Tom Devaney (died July 20, 1976) was a New York mobster and an enforcer to

Mickey Spillane Frank Morrison Spillane (; March 9, 1918July 17, 2006), better known as Mickey Spillane, was an American crime novelist, whose stories often feature his signature detective character, Mike Hammer. More than 225 million copies of his books have ...

during the 1960s and 70s. As Spillane's chief lieutenant, Devaney played a leading role in the growing animosity between Spillane and the

Genovese crime family The Genovese crime family, () also sometimes referred to as the Westside, is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City and New Jersey as part of the American M ...

as well as the gang war against

James Coonan James Michael Coonan (born December 21, 1946), nicknamed "Jimmy C", is an Irish-American mobster and racketeer from Manhattan, New York who, from approximately 1977 to 1988, served as the boss of the Westies gang, an Irish mob group based in Hell ...

. Devaney was an exhibition worker on the West Side who was murdered by Joe "Mad Dog" Sullivan on the orders of Genovese mobster George Barone because "he was interfering with us", as Barone told prosecutor in court. Sullivan observed Devaney for eight weeks, then disguised himself with an Afro wig and skin dye, followed Devaney into a bar-and-grill in Midtown Manhattan, and shot him in the head. Devaney's death marked the beginning of the end for Spillane's operation. Spillane was murdered the following year.

Notes and references

*English, T.J. ''Paddy Whacked: The Untold Story of the Irish American Gangster''. New York: HarperCollins, 2005. *English, T.J. ''The Westies: Inside the Hell's Kitchen Irish Mob''. St Martin's Paperbacks, 1991. {{DEFAULTSORT:Devaney, Tom Year of birth missing 1976 deaths American gangsters Murdered American gangsters of Irish descent Gangsters from New York City Westies (New York gang) People murdered in New York City Male murder victims Deaths by firearm in Manhattan People murdered by the Genovese crime family

Notes and references

Further reading