Joseph Maurice McDonald (July 14, 1917 – August 6, 1997) was an American mobster and a charter member of the

Winter Hill Gang The Winter Hill Gang is a loose confederation of organized crime figures in the Boston, Massachusetts, area. The gang members and leadership are predominantly Irish-American and Italian-American descent. The organization itself derives its n ...

Early life

McDonald was born in 1917 in

Somerville, Massachusetts Somerville ( ) is a city located directly to the northwest of Boston, and north of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a total population of 81, ...

. He was of Scottish and

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

descent.

Winter Hill Gang

McDonald was one of the originators of the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

Winter Hill Gang and was a close friend and mentor to mob bosses

Buddy McLean James Joseph McLean (January 26, 1930 – October 31, 1965) was an American mobster boss, who was the original boss of the Somerville, Massachusetts-based Winter Hill Gang during the 1960s. McLean was well known throughout the Greater Boston ar ...

and

Howie Winter Howard Thomas Winter (March 17, 1929 – November 12, 2020) was an American mobster. He was a leader of the Winter Hill Gang. Early life Winter was born in Boston, Massachusetts on March 17, 1929. He was of German and Irish descent. Winter died ...

. A veteran of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, McDonald was a skilled contract killer. In 1963, he escaped from prison while serving a 12 to 18 year sentence for armed robbery. Along with twenty-one other associates, including Winter, McDonald was indicted on charges of

fixing Fixing may refer to: * The present participle of the verb "to fix", an action meaning maintenance, repair, and operations * "fixing someone up" in the context of arranging or finding a social date for someone * "Fixing", craving an addictive drug, ...

horse races in 1979. He subsequently went on to be a fugitive in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. Later, while on the lam, McDonald and associate,

Johnny Martorano John James Vincent Martorano (born December 13, 1940; also known as "Vincent Joseph Rancourt", "Richard Aucoin", "Nick", "The Cook", "The Executioner", "The Basin Street Butcher") is an American former gangster and former hitman for the Winter Hi ...

, murdered businessman Roger Wheeler in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

Personal life

Joe had one brother, Leo McDonald, who was also a criminal affiliated with the Winter Hill Gang. McDonald died of a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

in 1997.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald, Joe 1917 births 1997 deaths People from Somerville, Massachusetts American gangsters of Irish descent American gangsters American people of Scottish descent Winter Hill Gang Gangsters from Boston American military personnel of World War II