The Truth Behind The film "State of Grace" That They Had To Censor !
7. The Truth Behind The film "State of Grace" That They Had To Censor !
In 1990, Hollywood released State of Grace, starring Sean Penn, Gary Oldman, and Ed Harris — a gritty crime drama critics still rank among the darkest mob films ever made. But behind the movie was a real story so violent, so disturbing, that large portions of the true events never made it to the screen.
This is the real history of the Westies — the infamous Irish gang that ruled Hell’s Kitchen through fear, torture, and murder during the 1970s and 1980s.
In this documentary investigation, you’ll uncover:
• How the character Frankie Flannery was inspired by Jimmy Coonan, the ruthless leader who transformed the Westies into a killing machine connected to the Gambino crime family
• How Jackie Flannery was based on Mickey Featherstone, a traumatized Vietnam veteran whose descent into violence made him one of New York’s deadliest mob enforcers
• The horrifying truth behind the Paddy Dugan murder inside the 596 Club in October 1978
• How the discovery of Ruby Stein’s body along the New Jersey shoreline sparked the federal investigation that finally exposed the gang
• The gruesome disposal methods the Westies used to erase victims without a trace for years
• How Mafia boss Paul Castellano secretly used the Westies as contract killers for the Gambino organization
• The betrayal that tore apart the alliance between Coonan and Featherstone in 1986
• And the massive 1988 RICO case that brought down the most feared Irish gang in American history
Key figures featured in this story include:
Jimmy Coonan, Mickey Featherstone, Mickey Spillane, Paul Castellano, Ruby Stein, Paddy Dugan, Roy DeMeo, Tony Lucich, and Billy Bokun.
From 1966 to 1988, Hell’s Kitchen became one of the bloodiest criminal territories in New York City — controlled by men who abandoned every traditional Mafia rule in pursuit of money and power.
The Westies were more than just another street gang.
They became a brutal underground murder network that even the Italian Mafia relied on when jobs were too savage for anyone else.
This episode is based on verified historical sources, including T. J. English’s book The Westies, federal court records from the United States v. Coonan trial, and archival reporting from the New York Times and New York Daily News covering the gang’s downfall.
If you enjoy deep mafia documentaries and true organized crime history, subscribe and turn on notifications for new episodes every week.
Leave a comment below with the next mob figure or crime family you want us to cover.
Subscribe for new mob documentaries every week. Drop a comment with the next story you want covered.
#Westies #HellsKitchen #StateOfGrace #MobHistory #Mafia #TrueCrime #MafiaHistory #OrganizedCrime #MafiaBoss