NYC's Last Gangland Hit Allegedly Solved
In November 2013, one of the last mob hits in the New York area took place.
And now law enforcement reportedly has arrested those responsible, including a soldier in the Bonanno crime family.
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| The murder scene of Michael Meldish. |
Gangster Michael Meldish was slain the old-school way, with a bullet to the back of his head. The killing had all the signs of a gangland hit, complete with the victim slumped over in the driver's seat of his rusty Lincoln LS in Throgs Neck on Ellsworth Ave.
Meldish, whose brother is serving 25 to life in prison, was a notorious mob shooter who law enforcement believes killed more than 10 people in a decades-long criminal career during which he helmed the notorious Purple Gang of New York.
“Michael was a stone-cold killer,” Joseph Coffey, former commanding officer of the NYPD’s organized crime homicide task force, told the press at the time of the slaying.
"Detectives and FBI agents quietly arrested one — and possibly two — more suspects this week in the 2013 execution slaying," Gang Land News reported this week. Mob associate Christopher Londonio and Bonanno soldier Pasquale "Patty Boy" Maiorino were arrested on unrelated federal gun charges -- though reportedly Bronx prosecutors are prepping to meet with a grand jury to indict Londonio along with a cohort in crime named Terrence Caldwell for the murder.
In 2011, Meldish's younger brother Joseph, was tried for a 1999 murder that took place in Frenchy's, a bar in the Bronx borough of New York. Meldish had actually killed the wrong man -- instead of the intended target, a drug dealer, he'd shot the man's lookalike brother dead. The homicide victim, Joseph Brown, was 35 and worked as a city tunnel digger when he was killed. According to law enforcement sources, Brown was shot as he was sitting down on a bar stool.
Meldish and girlfriend Kimberly Hanzlik were both found guilty of murder. Hanzlik was accused of helping Meldish carry out the hit by informing the hit man of the supposed target's location in the Bronx bar.
This was one of those rare cases in which the jury convicted the two largely based on the testimony of their getaway driver, David Thiong.
Meldish is believed to have carried out around 70 contract killings in total and was supposedly lauded by Mafiosi for his ability to hide his tracks following a hit. (He certainly seems to have gotten a lot of practice in.)
Both Meldish brothers belonged to the Purple Gang, which was known for killing and dismembering rivals as it controlled the heroin trade in Harlem and the Bronx in the 1970s and 1980s. Its members — many of whom were relatives of more established crime figures — often freelanced as “muscle” for the Luchese, Genovese and Bonanno families. Taking its name from a group of thugs that terrorized Detroit during Prohibition, the Purple Gang grew so powerful in the late 1970s that authorities feared it might attempt to become the area’s sixth organized crime family — potentially igniting an all-out mob war.
"Detectives and FBI agents quietly arrested one — and possibly two — more suspects this week in the 2013 execution slaying," Gang Land News reported this week. Mob associate Christopher Londonio and Bonanno soldier Pasquale "Patty Boy" Maiorino were arrested on unrelated federal gun charges -- though reportedly Bronx prosecutors are prepping to meet with a grand jury to indict Londonio along with a cohort in crime named Terrence Caldwell for the murder.
"Authorities now have several of the alleged killers of Michael Meldish, who was 62 years old when he was slain, on ice while prosecutors push to obtain an indictment against them for the murder. Law enforcement sources identified the definite new suspect in the slaying as mob associate Christopher Londonio.
"Londonio, 41, and his reputed mob superior, Bonanno soldier Pasquale (Patty Boy) Maiorino were arrested on federal gun charges Monday and ordered held without bail. The arrests follow a joint investigation by the NYPD, the FBI, and the offices of the Manhattan U.S. Attorney and the Bronx District Attorney. The federal charges stem from a state gun possession rap, filed against the defendants in November. The two men had been free on bail.
"Sources say Bronx prosecutors will soon ask a grand jury to indict Londonio and a hoodlum named Terrence Caldwell for the gangland style rubout. Meldish's body was discovered on November 15, 2013 in a classic mob hit victim pose: He was seated behind the wheel of his car parked in front of his home at the corner of Ellsworth Avenue and Baisley Avenue in the Throgs Neck section of The Bronx. He had suffered a single fatal bullet wound to the head."
"Caldwell, 57, is accused of being the trigger man in the hit, according to an arrest complaint by NYPD detective Darrell Julien. Caldwell, who has a drug conviction on his rap sheet, was remanded without bail following his arrest, said Bronx DA spokesman James Brunner."
In 2011, Meldish's younger brother Joseph, was tried for a 1999 murder that took place in Frenchy's, a bar in the Bronx borough of New York. Meldish had actually killed the wrong man -- instead of the intended target, a drug dealer, he'd shot the man's lookalike brother dead. The homicide victim, Joseph Brown, was 35 and worked as a city tunnel digger when he was killed. According to law enforcement sources, Brown was shot as he was sitting down on a bar stool.
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| Frenchy's bar in the Bronx. Joseph Meldish walked inside the crowded establishment in 1999 and a shot a man dead. He shot the wrong man, however. He's believed to have killed some 70 people, a large body count even for a contract killer. |
Meldish and girlfriend Kimberly Hanzlik were both found guilty of murder. Hanzlik was accused of helping Meldish carry out the hit by informing the hit man of the supposed target's location in the Bronx bar.
This was one of those rare cases in which the jury convicted the two largely based on the testimony of their getaway driver, David Thiong.
Meldish is believed to have carried out around 70 contract killings in total and was supposedly lauded by Mafiosi for his ability to hide his tracks following a hit. (He certainly seems to have gotten a lot of practice in.)
Both Meldish brothers belonged to the Purple Gang, which was known for killing and dismembering rivals as it controlled the heroin trade in Harlem and the Bronx in the 1970s and 1980s. Its members — many of whom were relatives of more established crime figures — often freelanced as “muscle” for the Luchese, Genovese and Bonanno families. Taking its name from a group of thugs that terrorized Detroit during Prohibition, the Purple Gang grew so powerful in the late 1970s that authorities feared it might attempt to become the area’s sixth organized crime family — potentially igniting an all-out mob war.
The group murdered some 17, including at least two police informants, and dismembered many victims. They also were behind the "large-scale distribution of narcotics in the South Bronx and Harlem" as well as selling guns, allegedly to groups based outside the U.S.
Interestingly, the group is said to have had 30 "made" members," according to police reports and some 80 "associates," according to the DEA.
According to one law enforcement group, the Purple Gang supplied the drug network of black drug dealer Leroy "Nicky" Barnes with heroin at $75,000 per kilo.
The DEA, FBI and NYPD monitored the group closely in the 1970s.
A 1976 federal report cited the gang’s “enormous capacity for violence” and “lack of respect for other members of organized crime.”
The crew’s power waned in the late 1980s as members were ensnared in drug busts.
A 1976 federal report cited the gang’s “enormous capacity for violence” and “lack of respect for other members of organized crime.”
The crew’s power waned in the late 1980s as members were ensnared in drug busts.
Numerous ranking Mafia members once belonged to the crew, including Bonanno boss Michael "Mikey Nose" Mancuso and Genovese capo Daniel "The Lion" Leo.