Donald Killeen

Donald Killeen (September 14, 1923 – May 13, 1972) was an Irish-American mob boss who controlled criminal activity, primarily bookmaking, in South Boston, during the 1960s and 1970s.

The Transit Cafe

Killeen owned and managed a bar called the Transit Cafe on West Broadway in South Boston. The Transit Cafe would later be taken over by James J. Bulger and managed by Winter Hill Gang mob associate Kevin Weeks. His organization included Whitey Bulger and William S. O'Sullivan. He engaged in a turf war with South Boston's Mullen Gang.

Personal life

Donald was the second born of five brothers, including Kenneth, Edward, and George. His two brothers, Edward and George, followed Donald into a life of organized crime. His brother George was the first brother to be murdered, found shot to death in the North End neighborhood in 1950. His murderers were never discovered. In 1971 when an associate chewed off the nose of Michael (Mickey) Dwyer, rival Boston gang member and former brother-in-law of Boston Police Department Commissioner Francis (Mickey) Roche, he wrapped it up with a cocktail napkin and sent it to Boston City Hospital in a cab to Dwyer to be reattached. Donald's other brother, Edward, was found shot to death in 1968; it was listed by the county coroner as an apparent suicide. In 1968 he became a father to a son.