Mad Dog Coll

Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll (July 20, 1908—February 7, 1932) was an Irish enforcer for the mafia in early 20th-century New York City. He was born in County Donegal, Ireland, but emigrated to the U.S. only a year later.

Related Topics:
July 20 - 1908 - February 7 - 1932 - Irish - Mafia - 20th-century - New York City - County Donegal - U.S.

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Coll earned the nickname "Mad Dog" because of the sheer pleasure he got from killing people. During the 1920s, he developed a risky but lucrative scam whereby he would kidnap powerful gangsters at gunpoint and extort a ransom from his captive's associates before releasing them. He knew that the victim would not report it to the police, especially because, being criminals, they would have a hard time explaining to the IRS how they happened to have such huge supplies of cash in order to pay for their release.

Related Topics:
1920s - IRS

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In 1931, a powerful mobster named Salvatore Maranzano decided to have his rival, Lucky Luciano, murdered, and he hired the infamous Coll to do the job. Coll insisted on a $25,000 payment in advance with the same amount to be paid on completion of the job. On September 9 that year, Luciano was invited to visit Maranzano at his office. The plan was that Coll would turn up and kill Luciano. However, Luciano had received a tip-off about this plan, so he instead sent over a squad of his own hitmen who stabbed and shot Maranzano to death. Coll turned up immediately after the murder, but Luciano had evidently not been informed that Coll was his intended killer. As such, Coll was left alone by the fleeing squad of hitmen, presumably delighted that he could keep his advance of $25,000 without having to do the job on Luciano.

Related Topics:
1931 - Salvatore Maranzano - Lucky Luciano - September 9

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Vincent Coll did not have much of a chance to advance further in the underworld ranks. He was machine-gunned to death in a drug store telephone booth in 1932 by henchmen working for Dutch Schultz in retaliation for the attempted murder of one of Schultz's associates. Coll had attempted to kill the associate in a drive-by shooting, missed, and ended up murdering a five-year-old boy. Schultz, who allegedly had children of his own by this time (his "legitimate" children would be born later), was furious about the murder and took special care to ensure that Coll died with overkill: The gunmen fired so many rounds into Coll's body that his legs were barely attached when it was retrieved by police. Schultz later sent a wreath to Coll's funeral, bearing a banner with the message, "From the boys." Only his widow actually attended the funeral, however.

Related Topics:
1932 - Dutch Schultz

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Two movies about Coll have been made, both named Mad Dog Coll. One was released in 1961, where he was played by John Davis Chandler, and the other in 1993, where he was played by Christopher Bradley.

Related Topics:
1961 - John Davis Chandler - 1993 - Christopher Bradley

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Coll was also portrayed by Nicholas Cage in the film The Cotton Club.

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