Harry Maione

Case record: Harry Maione

Background

Harry “Happy” Maione (1908 – February 19, 1942) was a New York mobster who served as a hitman for Murder, Inc. (the enforcement arm of the National Crime Syndicate) during the 1930s. He was called “Happy” because his face displayed an eternal scowl.

Maione led the Ocean Hill Hooligans, an Italian street gang in the Ocean Hill, Brooklyn section of New York. Frank “Dasher” Abbandando was his protegee/underling in this gang.

Maione had a son, Albert Maione, who later became an associate with the Gambino crime family.

The offence

Shapiro brothers revenge and related violence (1931)

In 1931, Maione and Abbandando helped Abe “Kid Twist” Reles and Martin Goldstein eliminate their gangster rivals, the Shapiro Brothers: Meyer, Irving, and William. Earlier that year, the Shapiros had unsuccessfully tried to murder Reles and Goldstein. The Shapiros then abducted Reles’ girlfriend, and raped her.

Reles and Goldstein wanted revenge, and Maione and Abbandando wanted to take over the Shapiro operations.

On July 11, 1931, Irving Shapiro was gunned down near his apartment.

On September 17, 1931, Meyer Shapiro was found shot to death in the basement of a tenement building on Manhattan’s Lower East Side.

Formation and operations of Murder, Inc. / Brooklyn, Inc.

After Maione, Abbandando, Reles, and Goldstein banded together, they created Brooklyn, Inc., described as a forerunner to Murder, Inc.

With other killers joining, including Harry “Pittsburgh Phil” Strauss, Emanuel “Mendy” Weiss, Albert “Tick Tock” Tannenbaum, Seymour “Blue Jaw” Magoon, Louis Capone, Charles “The Bug” Workman, Cooper McCue, and Vito “Socko” Gurino (also written as Vito “Socko” Gurino), the group started picking up murder contracts from the National Crime Syndicate with the help of Syndicate board member Joe Adonis.

Brooklyn, Inc. became the official murder-for-hire squad of the National Crime Syndicate and was dubbed “Murder, Inc.” by the press.

Maione acted as the Italian liaison to the Jewish members of Murder, Inc.; Reles served as his counterpart on the Jewish side. Murder, Inc. was directed by Louis “Lepke” Buchalter (another member of the Syndicate board) and Albert “Mad Hatter” Anastasia.

Maione reportedly killed at least 12 men himself while working for Murder, Inc.

Eliminating potential witnesses and the slaying of George Rudnick

In the mid-1930s, New York District Attorney Thomas E. Dewey targeted Buchalter for prosecution. In response, Buchalter began eliminating potential witnesses. Murder, Inc. rubbed out anyone Buchalter suspected of being an informant.

Loan shark George Rudnick was one such victim. On May 11, 1937, Rudnick was killed by Maione, Abbandando, and Strauss.

In 1940, Reles became an informant for the State of New York and implicated Maione in the slaying of Rudnick. Reles’ account described that the men supposedly killed Rudnick and then started stuffing him back in their car; suddenly, the “corpse” started coughing. Strauss stabbed Rudnick with an ice pick, and Maione buried a meat cleaver in his skull.

Investigation

New York District Attorney Thomas E. Dewey targeted Louis “Lepke” Buchalter for prosecution starting in the mid-1930s.

Buchalter responded by eliminating potential witnesses that Dewey could use, and Murder, Inc. was described as playing a major role in this campaign.

Arrest

Maione was convicted of first degree murder in connection with the slaying for which he was later executed.

Trial

In May 1940, Maione was convicted of first degree murder, but the verdict was overturned on appeal. After a second trial, Maione was convicted again.

Sentencing

Maione was sentenced to death for first-degree murder based on Reles’ information.

Appeals

Maione’s first degree murder conviction was overturned on appeal after his initial conviction in May 1940.

Outcome

On February 19, 1942, Harry Maione was executed in the electric chair at Sing Sing Prison in Ossining, New York.

Other details

Names of other members/killing group participants mentioned include: Harry Strauss, Emanuel Weiss, Albert Tannenbaum, Seymour Magoon, Louis Capone, Charles Workman, and Vito Gurino, along with Cooper McCue.