In the mid-1970s, there were a series of gangland murders, committed by unknown killers, often wielding .22-caliber revolvers. At first these murders seemed unconnected, but law enforcement started noticing links to organized crime and by 1978, federal authorities were involved in the investigations. The FBI compiled a list of 25 gangland figures killed, from potential witnesses and low-level associates, to made men. All shot with a .22 between 1975 and 1978, all from the same batch of guns purchased in Florida, some even the same weapon.

The main suspects were members of the East Harlem Purple Gang. Starting on the fringes they quickly became a violent offshoot syndicate of the Mafia, some even became high-ranking members of the Genovese, Bonanno, and Lucchese families. Often serving as freelance hitmen, kidnappers, and drug traffickers, their exploits quickly crossed into mythology. The Purple Gang became an almost obsession with the media. Accounts of the Gang's activities popped up in the newspapers across the country in the late 1970s. They were the shadow army of the underworld and every law enforcement agency's favorite suspect. They were accused of being behind all the major mob hits through the early 1980s and became the ultimate boogeyman in the era of mob upheaval and a flailing New York City mired in crime and financial woes.

Digging through the mystery and mythos, Scott Deitche brings the gritty City of the late 1970s and early 1980s back to life in this in-depth account of the Purple Gang, the real members, their operations, and where some of the major players are today.

The Hitmen uncovers a dark and twisted history of the East Harlem Purple Gang in the gritty New York City organized crime scene of the late 70s and early 80s.

About the Author

Scott M. Deitche is the author of 7 books on organized crime, including Cigar City Mafia: A Complete History of the Tampa Underworld and Garden State Gangland: The Rise of the Mob in New Jersey. He has written articles on organized crime for local and national magazines and newspapers. Scott has been featured on The Discovery Channel, The History Channel, American Heroes Channel, A&E, C-SPAN, Oxygen, as well as over 50 national and international news and radio shows. He is a member of The Mob Museum's Advisory Council. Scott currently lives in St. Petersburg, Florida with his family.

Reviews

From arson to homicide and from collections to narcotics trafficking, when it came time to outsource muscle in Los Angeles during the 1940s and 50s, the mafia and syndicate turned to the infamous Sica brothers for talent. As if a conduit or a rung in gangster vetting, sometimes these hardcase associates that strolled through their doors were made into the local mafia. And, as Scott Deitche's newest offering has so rightly illustrated, matters weren't all that different out in East Harlem a couple of decades later, when the East Coast mob began enlisting the Busch League brute of a batch of local upstarts steeped in the drug trade. Members of the press and law enforcement had a name for this emerging faction of violent knockaround guys feared throughout New York and New Jersey. They called them the new Purple Gang. And eventually these hungry thugs thickened the ranks of the Genovese, Lucchese, and Bonanno families.

-- J. Michael Niotta Ph.D., early L.A. crime historian and author of Los Angeles Underworld



Book Information
ISBN 9781538153567
Author Scott M. Deitche
Format Hardback
Page Count 198
Imprint Rowman & Littlefield
Publisher Rowman & Littlefield
Weight(grams) 395g
Dimensions(mm) 237mm * 162mm * 18mm