barking. As he walked to his window to see what the commotion was, he saw two men under his car. McLean, who was known for his volatile temper, ran outside firing his .38 revolver wildly at the men. The men escaped, but he found plastique explosives wired to the ignition of his car. Immediately, he suspected the McLaughlin brothers, a gang from Charlestown, and he began stalking Bernie McLaughlin throughout that neighborhood.
Bernie McLaughlin had been a loan shark and enforcer for Angiulo before breaking away and forming his own gang. With the help of his brothers, George and Edwardâwhom they called Punchy because of his past experiences as a boxerâhe was successful in taking over the rackets in and around Charlestown. As their reputation grew, so did the requests for their assistance in contract killings. They were hired various times to perform freelance work for the Winter Hill Gang and the Patriarca family.
McLean decided to finally hit Bernie McLaughlin on his home turf: City Square, Charlestown. In broad daylight in front of one hundred witnesses, on October 31, 1961, Bernie was gunned down. Also at the scene, McLean was in a car with passenger Alexander âBoboâ Petricone, driven by Russell Nicholson. Nicholson was a member of the Winter Hill Gang and a former MDC (Metropolitan District Commission) police officer. Locals used to say that MDC stood for âmore dumb cops.â McLean was arrested and tried for the murder of Bernie; however, the prosecution could not find a single witness to testify as to what had occurred in Charlestown that day. McLean was acquitted of the murder charge but was convicted for illegal possession of a firearm and sentenced to two years in prison. Russell Nicholson was kidnapped and killed in 1964 by George and Punchy McLaughlin as retribution for participating in the killing of their brother Bernie. The Winter Hill Gang had attempted several botched hits on Punchyâs life. During these attempts, he had lost a hand and half his jaw. After surviving the many assassination attempts, he was finally shot dead at a bus station in West Roxbury on the way to his brother Georgeâs murder trial.
Around this time, the Boston newspapers were speculating that the war between the gangs was really over the unfound Brinks Building robbery money. It was believed that some of the money may have been on ice in a warehouse near the docks of Charlestown, but this was never confirmed.
The Brinks robbery was committed on January 15, 1950, in the North End of Boston. Brinks had a garage on the corner of Prince Street, right down the street from where Angiulo would be setting up his headquarters in a few years. The garage was the central location for Brinks to bring and distribute all the money it had collected from the Boston area. About 7:30 p.m. on that January day, several men entered the building and, with precise movement, tied up the few employees who were there and proceeded to empty the vault and make their escape onto the streets of Boston. The men were all dressed as longshoremen, in knit caps and navy peacoats. The only evidence that remained was the rope used to tie up the employees and a chauffeurâs cap. The police immediately began rounding up and questioning the local ex-cons and thugs, but it was to no avail. In February, several guns that were taken from Brinks employees during the robbery were found on the banks of the Mystic River in Somerville by some kids. The total haul was $1,218,211.19 in cash and another $1.5 million in checks, money orders and other securities. The press billed the heist as the crime of the century. At the time, it was the largest heist in United States history. Later, it was discovered that the men had cased the garage over the course of several years, since 1948 in fact, and had made keys to every door they needed to open. Not to mention they had gone in and out of the building several times to learn the layout.
In June 1954, one
Bernie McLaughlin had been a loan shark and enforcer for Angiulo before breaking away and forming his own gang. With the help of his brothers, George and Edwardâwhom they called Punchy because of his past experiences as a boxerâhe was successful in taking over the rackets in and around Charlestown. As their reputation grew, so did the requests for their assistance in contract killings. They were hired various times to perform freelance work for the Winter Hill Gang and the Patriarca family.
McLean decided to finally hit Bernie McLaughlin on his home turf: City Square, Charlestown. In broad daylight in front of one hundred witnesses, on October 31, 1961, Bernie was gunned down. Also at the scene, McLean was in a car with passenger Alexander âBoboâ Petricone, driven by Russell Nicholson. Nicholson was a member of the Winter Hill Gang and a former MDC (Metropolitan District Commission) police officer. Locals used to say that MDC stood for âmore dumb cops.â McLean was arrested and tried for the murder of Bernie; however, the prosecution could not find a single witness to testify as to what had occurred in Charlestown that day. McLean was acquitted of the murder charge but was convicted for illegal possession of a firearm and sentenced to two years in prison. Russell Nicholson was kidnapped and killed in 1964 by George and Punchy McLaughlin as retribution for participating in the killing of their brother Bernie. The Winter Hill Gang had attempted several botched hits on Punchyâs life. During these attempts, he had lost a hand and half his jaw. After surviving the many assassination attempts, he was finally shot dead at a bus station in West Roxbury on the way to his brother Georgeâs murder trial.
Around this time, the Boston newspapers were speculating that the war between the gangs was really over the unfound Brinks Building robbery money. It was believed that some of the money may have been on ice in a warehouse near the docks of Charlestown, but this was never confirmed.
The Brinks robbery was committed on January 15, 1950, in the North End of Boston. Brinks had a garage on the corner of Prince Street, right down the street from where Angiulo would be setting up his headquarters in a few years. The garage was the central location for Brinks to bring and distribute all the money it had collected from the Boston area. About 7:30 p.m. on that January day, several men entered the building and, with precise movement, tied up the few employees who were there and proceeded to empty the vault and make their escape onto the streets of Boston. The men were all dressed as longshoremen, in knit caps and navy peacoats. The only evidence that remained was the rope used to tie up the employees and a chauffeurâs cap. The police immediately began rounding up and questioning the local ex-cons and thugs, but it was to no avail. In February, several guns that were taken from Brinks employees during the robbery were found on the banks of the Mystic River in Somerville by some kids. The total haul was $1,218,211.19 in cash and another $1.5 million in checks, money orders and other securities. The press billed the heist as the crime of the century. At the time, it was the largest heist in United States history. Later, it was discovered that the men had cased the garage over the course of several years, since 1948 in fact, and had made keys to every door they needed to open. Not to mention they had gone in and out of the building several times to learn the layout.
In June 1954, one
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