Elena Semander

popular name: Frank Dolezal

date_of_death: August 24, 1939

age: 51

cause_of_death: Hanging; murdered by police while in custody

claim_to_fame: Crime and their Victims

best_know_for: A Cleveland, Ohio resident who was suspected and awaiting trial as the Cleveland Torso Serial Killer when he was murdered in prison. His name was cleared almost 70 years after his death.

popular name: James McLean

date_of_death: October 31, 1965

age: 35

cause_of_death: Gunshot wounds

claim_to_fame: Crime and their Victims

best_know_for: James "Buddy" McLean was a feared and respected Irish-American mobster from Somerville, Massachusetts, best known as the original leader of the Winter Hill Gang. Born in 1930, McLean rose through the ranks of Boston's underworld in the 1950s and early 1960s, earning a reputation as a tough street fighter and savvy criminal strategist. Under his leadership, the Winter Hill Gang became a dominant force in Boston’s organized crime scene, engaging in activities like bookmaking, loan sharking, and extortion. His criminal career reached a turning point when he became involved in a deadly turf war with the rival McLaughlin Brothers gang from Charlestown, igniting the Irish Gang War—a brutal series of killings that gripped Boston’s underworld. On October 30, 1965, McLean was gunned down outside a Somerville bar by a McLaughlin associate, Stevie Hughes, marking a pivotal moment in the gang war. His death further escalated the violence, but it also solidified his status as a legendary figure in Boston mob history. After his murder, Howie Winter took over the Winter Hill Gang, continuing the legacy McLean had started. His funeral attracted over 4,000 mourners and James McLean's final resting place can be found at Holy Cross Cemetery in Malden, Massachusetts.

popular name: Joe Profaci

date_of_death: June 6, 1962

age: 64

cause_of_death: Liver cancer

claim_to_fame: Crime and their Victims

best_know_for: Giuseppe "Joe" Profaci was an Italian-born New York City La Cosa Nostra boss who was the founder of the Profaci crime family. Established in 1928, this was the last of the Five Families to be organized. He was the family's boss for over three decades. On December 5, 1928, after the murder of Brooklyn boss Salvatore D'Aquila in 1928, Profaci attended the infamous mob meeting in Cleveland, Ohio that would make him an organized crime boss in Brooklyn to maintain calm among the Brooklyn gangs. In addition to his illegal enterprises such as protection rackets and extortion, Profaci continued with his olive oil company making him a wealthy man both legally and illegally. When Profaci died from liver cancer in 1962, his second in command would take charge, Joe Magliocco. A year after taking control of the family Magliocco made plans with Joseph Bonanno to assassinate several rivals such as Tommy Lucchese, Carlo Gambino, and Stefano Magaddino in order to get control of the entire syndicate. Joe Columbo stepped up to The Commission and turned in Magliocco and Bonanno. Magliocco was forced out of the family and Joe Columbo took over the reins of the Profaci crime family and renamed it the Columbo Family.