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The Murder Plot of Mike Malloy
The Murder Trust tried to kill him eight times for insurance money.
In the 1930s, New York was already flattened by the Great Depression. People across the city had lost their jobs and homes, and the financial structure of New York bared no resemblance to its former position in the world market. It was a desperate era, where many tried to earn money however they could.
Michael Malloy had moved to New York in the 1920s. The former firefighter was between 40 and 60, depending on the newspaper, and hailed from County Donegal in Ireland. He’d moved to America for a better life but would never find his American Dream.
Due to the Depression, Mike was unemployed, homeless and had become an alcoholic, despite the prohibition. He never paid his bar tabs, and his local speakeasy had grown weary of him and the enormous amount of alcohol he was drinking.
The Mermaid was owned by Tony Marino, who was not only the proprietor of the establishment but was also a murderer. He had taken out life insurance on a homeless woman, Mabelle Carson a few years earlier, due to rising debts. He then killed her by force-feeding her alcohol and left her by an open window on a particularly cold night. He received $2,000 from the policy he took out on her accidental death, around $130,000 today.
