Johnny Dolan
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"Dandy" Johnny Dolan (c. 1850-April 21, 1876) was a New York murder and prominent member of the Whyos street gang.
A leading member of the Whyos during its glory years of the post-Civil War era, Dolan was known as a particularly inventive criminal perfecting a variety of devices widely used for assault and murder throughout the underworld, specifically a copper eye gouger worn on the thumb which was used both in criminal activities and in battles with other gangs. Dolan himself had a personally designed pair of boots with sections of a sharp ax blade embedded in its soles, used to stomp a downed victim.
On the morning of August 22, 1875, while attempting to burglarize a local Greenwich Street brush factory, Dolan was confronted by its owner James H. Noe whom he attacked with his eye gougers before beating him to death with an iron bar. According to underworld lore, Dolan later presented his victim's gouged eyes before other members of the Whyos before he was apprehended by police after finding a specialized cane, with a metal handle carved into the likeness of a monkey, as well as a watch and chain belonging to Noe. Based on this evidence he was tried and found guilty of murder for which he was hanged on April 21, 1876.
[edit] References
- Asbury, Herbert. The Gangs of New York. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1928. ISBN 1-56025-275-8
- Sifakis, Carl. The Encyclopedia of American Crime. New York: Facts on File Inc., 2001. ISBN 0-8160-4040-0
