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

Khalid Elhassan June 2, 2025 17 min

A young Michael Malloy, left, and his killers. I09

14. Just Deserts

Malloy - Tony Marino's speakeasy on Third Avenue — Tony Marino’s speakeasy on Third Avenue. Wikimedia

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.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.