James Cunniffe

Who was James Cunniffe?

James "Killer" Cunniffe was an American bank robber who planned and successfully carried out the 1926 New Jersey mail robbery, one of the most well-publicized thefts during the 1920s. On October 14, 1926, he and seven others armed with submachine guns hijacked a U.S. mail truck in Elizabeth, New Jersey and escaped with $161,000. During the gunbattle with the guards, the driver was killed while his assistant and a local police officer were wounded.

The robbery received considerable coverage at the time and is regarded as one of the most high-profile robberies prior to the "Public Enemy"-era of the 1930s. Three days after the robbery, after a two-day discussion with his cabinet, then President Calvin Coolidge assigned 2,250 U.S. Marines to escort all mail shipments in the Eastern United States. A further announcement on October 27 authorized the use of 250 Thompson machine guns specifically to be used for guard duty. Already a long-favored weapon in the underworld, the Marine Corps was the first branch of the U.S. military to purchase "Tommy guns".