| Danny "One-a-Day" Pelansky |
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| Danny Pelansky, born in Montreal on February 16, 1939, was one of the West End Gang's most active mobsters in the mid 1900s. Because of his numerous breaking and entering offences, he became known as "One-a-Day Pelansky." He ran a lucrative gambling den, had a large loansharking operation, and dabbled in some drug trafficking. Legitimately, Pelansky owned a nightclub and a vending machine company. The vending machine company was especially lucrative. With security guards watching on, the racket's profits were regularly delivered to his Dollard des Ormeaux home. Money counters in the basement calculated the profits through out the night and an armored truck would deliver the coins to the bank the next morning. |
| Pelansky was deported from the United States in 1961, after police picked him up on suspicion of breaking and entering and being in possession of stolen goods. In the next few years, he would be convicted of several crimes, including assault and drug trafficking. Pelansky had made himself a small fortune in a few short years and many became jealous of his success. In April 1968, Pelansky was found on a street in St. Jerome, north of Montreal, suffering from a severe stomach wound. He refused to tell police anything. Later that year, border police became suspicious of a Pontiac Station Wagon that made weekly trips from Canada to the United States. Police pulled the vehicle over and, during their search, found approximately $40,000 in Canadian silver coins hidden in a special cache. The car was registered to Danny Pelansky and, Under Section 15 of the Export and Import Permits Act, he was charged with smuggling the silver coins. The driver of the Station Wagon was also arrested. Pelansky pled guilty and was fined $200 plus court costs. On December 30, 1969, there was another attempt on Pelansky's life. As he drove down the Trans-Canada Highway, a sports car pulled along side him and the passenger opened fire. Pelansky was grazed above the left ear and crashed his car into a snowbank. He was taken to the Lakeshore General Hospital and treated for his injury. On yet another occassion, Pelansky was shot in the head, stuffed into a trunk of a car, and left for dead. He somehow survived. After all these failed attempts, Pelansky began claiming that no one could kill him. It was rumored that Pelansky was behind the murder of Giacomo Pocetti, a young Mafia soldier in Frank Cotroni's crew. Pocetti was shot to death outside a nightclub in Montreal North. That was the last straw and word quickly spread throughout the underworld that "One-a-Day Pelansky" would not live another week. Mafia assassins didn't waste any time. On July 11, 1970, Pelansky was killed while driving a borrowed 1968 Buick Wildcat on the Metropolitan Expressway when a bomb installed under the driver's seat exploded. Pelansky's left leg and part of his torso were blown through the vehicle's floor and the car rolled out of control and crashed into a safety fence. He was 31 years old. The owner of the Buick Wildcat, Michel Amyot, was terrified and made the rounds of various West End Gang hangouts to assure them that he had nothing to do with the murder. |