Frank Abbandando
Encyclopedia
Frank Abbandando nicknamed "The Dasher", was a New York
contract killer
who committed many murders as part of the infamous Murder, Inc.
gang.
, Italy to New York. As a teenager, Abbandando extorted money from shop owners by threatening to torch their shops.
In his twenties, Abbandando joined a street gang in the Ocean Hill section of Brooklyn
. Before long, he was a lieutenant for Harry "Happy" Maione
. Abbandando organized gambling
, loan shark
ing, and extortion
rackets for the gang as well as committing murders. In 1928, Abbandando was convicted of beating a New York City police officer and was sent to reform school
in Elmira, New York
, where he demonstrated skill at baseball
and received the nickname "The Dasher".
In his "free" time, Abbandando was a connoisseur of fine clothes and fancy cars. He was reportedly a sexual predator; he would drive around Brownsville
and Ocean Hill, looking for young women to rape. At his later murder trial, the prosecutor said that Abbandando had all but admitted one rape. Abbandando replied, "Well, that one doesn't count really—I married the girl later." Most of his victims would be stabbed in the chest with ice picks.
, began using street gangs to commit their murders. Having recently settled the vicious Castellammarese War
and reorganized into a new structure, the families desperately wanted to keep themselves out of public attention. By using Jewish contract killers, the families were better protected from public and law enforcement scrutiny. The gang leader that the mafiosi used the most was Louis "Lepke" Buchalter
, the young Jewish leader of the "Gorilla Boys" gang. As the Cosa Nostra business increased, Buchalter's small informal network of killers turned into a group of 250 criminals who were involved in narcotics smuggling, labor racketeering, and other rackets. Buchalter called his group "The Combination", but the press labeled it "Murder, Inc." Unlike the Five Families, which required Sicilian or Southern Italian ancestry for membership, Murder Inc. included Jews, Italians, and members of other ethnic groups.
At some early point, Abbandando joined Murder Inc. During the 1920s and 30s, Abbandando was reputed to have killed thirty people, mostly in Brooklyn. He usually received about $500 for a murder. In September 1931, Abbandando reportedly helped Buchalter and gang member Abe Reles
eliminate The Shapiro Gang
, rivals from the Lower East Side
of Manhattan
who were trying to take over some of the men's rackets. In 1937, Abbandando assisted in the murder of George Rudnick, a loan shark in Brooklyn. Reles had ordered Rudnick's murder because he had received information that Rudnick was a police informant. Using an ice pick and a meat cleaver, Abbandando and several other gang members strangled Rudnick, stabbed him 63 times, and crushed his head inside a garage. No one was arrested for the crime. In February 1939, Abbandando and others killed mobster Felice Esposito in a contract killing. The Cosa Nostra wanted Esposito dead because he testified for the prosecution in a mob murder trial 17 years earlier.
at Sing Sing
Prison in Ossining, New York
.
. The official ruling was that Reles died trying to climb down bedsheets to the street below; however, it was rumored that the Cosa Nostra raised $100,000 to bribe Reles's guards to shove him out the window.
With Buchalter's death, Albert "Lord High Executioner" Anastasia
, a made man
, of the Cosa Nostra took over "Murder, Inc." As a reaction to government informants in Murder, Inc., the New York crime families started using their own members and associates, who were more easily controlled, to commit murders. Murder, Inc. soon faded away.
, at his parents' urging. Abbandando had two sons: Lawrence, born on December 20, 1927 out of wedlock, and Frank Abbandando Jr.
, on October 17, 1935. Lawrence, a mob associate, died of cancer on March 25, 1995 in North Miami Beach, Florida
. Frank Jr., also a mob associate, was killed in 1996 in South Beach, Miami, Florida
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...
contract killer
Contract killing
Contract killing is a form of murder, in which one party hires another party to kill a target individual or group of people. It involves an illegal agreement between two parties in which one party agrees to kill the target in exchange for consideration, monetary, or otherwise. The hiring party may...
who committed many murders as part of the infamous Murder, Inc.
Murder, Inc.
Murder, Inc. was the name given by the press to organized crime groups in the 1920s through the 1940s that resulted in hundreds of murders on behalf of the American Mafia and Jewish Mafia groups who together formed the early organized crime groups in New York and...
gang.
Early years
Abbandando was one of twelve children of Lorenzo Abbondondola and Rosaria Famighetti. On his tombstone, his family name was inscribed as "Abbundando". Abbandando's family immigrated from AvellinoAvellino
Avellino is a town and comune, capital of the province of Avellino in the Campania region of southern Italy. It is situated in a plain surrounded by mountains 42 km north-east of Naples and is an important hub on the road from Salerno to Benevento.-History:Before the Roman conquest, the...
, Italy to New York. As a teenager, Abbandando extorted money from shop owners by threatening to torch their shops.
In his twenties, Abbandando joined a street gang in the Ocean Hill section of Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
. Before long, he was a lieutenant for Harry "Happy" Maione
Harry Maione
Harry "Happy" Maione was a New York mobster who served as a hitman for Murder, Inc. during the 1930s...
. Abbandando organized gambling
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
, loan shark
Loan shark
A loan shark is a person or body that offers unsecured loans at illegally high interest rates to individuals, often enforcing repayment by blackmail or threats of violence....
ing, and extortion
Extortion
Extortion is a criminal offence which occurs when a person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion. Refraining from doing harm is sometimes euphemistically called protection. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime...
rackets for the gang as well as committing murders. In 1928, Abbandando was convicted of beating a New York City police officer and was sent to reform school
Reform school
A reform school in the United States was a term used to define, often somewhat euphemistically, what was often essentially a penal institution for boys, generally teenagers.-History:...
in Elmira, New York
Elmira, New York
Elmira is a city in Chemung County, New York, USA. It is the principal city of the 'Elmira, New York Metropolitan Statistical Area' which encompasses Chemung County, New York. The population was 29,200 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Chemung County.The City of Elmira is located in...
, where he demonstrated skill at baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
and received the nickname "The Dasher".
In his "free" time, Abbandando was a connoisseur of fine clothes and fancy cars. He was reportedly a sexual predator; he would drive around Brownsville
Brownsville, Brooklyn
Brownsville is a residential neighborhood located in eastern Brooklyn, New York City.The total land area is one square mile, and the ZIP code for the neighborhood is 11212....
and Ocean Hill, looking for young women to rape. At his later murder trial, the prosecutor said that Abbandando had all but admitted one rape. Abbandando replied, "Well, that one doesn't count really—I married the girl later." Most of his victims would be stabbed in the chest with ice picks.
Rise of Murder, Inc.
In the early 1930s, the Cosa Nostra crime families in New York, known as the Five FamiliesFive Families
The Five Families are the five original Italian-American Mafia crime families which have dominated organized crime in America since 1931. The Five Families in New York remain as the powerhouse of the Italian Mafia in the United States.-History:...
, began using street gangs to commit their murders. Having recently settled the vicious Castellammarese War
Castellammarese War
The Castellammarese War was a bloody power struggle for control of the Italian-American Mafia between partisans of Joe "The Boss" Masseria and those of Salvatore Maranzano. It was so called because Maranzano was based in Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily...
and reorganized into a new structure, the families desperately wanted to keep themselves out of public attention. By using Jewish contract killers, the families were better protected from public and law enforcement scrutiny. The gang leader that the mafiosi used the most was Louis "Lepke" Buchalter
Louis Buchalter
Louis "Lepke" Buchalter was a Jewish American mobster and head of the Mafia hit squad Murder, Inc. during the 1930s. After Dutch Schultz' request of the Mafia Commission for permission to kill his enemy, U.S. Attorney Thomas Dewey, the Commission decided to kill Schultz in order to prevent the hit...
, the young Jewish leader of the "Gorilla Boys" gang. As the Cosa Nostra business increased, Buchalter's small informal network of killers turned into a group of 250 criminals who were involved in narcotics smuggling, labor racketeering, and other rackets. Buchalter called his group "The Combination", but the press labeled it "Murder, Inc." Unlike the Five Families, which required Sicilian or Southern Italian ancestry for membership, Murder Inc. included Jews, Italians, and members of other ethnic groups.
At some early point, Abbandando joined Murder Inc. During the 1920s and 30s, Abbandando was reputed to have killed thirty people, mostly in Brooklyn. He usually received about $500 for a murder. In September 1931, Abbandando reportedly helped Buchalter and gang member Abe Reles
Abe Reles
Abe "Kid Twist" Reles was a New York mobster who was widely considered the most feared hit man for Murder, Inc., the enforcement contractor for the National Crime Syndicate. Reles later turned government witness and sent several members of Murder, Inc...
eliminate The Shapiro Gang
Shapiro
Shapiro, and its variations such as Shapira, Schapiro and Chapiro , is a Yiddish surname.-Etymology:One theory suggests that it derives from Shpira, the Hebrew/Yiddish name for Spira , the medieval name of Speyer, Germany. The Jewish community of Speyer was an important centre in the development of...
, rivals from the Lower East Side
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
who were trying to take over some of the men's rackets. In 1937, Abbandando assisted in the murder of George Rudnick, a loan shark in Brooklyn. Reles had ordered Rudnick's murder because he had received information that Rudnick was a police informant. Using an ice pick and a meat cleaver, Abbandando and several other gang members strangled Rudnick, stabbed him 63 times, and crushed his head inside a garage. No one was arrested for the crime. In February 1939, Abbandando and others killed mobster Felice Esposito in a contract killing. The Cosa Nostra wanted Esposito dead because he testified for the prosecution in a mob murder trial 17 years earlier.
Conviction and execution
At the beginning of the 1940s, Murder, Inc. was hit by a series of successful prosecutions that eliminated its leadership and several of its top hitmen. Facing a murder charge, Reles became a government witness and began implicating his fellow gang members. In May 1940, based on information from Reles, Abbandando was indicted for the 1937 Rudnik murder. At one point during the trial, while Abbandando was on the witness stand, he whispered a threat into the judge's ear. Throughout the trial, Abbandando was surpremely confident that his allies would succeed in fixing the verdict. To his surprise, Abbandando was convicted of murder. The verdict was overturned on appeal and Abbandando went on trial a second time in 1941. On April 3, 1941, Abbandando was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to death. On February 19, 1942, Frank Abbandando was executed in the electric chairElectric 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...
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...
Prison in Ossining, New York
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....
.
Aftermath
After Abbandando's conviction, six other members of Murder, Inc., including Buchalter and Maione, were also convicted of murder and executed based on Reles' testimony. On November 12, 1941, while under police protection, Reles fell out a hotel window in Coney IslandConey Island
Coney Island is a peninsula and beach on the Atlantic Ocean in southern Brooklyn, New York, United States. The site was formerly an outer barrier island, but became partially connected to the mainland by landfill....
. The official ruling was that Reles died trying to climb down bedsheets to the street below; however, it was rumored that the Cosa Nostra raised $100,000 to bribe Reles's guards to shove him out the window.
With Buchalter's death, Albert "Lord High Executioner" Anastasia
Albert Anastasia
Albert Anastasia was boss of what is now called the Gambino crime family, one of New York City's Five Families, from 1951-1957. He also ran a gang of contract killers called Murder Inc. which enforced the decisions of the Commission, the ruling council of the American Mafia...
, a made man
Made man
A made man, also known as a Mafioso , made guy, man of honor, or uomo d'onore , is someone who has been officially inducted into the Sicilian or American Mafia . They may also be referred to by some as a goodfella or wiseguy...
, of the Cosa Nostra took over "Murder, Inc." As a reaction to government informants in Murder, Inc., the New York crime families started using their own members and associates, who were more easily controlled, to commit murders. Murder, Inc. soon faded away.
Children
As a young man, Abbandando married Jennie DeLuca, a hairdresser from Ocean Hill, BrooklynOcean Hill, Brooklyn
Ocean Hill is a subsection of Bedford-Stuyvesant in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Founded in 1890, the neighborhood is part of Brooklyn Community Board 3 and Brooklyn Community Board 16. The ZIP code for the neighborhood is 11233...
, at his parents' urging. Abbandando had two sons: Lawrence, born on December 20, 1927 out of wedlock, and Frank Abbandando Jr.
Frank Abbandando Jr.
Frank Abbandando, Jr. ["Francesco"], also known as "Fingers" , was a New York Gambino crime family associate who was the son of Murder, Inc. hitman Frank Abbandando. His brother was mob associate and "button man" Lawrence Abbandando.-Early years:Frank Jr...
, on October 17, 1935. Lawrence, a mob associate, died of cancer on March 25, 1995 in North Miami Beach, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. Frank Jr., also a mob associate, was killed in 1996 in South Beach, Miami, Florida
Siblings
Abbandando had eleven siblings:- Filomena (December 10, 1907 – December 6, 1970)
- Rocco (December 22, 1910 – October 19, 1912)
- Anna (June 25, 1912 – October 13, 1984)
- Carolina (1914 – September 16, 1915)
- Theresa (October 1, 1915 – April 11, 1997)
- Carmela (1917 – April 30, 1924)
- Rocco (the second, a mob associate; September 7, 1918 – March 31, 1976)
- Antonio (March 15, 1920 – April 6, 1981)
- Twins: Angelina and Arcangelo (August 1921 – October 18, 1921)
- Angelina (the second) (1923 – May 2, 1925)
Further reading
- Davis, John H. Mafia Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the Gambino Crime Family, New York: HarperCollins, 1993.ISBN 0-061-09184-7
- Iannuzzi, Joseph and James Morton. Joe "Dogs" Iannuzzi: The Life and Times of a Real Life Mobster. Simon & Schuster, 1993. ISBN 0-671-79752-2
- Raab, Selwyn. Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires. New York: St. Martin Press, 2005. ISBN 0-312-30094-8