The Man Who Wouldn’t Die – The Bizarre Depression Era Crime That Shaped How Our Insurance Works

21. A Desperate Barkeep

Malloy became legendary after he survived repeated murder attempts by “friends” who sought to kill him to collect on life insurance policies they had taken out on him. That endurance earned him the nicknames “Iron Mike” and “Mike the Durable”. An alcoholic, Malloy was a longtime client of Marino’s, a rundown Bronx speakeasy. There, he often drank on credit until he passed out.

He paid when he could whenever he drifted into temporary employment such as street cleaner or coffin polisher, and let the tab run for months when he drifted out of employment and was broke. In 1932, in the depths of the Great Depression, Marino’s proprietor and namesake, Anthony “Tony” Marino, was in a financial bind and desperate to get his hands on some money. He saw in the decrepit Malloy the answer to his problems.

20. The “Murder Trust”

Marino had previously profited from a scam involving a homeless woman named Mabelle Carson. He convinced her to take out a $2,000 life insurance policy, naming him as beneficiary, then got her passed-out drunk and exposed her to freezing temperatures until she died. So Marino decided to return to the homicidal insurance fraud well. Emboldened by his earlier success with Carson, Marino devised a similar scheme, and conspired with four acquaintances to make some quick cash.

He enlisted Joseph “Red” Murphy, his bartender; Daniel Kriesberg, a grocer; Frank Pasqua, an undertaker; and Harry Green, a taxi driver. Helped by a corrupt insurance agent, they would take out multiple life insurance policies on Malloy, get him to drink himself to death, and collect when he perished. Together, the conspirators became known as the “Murder Trust”.

19. A Bizarre Insurance Scam

The conspirators secured multiple life insurance policies on Malloy, totaling $3,500 – a significant amount during the Great Depression. Murphy posed as Malloy’s brother to do the paperwork, and Malloy, in exchange for promises of free alcohol, signed the necessary documents without understanding their content. Marino then extended Malloy unlimited credit at the speakeasy.

In of itself, it was not the most bizarre of plans. However, the way it was carried out after Malloy failed to die of drink in a timely manner certainly was. The initial plan was straightforward: provide Malloy with unlimited alcohol, and his excessive drinking would kill him. However, despite consuming large quantities of liquor daily, Malloy showed no signs of deteriorating health.

18. Booze, Antifreeze, Turpentine, Horse Liniment, Wood Alcohol and Spoiled Sardines Couldn’t Kill Malloy

Day in and day out, Malloy drank all his waking hours, and showed no ill effects. To speed him along, the plotters added antifreeze to his booze, but the old Irishman simply drank until he passed out, then asked for more when he regained consciousness. The coconspirators replaced antifreeze with turpentine. Nothing.

They switched from turpentine to horse liniment – basically, liquid Bengay. Malloy poured it down the hatch and asked for more. They added rat poison to the mix. Malloy’s body did not seem to notice. Oysters soaked in wood alcohol did not do the trick. Nor did a spoiled sardine sandwich sprinkled with metal shavings. With each passing day, the conspirators grew more and more desperate.

17. Freezing Wouldn’t Kill Malloy

Marino and his coconspirators figured that nothing he ate or drank could dent Malloy’s bizarre durability. So they decided to freeze him to death. One cold winter night when the temperature dipped to minus fourteen degrees Fahrenheit, they waited for him to pass out. When he did, they stripped Malloy of his clothes, then carried him to a park, dumped him in the snow, and poured five gallons of water on his chest to make sure he froze solid.

Malloy was found by police and taken to a homeless shelter. He woke up the next day none the worse for wear, and showed up at Marino’s for his daily booze on credit. Next, the plotters decided to vehicular homicide and leave behind a run over Malloy as the apparent victim of a random hit and run.

16. Nor Did Running Malloy Over With a Taxi Do Him In

Harry Green had a taxi, so his coconspirators set Malloy up for the cabbie to run him over. They bundled a drunk Malloy into Green’s cab, and drove him to a secluded spot. There, they hauled him out and held him as Green gunned the engine. Somehow, even in his extremely inebriated state, Malloy’s survival instincts kicked in, and he managed to get out of the way twice, before Green finally managed to run him over on the third attempt.

To make absolutely sure that his victim was definitely done and dusted dead, Green reversed his taxi over Malloy. The plotters then fled, leaving behind a mangled corpse. Mangled Malloy might have been, but he was not a corpse. After three days of reading the obituaries but not finding anything about Malloy, Joseph “Red” Murphy began to call and check hospitals and morgues, searching for his missing “brother”.

15. What Finally Did the Trick

Murphy finally found Malloy – not in a morgue, but alive and kicking in a hospital bed. He was somewhat the worse for wear with bruises, bandages, and a broken collarbone, but very much alive. He was hospitalized for three weeks, and soon as he was released, he was back at the speakeasy to get his free booze.

Finally, on February 22^nd, 1933, the plotters managed to get it right. They got Malloy liquored up to the gills once again, and when he passed out, they took him to the room of Marino’s bartender, Murphy. There, they stuck a gas hose in the unconscious Malloy’s mouth, and turned on the jets. That did the trick, and Malloy perished from monoxide poisoning within an hour. A bribed doctor, Frank Manzella, signed their victim’s death certificate, citing lobar pneumonia as the cause of death.

14. Just Deserts

The plotters collected on the insurance, but rumors of “Mike the Durable” spread throughout the Bronx. Before long, they reached the ears of the insurers and cops. Malloy’s body was exhumed and reexamined, and the truth came out. The plotters were tried and convicted in 1934.

Harry Green, the cabbie, received a prison sentence, and Dr. Manzella was convicted of a misdemeanor for his failure to report a suspicious death. The other four plotters got it much worse. Tony Marino, the speakeasy’s proprietor, Joseph “Red” Murphy, his bartender; Daniel Kriesberg, the grocer; and Frank Pasqua were tried for first degree murder. All four were convicted, got the death penalty, and met their ends on the electric chair.

13. The Malloy Case Led to Major Insurance Changes

The Michael Malloy case became famous – or infamous – as the story of the insurance scam over the “Man Who Wouldn’t Die” or the tale of the “Murder Trust”. In addition to macabre, the tale had broader implications and a lasting legacy, particularly in the realms of insurance, public perception of crime, and regulatory reform.

One of its most significant impacts was stricter identity verification. The “Murder Trust” had found it easy to take out multiple life insurance policies on Malloy using a falsified identity (“Nicholas Mellory”), forged documents, and no familial connection. Malloy, a homeless alcoholic, knew nothing of these policies, and unwittingly signed paperwork while intoxicated.

12. Stricter Identity Verification

The ease with which the conspirators manipulated the system triggered public outrage, and led to significant insurance sector reforms. In the case’s aftermath, insurers adopted stricter identity verification measures to prevent similar frauds. One of the first changes was more rigorous documentation requirements.

Applicants were now typically required to present multiple valid identifications, such as birth certificates, government-issued IDs, or affidavits confirming identity and relationships to beneficiaries. Insurers also implemented mandatory in-person interviews to verify identity and intent, making it harder to file fraudulent applications using fabricated personas.

11. Third Party Verification and Insistence on an Insurable Interest

Another key reform was the introduction of third-party verification checks. Insurance companies began to cross-reference applications with public records, and use external databases to confirm the applicant’s identity, age, address, and occupation.

That includes checking for criminal backgrounds or prior fraudulent activity. That made it harder to insure someone under false pretenses. Insurers also tightened rules around who could be named a beneficiary. Policies could no longer be taken out on individuals without demonstrating an insurable interest – a legitimate financial or familial relationship with the insured.

10. The Most Important Reform

Most importantly, the Malloy case contributed to the eventual development of centralized policy tracking systems. They allow insurers to flag suspicious patterns, such as multiple policies taken out on the same individual across different companies. Together, the reforms significantly strengthened insurers’ ability to detect and prevent fraud.

Malloy’s case, while grim, was ultimately a turning point that forced insurers to prioritize ethical standards and safeguard against manipulation. Nowadays, we take identity verification procedures for granted, but there was a time when they simply did not exist. We owe much of the verification measures we have today to lessons learned from Malloy’s murder.

9. Mandatory Medical Examinations

In Malloy’s day, it was possible to take out life insurance policies on individuals without any formal health screening. That allowed the “Murder Trust” conspirators to insure a chronically ill elderly alcoholic multiple times. Malloy’s severe alcoholism, malnutrition, and poor health would have made him high-risk and unfit for most policies. However, the lack of medical vetting allowed the conspirators to present him as a healthy, insurable candidate.

After his death, an autopsy revealed Malloy’s true condition, prompting industry-wide introspection. The realization that someone in such poor health could be insured so easily, without a single medical check, triggered reforms. Insurers began to mandate medical examinations as a prerequisite for issuing most life insurance policies. Evaluations now typically include physical exams, blood and urine tests, and a review of applicants’ medical histories.

8. Mandatory in Person Medical Exams as Further Means to Verify Identity and Consent

Medical examination requirements ushered in evidence-based underwriting, with decisions based on verified medical data, not just applicant statements. Insurers also established medical underwriting departments, staffed with physicians and analysts trained to evaluate health risk profiles. They review applications and medical records to ensure accuracy and detect red flags, such as signs of terminal illness or inconsistent medical histories.

Mandatory exams also made it more difficult to insure someone without their knowledge. Insurers now require applicants to appear in person for medical assessments, which helps verify identity and consent – another safeguard against the kind of fraud seen in Malloy’s case. Sparked by the failures exposed in the Malloy case, these reforms created a more secure and ethical insurance process, protecting both insurer and insured from exploitation.

7. Centralized Policy Tracking

A critical weakness exposed by the Malloy case was the lack of communication between insurance companies – a vulnerability that the “Murder Trust” exploited with ease. They took out multiple life insurance policies on Malloy under an alias, across different companies. Without a centralized system to detect duplication, the conspirators were able to set the stage for a highly profitable fraud.

In the case’s aftermath, insurance regulators and providers recognized the urgent need for a more integrated and transparent system. That led to significant reforms to improve centralized policy tracking. Before that, insurers operated in silos, unable to tell if a person was already insured elsewhere, or if someone was taking out several policies on the same individual for nefarious reasons.

6. Shared Insurance Databases and Flagging Suspicious Behavior

In response to Malloy’s case, the insurance industry began to set up shared databases and policy registries. Such systems allow insurers to check if an applicant already had coverage through other providers, how much coverage was in place, and whether any recent claims had been filed. Over time, those systems evolved into what is now known as Medical Information Bureaus (MIBs), which store insurance applications and claims data.

The tracking systems also introduced flags for suspicious behavior, such as repeated applications on the same individual or unusually large amounts of coverage requested within a short time. That made it more difficult for fraudsters to operate across multiple insurers undetected, as happened in Malloy’s case.

5. Greater Emphasis on Information Sharing and Fraud Prevention

State insurance commissions and industry associations also began to encourage cooperation between insurers. Information sharing protocols and fraud prevention partnerships were established, paving the way for the digital, interconnected systems used today. Centralized policy tracking became one of the most powerful tools in modern insurance fraud detection.

The reforms not only protect insurers from financial loss, but also safeguard individuals from being unknowingly turned into targets for profit, as Malloy tragically was. The ease with which the conspirators tried to collect on Malloy’s death showed how uncritical claim review processes could be. Insurers became more diligent in investigating unusual deaths or high-risk claims, especially those with anonymous or unrelated beneficiaries.

4. A Significant Cultural Impact

The murder’s absurdity, and how Malloy survived multiple attempts to do him in, fueled massive media coverage. The case was sensationalized in newspapers and later recounted in books, podcasts, and documentaries. It became one of the earliest examples of a “true crime” media phenomenon. The tale is still told today as a darkly humorous example of human resilience and criminal incompetence. It has inspired novels, stage plays, and even songs.

The sheer depravity and persistence of the “Murder Trust” also caused moral panic. The case revealed that murder could be methodically plotted for something as bureaucratic as an insurance payout. For a time, the public grew suspicious of life insurance policies – especially those taken out by non-family members. The idea that people could insure others without their knowledge was alarming. Public pressure mounted for greater government oversight and higher insurance industry ethical standards.

3. The Malloy Case’s Impact on the Criminal Justice System

The Malloy case tested the legal limits of conspiracy to commit murder, insurance fraud, and collusion with medical professionals. The successful prosecutions helped set precedents for the use of circumstantial evidence in fraud-related murder cases; holding accountable corrupt doctors and undertakers involved in death fraud schemes; and enhanced sentencing for murder motivated by financial fraud.

The exhumation and autopsy that revealed carbon monoxide poisoning demonstrated the importance of forensics to uncover sophisticated fraud. In the case’s aftermath, greater emphasis was placed on autopsies in suspicious deaths, and forensic pathology became more important in criminal investigations.

2. Ethical Reforms

The Malloy case revealed not just serious flaws in the insurance industry, but also ethical shortfalls in a number of professions. An insurance agent knowingly allowed fraudulent policies to be taken out. To hide a homicide, a doctor was bribed to falsify the death certificate, and an undertaker colluded to cover up the murder. As a result, licensing and ethical standards for medical professionals and insurance agents were re-examined, and organizations implemented internal auditing systems to prevent collusion and detect fraud.

1. A Legacy of Change

Set during the Great Depression, the bizarre murder reflects how economic despair can drive people to moral and legal ruin. It was not just a murder story, but also a mirror reflecting societal desperation. Ever since, the “Murder Trust” has been studied in sociology and criminology courses to highlight the relationship between poverty, crime, and opportunity.

The Malloy case remains one of the most bizarre and grimly fascinating stories in American criminal history. Beyond the shocking details, however, it pushed the insurance industry, law enforcement, and regulatory bodies to evolve. The way insurance as we know it today is handled – especially life insurance – owes a lot to the unfortunate “Mike the Durable”.

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Where Did We Find This Stuff? Some Sources and Further Reading

Gizmodo – The Legend of Mike ‘The Durable’ Malloy, History’s Most Stubborn Murder Victim

History Collection – A Notorious Gangster Started One of the First Soup Kitchens in America During the Great Depression

Lexology – Insurable Interest

New York Times, July 4^th, 1934 – Last Malloy Kill Will Die Tomorrow

NY Daily News, October 14^th, 2007 – The Durable Mike Malloy

Read, Simon – On the House: The Bizarre Killing of Michael Malloy (2005)

Smithsonian Magazine, February 7^th, 2012 – The Man Who Wouldn’t Die