John M. Dunn
Encyclopedia
John M. "Cockeye" Dunn (born August 24, 1910; died July 7, 1949 Ossining
, New York
) was a New York mobster involved in the numbers racket and labor racketeering as a top enforcer for his brother-in-law Eddie McGrath
. He was convicted together with Andrew "Squint" Sheridan of the 1947 murder of Greenwich Village
hiring stevedore Anthony "Andy" Hintz, and was executed in the electric chair
on July 7, 1949.
Following his release, Dunn was hired as an enforcer for McGrath who was then a part owner of Varick Enterprises, a front company which made collections for the waterfront dock bosses of Manhattan's Westside. In 1937, he and McGrath were arrested in connection with the death of a trucker but were eventually dismissed for lack of evidence.
Later he formed a labor union (Local 21510, Motor and Bus Terminal Checkers, Platform and Office Workers) associated with the American Federation of Labor
(AFL) and eventually oversaw waterfront racketeering on Manhattan's Lower West Side by the early 1940s. He established underworld connections including Joseph P. Ryan, who had sponsored him for union membership, and Meyer Lansky
who had been in discussions regarding the use of the longshoremen's union to assist in the importation of heroin and cocaine into the United States.
. On January 11, Hintz identified Dunn, "Andy" Sheridan and one "Danny" as his assailants in a dying declaration
. Two days later he made another dying decalaration because in the first one he did not express clearly enough his belief that he was going to die. On January 24, the police arrested Andrew "Squint" Sheridan at his home in Hollywood, Florida
. He was transferred to New York by the FBI on a federal charge and later turned over to the New York County D.A. office. Former prize fighter Danny Gentile turned himself in at the end of March, appearing with his lawyer in Assistant D.A. William J. Keating's office. All three accused men were held in custody without bail. Due to both the extensive press coverage of the event and Dunn's underworld connections, there was concern that the state's star witness, the deceased's widow Maisie Hintz, might be in danger and she was forced to go into hiding until the start of the trial. The trial, before Judge George L. Donnellan, began on December 4 with the selection of the jury, and on December 31, 1947, all three Dunn, Sheridan and Gentile were convicted of murder in the first degree and sentenced to death in the electric chair. Dunn and Gentile then offered information against waterfront racketeers in exchange for life imprisonment. Since all of his information - incriminating dead people or talking about cases in a way the authorities knew was false - was useless, the deal with Dunn fell through. He and Sheridan were executed at Sing Sing
on July 7, 1949. On the day before, Gentile's death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment by Governor Thomas E. Dewey, supported by a favorable letter from D.A. Frank Hogan
, in which he claimed that "Gentile has done everything within his power to assist this office in its investigation of waterfront criminal activity."
Ossining (town), New York
Ossining is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 37,674 at the 2010 census. It contains two villages, the Village of Ossining and part of Briarcliff Manor, the rest of which is located in the Town of Mount Pleasant....
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
) was a New York mobster involved in the numbers racket and labor racketeering as a top enforcer for his brother-in-law Eddie McGrath
Eddie McGrath
Eddie McGrath was an Irish-American gangster from New York City, who controlled the Hell's Kitchen Irish Mob and the lucrative waterfront throughout the 1940s...
. He was convicted together with Andrew "Squint" Sheridan of the 1947 murder of Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
hiring stevedore Anthony "Andy" Hintz, and was executed in the electric chair
Electric chair
Execution by electrocution, usually performed using an electric chair, is an execution method originating in the United States in which the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes placed on the body...
on July 7, 1949.
Life
Among the thousands who traveled to America was a young Irish couple. Tom and Kitty Dunn left the west coast of Ireland in the early 1900s in search of a better life. They settled in New York. Their first child, John, was born in Queens, New York. He was in and out of Catholic reform schools after the death of his father, a merchant marine who was lost at sea when he was four. With arrests for robbery and assault during his teenage years, he was finally convicted of robbing a card game and sentenced to two years imprisonment at Sing Sing Prison.Following his release, Dunn was hired as an enforcer for McGrath who was then a part owner of Varick Enterprises, a front company which made collections for the waterfront dock bosses of Manhattan's Westside. In 1937, he and McGrath were arrested in connection with the death of a trucker but were eventually dismissed for lack of evidence.
Later he formed a labor union (Local 21510, Motor and Bus Terminal Checkers, Platform and Office Workers) associated with the American Federation of Labor
American Federation of Labor
The American Federation of Labor was one of the first federations of labor unions in the United States. It was founded in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions disaffected from the Knights of Labor, a national labor association. Samuel Gompers was elected president of the Federation at its...
(AFL) and eventually oversaw waterfront racketeering on Manhattan's Lower West Side by the early 1940s. He established underworld connections including Joseph P. Ryan, who had sponsored him for union membership, and Meyer Lansky
Meyer Lansky
Meyer Lansky , known as the "Mob's Accountant", was a Polish-born American organized crime figure who, along with his associate Charles "Lucky" Luciano, was instrumental in the development of the "National Crime Syndicate" in the United States...
who had been in discussions regarding the use of the longshoremen's union to assist in the importation of heroin and cocaine into the United States.
The Hintz case
At 7.40 a.m. on January 8, 1947, Andy Hintz, hiring boss on Pier Fifty-One, was shot six times on the stairs just outside his apartment when leaving for work. Surviving the attack however, he was taken to St. Vincent's Hospital where he drifted in and out of consciousness for three weeks before his death on January 29. Before having been taken to the hospital he told his wife that he had been shot by John Dunn. Dunn was arrested immediately and held as a material witnessMaterial witness
A material witness is a person with information alleged to be material concerning a criminal proceeding. The authority to detain material witnesses dates to the First Judiciary Act of 1789, but the Bail Reform Act of 1984 most recently amended the text of the statute, and it is now codified at...
. On January 11, Hintz identified Dunn, "Andy" Sheridan and one "Danny" as his assailants in a dying declaration
Dying declaration
In the law of evidence, the dying declaration is testimony that would normally barred as hearsay but may nonetheless be admitted as evidence in certain kinds of cases because it constituted the last words of a dying person.-History:...
. Two days later he made another dying decalaration because in the first one he did not express clearly enough his belief that he was going to die. On January 24, the police arrested Andrew "Squint" Sheridan at his home in Hollywood, Florida
Hollywood, Florida
-Demographics:As of 2000, there were 59,673 households out of which 24.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.5% were married couples living together, 11.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.2% were non-families. 34.4% of all households were made up of...
. He was transferred to New York by the FBI on a federal charge and later turned over to the New York County D.A. office. Former prize fighter Danny Gentile turned himself in at the end of March, appearing with his lawyer in Assistant D.A. William J. Keating's office. All three accused men were held in custody without bail. Due to both the extensive press coverage of the event and Dunn's underworld connections, there was concern that the state's star witness, the deceased's widow Maisie Hintz, might be in danger and she was forced to go into hiding until the start of the trial. The trial, before Judge George L. Donnellan, began on December 4 with the selection of the jury, and on December 31, 1947, all three Dunn, Sheridan and Gentile were convicted of murder in the first degree and sentenced to death in the electric chair. Dunn and Gentile then offered information against waterfront racketeers in exchange for life imprisonment. Since all of his information - incriminating dead people or talking about cases in a way the authorities knew was false - was useless, the deal with Dunn fell through. He and Sheridan were executed at Sing Sing
Sing Sing
Sing Sing Correctional Facility is a maximum security prison operated by the New York State Department of Correctional Services in the town of Ossining, New York...
on July 7, 1949. On the day before, Gentile's death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment by Governor Thomas E. Dewey, supported by a favorable letter from D.A. Frank Hogan
Frank Hogan
Frank Smithwick Hogan was an American lawyer and politician from New York. Dubbed "Mr. Integrity" due to his perceived honesty and incorruptibility, he was D.A. of New York County for more than 30 years.-Life and career:...
, in which he claimed that "Gentile has done everything within his power to assist this office in its investigation of waterfront criminal activity."
Further reading
- English, T.J. Paddy Whacked: The Untold Story of the Irish American Gangster. New York: HarperCollins, 2005. ISBN 0-06-059002-5
- United States. Congress. House. Committee on the Judiciary. New Jersey-New York Waterfront Commission Compact. 1953. http://books.google.com/books?vid=0eSlNMUdqo2Yrj-JvPPnuHC&id=pWO9eBAWt8YC&q=John+Cockeye+M.+Dunn&dq=John+Cockeye+M.+Dunn&pgis=1
- United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce. Waterfront Investigation: Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce. 1953. http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC04716491&id=97dOXY_9unsC&q=John+Cockeye+M.+Dunn&dq=John+Cockeye+M.+Dunn&pgis=1