Owney Madden Is Dead

Apr. 23, 1965 - Owen Vincent (Owney) Madden, whose blazing underworld career terrorized two states in the Prohibition era, died in a hospital in Hot Springs, Ark., early today. He was 73 years old.

Chronic emphysema, a lung disease, took his life at 12:10 a.m., accomplishing what numerous bullets never did.

Madden, a dapper, soft-spoken man, was born in England, coming to this country when he was 11 years old.

He was first arrested in 1910 in New York on a charge of burglary and was acquitted. Madden was convicted on a charge of manslaughter in 1914. He was sentenced to 10 to 20 years in Sing Sing and was paroled in 1925.

From that point on, he moved in the shadows as a thief, burglar, executioner, and hired hand for more highly organized hoodlums, according to the police, who were not able to convict him on most of the charges.

In later years, he moved up in the hierarchy of hoodlums who enjoyed the fruits of Prohibition. New York police nicknamed him “Clay Pigeon” because he was riddled with bullets while he was a beer baron and racketeer in New York and New Jersey during the 1930’s.

He was accused by the police of six killings but served only two prison terms — one for “instigating” a killing and the other for parole violation.

While in Sing Sing Prison at Ossining, N.Y., he admitted to operating a New York City brewery that turned out 300,000 gallons of beer a day during the Prohibition era.

Madden had lived in quiet retirement in Hot Springs since 1935. He went there in ill health with the scars and faded headlines to show for more than 20 violent years.

Madden was a member of a gang of bootleggers whose trucks ran every night to appointed drops in New York and New Jersey.

Some of his associates included Big Frenchy de Mange, Vincent (Mad Dog) Coll, Dutch Schultz, Larry Fay, Chink Sherman, Bo Weinberg, Vannie Higgins, and Jack (Legs) Diamond.

During his heyday, Madden owned nightclubs, prizefighters, hotels, slot machines, and lottery games and operated a coal company and a laundry in Brooklyn.

In his later years, he was a big contributor to charities, particularly for young people.

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