Frank Abbandando

Frank Abbandando
Mug shot taken on March 7, 1940
Born	(1910-07-11)July 11, 1910 Brooklyn, New York, United States
Died	February 19, 1942(1942-02-19) (aged 31) Ossining, New York, United States
Other names	The Dasher
Occupation	Hitman
Criminal penalty	Death by electrocution
Criminal status	Deceased
Spouse(s)	Jennie DeLuca
Children	Lawrence Abbandando Frank Abbandando Jr.
Parent(s)	Lorenzo Abbondandolo Rosaria Famighetti
Conviction(s)	First degree murder

Frank Abbandando (July 11, 1910 – February 19, 1942), nicknamed "The Dasher", was a New York City contract killer who committed many murders as part of the infamous Murder, Inc. gang.

Abbandando was one of twelve children of Lorenzo Abbondandolo and Rosaria Famighetti. On his tombstone, his family name was inscribed as "Abbundando". Abbandando's family immigrated from Avellino, Italy to New York. As a teenager, Abbandando extorted money from shop owners by threatening to torch their shops.

In his twenties, Abbandando joined a street gang in the Ocean Hill section of Brooklyn. Before long, he was a lieutenant for Harry "Happy" Maione. Abbandando organized gambling, loan sharking, and extortion rackets for the gang as well as committing murders. In 1928, Abbandando was convicted of beating a New York City police officer and was sent to reform school in Elmira, New York, where he demonstrated skill at baseball and received the nickname "The Dasher".

In his "free" time, Abbandando was a connoisseur of fine clothes and fancy cars. He was reportedly a sexual predator; he would drive around Brownsville and Ocean Hill, looking for young women to rape. At his later murder trial, the prosecutor said that Abbandando had all but admitted one rape. Abbandando replied, "Well, that one doesn't count really—I married the girl later." Most of his victims would be stabbed in the chest with ice picks.

In the early 1930s, the Cosa Nostra crime families in New York, known as the Five Families, began using street gangs to commit their murders. Having recently settled the vicious Castellammarese War and reorganized into a new structure, the families desperately wanted to keep themselves out of public attention. By using Jewish contract killers, the families were better protected from public and law enforcement scrutiny. The gang leader that the mafiosi used the most was Louis "Lepke" Buchalter, the young Jewish leader of the "Gorilla Boys" gang. As the Cosa Nostra business increased, Buchalter's small informal network of killers turned into a group of 250 criminals who were involved in narcotics smuggling, labor racketeering, and other rackets. Buchalter called his group "The Combination", but the press labeled it "Murder, Inc." Unlike the Five Families, which required Sicilian or Southern Italian ancestry for membership, Murder Inc. included Jews, Italians, and members of other ethnic groups.