Mickey Duffy
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Mickey Duffy (1888-August 31, 1931) was an Atlantic City mobster and rival of Maxie "Boo Boo" Hoff during Prohibition; his aliases including John Murphy, George McEwen and Michael "Mickey" Duffy.
Born William Michael Cusick to Polish immigrants, Duffy became involved in petty theft and other misdemeanors during his youth before more serious crimes during his teenage years, including armed robbery and hijacking prior to entering bootlegging during Prohibition. By the early 1920s, he had become of the most dominant bootleggers in the Delaware Valley possessing breweries in Philadelphia, Camden, and South Jersey. Among his associates included former rival Max Hassell, Harry Green, James Richardson, Charles Bodine and Nicholas Delmore although he would be in frequent battle against rivals such as Hoff and the Bailey brothers throughout the decade.
During this time, Duffy expanded into legitimate businesses including owning of several prominent clubs, including the Perkin and the Cadix, the latter being the site of a failed attempt on his life by Francis Bailey and Peter Ford on February 25, 1927.
Following the death of John Finiello, an agent of the Prohibition Bureau killed during a 1930 raid on one of Duffy's breweries in Elizabethtown, New Jersey, local authorities began cracking down of Duffy's criminal operations causing some animosity among his partners including his bodyguard and chauffeur Joseph Beatty.
While staying at the Ambassador Hotel in Atlantic City, Duffy was murdered by unknown assailants on August 31, 1931 and, although the case remained unsolved, it was suspected by authorities at the time that the alleged assailants may have been associates who had been disgruntled with Duffy and had conspired to seize control of Duffy's bootlegging operations.
Within several months, two individuals alleged to have been involved Samuel E. Grossman and Albert Skale, were gunned down at a club on Watts Street and Girard Avenue in December 1931 beginning a wave of violence among various factions among the Philadelphia underworld.
