Name George Joynt | ||
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George Joynt (1930 in Somerville, Massachusetts – July 7, 1962 in Medford, Massachusetts, also known as "Ox") was an Irish-American mobster and associate of the Winter Hill Gang. He was the first to be murdered as a counterattack by the Charlestown Mob in revenge for murdering Bernie McLaughlin.
Biography
Joynt was born to blue collar, poverty stricken, first generation emigrants from Limerick, Ireland. He earned the nickname "Ox" because of the strength that he demonstrated when fighting. Although not a member of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), he believed in the organization's intention of overthrowing both the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland and re-establishing the Irish Republic declared in 1919.
After he was released from prison for unknown offenses, he settled into a home located at 11 Foster Street in Somerville, Massachusetts which was considered Winter Hill Gang territory. He mysteriously disappeared from his usual haunts a few months after the brutal gangland slaying of Bernard McLaughlin, the brother of Charlestown Mob leaders George and Edward. On July 7, 1962 George Joynt's body was discovered by construction workers. It was buried in a shallow grave at the Wellington Circle Shopping Center, Wellington Plaza near Wellington Circle in Medford, Massachusetts. The murderers had presumably hoped that the shopping center development in the area would permanently hide the body.
The Charlestown Mob had Joynt killed as the best way to ensure the current gang leader Howie Winter's vulnerability. It was Joynt's murder that would cause repercussion from James J. Bulger and the Winter Hill Gang and the Irish Mob War that would claim many associates of both the Charlestown Mob and the Winter Hill Gang.
The Winter Hill Gang was victorious in the mob war. His brother Robert, like John Martorano and James Martorano aligned himself with the Winter Hill Gang and become involved with organized crime.