other_names known_for article_title name occupation
willie jones scotty jones new gang . york criminal and member of the gas house william jones -lrb- gangster -rrb-
 william jones criminal
william jones -lrb- gangster -rrb-

william jones -lrb- fl .
1911 -rrb- was an american criminal and member of the gas house gang .
he was one of the new york city 's more notorious career criminals to be arrested and convicted during the new york police department 's four-year campaign against manhattan 's street gangs and other underworld figures between 1910 and 1914 .
in june 1911 , he was tried and convicted for second degree murder of two fellow gas housers during a gunfight at one of their hangouts at a saloon between twenty-second street and third avenue .
he had arrived at `` pickett 's saloon '' bringing a young woman with him , this having been generally prohibited in case of members being identified , and was quickly confronted by fellow members william lysaght , john tivnan and john stephenson .
he denied having a weapon when asked , the three men not finding one on him when searched , and began arguing over his violation of the gang 's orders .
all four went outside when asked by the bartender and , once out of the bar , the three men apparently attacked jones .
falling to the ground , jones pulled out a revolver he had concealed under his arm and fired at his attackers .
lysaght was shot and died at the scene while tivnan was shot in the shoulder .
jones was arrested soon after , lysaght identifying him as the man who shot before dying of his wounds at a nearby hospital .
this was a rare occurrence for a gang member , even underworld rivals , to name the men responsible to authorities .
after making his statement , lysaght reportedly turned to a nurse and said '' `` just watch that bum suffer .
he deserves it . '' ''
jones immediately became one of several gang members and underworld figures to be prosecuted by frank moss and edward r. o'malley of the district attorney 's office .
in the same week jones was sentenced , high-profile criminals such as albert rooney , biff ellison and johnny spanish were also on trial .
while jones was awaiting trial at the tombs , he composed two letters which he sent to another gang member whose name was withheld .
the first said simply , the second was a love letter apparently written to the unidentified rosa .
it was the last letter that resulted in his conviction , particularly the line '' `` i am getting along fine .
there is nothing like a vacation to brace you up . '' ''
while on the stand , angrily swore that he would kill the man responsible for turning the letters over to the district attorney 's office if he ever got out of prison .
among the witnesses he threatened during the trial , he also called out to john tivnan when he appeared in court and said '' `` if i had gotten you , i would have been better satisfied . '' ''
jones was reprimanded by judge warren w. foster and sentenced to serve between 20 years to life imprisonment .
