King of Heists: The Sensational Bank Robbery of 1878 That Shocked America by J. North Conway

Author:J. North Conway [Conway, J. North]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2009-08-25T16:27:00+00:00

Red Leary was the muscle in Leslie's gang, even though Leslie's robberies were cerebral affairs and fortunately hadn't yet required any of Leary's strong-arm talents. Leslie's heists were all about sophisticated planning rather than brute force. Still, having Leary on board guaranteed Leslie some modicum of backup should something go wrong with the police, or even with his own gang. Leary was a well-known Brooklyn criminal famous for his bravado and sagacity who had spent nearly half of his early life in prison. His face adorned New York City police detective Thomas Byrnes's criminal "rogues' gallery"-photos of known criminals used for identification purposes. A photo of Leary's wife, Kate, was also part of Byrnes's gallery.

For the sake of appearances, Leary ran a run-down boardinghouse in a section of Coney Island considered well beyond most civilized development, called The Red Light. The place became a harboring place for criminals and a safe deposit for stolen merchandise. Leary often buried stolen loot in the sand dunes behind his saloon, or took it out to sea concealed in a water-tight chest and anchored the items deep in the water.

Once, after police were tipped off about the whereabouts of some stolen bolts of silk, New York City police raided The Red Light but found nothing inside the place. Later, after digging in the surrounding sand dunes, they unearthed more than $30,000 worth of silk wrapped in oilcloths and buried in the sand. Both Kate and Red were arrested, but thanks to various political connections and the expertise of Mandelbaum's legal counsel, Howe and Hummel, they were not prosecuted. Both Kate and Red always managed to have a few friends at court and usually managed to escape punishment.

The barroom at Leary's Coney Island fleabag hangout was often visited by Brooklyn politicians and sporting men. Leary himself was a renowned sportsman and gambler, and took pride in the fact that men of wealth and reputation were his patrons. Known bank robbers, many with national reputations, bank sneaks, and other "first-class" criminals invariably dropped in at Red's place, as well. However, petty thieves were not welcomed at the place and faced a hard clubbing by Red if they dared to show up.

Leary was over six feet tall with bright red hair and mustache, broad shoulders, and the powerful frame and the muscles of an athlete. He was afflicted with ingrown eyelashes that often made him half blind, and his large red eyebrows gave Leary a foreboding presence. Although he was reticent and circumspect among those he didn't know, his friends found him to be easygoing, a joker, generous to a fault, and an absolutely loyal and fearless companion. It was these qualities that Leslie admired about Leary. He knew that no matter what, Red Leary wouldn't crack under any circumstances; Leslie was sure that neither the police nor the Pinkertons would ever get anything out of him if he were ever apprehended in a bank heist.

Leary lived with his wife, Kate, a woman whose hair was as red as his.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.