The name Mike Malloy might not ring a bell, but the man lived an extraordinary life that feels straight out of a science fiction film. The Irish homeless man survived a lot of attempts on his life.
Once in a lifetime, we hear the story of someone who skipped or survived a lethal attack. But what if someone survives multiple such attacks? The man who wouldn’t die, Michael or Mike Malloy’s story is legendary. Even death couldn’t catch him for years as he managed to live for a long life.
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The Extraordinary Tale of Mike Malloy
Michael Malloy, born in 1873, was a homeless Irishman from County Donegal. The ordinary-looking man achieved such an extraordinary feat that he was dubbed “Mike the Durable” or “Iron Mike.”
In 1932, the former firefighter lived as a homeless person in New York. It was the time when the United States was hit by the great depression. Mike came into contact with a shady real estate proprietor named Tony Marino who hatched a plan to murder him.
The plan was to take insurance policies in his name, kill him and take the money. He was accompanied by Joe Murphy, Frank Pasqua, Dan Krisberg, and Tony Bastone. Mike befriended them during a drinking session. Two separate policies were opened for $980 and $800 respectively, which amounts to around $73,000 today (adjusted to inflation).
They made Mike drink heavily and took him to a lonely street. The four guys went about running him over before leaving him to die. But Mike magically survived despite sustaining multiple injuries including a broken collarbone.
All About The Multiple Murder Attempts
After recovering from his injuries, Mike once again joined a drinking session with the four guys. The group, also known as the Murder Trust, drove Malloy to the local Crotona Park. They soaked him in water and left him on a park bench to freeze to death on the cold winter night.
But surprisingly, Mike walked again and stated, “Gotta have a shot. Caught meself a cold”. The firefighter who was in his 60s did not die from overdrinking. The group replaced antifreeze with alcohol and Mike was still fine.
Later they replaced antifreeze with turpentine, then horse liniment, and finally rat poison was mixed with his alcohol. But they couldn’t kill Mike. Even methanol was given to him but he stood still. Oysters laced with meths, spoiled sardine sandwiches, and everything else were also tried. But Mike just did not die.
Realizing no attempt would kill him, on February 23, 1933, the Trust took Mike to Murphy’s room after he passed out from drinking. They held a hose to his mouth connected to a local gas jet. It finally killed him. The police heard about the rumors and his stories soon spread like wildfire.
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