Joe McDonald (mobster)

American mobster (1917-1997

For other people named Joseph McDonald, see Joseph McDonald (disambiguation).

Joe McDonald

FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitive
Charges| Armed robbery
Alias| "Joe Mac"
Description
Born| Joseph Maurice McDonald
(1917-07-14)July 14, 1917
Somerville, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died| August 6, 1997(1997-08-06) (aged 80)
Somerville, Massachusetts, U.S.
Occupation| Mobster
Status
Added| April 1, 1976
Caught| September 15, 1982
Number| 339

Captured

Joseph Maurice McDonald (July 14, 1917 – August 6, 1997), known as "Joe Mac", was an American mobster and a charter member of the Winter Hill Gang of Somerville, Massachusetts, a northwestern suburb of Boston.

## Early life

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McDonald was born in the Boston suburb of Somerville, Massachusetts, and was of Scottish and Irish descent. He had an older brother, Leo, who was also a criminal.[1] In 1938, McDonald won the Golden Gloves Novice Championship at Boston Arena.[2] He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II.[2][3]

## Winter Hill Gang

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McDonald was the primary figure responsible for organizing criminal rackets in the working-class city of Somerville during the 1950s.[2] Along with James "Buddy" McLean and Howie Winter, McDonald was a founding member of the Winter Hill Gang,[4] an Irish mob group which emerged in the Winter Hill neighborhood of Somerville in the early 1960s.[3] His closest criminal associate was James "Jimmy" Sims.[5] McDonald was a bookmaker, loan shark, thief and "hit man" for the Winter Hill Gang whose preferred modus operandi involved shooting victims at close range with a handgun.[3] He allegedly committed as many as 30 murders, but was never indicted or convicted.[2]

On January 17, 1960, McDonald and two other gunmen stole $13,200 after holding seven people hostage during a robbery at Sunnyhurst Dairy in Stoneham.[6] McDonald was sentenced to 12-to-18 years in prison for the robbery, but escaped from custody in 1963 and spent three years as a fugitive, during which time he threatened police officers who had headed the investigation into the armed robbery and a witness who had testified against him.[3]

When McDonald returned to Somerville, the Greater Boston area was in the midst of a period of gang warfare which resulted in the deaths of dozens of mostly Irish, Jewish and Italian hoodlums.[2][7] The Winter Hill Gang was at war with the McLaughlin Gang of Charlestown.[7] Shortly after his escape from prison, McDonald was reportedly involved in an ambush on Charlestown gang leader Edward "Punchy" McLaughlin, blowing off half of McLaughlin's jaw with a shotgun as he sat in a car in the parking lot of Beth Israel Hospital.[7][8] The Winter Hill Gang emerged victorious in the gang war after two of the McLaughlin brothers, Bernie and "Punchy", were killed, and the other, Georgie, was sent to prison for life for murder, although the Somerville gang leader McLean was killed, leaving Winter in charge of the Winter Hill Gang.[9] McDonald was returned to prison after he was arrested following a chase and shootout with police in the western Boston borough of Brighton in 1966.[3]

In 1971, McDonald took part in the theft of a stamp collection worth approximately $500,000 during a robbery.[3] On December 1, 1973, the Winter Hill Gang hunted down the last significant remaining member of the disbanded McLaughlin gang, James "Spike" O'Toole.[10] The gangsters opened fire on O'Toole from a car after he left the Bulldog Tavern.[11] As O'Toole hid behind a mailbox, McDonald shot him in the head and quipped: "He won't bother us no more".[10]

Sought by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for the stamp robbery, McDonald became the 339th fugitive listed on FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives on April 1, 1976.[12] As a fugitive, McDonald fled first to Chelsea, then New York City, before going into hiding in South Florida. He was assisted by his brother, Leo, while on the run.[1] In 1976, McDonald killed Raymond Lundgren, who had testified against him in the collectors' stamps case, shooting Lundgren in front of his wife on the front lawn of his home in Sierra Madre, California.[3]

Along with twenty-one other associates, including Winter, McDonald was indicted on charges of fixing horse races in 1979. He subsequently went on to be a fugitive in Florida. While a fugitive, McDonald was involved in two murders, in Oklahoma and Florida, with John Martorano.[5] Later, while on the lam, McDonald and associate, Johnny Martorano, murdered businessman Roger Wheeler in Tulsa, Oklahoma.[13]

On September 15, 1982, McDonald was arrested at New York Penn Station in New York City by local police.[14] He was released from federal prison in early 1987.[2]

## Death

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McDonald died of a stroke on August 6, 1997, at the age of 80.[5][15]

## References

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1. ^ a b Whitey World A-Z: Leo McDonald (1914-?) Howie Carr, Boston Herald (May 23, 2010) Archived March 12, 2025, at archive.today
2. ^ a b c d e f The Defiant One Springs Toledo, Boxing News (June 17, 2021) Archived April 11, 2025, at the Wayback Machine
3. ^ a b c d e f g My Cousin Joe Was a Hit Man for the Boston Mob Danny McDonald, Vice (April 25, 2013) Archived April 11, 2025, at archive.today
4. ^ Winter Hill mob boss Howie Winter learned fast no good deed goes unpunished Howie Carr, Boston Herald (November 14, 2020) Archived June 4, 2024, at archive.today
5. ^ a b c Mobster of the Week: Joe McDonald Howie Carr, Boston Herald (October 21, 2007) Archived March 12, 2025, at archive.today
6. ^ 3 Gunmen Hold 7 Victims at Bay, Grab $13,200 in Stoneham Dairy The Boston Globe (January 17, 1960)
7. ^ a b c Habeas Corpus: The rampage of John Robichaud, the Boston underworld’s version of Michael Myers Springs Toledo, City Journal (Winter 2024) Archived March 22, 2024, at archive.today
8. ^ Former mob boss tells of access to FBI Shelley Murphy, The Boston Globe (February 13, 2004) Archived February 16, 2004, at the Wayback Machine
9. ^ "A Mob is Born". Bloody Boston. Season 1. Episode 1. April 5, 2022. Reelz.
10. ^ a b Carr: The faces of Whitey's world Howie Carr, Boston Herald (June 23, 2013) Archived March 9, 2025, at archive.today
11. ^ Former hit man insists he's telling truth about Bulger Denise Lavoie, The Patriot Ledger (June 20, 2013) Archived April 12, 2025, at archive.today
12. ^ Joseph Maurice McDonald Federal Bureau of Investigation Archived April 11, 2025, at archive.today
13. ^ Landsbaum, Claire (September 23, 2015). "Here's What's Fact and What's Fiction in Black Mass". Slate. Retrieved August 6, 2016.
14. ^ Joseph Maurice McDonald #339 Federal Bureau of Investigation Archived April 11, 2025, at archive.today
15. ^ Joseph M. McDonald obituary The Boston Globe (August 8, 1997)

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