First Murder in the Boston Gang Wars; Blame it on the Brinks Robbery

The Brink’s Robbery was the greatest heist in the country up to that time. A group of eight men in Captain Marvel masks and peacoats stole about $1.3 million in cash and $1.5 million in checks, money orders and other securities from the supposedly impenetrable Brink’s building. The Brinks robbery headlined the nation’s news for weeks even before the Brink’s company offered an amazing $100,000 reward. This heist went unsolved for years. Joseph “Specs” O’Keefe one of the robbers, left town immediately after the robbery, leaving behind his cut of the money stolen. He got jammed up in Pennsylvania for a different robbery and did some time there. When he came back to Boston, Specs wanted his share of the haul. He became a pest and bothered the others for his cut. None of his former pals wanted to deal with him so they decided to hire a hit man to murder him. They reached out to Elmer “Trigger” Burke, a hit man from Hell’s Kitchen, New York who took the job. According to police, Burke drove up to Boston and opened fire on O’Keefe with a machine gun from a moving car. Burke only managed to wound O’Keefe. <a href="https://medium.com/@mattatty/first-murder-in-the-boston-gang-wars-blame-it-on-the-brinks-robbery-773b5fb72f1d">Click Here</a>