Vincent Coll : Short Biography

Vincent 'Mad Dog' Coll was born in Gweedore, County Donegal, on the 20th of July 1908. When he was just a year old, Coll's family emigrated to America, travelling as steerage passengers on board the SS Columbia. Coll's family settled in New York where he was raised in the Bronx.  A troublesome young man, Coll soon developed a reputation as a tearaway and was sent to a number of different Catholic reform schools, from which he was repeatedly expelled. When he was 12 years old, he was arrested for unlawful entry, and four years later again for carrying a gun. In his short life, Coll was arrested a total of 12 times. 

In the 1920's, he found employment with Dutch Schultz's mob. His position was that of an armed guard for Schultz's illegal beer delivery trucks. Coll's ruthless behaviour was seen as an area of great potential, and his position within the mob soon changed from that of guard, to assassin. His first murder charge came when Coll was only 19 years old. He was charged with the murder of a speakeasy operator and a dancehall hostess. The charges were dismissed but it is generally believed that this was due to Schultz's intervention and not any innocence on Coll's part. 

Coll was becoming more powerful within the mob, and when his demand to become equal partners with Schultz was declined, he went on to form his own gang. A shooting war broke out with the Schultz mob during which roughly 20 men were killed. Coll's gang funded themselves by kidnapping rival gang leaders for ransom, a clever tactic as the kidnappings would go unreported. One such kidnapping went tragically wrong when a child was accidentally shot and killed, and four others injured on the 28th of July 1931. This incident was what earned Coll his nickname, as the then New York mayor dubbed him 'a mad dog'. Although Coll went on trial for the murder, the judge ruled not guilty and he went free once more. 

After his acquittal for the child's murder, Coll was hired by a mafia boss to kill his right hand man. The fee was $25,000 in advance. The doomed man got wind of the intended hit and instead struck first, so Coll went away with money in pocket and without having to kill, or answer to, anyone. 

Coll lived his life as a marked man. At one stage there was  $50,000 bounty on his head. Not only were the mob desperate to kill him, but the police force were determined to put him behind bars once and for all. his luck finally ran out on the 8th of February 1932, when he was shot dead in a telephone booth. The call had been traced to determine his whereabouts. His killers were chased but never identified. 

15 bullets were removed from Coll's body in the morgue. He was buried in the Bronx, in Old St Raymond's Cemetery. His former boss and rival Schultz famously sent a wreath reading "From the Boys".