Ep. 104 | The Many Murders of Mighty Mike Malloy
This is the tale of “Mighty” Mike Malloy — a down-on-his-luck Bronx bar regular who became the world’s most inconvenient murder victim when a group of Prohibition-era "geniuses" formed what they proudly called… the Murder Trust. Their business plan? Take out a life insurance policy on Mike, get him blackout drunk, and quietly collect the payout. Easy. Efficient. Foolproof.
Except Mike had other plans.
Poisoned drinks? He chugged them. Rotten oysters soaked in methanol? Bon appétit. Sleeping on a park bench in freezing winter weather? Honestly kind of refreshing. Hit-and-runs, toxic sandwiches, industrial-strength alcoholism — at a certain point you have to wonder if Mike Malloy was powered entirely by spite and questionable whiskey.
So how did one man survive multiple murder attempts by a team of increasingly desperate criminals… and how far would they ultimately go to finally finish the job?
Grab a drink — preferably one that isn’t laced with wood alcohol — and join us for the ridiculous, chaotic, and very Irish-American legend of The Many Murders of Mighty Mike Malloy.
SOURCES:
Abbott, K. (2012, February 7). The man who wouldn't die. Smithsonian Magazine. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-man-who-wouldnt-die-89417903/
Archives of the City of New York. (2020, October 9). Unemployment in the Great Depression (P. Toole, Author). NYC Department of Records & Information Services. https://www.archives.nyc/blog/2020/10/9/9ovdpgn8lc5zxcild0ooltvzmfwx22
Criminal (Podcast). (n.d.). The many lives of Michael Malloy [Audio podcast episode]. Radiotopia.
History.com Editors. (2018, March 8). Crime in the Great Depression. HISTORY. https://www.history.com/articles/crime-in-the-great-depression
IrishCentral Staff. (2025, December 6). Michael Malloy – the Irishman in the Bronx that could not be murdered. IrishCentral. https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/michael-malloy-irishman-could-not-murdered
Levrier-Jones, G. (2021, March 7). Michael Malloy. History Is Now Magazine. https://www.historyisnowmagazine.com/blog/tag/Michael+Malloy
Pearson, E. (1933, September 23). Malloy the Mighty. The New Yorker, 9(31), 52–60. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1933/09/23/molloy-the-mighty
