Joseph Young

Overview

Joseph (Joe Black) Young was a reputed hitman for the Bonanno crime family. He was convicted in federal court of murder in aid of racketeering connected to the killing of Robert McKelvey on the grounds of the historic Kreischer Mansion in Staten Island.

Timeline

• 2005 — Prosecutors said Young was paid $8,000 to kill Bonanno associate Robert McKelvey.
• January 2006 — Young was convicted of the arson of a home in Grant City.
• October 20, 2008 — Young testified in his own defense and admitted dismembering and incinerating the corpse of a gangland slaying victim while denying stabbing and drowning Robert McKelvey at the Kreischer Mansion.
• October 27, 2008 — Young was found guilty at Brooklyn Federal Court of murder in aid of racketeering; prosecutors said he faced mandatory life in prison.
• January 27, 2009 — Young was scheduled to return to court for sentencing before U.S. District Judge Allyne R. Ross.
• January 2009 — He was sentenced to life in prison.

The offence

Young was convicted of the murder of Robert McKelvey on the grounds of the Kreischer Mansion in Staten Island’s Charleston neighborhood.

Prosecutors said Young, who was a caretaker at the mansion, was paid $8,000 in 2005 to kill Bonanno associate Robert McKelvey and lured his victim to the Kreischer Mansion where he attempted to strangle him. McKelvey broke free and tried to run off, but Young ran after him, tackled him to the ground, and repeatedly stabbed him with a knife. Prosecutors alleged that Young dragged McKelvey to a nearby pond and drowned him.

After the killing, prosecutors alleged that Young and three other mobsters used hacksaws to chop McKelvey’s body to pieces, then burned those pieces in the mansion’s furnace.

Young’s defence and in-court testimony

Young testified in his own defense and admitted dismembering and incinerating the corpse of the gangland slaying victim. He denied stabbing and drowning Robert McKelvey at the Kreischer Mansion, where he was employed as the caretaker, and blamed mob soldier Michael (Sonny) Maggio for the killing.

Young acknowledged that he participated in virtually every crime charged in the racketeering indictment, including arson, robbery, assault, and a drive-by shooting. He said:

"I committed the crimes in this case because I'm an irresponsible person," Young, 29, said. "Completely and totally. I have no excuse."

During cross-examination by Assistant U.S. Attorney Winston Chan, Young acknowledged he was drummed out of the Marines after two months and admitted dressing in a Marine sergeant’s dress uniform for a traffic court appearance.

When Chan asked:

"What did you list your occupation as on your MySpace page?"

Young responded:

"Uh, Death," Young responded.

Investigation and prosecution

Federal prosecutors said Young was paid $8,000 in 2005 to kill Robert McKelvey and lured him to the Kreischer Mansion where Young attempted to strangle him. Prosecutors presented the account of the stabbing, drowning, and post-mortem dismemberment and burning using the hacksaws and the mansion’s furnace.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Winston Chan conducted methodical cross-examination into Young’s multiple roles while he was an up-and-coming enforcer for Bonanno soldier Gino Galestro’s crew.

Trial

Young was convicted on October 27, 2008 at Brooklyn Federal Court of murdering Robert McKelvey on the grounds of the Kreischer Mansion in Charleston. The conviction was for murder in aid of racketeering, and prosecutors said it carried mandatory life in prison.

Sentencing

Young returned to court for sentencing in front of U.S. District Judge Allyne R. Ross on January 27, and he was sentenced to life in prison on January 2009.

Background and other crimes

Young was born in Florida and raised in New Jersey. He got his start with the Bonannos assigned to a Staten Island-crew headed up by Bonanno soldier Gino Galestro through his job as a bouncer at Tottenville restaurant Fresca’s on the Bay.

In addition to the McKelvey murder, Young was convicted of:

• the January 2006 arson of a home in Grant City
• the gunpoint robbery of an illegal massage parlor in New Jersey
• transporting guns with scratched-out serial numbers from Pennsylvania to New York

The Kreischer Mansion

Balthasar Kreischer, a wealthy 19th-century brick manufacturer, built twin mansions for his sons, Edward and Charles, on the top of the hill at 4500 Arthur Kill Rd. in 1885, overlooking a neighborhood that was then called Kreischerville. In 1886, the patriarch died. A few years later, his brick factory burned to the ground and was rebuilt. In 1894, Edward Kreischer shot himself in the head at the factory reportedly because of trouble with employees. His weeping, distraught wife was among the ghosts people claimed to hear at the mansion, even though theirs was the one that burned down.

By 1899, the final member of the family had retired and the once-thriving business passed out of the family and eventually closed.

During World War I, when “just about anything German became taboo,” the name of the neighborhood was changed to Charleston, and most traces of the family disappeared, including large stone tablets at a nearby church that publicly thanked Kreischers for their work in the community.

In 1996, the mansion became a restaurant, and patrons regularly talked of strange happenings and supernatural experiences.

Other details

Young was described as 30 in the October 27, 2008 reporting and as 29 in the October 20, 2008 reporting.

The mansion had a no-trespassing sign near its locked gates, and it sat on a secluded hilltop.

Young admitted to chopping body up, but he denied killing Robert McKelvey at the Kreischer Mansion.

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