Animal

CASEY SHERMAN

ANIMAL

The Bloody Rise and Fall of the Mob’s Most Feared Assassin

NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY PRESS

BOSTON

Northeastern University Press An imprint of University Press of New England
www.upne.com

© 2013 Northeastern University

All rights reserved

For permission to reproduce any of the material in this book, contact Permissions, University Press of New England, One Court Street, Suite 250, Lebanon NH 03766; or visit
www.upne.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Sherman, Casey, 1969– Animal: the bloody rise and fall of the mob’s most feared assassin / Casey Sherman.

pages cm Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-1-55553-822-4 (hbk.: alk. paper)—ISBN 978-1-55553-821-7 (ebk.) 1. Barboza, Joseph, 1932–1976. 2. Assassins—United States— Biography. 3. Organized crime—United States—History. I. Title.

HV6248.b293s54 2013

364.152'4092—dc23

[B] 2012049987

For

Bella & Mia
,

as always

CONTENTS

Casualties of the Boston Mob War, 1961–1967

Prologue

1
Thacher Island—September 1967

2
Deviltry, Dirt, and Degradation

3
That Pig on the Hill

4
Wild Thing

5
Top Echelon

6
Skullduggery

7
Uncaged

8
War

9
Ruthless Men

10
Deegan

11
Turning Up the Heat