Donald Killeen

Donald Killeen (September 14, 1923 South Boston, Massachusetts-May 13, 1972 Framingham, Massachusetts) was an Irish-American mob boss who controlled criminal activity, primarily bookmaking in South Boston, Massachusetts, during the 1960s and 1970s. He owned and managed a bar called 'The Transit Cafe' on West Broadway in the Boston Navy Yard located in the Charlestown, Massachusetts neighborhood. The 'Transit Cafe' would later be taken over by James J. Bulger and managed by Winter Hill Gang mob associate Kevin Weeks. Donald was the eldest of four brothers including Kenneth, Edward and George. His two brothers Edward and George followed Donald into a life of organized crime. His last name is derived from Killen, County Tyrone in Ireland. His brother George was the first brother to be murdered, George was found shot to death in the North End, Boston neighborhood in 1950. His murderers were never discovered. In 1971 when an associate chewed off the tip of Michael (Mickey) Dwyer, rival Boston gang member and former brother-in-law of Boston Police Department Commissioner Francis (Mickey) Roche he wrapped up Dwyer's nose in ice with a cocktail napkin and sent it down to Boston City Hospital in a cab to Dwyer to be reattached. Donald's other brother, Edward was found shot to death in 1968 that was listed by the county coroner as an apparent suicide. In 1968 he became a father to a son. His organization included Whitey Bulger and William S. O'Sullivan. He engaged in a turf war with South Boston's Mullen Gang before being killed outside his home in suburban Framingham, Massachusetts, on May 13, 1972 as he was called away by an associate on his son Gregory's fourth birthday. He left the house saying he was going to fetch a newspaper but in reality was going to get his son's present, a toy fire engine in the trunk of his 1971 Chevrolet Nova. As Donald went to fetch a gun stashed underneath the driver's seat of his car, the gunman pulled open the car door and jammed the machine gun in his face before squeezing off fifteen rounds. The last and youngest brother Kenneth was jogging past a parked car in the City Point neighborhood of Boston with four men in it. A voice called him over to the car and said, "It's over. You're out of business, no more warnings" as a threat to not try and avenge his three brother's deaths or continue their rackets. Kenneth would later testify at the trial of John Connolly that in the car was James J. Bulger, Stephen Flemmi and John Martorano.

Bulger has been accused of the murder by longtime rumor. However, former Mullen gang member Patrick Nee states that the murder was actually committed by Mullen enforcer Jimmy Mantville.

Further reading

• English, T.J. Paddy Whacked: The Untold Story of the Irish American Gangster. New York: HarperCollins, 2005. ISBN 0-06-059002-5
• Lehr, Dick and Gerard O'Neill. Black Mass: The Irish Mob, the Boston FBI and a Devil's Deal. New York: Public Affairs, 2000. ISBN 1-891620-40-1

Persondata
Name	Killeen, Donald
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Date of birth	1924
Place of birth
Date of death	1972
Place of death