He was the kind of guy who made the most hardened criminals in the New York underworld lower their voices. Joseph Sullivan, better known to the FBI and the tabloid press as "Mad Dog," didn't look like a movie version of a hitman. He wasn't some suave, silent professional in a tailored suit. He was a chunky, unassuming man with a limp and a pair of thick glasses. But beneath that boring exterior was a guy who basically became the most feared freelance assassin for the Genovese crime family. People usually focus on the bodies he left behind, but the real story of Joseph Mad Dog Sullivan is actually about a guy who refused to stay behind bars.
He did something nobody else ever managed to do. He escaped from Attica.
If you know anything about New York’s prison system, you know Attica is the "end of the line." It’s a fortress. It was designed to be impossible to leave without a parole slip or a body bag. Yet, on a chilly day in 1971, Sullivan just... left. It wasn't some grand, cinematic explosion or a tunnel dug over decades with a rock hammer. It was raw nerve and a bit of luck. He scaled a wall, navigated some of the most intense security in the country, and disappeared into the woods. That one act cemented his legend long before he started pulling triggers for the Mob.
Why the Mob Loved a "Mad Dog"
Honestly, the nickname "Mad Dog" is a bit of a cliché, right? Every third guy in the 70s mob scene seemed to have it. But with Sullivan, it wasn't about being crazy in the way we think of it today. It was about his relentless nature. Once he was given a contract, he was like a heat-seeking missile. He didn't care about the odds. He didn't care about the location. He just got the job done.
Most people don't realize that Sullivan was Irish-American, which meant he was never going to be a "made" man. In the world of the Five Families, if you aren't Italian, you have a ceiling. You're an associate. You're the help. But because Sullivan was so efficient and, frankly, so terrifying, the Genovese family treated him like royalty. They paid him a premium because he was willing to do the jobs that even their own soldiers were too scared to touch. He was the "specialist."
The Hit That Changed Everything: Mickey Spillane
You've probably heard of the Westies. They were the Irish mob out of Hell's Kitchen that eventually became the stuff of legend. In the mid-70s, the leader of that crew was a guy named Mickey Spillane. No, not the novelist. This Spillane was a powerhouse who kept the Italian families out of his neighborhood for years. He was a problem for the Gambinos and the Genoveses. They wanted him gone, but taking out a guy like Spillane in his own backyard was a suicide mission.
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Enter Joseph Mad Dog Sullivan.
In 1977, Sullivan caught up with Spillane outside his home in Woodside, Queens. It was a classic hit, but it had massive ripples. By taking out Spillane, Sullivan basically handed Hell's Kitchen to Jimmy Coonan and the younger, more violent generation of the Westies who were willing to play ball with the Italians. It changed the entire geography of New York City crime. Sullivan wasn't just a killer; he was a kingmaker. He moved the pieces on the board so the big bosses could stay clean.
The Escape from Attica (The Real Story)
Let's get back to that escape because it’s the part of the Joseph Mad Dog Sullivan story that feels like it belongs in a thriller. Attica had been open for forty years before Sullivan arrived, and in all that time, through riots and massive security overhauls, no one had ever cleared the walls. Sullivan was there for a 1968 robbery and kidnapping. He wasn't planning on staying.
He spent weeks studying the movements of the guards. He realized that security wasn't a solid wall; it was a rhythm. If you knew the rhythm, you could find the gaps. He used a series of makeshift tools—kinda like what you'd see in a MacGyver episode—to scale the wall. When he hit the ground on the other side, he didn't just run blindly. He had a plan to survive in the wilderness. He stayed on the lam for weeks, embarrassing the New York Department of Corrections and becoming a folk hero to the guys still inside.
He was eventually caught in Greenwich Village, but the damage was done. The "invincible" Attica had been beaten.
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Life as a Freelancer for the Genovese Family
When Sullivan finally got out on parole in 1975, he didn't go straight. Not even close. He went right to the guys who valued his particular set of skills. While most hitmen stay within their own crews, Sullivan was more of a consultant. He worked for the Genovese family primarily, but he was known to take contracts from whoever had the cash and the reach.
He was linked to at least half a dozen murders during this period. The most famous, aside from Spillane, was probably the hit on Tommy "The Bull" DeBrizzi. DeBrizzi was a high-ranking member of the Gambino family who had pissed off the wrong people in Connecticut. Sullivan didn't care about the politics. He didn't care about the rank. He just saw a target.
The weird thing? Sullivan was a family man. He lived a relatively quiet life in the suburbs when he wasn't out on "business." He had a wife and kids. He tried to keep those worlds separate, but when you're a guy like Joseph Mad Dog Sullivan, the shadows eventually catch up to you.
The Downfall: 1982 and the Rochester Hit
Everything came crashing down because of a hit in Rochester, New York. Sullivan was hired to take out a guy named John Coleman. He did it, but he left behind a forensic trail that even he couldn't hide. It's funny—a guy can escape Attica and kill some of the most protected mobsters in the world, but he gets tripped up by a simple piece of physical evidence.
He was convicted and ended up with three consecutive life sentences.
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He didn't try to escape this time. Maybe he was tired. Maybe the system had finally figured out how to keep him in. He spent the rest of his life behind bars, eventually passing away in 2017 at the age of 77. By the time he died, the world he had helped build—the world of smoky social clubs and West Side pier rackets—was mostly gone.
What Most People Get Wrong About Sullivan
People often mistake him for a "crazy" killer. They think he was some kind of slasher-movie villain. But if you talk to the investigators who tracked him, like the legendary FBI agents of the era, they describe him as methodical. He was a professional. He didn't enjoy the killing; he enjoyed the challenge of the hunt. That’s why he was so successful for so long.
He also wasn't a snitch. In an era where guys like Sammy "The Bull" Gravano were flipping every five minutes to save their own skin, Sullivan kept his mouth shut. He went to his grave with the secrets of the Genovese family. That kind of "old school" loyalty is rare, especially for a guy who wasn't even "made."
Fact-Checking the Myth
- Did he really escape Attica alone? Yes. While others had tried and failed, Sullivan’s 1971 escape is the only one recorded where a prisoner cleared the walls of the main facility during its most secure era.
- How many people did he kill? Officially, he was convicted of three. Law enforcement sources believe the number is closer to 20 or 30. We'll likely never know the real count.
- Was he actually a "Mad Dog"? The nickname was given to him by the police, not his peers. Most of his mob associates just called him Joe.
Learning from the Sullivan Era
If you're a true crime fan or a historian of the New York Mob, Sullivan represents the bridge between the old-school "Mustache Petes" and the high-tech crime syndicates of the 80s. He was the ultimate tool for a transition period.
To truly understand the impact he had, you should look into the following:
- Research the Westies-Italian Alliance: Look at how the Spillane hit (which Sullivan carried out) paved the way for the bloodiest decade in Hell's Kitchen history.
- Study the Attica Security Overhaul: After Sullivan’s escape, the NY prison system underwent massive changes in how they monitored the perimeter. His escape literally changed the architecture of New York prisons.
- Analyze the Genovese Hierarchy: Sullivan’s work for the Genovese family shows how they used non-Italian associates to maintain a "buffer" between the bosses and the crimes.
Joseph Mad Dog Sullivan wasn't a hero. He was a violent man who lived a violent life. But his ability to outmaneuver the most secure institutions in the world makes him a figure that's impossible to ignore. He was the exception to every rule the prison system and the Mob ever wrote. He lived in the gaps of the system, and for a long time, those gaps were exactly where he belonged.