| James "Buddy" McLean | |
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| Born | 1929 Somerville, Massachusetts |
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| Died | February 7, 1966 Boston, Massachusetts |
James "Buddy" McLean (born 1929 - died February 7, 1966) was an Irish-American mobster and the original leader of the Somerville, Massachusetts-based "Winter Hill Gang" during the 1960s. Year 1929 ( MCMXXIX) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Somerville (pronunciation ˈsʌmərvɪl is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, just north of Boston. Events 457 - Leo I becomes emperor of the Byzantine Empire. 1074 - Battle of Montesarchio in which the Prince Year 1966 ( MCMLXVI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. Year 1929 ( MCMXXIX) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 457 - Leo I becomes emperor of the Byzantine Empire. 1074 - Battle of Montesarchio in which the Prince Year 1966 ( MCMLXVI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. Irish Americans (Gael-Mheiriceánach are citizens of the United States who can claim ancestry originating in Ireland. Somerville (pronunciation ˈsʌmərvɪl is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, just north of Boston. The Winter Hill Gang is a loose confederation of Boston Massachusetts -area Organized crime figures predominately Irish-American with a small Italian-American McLean was well-known throughout the Greater Boston area as a tough street fighter. Greater Boston is the area of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts surrounding the city of Boston Massachusetts. He accumulated injuries including several scars on his neck and face as well a damaged left eye. A friend of Buddy's once said, "He looks like a choir boy, but fights like the devil". [1]
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Early life
Born out of wedlock to wealthy land speculator and one-time heir to the Washington Post, John McLean, James McLean was orphaned at a young age and adopted by an immigrant Portuguese-American family in Somerville, Massachusetts. The Washington Post is the largest and most circulated Newspaper in Washington D Somerville (pronunciation ˈsʌmərvɪl is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, just north of Boston. Working as a longshoreman during his teenage years on the docks of Charlestown and East Boston, he would became close friends with future president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters William J. McCarthy as well as a later member of the ILA. William J McCarthy ( July 2, 1919 &ndash November 19, 1998) was an American labor leader and official in the Teamsters
After marrying a local Portuguese nurse in 1955, McLean began to slowly amass a formidable criminal organization which would dominate the local underworld in northern Boston which included running numbers, loansharking and truck hijackings. [1]
Irish gang wars
In early September 1961, two Winter Hill associates of McLean, and their friend, 22-year-old Charlestown mobster George McLaughlin rented a cottage on Salisbury Beach for a Labor Day party. The Winter Hill Gang is a loose confederation of Boston Massachusetts -area Organized crime figures predominately Irish-American with a small Italian-American Charlestown is a part of the city of Boston, Massachusetts located on a peninsula north of Boston proper Salisbury is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. Labor Day is a United States Federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September Drinking with his friends throughout the day and into the late evening, McLaughlin attempted to grope one of the gangster girlfriends. Confronted by the two men, McLaughlin received a savage beating until losing consciousness. Unsure whether or not he was still alive, they dumped him at a nearby hospital and went to tell McLean what had happened.
McLean told them he would take care of it and had a talk with his friend, and George McLaughlin's brother, Bernard aka "Bernie". Bernard "Bernie" McLaughlin was an Irish-American gangster from Charlestown Massachusetts and leader of " The McLaughlin Brothers "
When Buddy learned that Bernie McLaughlin wanted to take revenge and sought Buddy's help in doing it, Buddy told him his brother had been out of line and had the beating coming. Bernie McLaughlin stormed out in a rage. Later that night, McLean awoke to the sound of his dogs barking, and saw two men under his car. He went outside firing a . 38 revolver, and found plastique wired to the ignition of his car. Suspecting the McLaughlins, he began stalking Bernie McLaughlin throughout Charlestown until he found him. He killed Bernie McLaughlin near the Bunker Hill Monument in broad daylight and in front of almost one hundred witnesses on October 31, 1961. Events 445 BC – Ezra reads the Book of the Law to the Israelites in Jerusalem (see Nehemiah 91 NLTse Year 1961 ( MCMLXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.
Death
Although he was acquitted of the murder charge, McLean went to prison for two years for illegal possession of a firearm. Leading the Winter Hill Gang against their Charlestown rivals for more than two years, McLean was finally shot dead by Stevie and Cornelius Hughes as he left the Tap Royal. He was succeeded by his right hand man Howie Winter then later James "Whitey" Bulger. Howie Winter (born March 17 1929) is an American Mobster. He was the second leader of the infamous Winter Hill Gang. James Joseph " Whitey " Bulger Jr (born September 3 1929) is a wanted fugitive and alleged leader of the Winter Hill Gang
References
- ^ a b English, T. J. Paddy Whacked: The Untold Story of the Irish American Gangster. New York: HarperCollins, 2005. ISBN 0-06-059002-5
External links
- James (Buddy) McLean Cash
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