George Joynt
George Joynt (1930 Somerville, Massachusetts - July 7, 1962 Medford, Massachusetts, also known as "Ox") was an Irish-American mobster and associate of the Winter Hill Gang. He was the first to be murdered as a counter attack by the Charlestown Mob in revenge for murdering Bernie McLaughlin.
Biography
George was born to blue collar, poverty stricken, first generation emigrants from Limerick, Ireland. George earned the nickname "Ox" because of his sheer brute strength that he demonstrated when fighting. Although George had no criminal association with the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) he believed in the organization's intention of overthrowing both the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland and re-establishing the Irish Republic declared in 1919. He is the brother of fellow Winter Hill Gang associate and criminal Robert Joynt. George was a well known associate of the Winter Hill Gang at the time of his death.
After he was released from prison for unknown offenses, he settled into a home located at 11 Foster Street in Somerville, Massachusetts which was considered Winter Hill Gang territory. He mysteriously disappeared from his usual haunts a few months after the brutal gangland slaying of Bernard McLaughlin, the brother of Charlestown Mob leaders George and Edward. On July 7, 1962 George Joynt's body was discovered buried in a shallow grave by construction workers at the Wellington Circle Shopping Center, Wellington Plaza near Wellington Circle in Medford, Massachusetts. The murderers hoped that the shopping center development in the area would permanently hide the intended secret resting place for the body of Joynt.
The Charlestown Mob had Joynt killed as the best way to ensure the current gang leader Howie Winter's vulnerability. It was Joynt's [...] that would cause repercussion from James J. Bulger and the Winter Hill Gang and the Irish Mob War that would claim many associates of both the Charlestown Mob and the Winter Hill Gang.
The Winter Hill Gang was victorious in the mob war. It is surmised that the corpse was never meant to be found when the shopping center would later be completed and his body encased in the cement foundation of the building. Without having a body present the Winter Hill Gang would not have know what had happened to Joynt and would take measures to find out what had happened. His brother Robert, like John Martorano and James Martorano would align himself with the Winter Hill Gang and become involved with organized crime. It is not known if Robert took any steps in seeking revenge for his brother's killers and if he was successful or not.