Tom Devaney

Not to be confused with Tom Devanney.

Tom Devaney (d. July 20, 1976) was a New York mobster and an enforcer to Mickey Spillane during the 1960s and 70s. As Spillane's chief lieutenant, Devaney played a leading role in the growing animosity between Spillane and the Genovese crime family as well as the gang war against James Coonan.

Sullivan observed Devaney for eight weeks, then disguised himself with an afro wig and skin dye, followed Devaney into a bar-and-grill in Midtown Manhattan and shot him in the head. Tommy Devaney was an exhibition worker on the West Side who was murdered by George Barone because "he was interfering with us" as George told prosecutor in court. Barone got only an assist for that slaying, which was carried out by a gunman named Joe "Mad Dog" Sullivan, who shot Devaney as he sipped a cold beer in a midtown bar after attending a wake across the street.

Devaney's death marked the beginning of the end for Spillane's operation. Spillane himself was murdered the following year.

References

English, T.J. Paddy Whacked: The Untold Story of the Irish American Gangster. New York: HarperCollins, 2005. ISBN 0-06-059002-5
English, T.J. The Westies: Inside the Hell's Kitchen Irish Mob. St Martin's Paperbacks, 1991. ISBN 0-312-92429-1

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