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During the 1920s , Coll developed a risky but lucrative scam whereby he would kidnap powerful gangsters at gunpoint and extort a ransom from his captive's associates before releasing them. He knew that the victim would not report it to the police, especially because, being criminals, they would have a hard time explaining to the IRS how they happened to have such huge supplies of cash in order to pay for their release. In 1931 , a powerful mobster named Salvatore Maranzano decided to have his rival, Lucky Luciano , murdered, and he hired the infamous Coll to do the job. Coll insisted on a $25,000 payment in advance with the same amount to be paid on completion of the job. On September 9 that year, Luciano was invited to visit Maranzano at his office. The plan was that Coll would turn up and kill Luciano. However, Luciano had received a tip-off about this plan, so he instead sent over a squad of his own hitmen who stabbed and shot Maranzano to death. Coll turned up immediately after the murder, but Luciano had evidently not been informed that Coll was his intended killer. As such, Coll was left alone by the fleeing squad of hitmen, presumably delighted that he could keep his advance of $25,000 without having to do the job on Luciano. He was christened "Mad Dog" Coll by New York City Mayor Jimmy Walker , after a botched hit on Joey Rao, an underling of Dutch Schultz , left a five year old boy named Michael Vengali dead. Coll was later acquitted of the murder after a purported witness perjured himself during the trial. Vincent Coll did not have much of a chance to advance further in the underworld ranks. He was machine-gunned to death in a drug store telephone booth in 1932 by henchmen working for Dutch Schultz after the Vengali killing. Schultz, who allegedly had children of his own by this time (his "legitimate" children would be born later), was furious about the murder and took special care to ensure that Coll died with overkill. The gunmen fired so many rounds into Coll's body that his legs were barely attached when it was retrieved by police. It was rumored that Owney Madden , boss of the Hell's Kitchen Irish Mob kept Coll on the phone while a gunmen crept up behind him, spraying him with bullets. Schultz later sent a wreath to Coll's funeral, bearing a banner with the message, "From the boys." Only his widow actually attended the funeral, however. PORTRAYALS IN FILM Two movies about Coll have been made, both named ''Mad Dog Coll''. One was released in 1961 , where he was played by John Davis Chandler, and the other in 1993 , where he was played by Christopher Bradley. Coll was also portrayed by Nicholas Cage in the film '' The Cotton Club ''. Coll is distantly related to Northern Ireland MP Bríd Rodgers . EXTERNAL LINKS
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