The Murder Trust

February 22, 1933 - This was the day that Michael Malloy was killed. It was the end of a long and tortuous murder plot in which five of Malloy's acquaintances struggled mightily to end his life. Their payoff was a $3500 life insurance policy.

Malloy was a former firefighter turned homeless alcoholic. The no-good crew he associated with had already killed a man for his insurance money, and they were hungry for more. Hershey Green, Daniel Kriesberg, Tony Marino, Joseph Murphy and Francis Pasqua hatched a plan to take out three life insurance policies on Malloy, then they would see to it that he drank himself to death.

They succeeded in getting the insurance policies, and they arranged for Malloy to have an all-you-can-drink account at the local speakeasy. Malloy proceeded to drink and drink and drink...and eventually he'd collapse or stumble out into the cold New York City winter. But he always came back for more.

Malloy wasn't dying fast enough, so his friends upped the ante. They added antifreeze to his drinks. Malloy loved it. They then tried giving him shots of turpentine. Malloy drained them and asked for more. Next came the rat poison, but Malloy refused to die. How about raw oysters soaked in methanol? Malloy gobbled them down. Maybe a sandwich with rotten sardines and poison sauce? Malloy thought it was delicious.

Frustrated by their inability to kill Malloy, his buddies tried a new approach. They waited until he was passed out drunk, then they dragged him into a city park. They tossed him in the snow and poured water over his bare chest. The next day Malloy wandered into the bar at the usual time, looking for a drink.

The gang decided to run over him with a taxi. They hit him at 45 miles an hour. An ambulance carted him off and the boys figured they had finally succeeded. Imagine their shock three weeks later when Malloy limped back into the bar and plopped down on his favorite stool.

The long saga finally came to an end when a gas hose was jammed into Malloy's mouth while he slept. The gang never profited from the death because they fought amongst themselves and word eventually got out about the murder plot.

All five went to prison and four of them died in the electric chair. Their deaths were relatively quick compared to Malloy's.