Danny Driscoll
Encyclopedia
Daniel "Danny" Driscoll was an American criminal and co-leader of the Whyos
with Danny Lyons
. The two held joint control over the street gang following the death of Mike McGloin
in 1883, however both men were executed for separate murders only months apart from each other. They were the last powerful leaders of the organization and, following their downfall, the Whyos were eventually replaced by the Eastman
and Five Points Gang
s.
His arrest and eventual conviction for the murder of well-known Five Points
debutante Bridget "Beezy" Garrity during 1886 was preceded by one of the most publicized trials of New York's history.
training local youths to pickpocket. In 1882, Driscoll was arrested for grand larceny
but escaped from The Tombs
when, while being transported in a Black Maria
, he switched names with a man arrested for public drunkenness. Upon their arrival, Driscoll simply paid a $10 fine and walked out of the prison.
He had become a prominent member of the Whyos
by the early 1880s, at the time the most dominant street gang in the city, and became leader of the organization with Danny Lyons
following the execution of longtime leader Mike McGloin
in 1883. In 1885, he was forced to leave the city and spent some time on the west coast before returning to New York in May 1886.
. According to traditional accounts, Driscoll had been approached by Bridget "Beezy" Garrity who claimed she had been cheated by the owner of a panel house operating within the Whyos territory. Although he had been barred from the property of the resident "bouncer" John McCarty (or McCarthy), with whom had had been involved in a long-standing feud, he arrived at the house with Garrity at around 4:00 am. He sent Garrity ahead of him so that she could be let in by McCarty and then let Driscoll in afterwards. However, after Garrity was let in to the front parlor, McCarty spotted Driscoll and attempted to close the door. Driscoll was able to block the door open with his arm and, during the struggle, McCarty drew his revolver.
What happened after this point is unclear, however according to news accounts, Garrity attempted to stop McCarty from using his weapon. Alerted by her cries, Driscoll took his own revolver out and attempted to shoot McCarty by aiming at him from between the edge of the door and the door jamb
. His first shot hit the wall opposite McCarty and then tried, unsuccessfully, to fire between the inner door and the door jamb. Both McCarty and Garrity ran from the area at this point, with Garrity going to the back room. As Driscoll entered the darkened hallway, Garrity ran out from a door leading from the back room. Driscoll apparently thought that this was McCarty and fired into the dark hitting Garrity in the abdomen.
He then attempted to flee the area. Driscoll was pursued by police officers then arriving at the house. Several warning shots were fired, but he did not stop. Driscoll was chased by police before disappearing into the open door of a Baxter Street tenement where his mother lived. An extensive search of the area was conducted and he was eventually found by police hiding behind the door of an unoccupied apartment in the next building. He denied shooting Garrity and had no weapon on him but was taken into custody and held at the Mulberry Street police station.
Garrity was taken to St. Vincent's Hospital
where she died that afternoon. Before she died, she identified McCarty as her attacker. McCarty was initially arrested; however he denied he had fired a shot and showed his revolver which was still loaded and not fired. This claim was later dismissed believing that she was attempting to protect her supposed lover.
When McCarty testified, he claimed that he had been sitting in his room when Garrity, a woman he claimed had never seen before, entered his home with Driscoll following closely behind her. He closed the door behind her and then Driscoll firing his pistol through an opening just below the upper hinge. Believing that Driscoll might enter the house another way and shoot him from behind, McCarty then jumped from a window in an adjoining room into the yard. He had heard a second shot, but did not return to the house until he had seen Driscoll being arrested by police who had arrived by that time. Entering his room, he discovered Garrity lying on his bed and who accused him of having shot her. Upon hearing this, he immediately handed his pistol to an officer, Peter Monahan, who found that the gun was fully loaded and no shots had been fired. Monahan would corroborate this story during the trial.
Driscoll interrupted court proceedings claiming that he himself was unarmed at the time of the incident and that McCarty was the only one who could have shot Garrity. Driscoll then addressed the court.
Carrie Wilson, a local Chrystie Street
resident, testified that she was in the building at the time of the shooting and that she had seen Driscoll and Garrity arrive in a coach with another man and woman. She further claimed that she had seen Driscoll fire two shots through the door and, after the second shot, a women fell. John Green and Emmanuel Devoss, both local residents, said they were in the back room when they also heard shots fired.
On the last day of the trial, a doctor from St. Vincent's Hospital made a surprise appearance and testified that Garrity told him McCarthy was the man who shot her. Driscoll's lawyer, Bill Howe, was also able to weaken the credibility of the witnesses testimony, however Driscoll was found guilty of first degree murder on September 30, 1886.
On the morning of January 23, 1888, Driscoll was brought to the yard of Tombs Prison where he was publicly hanged. His execution was witnessed by Sheriff Grant and his deputy, Fathers Pendergrast and Gilenas, and fourteen reporters. Also present was Commodore Elbridge T. Gerry who attended the execution to report that the execution had been conducted in a humane and just manner.
Whyos
The Whyos, a collection of the various post-Civil War street gangs of New York, was the city's dominant street gang during the late 19th century. The gang controlled most of Manhattan from the late 1860s until the early 1890s, when the Monk Eastman Gang defeated the last of the Whyos...
with Danny Lyons
Danny Lyons
Danny Lyons was, along with Danny Driscoll, the leader of the Whyos street gang during the 1870s and 1880s.A prominent member of the Whyos, a New York City street gang, Lyons led the gang with Danny Driscoll at their height during the late nineteenth century...
. The two held joint control over the street gang following the death of Mike McGloin
Mike McGloin
Mike McGloin was a 19th century criminal and leader of the Whyos, a New York City street gang.-Overview:An early member of the Whyos, Michael McGloin would rise to become leader of the gang by the late 1870s...
in 1883, however both men were executed for separate murders only months apart from each other. They were the last powerful leaders of the organization and, following their downfall, the Whyos were eventually replaced by the Eastman
Eastman Gang
The Eastman Gang was the last of New York's street gangs which dominated the city's underworld during the late 1890s until early 1910s. Along with the Five Points Gang under Paul Kelly, the Eastmans succeeded the long dominant Whyos as the first non-Irish street gang to gain prominence in the...
and Five Points Gang
Five Points Gang
Five Points Gang was a 19th-century and early 20th-century criminal organization, primarily of Italian-American origins, based in the Sixth Ward of Manhattan, New York City. Since the early 19th century, the area was first known for gangs of Irish immigrants...
s.
His arrest and eventual conviction for the murder of well-known Five Points
Five Points, Manhattan
Five Points was a neighborhood in central lower Manhattan in New York City. The neighborhood was generally defined as being bound by Centre Street in the west, The Bowery in the east, Canal Street in the north and Park Row in the south...
debutante Bridget "Beezy" Garrity during 1886 was preceded by one of the most publicized trials of New York's history.
Early life with the Whyos
Growing up in a Five Points tenement district, Driscoll amassed a considerable criminal record by the time he had become a young adult. He was arrested 25 times, many of these involving stabbings and shootings, and had served a combined 16 years in both the New York State Penitentiary and New York State Prison. He also acted as a faginFagin
Fagin is a fictional character who appears as an antagonist of the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist, referred to in the preface of the novel as a "receiver of stolen goods", but referred to more frequently within the actual story as the "merry old gentleman" or simply the "Jew".-Character:Born...
training local youths to pickpocket. In 1882, Driscoll was arrested for grand larceny
Grand Larceny
Grand Larceny is a 1987 thriller film directed by Jeannot Szwarc and starring Marilu Henner, Ian McShane, Omar Sharif and Louis Jourdan.-Plot summary:...
but escaped from The Tombs
The Tombs
"The Tombs" is the colloquial name for the Manhattan Detention Complex, a jail in Lower Manhattan at 125 White Street, as well as the popular name of a series of preceding downtown jails, the first of which was built in 1838 in the Egyptian Revival style of architecture.The nickname has been used...
when, while being transported in a Black Maria
Black Maria
Black Maria may refer to:*Black Maria, a slang term for a police van used to transport prisoners*Edison's Black Maria, a film studio created by Thomas Edison- Music :*The Black Maria, a Canadian rock band...
, he switched names with a man arrested for public drunkenness. Upon their arrival, Driscoll simply paid a $10 fine and walked out of the prison.
He had become a prominent member of the Whyos
Whyos
The Whyos, a collection of the various post-Civil War street gangs of New York, was the city's dominant street gang during the late 19th century. The gang controlled most of Manhattan from the late 1860s until the early 1890s, when the Monk Eastman Gang defeated the last of the Whyos...
by the early 1880s, at the time the most dominant street gang in the city, and became leader of the organization with Danny Lyons
Danny Lyons
Danny Lyons was, along with Danny Driscoll, the leader of the Whyos street gang during the 1870s and 1880s.A prominent member of the Whyos, a New York City street gang, Lyons led the gang with Danny Driscoll at their height during the late nineteenth century...
following the execution of longtime leader Mike McGloin
Mike McGloin
Mike McGloin was a 19th century criminal and leader of the Whyos, a New York City street gang.-Overview:An early member of the Whyos, Michael McGloin would rise to become leader of the gang by the late 1870s...
in 1883. In 1885, he was forced to leave the city and spent some time on the west coast before returning to New York in May 1886.
Murder of Beezy Garrity
On June 26, 1886, Driscoll rode by coach to a three-story brick house on the north side of Hester StreetHester Street
Hester Street is a street in the Lower East Side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. The street stretches from Essex Street to Centre Street, with a discontinuity between Chrystie Street and Forsyth Street for Sara Delano Roosevelt Park....
. According to traditional accounts, Driscoll had been approached by Bridget "Beezy" Garrity who claimed she had been cheated by the owner of a panel house operating within the Whyos territory. Although he had been barred from the property of the resident "bouncer" John McCarty (or McCarthy), with whom had had been involved in a long-standing feud, he arrived at the house with Garrity at around 4:00 am. He sent Garrity ahead of him so that she could be let in by McCarty and then let Driscoll in afterwards. However, after Garrity was let in to the front parlor, McCarty spotted Driscoll and attempted to close the door. Driscoll was able to block the door open with his arm and, during the struggle, McCarty drew his revolver.
What happened after this point is unclear, however according to news accounts, Garrity attempted to stop McCarty from using his weapon. Alerted by her cries, Driscoll took his own revolver out and attempted to shoot McCarty by aiming at him from between the edge of the door and the door jamb
Door jamb
A doorjamb is the vertical portion of the frame onto which a door is secured. The jamb bears the weight of the door through its hinges, and most types of door latches and deadbolts extend into a recess in the doorjamb when engaged, making the "true" and strength of the doorjambs vitally important...
. His first shot hit the wall opposite McCarty and then tried, unsuccessfully, to fire between the inner door and the door jamb. Both McCarty and Garrity ran from the area at this point, with Garrity going to the back room. As Driscoll entered the darkened hallway, Garrity ran out from a door leading from the back room. Driscoll apparently thought that this was McCarty and fired into the dark hitting Garrity in the abdomen.
He then attempted to flee the area. Driscoll was pursued by police officers then arriving at the house. Several warning shots were fired, but he did not stop. Driscoll was chased by police before disappearing into the open door of a Baxter Street tenement where his mother lived. An extensive search of the area was conducted and he was eventually found by police hiding behind the door of an unoccupied apartment in the next building. He denied shooting Garrity and had no weapon on him but was taken into custody and held at the Mulberry Street police station.
Garrity was taken to St. Vincent's Hospital
Saint Vincent's Catholic Medical Center
Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers ' was a healthcare system, anchored by its flagship hospital, St. Vincent's Hospital Manhattan, locally referred to as "St. Vincent's". St. Vincent's was founded in 1849 and closed in 2010...
where she died that afternoon. Before she died, she identified McCarty as her attacker. McCarty was initially arrested; however he denied he had fired a shot and showed his revolver which was still loaded and not fired. This claim was later dismissed believing that she was attempting to protect her supposed lover.
Murder trial
Fifty members of the Whyos were in the courtroom at the time of his arraignment, however they were forced to leave by the presiding judge Justice Patterson. On the morning of June 28, Driscoll and McCarty were taken to the Tombs Police Court. They appeared friendly and were talking for some time prior to the proceedings. Once court was in session however, both men blamed each other for Garrity's death.When McCarty testified, he claimed that he had been sitting in his room when Garrity, a woman he claimed had never seen before, entered his home with Driscoll following closely behind her. He closed the door behind her and then Driscoll firing his pistol through an opening just below the upper hinge. Believing that Driscoll might enter the house another way and shoot him from behind, McCarty then jumped from a window in an adjoining room into the yard. He had heard a second shot, but did not return to the house until he had seen Driscoll being arrested by police who had arrived by that time. Entering his room, he discovered Garrity lying on his bed and who accused him of having shot her. Upon hearing this, he immediately handed his pistol to an officer, Peter Monahan, who found that the gun was fully loaded and no shots had been fired. Monahan would corroborate this story during the trial.
Driscoll interrupted court proceedings claiming that he himself was unarmed at the time of the incident and that McCarty was the only one who could have shot Garrity. Driscoll then addressed the court.
Carrie Wilson, a local Chrystie Street
Chrystie Street
Chrystie Street is a street on Manhattan's Lower East Side. It runs for about seven blocks, from Canal Street to East Houston Street. Chrystie Street extends northward to become Second Avenue....
resident, testified that she was in the building at the time of the shooting and that she had seen Driscoll and Garrity arrive in a coach with another man and woman. She further claimed that she had seen Driscoll fire two shots through the door and, after the second shot, a women fell. John Green and Emmanuel Devoss, both local residents, said they were in the back room when they also heard shots fired.
On the last day of the trial, a doctor from St. Vincent's Hospital made a surprise appearance and testified that Garrity told him McCarthy was the man who shot her. Driscoll's lawyer, Bill Howe, was also able to weaken the credibility of the witnesses testimony, however Driscoll was found guilty of first degree murder on September 30, 1886.
Imprisonment and execution
Days before his conviction, Driscoll was moved to "Murderer's Row" after it was discovered by the warden that Driscoll had been attempting to tunnel out of his cell. He was guarded by Inspector Williams and 75 police officers for the remainder of his time in The Tombs. He was allowed to see his relatives the day before his execution and, in his last words to his wife, Driscoll said "I die happy. Take good care of yourself, Mary. I'll pray for you in heaven." Maintaining his innocence, he continued to make criminal charges against Warden Walsh. These charges were disputed among a number of prison guards who signed a petition in his defense.On the morning of January 23, 1888, Driscoll was brought to the yard of Tombs Prison where he was publicly hanged. His execution was witnessed by Sheriff Grant and his deputy, Fathers Pendergrast and Gilenas, and fourteen reporters. Also present was Commodore Elbridge T. Gerry who attended the execution to report that the execution had been conducted in a humane and just manner.
Further reading
- Browning, Frank and John Gerassi. The American Way of Crime: From Salem to Watergate, a Stunning New Perspective on Crime in America. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1980.
- Kohn, George C. Dictionary of Culprits and Criminals. Metuchen, New Jersey: Scarecrow Press, 1986.
- Moss, FrankFrank Moss (lawyer)Frank Moss was an American lawyer, reformer and author. He was involved in many of the reform movements in New York City shortly before the turn of the century up until his death. As a longtime assistant to District Attorney Charles S...
. The American Metropolis from Knickerbocker Days to the Present Time. London: The Authors' Syndicate, 1897. - Riis, Jacob AJacob RiisJacob August Riis was a Danish American social reformer, "muckraking" journalist and social documentary photographer. He is known for using his photographic and journalistic talents to help the impoverished in New York City; those impoverished New Yorkers were the subject of most of his prolific...
. How the Other Half Lives: Studies Among the Tenements of New York. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1890. - Rovere, Richard H. The Magnificent Shysters: The True and Scandalous History of Howe & Hummel. New York: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers, 1947.
- Russell, Charles Edward. Bare Hands and Stone Walls: Some Recollections of a Side-line Reformer. York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1933.
- Still, Charles E. Styles in Crimes: With 21 Illustrations in Doubletone. J.B. Lippincott, 1938.