wearingsunglasses.
But despite his efforts he wasapprehended after just three
(14:57):
months on the run.
The subsequent trial inDecember 1931 became a spectacle
.
Speaker 3 (15:04):
So more about that wonderful trial.
So Mayor Walker, who youmentioned, wanted of course to
have a quick trial done, get himout of here, hang him high.
Be done Because of course,politically this was horrible
for New York and there was a lotof pressure that something
needed to be done about this,especially when kids are getting
(15:24):
gunned down in the street.
So they're trying to get thisquick guilty verdict and
execution done.
But in the meantime Cole has adefense attorney, samuel
Leibowitz, and Leibowitz was oneof the extremely successful
criminal lawyers at that pointin time.
I read somewhere that he hadbeen an actor at one point in
(15:46):
time, or maybe a failed actor,but because of that background
he was able to take that intothe courtroom where he could
make a lot of dramatic flair andpresentation and basically get
the attention he needed to andthe charisma probably to get the
(16:07):
juries to acquit.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
But the really part, the biggest part of the
courtroom, is the jury how thejury's to acquit, but the really
part, the biggest part of thecourtroom, is the jury.
How the jury views witnesses,the prosecutor and defense, and
how it does kind of become apopularity contest.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
Absolutely.
To some extent it does, becausethey have to be able to feel
like they can trust the peoplewho are giving them information
right, because credibilitythat's a huge thing.
So if the defense attorney istelling them a story about you
know it didn't happen, becausethat's what it basically is, is
a story right?
The prosecution says this iswhat happened.
A, b, c, d.
Defense says no, that's not howit happened.
(16:41):
It happened this other way,just like you know kids in first
grade.
And then the jury has to decidewell, which version of events
is accurate.
Is it you know the prosecutionsis accurate?
Is it you know, theprosecutions, the defense, or
somewhere in the middle?
Speaker 2 (16:54):
so if you have a defense attorney who can't sell
a good story and is notbelievable, then the defense,
the jury's going to say thedefense is not believable and go
back to what the prosecution'stelling them and I also wonder
and again I will lean on you andyour knowledge of kind of the
courts and stuff but I alsowonder at this time, like we've
seen with almost a glorificationand the hero worship of
(17:17):
criminals at this time, and theanti-establishment kind of
anti-government because this isprohibition, this is after the
well during the Great Depression, if people were more apt to
like, if you were like oh, thegovernment's corrupt and they're
just trying to frame thisinnocent irish immigrant who's
just trying to come here andmake a difference in his life
and look what the government'sdoing to him.
(17:38):
And the jury was like you'reright, the government's horrible
and corrupt.
So maybe they would lie to justtry and pawn this guy.
So I, obviously I don't havethat.
I'd love to be able to go backand read transcripts and stuff
like this, but I'm sure theydon't really exist anymore it'd
be very difficult to find them,at the very least um.
Speaker 3 (17:55):
But of course you also have to remember the
difference in ethnic groups atthat time.
It could have also been you'dget a jury who would say this is
an irishman.
Obviously he did it.
You know he's done without evenlooking at any of the evidence
absolutely.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
I mean, I think we talk about now like we see how
juries are, but back then,you're right, like especially
New York and stuff, they, theboroughs and stuff, were very
divided at this time.
So yeah, I understand that thatcould have been a like really
big issue with finding peopleguilty just because racial bias,
(18:29):
ethnic bias, cultural bias,religious bias, if you had
Protestants who were fromEngland or had English
background and there's aCatholic Irishman on the thing.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
Yeah, exactly, and with this defense attorney he
was really good at pickingjurors who would be sympathetic
to his clients because herepresented multiple people in
this underworld at the time andthe main witness for the
prosecution for this case wasGeorge Brecht.
(19:00):
And the defense really didtheir homework on this and they
researched it and they wereprepared in a way that the
prosecution obviously was not,because when he testified, the
defense was able to impeach himand show that he had a criminal
history and that he had offeredsimilar testimony in another
trial in another state and theybasically were able to show that
(19:24):
he was a paid underworldinformer who was guilty of
perjury at that point in timebecause he lied on the stand.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
So he's kind of like the go-to guy for law
enforcement, like, hey, we needan eyewitness or somebody that's
part of the criminal underworldto come and just say what we
tell you to say, and here's themoney we'll pay you.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
At least that's how it would appear on some you know
like to some extent hedefinitely perjured himself
about his criminal record.
So, right off the bat, how canyou believe him when he lied
about that?
And then they had this othertestimony that was so similar in
a different trial against adifferent person.
So as soon as that came out,there was a directed verdict of
(20:07):
not guilty from the bench, whichis extraordinarily rare.
Basically, what that means isthe judge looks at the
information on the case and saysthere's no way a reasonable
juror could find this personguilty.
So basically he found andcredibility is something that
almost always goes to the juryLike.
(20:28):
I can't think of another exampleoff the top of my head where it
did not go to the jury, becausethat's one of the things that
the jury has to decide.
And there's been times whensomebody's on the stand and
everybody's like, oh my God,that person is such a liar and
it still goes to the jury.
It's up to the jury to decidewhat weight to give any evidence
, and included in that iscredibility of witnesses.
(20:48):
So the fact that the judge tookthat decision away from the
jury and came back with adirected verdict is crazy, but
that's what happened in thiscase.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
Now would that be like a prosecutor done fucked up
or like is that kind of why youwould get that is you've just
done such a bad job atpresenting the evidence that
they're just like no, youscrewed up that's, yeah, that's
usually what a directed verdictis.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
so it would be something like you miss a key
element of the crime, um, orlike you have a witness who you
thought was coming that day andthen all of a sudden the witness
isn't there and the judge islike, well, you have to go
forward and you say I can't, allright.
Well then that's it, your caseis over.
If you don't have anotherwitness to call, you're done.
And then at that point youdon't have your case proven,
(21:37):
then the judge would enter adirected verdict because you
haven't met the key elements ofthe offense, whether it be the
location of the offense, theidentification of the defendant
which that would be a big one is, you know, identification of
the defendant.
If you can't identify theperson who did it, that's a
problem.
But there's a in venue.
You have to prove that you havethe venue for that case to be
heard in front of that court.
(21:58):
There's like a list of things,and every, every individual
crime has its own list ofcomponents that you have to
prove.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
Like I just feel, like I just just hope and I know
this isn't what happened, butthat there was a statement in
there from the judges like everyprosecutor in this building is
now less important because ofthe embarrassment you just gave
to this entire criminal justicesystem, I revoke your license
and make god have mercy on you,like, and then on the same
george bresh way, to come upwith a scam to make some money
(22:30):
during the depression era.
Man, like right, I'm not sayingit's good, like how many
innocent people went to prison,but like he thought about it.
Like you know what, I'm notmaking money here, but I can
make money as a fake witness forthe cops and then, at the same
time, you have to scratch yourhead as far as, like who knew
about this?
Speaker 3 (22:45):
like did the police know about it?
Did the prosecutor know aboutit?
You know at at what point.
For instance, like mepersonally, if he was my witness
on the stand, I like every timeand I've had this before where
I have a witness on the standwho has a criminal history, I
always ask them about it rightoff the bat, put it on the
(23:11):
record.
It's out there.
I don't try to hide it, or whenI was in practice, I didn't try
to hide those things.
It was something I'd bring upright away and put out there,
because I think it's one ofthose things that's important.
And you'd also give the witnessa chance to explain, like the
circumstances that led them upto that point or how that had
come to pass.
But in George's case, when helied about his criminal record,
if I as a prosecutor knew he hada criminal record and I knew he
was lying, it would be my dutyto inform the court.
(23:34):
That's not accurate.
So at that point you'rebasically impeaching your own
witness.
Speaker 2 (23:41):
And the question here would be and I didn't see it,
and again we're talking 100years ago but was he an
informant that the policebrought forward or one that the
prosecution brought forward?
Informants and stuff, becausethey do have.
Especially if you're offeringthem time off of their sentence
(24:12):
or plea deals or things, thereis an incentive to lie and it's
really important, I wouldbelieve, for the prosecutor to
try and make them look as goodas possible, but there's still
that blemish of they have areason to be lying.
You know, if that informantcomes forward and says you know
what?
I'm getting nothing for this,there's no time off, there's no
(24:37):
promise of time off, I'm doingthis out of the goodness of my
heart, that probably holds moreweight than like, oh yeah, I'm
getting 10 years off, if I saythis story right now.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
Like no, Exactly which we talked about in one of
the previous cases.
And the other thing too withGeorge being part of this
underworld, you also don't knowwhat kind of money was going
back and forth under the table.
As far as did Schultz have someinfluence?
Was he, you know, putting hisfinger on it, especially after
Vincent ditched him and he gotstuck with the bail bond bill?
(25:01):
I could see, you know, if I wasSchultz, I might be like, hey,
george, that guy skipped out onthat trial and I got stuck with
that bill here.
I'm going to pay you this much.
You go tell him, screw him over, because he screwed me over.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
Or at the same time, daddy Schultz goes to the judge
and says you know, I've got allthese connections to the
speakeasies and all theseunderworld.
You make sure he gets out ofthat courthouse so I can get a
shot at him.
You've got it made for lifehere.
I'll get you in the doors.
You want to get into in theparties because that's one of
(25:36):
the things that the criminalunderground, especially New York
, dc, la, new Orleans, some ofthese big cities was there was
the connections of the socialworld.
Actresses, actors, the rich allhad connections with these
speakeasies.
So you had a bargaining chip,even just in access.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
That's true too.
So Cole's luck in the courtroomdid not translate to success in
the underworld.
His relationship with Schultzdeteriorated rapidly, which led
to that violent falling out, andCole had demanded to be
Schultz's partner, but Schultzwas like nope, no way.
And then, of course, that riftset that stage for the bloody
(26:15):
gang war that we were talkingabout.
That completely consumed NewYork City.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
So in a bid for independence, cole began
targeting other gangs, like wetalked about, for kidnapping and
ransom.
But the audacious strategy kindof made him a pariah in the
criminal underworld.
So not just was or him andSchultz having problems, but the
Irish gangs, the Jewish gangsand the other criminal elements,
just they didn't want anythingto do with him, which once
(26:43):
you're kind of on the outs ofall the families and all the
organizations, you really kindof become a target for all of
them, even though it's sometimesand this is the case with him
it also makes you a really goodperson to go to to target other
people and other gangs.
Because if everybody's likethat's a pariah, nobody will
have a relationship with him.
Then that's the guy I'm goingto go to to hit because nobody's
(27:05):
going to think I would havehired that guy.
Then that's the guy I'm goingto go to to hit because nobody's
going to think I would havehired that guy.
So again, cole finally makesanother fatal mistake and it
came when he accepted a contractfrom Salvatore Maranzano.
I'm going to say that againSalvatore Maranzano, to
(27:26):
assassinate Charles LuckyLuciano for $50,000.
Swear to God, I just have thisfear that the ghost of Lucky
Luciano is going to come back.
Like you called me Chucky, youson of a bitch, but unbeknownst
to Cole.
Luciano had learned of the plotand struck first, having
Marizano killed before Colecould carry out the hit, which,
(27:47):
if you know anything about themafia ties at this time.
Lucky Luciano was a heavilyconnected mobster, so the fact
that he found out from a muchlesser mobster had taken a hit
out on him is not a surprise andprobably wasn't a safe bet to
take that hit.
Anyway, that would have beenlike going to Chicago and being
like, yeah, I'll take a hit onAl Capone, nobody's going to
find that out.
So going to Chicago and beinglike, yeah, I'll take a hit on
(28:16):
Al Capone, nobody's going tofind that out.
Speaker 3 (28:17):
So this turn of events sealed Cole's fate,
because Luciano turned aroundand placed a $50,000 bounty on
Cole's head, right Because hewas showing up to kill him as
their assassins were leaving.
So very unlucky, if he'd justbeen there a little bit later,
or a little bit earlier, hewould have missed them and might
not have ended up with thebounty on his head.
But on February, the 8th 1932,vincent Mad Dog Cole met his end
(28:38):
in a hail of gunfire.
He had been lured to adrugstore on West 23rd Street
under the pretense of a trucemeeting with Owen, madden.
Cole entered his phone booth.
A truce meeting with Owen.
Madden Cole entered his phonebooth to make a phone call to
Madden and as he spoke, a hitmannamed Leonard Sarianci
Scaranucci.
Scaranucci Thank you, see, I'mnot good at pronouncing names at
(29:00):
all Entered the store with asubmachine gun hidden under his
coat and in a brutal andefficient attack, he unleashed a
barrage of bullets which killedcole instantly.
Speaker 2 (29:11):
The coroner's report would later reveal that there
were at least 15 bullets thathad struck cole, but they
thought many more had passedthrough his body and we kind of
talked about this in the rise ofgangsters in the first place
was that tommy gun is what kindof was known as the weapon of
choice, and these were brutalweapons firing like the.
Tommy gun is what kind of wasknown as the weapon of choice,
and these were brutal weaponsfiring like the.
The tommy gun had 30 to 50round drum mags and it was easy
(29:34):
to unload so many rounds insomebody that basically lack of
a good definition.
I apologize for the graphicnessof it but I mean it just turned
people into swiss cheese.
It was really hard when you'reputting that many automatic
rounds into a human being, to belike they definitely only got
hit 15 times, like it probablywas a lot more.
And this hit kind of becomesseen, is and played out in
(29:57):
multiple films and stuff likethis was one of the graphic hits
that was just so publicizedbecause of how public it was, so
thus ending the violent,notorious life of Vincent Mad
Dog Cole at the age of just 23years old.
We talked about all this stuffand like his rise to success,
all these court trials andeverything, but he died at 23.
(30:19):
And we see that with otherpeople that we talked about 20s
and 30s, like that was theheight, like Babyface, nelson
and all those other guys likethey died at such a young age.
But to them in the world thatwas going on at that time, with
prohibition, with the greatdepression, it was more of a
(30:40):
chance to have a good lifechoosing this path than it was
to try and have a nickel anddime life, maybe selling papers,
working in a factory, dying atthat same age anyway because of
factory mishaps and everythingelse.
So his brief but brutal careerleft an inevitable, indelible
(31:00):
mark on the history of NewYork's underworld, serving as a
cautionary tale of the dangersand ultimate futility of a life
dedicated to crime and violence,which I think that that may be
overstating some facts, becausethere are a lot of people even
today in New York and othercities that see organized crime
and crime as lucrative.
And at this time there was thatfolk hero-ness, there was that
(31:22):
connectedness and also thatalienation of the Irish that
kind of pushed them intoorganized crime and lives of
crime because it was so hard tofind any other work, because we
saw signs around the country,like you know, irish and dogs
keep out and the Irish were verytargeted.
And it's very sad and to thinkthis was an Irish family that
(31:46):
immigrated here.
I think, minus the fact thatthis guy was a horrible murderer
, I think that two things againcan be the same that it was
somebody that was driven to thisthrough so many unfortunate
events that led to him being putin these institutions, but a so
(32:07):
many hundreds of thousands ofother Irish people came here and
lived very successful, happy,non-criminal lives, and the
false stereotype to Irish are abunch of drunks.
But I think this really showsthat so many people have come
here.
Italian, irish people fromSouth America, africa, all
around the world have come tothe United States for a better
(32:27):
life, and sometimes that's nothow it works out, but they can
be used as an example of how wecould do better as well.
Speaker 3 (32:35):
I completely agree with that, because who knows
what could have happened withhis life had somebody intervened
when he was seven or eightyears old.
Speaker 2 (32:43):
I mean all the way back to you know, if the English
hadn't been shitbags and youknow just like massacred the
Irish in their own home country.
But we'll get off that highhorse because that will send me
down a road that I don't want toget canceled.
So I think that covers enoughfor Lucky.
So happy St Patrick's Day andhappy birthday to my wife.
I want to thank you all so muchfor listening to our little
podcast.
(33:04):
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(33:28):
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(33:49):
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(34:09):
So again, thank you for takingthe time to listen and have a
good week you.
So this is the St Patrick's Day episode of Deviant
Criminology.
I'm Richard, I'm Heather and,to start off, I would like to
dedicate this episode to myamazing bunny, who is my wife,
and this is her birthday.
So this week we wanted to kindof do a little dedication to
somebody that had Irish history.
(00:59):
Unfortunately, we are a truecrime podcast.
It also means this guy is kindof an asshole.
So, to start off, we're talkingabout Vincent Mad Dog Cole, who
I'm going to let Heatherpronounce this name.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
Thank you, I appreciate that we think it's
Unseen Okola.
It'sU-I-N-S-E-A-N-N-O-C-O-L-L-A.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Who was born on July 20th 1908 in Gweedore County,
dongle in Ireland.
He was destined for a life ofinfamy from the earliest days,
so born this Irish name that Icannot pronounce.
We've looked it up.
Unfortunately I don't have callan Irish friend on my phone,
(01:48):
but at some point when he getsto the US which we'll talk about
here in a second he changes hisname to Vincent Cole and then
earns the nickname Mad Dog.
So he was born into poverty inan Irish-speaking district,
which is kind of an importantthing, as we're talking about on
St Patrick's Day, because evenright now in Ireland there's
(02:08):
kind of this big push to forcethe in Northern Ireland, the
government to recognize thetraditional Irish language.
So the fact that he came froman Irish speaking district even
back in the 1900s would havebeen something that was seen as
more of a detriment because ofthe Irish control, the English
(02:29):
control of Ireland at this time,because this is before the
revolution in 1916.
So in 1909, paul's familyemigrates to the United States
and they settle in Bronx, newYork City.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
The young Vincent faced immense hardships early on
, with five of his siblingsdying before he reached the age
of 12.
Tragedy struck again when hisfather abandoned the family and
his mother succumbed totuberculosis in 1916.
So since he was born in 1908,he's like eight years old and
he's already lost both parents.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Yeah, I do think it's interesting and again, like a
lot of his history focuses onhis crime, not this, like eight
years old and he's already lostboth parents.
Yeah, I, I do think it'sinteresting and I again like a
lot of his history focuses onhis crime, not this.
But 1916 is kind of when therevolution um in ireland started
.
So I don't know if maybe hisfather tried to escape ireland
because of the troubles thatwere going on, because obviously
the late 1800s into the early1900s a lot of irish were
fleeing um ireland, ireland,because of the English control
(03:26):
that was going on.
So just having some Irishhistory which of course around
St Patrick's Day everybody hassome Irish history it's really
interesting to look at kind ofthose connections in the history
of Ireland and seeing that thiswas a family that was trying to
come over here for a betterlife and lo and behold, who
knows if they really did, whenyou're having five siblings die
(03:47):
the poverty that they would havebeen exposed to coming here as
a group of people that were verydemonized and villainized at
the time as immigrants coming tothis country from Ireland.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
And not speaking English, which is just another
obstacle.
Not speaking English, which isjust another obstacle.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
So, left in the care of his elderly sister, Cole's
troubled youth began to takeshape.
So by the age of 12, he wassent to his first reform school,
marking the beginning of atumultuous relationship with
authority.
And that's kind of somethingthat we saw a lot in some of the
classes I've taught and some ofthe things I've done research
(04:25):
on with reform schools, Becausewe kind of think of those now as
like oh, that's where we'd sendlike truant kids and stuff.
But back in the 1920s thesewere more of a very strict
military style institution thatwas ran by the states and
sometimes by non-profits orreligious organizations.
But they were used.
(04:49):
There were sensitive facilitieslike this.
They had to live at thefacility.
It was a boarding school therewas a lot of problems with.
They were used as manual labor.
So some of the things that theywere required to do was
building and maintaining schoolfacilities.
They would do farming andagricultural work.
They were used to do thecleaning and cooking, laundry
(05:16):
services, and then part of whatwas considered their vocational
training was also doingindustrial training and
workshops and providing services, so kind of like we've talked
about in prior, in prisons in1930s and even going back into
the 1800s.
These were some of this stuffthat they were doing, the
products they were producingwith the farming and agriculture
or the industrial training werebeing used to income for the
(05:36):
facilities to continually thriveand there were a lot of
controversies with these type ofschools, including abuse and
maltreatment, exploitation,again, of child labor.
There was no real emphasis oneducation, so there was a lot of
(05:56):
inadequate education becausethey were focusing more on
manual labor and punishment.
You had racial segregation insome of these sorry facilities
and also you obviously wouldhave had a separation of maybe
the Irish, the Italians anddifferent people that were
considered lesser on the scaleat the time, and then again,
(06:17):
forced assimilation Like thiswas forced and utilized to make
kids have to live together, evengroups that didn't get together
, that may have had differentrivalries and things, maybe
because of cultures they camefrom, the areas they came from,
but this was not an environmentthat you wanted to be sent to,
let alone would be used for a12-year-old kid that's getting
in trouble to start having anyfaith in the system or trust of
(06:39):
the government or otherinstitutional organizations.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
Or any type of familiar support.
I mean he's, he's losteverybody at this point and I
mean 12 is not that old, andespecially when you've lost your
parents when you were seven oreight years old, that this is
one of the ones that kind ofgets me where I have a little
bit more sympathy for him, causeI just can't imagine being in
that position at that age andanything good coming out of it.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
And you you don't have.
You know, and this is somethingthat you and I have talked
about and like comes up indifferent episodes, and I know
it'll come up for a long time,because one of the things that
go on to any youth developmentis attachment and having like a
caring figure that you canattach to.
He doesn't have that and theonly authoritative figure in his
(07:26):
life is the state.
It's basically using him forchild labor and abusing him in
these reform schools.
So of course he's going to havea misdeveloped and almost
stunted social aspects.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
And, of course, since he has all those issues, he
ends up running to a life ofcrime and ends up on the streets
joining up with the notoriousGopher Street Gang, and that
association sets him on his pathof escalating criminal activity
, with Vincent quicklydeveloping a reputation as a
wild and unpredictable force inthe streets of New York.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
Prohibition took hold of America, cole's criminal
career flourished and this issomething that we've done
episodes on and there's a lot ofreally great documentaries and
films out there about this andstuff.
But Prohibition really did kindof bring in this new era of
organized crime in the UnitedStates.
You already had some that washere.
I mean, organized crime hasbeen around for probably since
(08:25):
basically humans walked.
But with prohibition you reallystarted to see the development
of the Italians and the Irish.
The Irish especially becausethey had a lot of knowledge of
distilling and things fromcoming from Ireland over here
and then just the Italians hadalready a lot of control and
relationships with lawenforcement, the government and
(08:46):
things.
So it's no surprise that heends up turning this life a
crime, especially whenprohibition comes in.
So by 23, he had alreadyamassed dozens of arrests.
At 16, he was arrested forcarrying a gun.
So it was during this time thatCole caught the eye of Dutch
Schultz, who was a prominentJewish gangster who recognized
(09:09):
the young Irishman's potentialfor violence.
Schultz hired Cole as anenforcer, trusting him to
protect their illegal alcoholdistribution delivery chucks
that they utilized.
And this partnership wouldprovide a launching pad for
Kohl's notoriety in theunderworld and this is kind of
(09:29):
something we talk aboutorganized crime in this time
period.
So many people immediatelythink like to the Italian mobs
and the Costa Nostra and thingslike that.
But really the Irish and theJewish community were just as
powerful, and one of anorganization that would develop
later.
It's not we're not talkingabout it here, this is much
later.
But murder Inc was primarilyJewish and Irish hitmen that
(09:51):
would take contracts for theItalian mob, which of course
they never called themselves themafia, they were the Costa
Nostra.
But so here I Cole is anIrishman, is kind of developing
his trade and his place insideof this criminal underworld.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
So Cole's criminal activity escalates rapidly.
Under Schultz's employment,when he's 19 years old, he's
charged with the murder ofAnthony Borrello, a speakeasy
owner, and Mary Smith, who was adance hall hostess.
The charges were eventuallydropped, likely due to Schultz's
influence with the New YorkPolice Department.
This brush with the law,however, did little to deter
(10:31):
Cole's violent tendencies.
Cole was found not guilty andacquitted, which was no surprise
, as Schultz uses influence totamper with the jury, and it was
one of those matters of findCole innocent or else.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
So Vincent walked free and the jury got to
continue to live a life withoutthe or else part yeah, I mean,
that's uh, that's kind ofsomething that if you've studied
, studying the mob and I knowyou you know obviously going
through um, becoming a lawyer,like you've heard a lot about
(11:06):
this, about.
There was a lot of corruption atthis time, but a lot of it had
to do with just the violentnature of these organized crime
people.
They had no harms of killingcops, of killing jurors, of
killing.
There really was no limitationsexcept, most of the time, women
and children and of course, atthis time women weren't really
serving on juries yet, like the,you know, you weren't really
considered as equal to the men.
(11:26):
So when we and we've and you'vetalked about this before but
that, like you're a jury of yourpeers, if it's white men, then
yes, it's a jury of your peers,but if it's you're anything but
a white man, then it's not.
And it was very easy tothreaten and pay off people or
judges at this time and there'sa lot of history of that.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
So around January of 1931, vincent and Schultz have
had a falling out and at thatpoint Vincent got arrested.
Vincent and Schultz have had afalling out and at that point
Vincent got arrested and Schultzbeing the intelligent man that
he was, put up the bail money toget Vincent out, even though
they had had this falling out.
And he did that because hedidn't want Vincent to be
telling the authorities what heknew.
And he decided he'd rather paythe money to get him out of jail
(12:10):
on bail bond than to haveVincent telling the police the
information that he had, vincentbeing the pal, that he was
decided to skip out on the trial, which meant that that bail
bond was forfeited.
So then Schultz was out themoney he had put up to bail
Vincent out.
Schultz of course told Vincenthey, you need to pay me back.
(12:32):
And Vincent said, nope, I'm notpaying you back.
And that was the finalbreakdown of their relationship.
And after that those twofactions started what was
basically a war between the twomen.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
It's so sad to see murderers fall out of love with
each other.
It always ends badly.
Murderers fall out of love witheach other.
It always ends badly.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
It really does.
I mean it's it.
It turns into well a lot moredrama, to be honest, and people
flip flopping sides and stabbingeach other in the back.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
Yeah, I mean, it's the, the godfather of one, two
and three, even though we reallyonly talked about two.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
um which of course then, like after this cause,
they've had their falling out.
Then Vincent ratchets up theviolence and starts killing
people in Schultz's close circleof people and then, in
retribution, May 1931, Schultzkills Vincent's brother, Peter,
who was becoming a gangster inhis own right but was Vincent's
(13:30):
right-hand man.
And things at that point areescalating and it gets so bad
that Schultz offers a large sumof money to several policemen to
murder Cole, and Vincent isknown as such a badass that they
say nope, no, thank you, Don'twant any part of that.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
So the event that would forever cement Cole's
reputation as Mad Dog occurredon July 28th 1931.
During an attempted kidnappingof Joseph Rowell, one of
Schultz's associates, cole andhis gang opened fire on a
crowded street.
In the chaos, five-year-oldMichael Vengali was caught in
the crossfire and killed.
This tragic incident drewnational attention to New York's
(14:12):
gang problem and earned Colehis infamous moniker for Mayor
Jimmy Walker.
And this is a time that you'restarting to see we're about two
years before the development ofthe FBI, as we kind of see, as
more of a law enforcement agency.
So it was events like this andthe Kansas City shootout that
really kind of brought nationalattention and the crackdown that
(14:35):
would almost kind of inspiremore of what we see as the deep
police involvement across thecountry in crime like this.
So following the Bengalikilling, cole went into hiding,
alternating his appearance bydyeing his blonde hair black,
growing a mustache and wearingsunglasses.
But despite his efforts he wasapprehended after just three
(14:57):
months on the run.
The subsequent trial inDecember 1931 became a spectacle
.
Speaker 3 (15:04):
So more about that wonderful trial.
So Mayor Walker, who youmentioned, wanted of course to
have a quick trial done, get himout of here, hang him high.
Be done Because of course,politically this was horrible
for New York and there was a lotof pressure that something
needed to be done about this,especially when kids are getting
(15:24):
gunned down in the street.
So they're trying to get thisquick guilty verdict and
execution done.
But in the meantime Cole has adefense attorney, samuel
Leibowitz, and Leibowitz was oneof the extremely successful
criminal lawyers at that pointin time.
I read somewhere that he hadbeen an actor at one point in
(15:46):
time, or maybe a failed actor,but because of that background
he was able to take that intothe courtroom where he could
make a lot of dramatic flair andpresentation and basically get
the attention he needed to andthe charisma probably to get the
(16:07):
juries to acquit.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
But the really part, the biggest part of the
courtroom, is the jury how thejury's to acquit, but the really
part, the biggest part of thecourtroom, is the jury.
How the jury views witnesses,the prosecutor and defense, and
how it does kind of become apopularity contest.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
Absolutely.
To some extent it does, becausethey have to be able to feel
like they can trust the peoplewho are giving them information
right, because credibilitythat's a huge thing.
So if the defense attorney istelling them a story about you
know it didn't happen, becausethat's what it basically is, is
a story right?
The prosecution says this iswhat happened.
A, b, c, d.
Defense says no, that's not howit happened.
(16:41):
It happened this other way,just like you know kids in first
grade.
And then the jury has to decidewell, which version of events
is accurate.
Is it you know the prosecutionsis accurate?
Is it you know, theprosecutions, the defense, or
somewhere in the middle?
Speaker 2 (16:54):
so if you have a defense attorney who can't sell
a good story and is notbelievable, then the defense,
the jury's going to say thedefense is not believable and go
back to what the prosecution'stelling them and I also wonder
and again I will lean on you andyour knowledge of kind of the
courts and stuff but I alsowonder at this time, like we've
seen with almost a glorificationand the hero worship of
(17:17):
criminals at this time, and theanti-establishment kind of
anti-government because this isprohibition, this is after the
well during the Great Depression, if people were more apt to
like, if you were like oh, thegovernment's corrupt and they're
just trying to frame thisinnocent irish immigrant who's
just trying to come here andmake a difference in his life
and look what the government'sdoing to him.
(17:38):
And the jury was like you'reright, the government's horrible
and corrupt.
So maybe they would lie to justtry and pawn this guy.
So I, obviously I don't havethat.
I'd love to be able to go backand read transcripts and stuff
like this, but I'm sure theydon't really exist anymore it'd
be very difficult to find them,at the very least um.
Speaker 3 (17:55):
But of course you also have to remember the
difference in ethnic groups atthat time.
It could have also been you'dget a jury who would say this is
an irishman.
Obviously he did it.
You know he's done without evenlooking at any of the evidence
absolutely.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
I mean, I think we talk about now like we see how
juries are, but back then,you're right, like especially
New York and stuff, they, theboroughs and stuff, were very
divided at this time.
So yeah, I understand that thatcould have been a like really
big issue with finding peopleguilty just because racial bias,
(18:29):
ethnic bias, cultural bias,religious bias, if you had
Protestants who were fromEngland or had English
background and there's aCatholic Irishman on the thing.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
Yeah, exactly, and with this defense attorney he
was really good at pickingjurors who would be sympathetic
to his clients because herepresented multiple people in
this underworld at the time andthe main witness for the
prosecution for this case wasGeorge Brecht.
(19:00):
And the defense really didtheir homework on this and they
researched it and they wereprepared in a way that the
prosecution obviously was not,because when he testified, the
defense was able to impeach himand show that he had a criminal
history and that he had offeredsimilar testimony in another
trial in another state and theybasically were able to show that
(19:24):
he was a paid underworldinformer who was guilty of
perjury at that point in timebecause he lied on the stand.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
So he's kind of like the go-to guy for law
enforcement, like, hey, we needan eyewitness or somebody that's
part of the criminal underworldto come and just say what we
tell you to say, and here's themoney we'll pay you.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
At least that's how it would appear on some you know
like to some extent hedefinitely perjured himself
about his criminal record.
So, right off the bat, how canyou believe him when he lied
about that?
And then they had this othertestimony that was so similar in
a different trial against adifferent person.
So as soon as that came out,there was a directed verdict of
(20:07):
not guilty from the bench, whichis extraordinarily rare.
Basically, what that means isthe judge looks at the
information on the case and saysthere's no way a reasonable
juror could find this personguilty.
So basically he found andcredibility is something that
almost always goes to the juryLike.
(20:28):
I can't think of another exampleoff the top of my head where it
did not go to the jury, becausethat's one of the things that
the jury has to decide.
And there's been times whensomebody's on the stand and
everybody's like, oh my God,that person is such a liar and
it still goes to the jury.
It's up to the jury to decidewhat weight to give any evidence
, and included in that iscredibility of witnesses.
(20:48):
So the fact that the judge tookthat decision away from the
jury and came back with adirected verdict is crazy, but
that's what happened in thiscase.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
Now would that be like a prosecutor done fucked up
or like is that kind of why youwould get that is you've just
done such a bad job atpresenting the evidence that
they're just like no, youscrewed up that's, yeah, that's
usually what a directed verdictis.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
so it would be something like you miss a key
element of the crime, um, orlike you have a witness who you
thought was coming that day andthen all of a sudden the witness
isn't there and the judge islike, well, you have to go
forward and you say I can't, allright.
Well then that's it, your caseis over.
If you don't have anotherwitness to call, you're done.
And then at that point youdon't have your case proven,
(21:37):
then the judge would enter adirected verdict because you
haven't met the key elements ofthe offense, whether it be the
location of the offense, theidentification of the defendant
which that would be a big one is, you know, identification of
the defendant.
If you can't identify theperson who did it, that's a
problem.
But there's a in venue.
You have to prove that you havethe venue for that case to be
heard in front of that court.
(21:58):
There's like a list of things,and every, every individual
crime has its own list ofcomponents that you have to
prove.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
Like I just feel, like I just just hope and I know
this isn't what happened, butthat there was a statement in
there from the judges like everyprosecutor in this building is
now less important because ofthe embarrassment you just gave
to this entire criminal justicesystem, I revoke your license
and make god have mercy on you,like, and then on the same
george bresh way, to come upwith a scam to make some money
(22:30):
during the depression era.
Man, like right, I'm not sayingit's good, like how many
innocent people went to prison,but like he thought about it.
Like you know what, I'm notmaking money here, but I can
make money as a fake witness forthe cops and then, at the same
time, you have to scratch yourhead as far as, like who knew
about this?
Speaker 3 (22:45):
like did the police know about it?
Did the prosecutor know aboutit?
You know at at what point.
For instance, like mepersonally, if he was my witness
on the stand, I like every timeand I've had this before where
I have a witness on the standwho has a criminal history, I
always ask them about it rightoff the bat, put it on the
(23:11):
record.
It's out there.
I don't try to hide it, or whenI was in practice, I didn't try
to hide those things.
It was something I'd bring upright away and put out there,
because I think it's one ofthose things that's important.
And you'd also give the witnessa chance to explain, like the
circumstances that led them upto that point or how that had
come to pass.
But in George's case, when helied about his criminal record,
if I as a prosecutor knew he hada criminal record and I knew he
was lying, it would be my dutyto inform the court.
(23:34):
That's not accurate.
So at that point you'rebasically impeaching your own
witness.
Speaker 2 (23:41):
And the question here would be and I didn't see it,
and again we're talking 100years ago but was he an
informant that the policebrought forward or one that the
prosecution brought forward?
Informants and stuff, becausethey do have.
Especially if you're offeringthem time off of their sentence
(24:12):
or plea deals or things, thereis an incentive to lie and it's
really important, I wouldbelieve, for the prosecutor to
try and make them look as goodas possible, but there's still
that blemish of they have areason to be lying.
You know, if that informantcomes forward and says you know
what?
I'm getting nothing for this,there's no time off, there's no
(24:37):
promise of time off, I'm doingthis out of the goodness of my
heart, that probably holds moreweight than like, oh yeah, I'm
getting 10 years off, if I saythis story right now.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
Like no, Exactly which we talked about in one of
the previous cases.
And the other thing too withGeorge being part of this
underworld, you also don't knowwhat kind of money was going
back and forth under the table.
As far as did Schultz have someinfluence?
Was he, you know, putting hisfinger on it, especially after
Vincent ditched him and he gotstuck with the bail bond bill?
(25:01):
I could see, you know, if I wasSchultz, I might be like, hey,
george, that guy skipped out onthat trial and I got stuck with
that bill here.
I'm going to pay you this much.
You go tell him, screw him over, because he screwed me over.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
Or at the same time, daddy Schultz goes to the judge
and says you know, I've got allthese connections to the
speakeasies and all theseunderworld.
You make sure he gets out ofthat courthouse so I can get a
shot at him.
You've got it made for lifehere.
I'll get you in the doors.
You want to get into in theparties because that's one of
(25:36):
the things that the criminalunderground, especially New York
, dc, la, new Orleans, some ofthese big cities was there was
the connections of the socialworld.
Actresses, actors, the rich allhad connections with these
speakeasies.
So you had a bargaining chip,even just in access.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
That's true too.
So Cole's luck in the courtroomdid not translate to success in
the underworld.
His relationship with Schultzdeteriorated rapidly, which led
to that violent falling out, andCole had demanded to be
Schultz's partner, but Schultzwas like nope, no way.
And then, of course, that riftset that stage for the bloody
(26:15):
gang war that we were talkingabout.
That completely consumed NewYork City.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
So in a bid for independence, cole began
targeting other gangs, like wetalked about, for kidnapping and
ransom.
But the audacious strategy kindof made him a pariah in the
criminal underworld.
So not just was or him andSchultz having problems, but the
Irish gangs, the Jewish gangsand the other criminal elements,
just they didn't want anythingto do with him, which once
(26:43):
you're kind of on the outs ofall the families and all the
organizations, you really kindof become a target for all of
them, even though it's sometimesand this is the case with him
it also makes you a really goodperson to go to to target other
people and other gangs.
Because if everybody's likethat's a pariah, nobody will
have a relationship with him.
Then that's the guy I'm goingto go to to hit because nobody's
(27:05):
going to think I would havehired that guy.
Then that's the guy I'm goingto go to to hit because nobody's
going to think I would havehired that guy.
So again, cole finally makesanother fatal mistake and it
came when he accepted a contractfrom Salvatore Maranzano.
I'm going to say that againSalvatore Maranzano, to
(27:26):
assassinate Charles LuckyLuciano for $50,000.
Swear to God, I just have thisfear that the ghost of Lucky
Luciano is going to come back.
Like you called me Chucky, youson of a bitch, but unbeknownst
to Cole.
Luciano had learned of the plotand struck first, having
Marizano killed before Colecould carry out the hit, which,
(27:47):
if you know anything about themafia ties at this time.
Lucky Luciano was a heavilyconnected mobster, so the fact
that he found out from a muchlesser mobster had taken a hit
out on him is not a surprise andprobably wasn't a safe bet to
take that hit.
Anyway, that would have beenlike going to Chicago and being
like, yeah, I'll take a hit onAl Capone, nobody's going to
find that out.
So going to Chicago and beinglike, yeah, I'll take a hit on
(28:16):
Al Capone, nobody's going tofind that out.
Speaker 3 (28:17):
So this turn of events sealed Cole's fate,
because Luciano turned aroundand placed a $50,000 bounty on
Cole's head, right Because hewas showing up to kill him as
their assassins were leaving.
So very unlucky, if he'd justbeen there a little bit later,
or a little bit earlier, hewould have missed them and might
not have ended up with thebounty on his head.
But on February, the 8th 1932,vincent Mad Dog Cole met his end
(28:38):
in a hail of gunfire.
He had been lured to adrugstore on West 23rd Street
under the pretense of a trucemeeting with Owen, madden.
Cole entered his phone booth.
A truce meeting with Owen.
Madden Cole entered his phonebooth to make a phone call to
Madden and as he spoke, a hitmannamed Leonard Sarianci
Scaranucci.
Scaranucci Thank you, see, I'mnot good at pronouncing names at
(29:00):
all Entered the store with asubmachine gun hidden under his
coat and in a brutal andefficient attack, he unleashed a
barrage of bullets which killedcole instantly.
Speaker 2 (29:11):
The coroner's report would later reveal that there
were at least 15 bullets thathad struck cole, but they
thought many more had passedthrough his body and we kind of
talked about this in the rise ofgangsters in the first place
was that tommy gun is what kindof was known as the weapon of
choice, and these were brutalweapons firing like the.
Tommy gun is what kind of wasknown as the weapon of choice,
and these were brutal weaponsfiring like the.
The tommy gun had 30 to 50round drum mags and it was easy
(29:34):
to unload so many rounds insomebody that basically lack of
a good definition.
I apologize for the graphicnessof it but I mean it just turned
people into swiss cheese.
It was really hard when you'reputting that many automatic
rounds into a human being, to belike they definitely only got
hit 15 times, like it probablywas a lot more.
And this hit kind of becomesseen, is and played out in
(29:57):
multiple films and stuff likethis was one of the graphic hits
that was just so publicizedbecause of how public it was, so
thus ending the violent,notorious life of Vincent Mad
Dog Cole at the age of just 23years old.
We talked about all this stuffand like his rise to success,
all these court trials andeverything, but he died at 23.
(30:19):
And we see that with otherpeople that we talked about 20s
and 30s, like that was theheight, like Babyface, nelson
and all those other guys likethey died at such a young age.
But to them in the world thatwas going on at that time, with
prohibition, with the greatdepression, it was more of a
(30:40):
chance to have a good lifechoosing this path than it was
to try and have a nickel anddime life, maybe selling papers,
working in a factory, dying atthat same age anyway because of
factory mishaps and everythingelse.
So his brief but brutal careerleft an inevitable, indelible
(31:00):
mark on the history of NewYork's underworld, serving as a
cautionary tale of the dangersand ultimate futility of a life
dedicated to crime and violence,which I think that that may be
overstating some facts, becausethere are a lot of people even
today in New York and othercities that see organized crime
and crime as lucrative.
And at this time there was thatfolk hero-ness, there was that
(31:22):
connectedness and also thatalienation of the Irish that
kind of pushed them intoorganized crime and lives of
crime because it was so hard tofind any other work, because we
saw signs around the country,like you know, irish and dogs
keep out and the Irish were verytargeted.
And it's very sad and to thinkthis was an Irish family that
(31:46):
immigrated here.
I think, minus the fact thatthis guy was a horrible murderer
, I think that two things againcan be the same that it was
somebody that was driven to thisthrough so many unfortunate
events that led to him being putin these institutions, but a so
(32:07):
many hundreds of thousands ofother Irish people came here and
lived very successful, happy,non-criminal lives, and the
false stereotype to Irish are abunch of drunks.
But I think this really showsthat so many people have come
here.
Italian, irish people fromSouth America, africa, all
around the world have come tothe United States for a better
(32:27):
life, and sometimes that's nothow it works out, but they can
be used as an example of how wecould do better as well.
Speaker 3 (32:35):
I completely agree with that, because who knows
what could have happened withhis life had somebody intervened
when he was seven or eightyears old.
Speaker 2 (32:43):
I mean all the way back to you know, if the English
hadn't been shitbags and youknow just like massacred the
Irish in their own home country.
But we'll get off that highhorse because that will send me
down a road that I don't want toget canceled.
So I think that covers enoughfor Lucky.
So happy St Patrick's Day andhappy birthday to my wife.
I want to thank you all so muchfor listening to our little
podcast.
(33:04):
This is created with love andpassion for criminal justice and
true crime.
So if you're enjoying thepodcast, please follow us, like
or rate us on whatever systemyou're listening to us on,
subscribe to our podcast anddownload episodes.
Downloads are important for ourgrowth, as is growing our
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So if you wouldn't mind, takethe time to ask your friends,
(33:28):
family, co-workers, tell themabout us through word of mouth,
social media.
I don't care if you even screamat strangers on the streets, to
help us kind of get out therewho we are.
If you're interested inlearning more, you could visit
our website atwwwdeviantcriminologycom.
There you'll find some stuffabout our backgrounds,
(33:49):
references, show notes for eachepisode.
You can also follow us on ourFacebook page at Deviant
Criminology.
We also have an Instagram page,which is Deviant, underscore
Criminology, or find me at DrRichard Weaver on Instagram.
And as we grow, we hope todevelop a community that will
grow with us.
(34:09):
So again, thank you for takingthe time to listen and have a
good week you.
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