West Side's "Deadly" Interest in Joe Massino
Crime families opportunistically form and break alliances.
Shortly before the third shooting war began, Colombo leaders including Carmine Sessa met at the Persico family estate in Saugerties, New York, to plot the murder of Vittorio "Little Vic" Orena.
When the other crime families learned of the pending war, leaders of the Luchese, Genovese and Gambino families tried to resolve the problem before the shooting began by meeting with Colombo leaders. (Notice one family is missing?)
Alfonso "Little Al" D'Arco, former acting boss of the Luchese family, discussed this series of meetings meant to stop the third Colombo war at Orena's trial. The talks only postponed the shooting, which formally broke out in late 1991.
D'Arco said the four-family meetings had been held in apartments and hotel rooms around New York City.
Dominick, while working for his uncle, came into regular contact with deadly Gaggi subordinate DeMeo and his Murder Machine crew for years.
(Interesting note, sports fans: there is a particular way to pronounce "Lilo," we've learned from a former Bonanno family member (inducted in the 1970s) who was well acquainted with the fierce Galante. One way we can tell if a source is "for real," for example, is listening to how they pronounce the man's nickname.... if they don't say it the right way, we know what we're dealing with.)
It's no secret that there were problems between the Genovese family (working with the Luchese family) and the Gambino family when John Gotti seized control following the December 1985 assassination of Gambino boss Paul Castellano.
Boriello had been under investigation by multiple federal agencies at the time and was believed to have been running a cocaine trafficking ring. Borriello also was named as a proficient shooter who may have been involved in the Castellano hit as well, based on the testimony of Gambino informant Dominick LoFaro, who flipped after his 1984 arrest in upstate New York on heroin charges, which could have sent him to prison for 20 years, Time reported.
A New York Times article described Geritano as a former "mob star" who in 1991 came under scrutiny in the slaying of Borriello. Police investigators eventually concluded he had no role in the killing.
Now we turn to the tape recordings of the Genovese family's New Jersey boss, Louis "Bobby" Manna.
Manna’s headquarters was based in an office in Casella’s Restaurant in Hoboken. From there, he managed gambling, loansharking, labor racketeering, corruption and pier thefts in the region. Based on investigative findings, Manna controlled portions of Hudson County.
Manna was jailed for three years in the 1970s for refusing to answer questions about organized crime, but his goose was cooked in June, 1989, when he was convicted of ordering the murder of New York businessman Irwin Schiff and of plotting the murder of then-Gambino boss John Gotti, as well as Gotti’s brother, Gene. Manna had been indicted along with Martin Casella and Richard "Bocci" DeSciscio.
Authorities said the plot to kill the Gottis surfaced in 1987 during a joint FBI-New Jersey State Police investigation into Manna's Mafia activities. Dozens of secretly recorded conversations were obtained after the FBI placed a listening device in Casella's Restaurant. The taped conversations occurred between August 1987 and January 1988.
John Gotti was doing some plotting of his own. His plan was to murder the Chin and put Genovese capo and longtime friend Alfonso "Allie Shades" Malangone in the big seat. This is based on an FBI summary of tape recorded remarks made by Genovese capo Alan "Baldie" Lonqo during a three-year investigation of the Genovese family.
"John Gotti was taking over. (Be)cause our friend (Malangone) grew up with him, we could make a deal. He (Chin) was dead," Longo said, adding that the scheme collapsed when Gaspipe declined to take part. Why would he have done anything to strengthen his arch enemy's position?
"If Gaspipe could have been talked into killing our friend, you know who would have been our boss, Alley Shades … He was always up John's ass," said Longo, who was Malangone's bodyguard and chauffeur in 1988, when the plotting and counter-plotting was in full swing.
Shortly before the third shooting war began, Colombo leaders including Carmine Sessa met at the Persico family estate in Saugerties, New York, to plot the murder of Vittorio "Little Vic" Orena.
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| Chin Gigante |
Alfonso "Little Al" D'Arco, former acting boss of the Luchese family, discussed this series of meetings meant to stop the third Colombo war at Orena's trial. The talks only postponed the shooting, which formally broke out in late 1991.
D'Arco said the four-family meetings had been held in apartments and hotel rooms around New York City.
We became aware of the tension between the Genovese and Bonanno family while working on a story. So our surprise was not as great as it likely would have been when a source recently told us something that we'd never heard or read anywhere before.
Vincent "The Chin" Gigante wanted Joe Massino whacked and asked Paul Castellano, then Gambino boss, if Roy DeMeo could carry it out, meaning Gigante most likely wanted Massino to disappear without a trace like the Murder Machine's countless other victims.
Vincent "The Chin" Gigante wanted Joe Massino whacked and asked Paul Castellano, then Gambino boss, if Roy DeMeo could carry it out, meaning Gigante most likely wanted Massino to disappear without a trace like the Murder Machine's countless other victims.
Castellano turned Gigante down, for reasons unknown.
Dominick Montiglio, former Gambino crime family associate and nephew of Anthony "Nino" Gaggi, a onetime powerful and respected captain in the Gambino family, recently told us this while we were preparing a followup to a previous story,
Dominick, while working for his uncle, came into regular contact with deadly Gaggi subordinate DeMeo and his Murder Machine crew for years.
Based on the chronology of events, it would seem that this would have meant that Gigante wanted Massino out of the way so the "Sonny Red" faction of the Bonannos could've held sway rather than being slaughtered in the basement of a Gambino-run nightclub in the early 1980s, a few years after the Commission-sanctioned (or was it?) slaying of Carmine "Lilo" Galante.
As for the Three Captain Slaying, a Bonanno source gave us interesting insight.
When Massino went to the Commission to complain about the Sonny Red faction, he'd initially not been given the permission he'd wanted to consolidate power under boss Rusty Rastelli.
He was later told he and his men could take up arms but only after Massino had information that Sonny Red was arming himself.
A Bonanno associate had inadvertently seen Sonny Red out in public and noticed he'd had a gun stuffed inside his infamous red leather boot, according to our source. It was this sighting of the gun in the boot that allowed the Massino/Rastelli faction to win the day.
Sonny Red Indelicato, Phil Lucky Giaccone, and Big Trin Trinchera only agreed to meet with Massino after they were convinced they were going to a full Commission meeting, we also were told.
That's why they went unarmed (along with Frank Lino, who inadvertently put himself in harm's way by taking Bruno Indelicato's place), even leaving their cars parked at a diner to be driven to the meeting's undisclosed location by Gambino family members as part of the ruse that it was a Commission meeting.
"They never would've gone like that unless they were positively convinced it was a Commission meeting," our source said. "You did what the Commission said, or else."
As for the Three Captain Slaying, a Bonanno source gave us interesting insight.
When Massino went to the Commission to complain about the Sonny Red faction, he'd initially not been given the permission he'd wanted to consolidate power under boss Rusty Rastelli.
He was later told he and his men could take up arms but only after Massino had information that Sonny Red was arming himself.
A Bonanno associate had inadvertently seen Sonny Red out in public and noticed he'd had a gun stuffed inside his infamous red leather boot, according to our source. It was this sighting of the gun in the boot that allowed the Massino/Rastelli faction to win the day.
Sonny Red Indelicato, Phil Lucky Giaccone, and Big Trin Trinchera only agreed to meet with Massino after they were convinced they were going to a full Commission meeting, we also were told.
That's why they went unarmed (along with Frank Lino, who inadvertently put himself in harm's way by taking Bruno Indelicato's place), even leaving their cars parked at a diner to be driven to the meeting's undisclosed location by Gambino family members as part of the ruse that it was a Commission meeting.
"They never would've gone like that unless they were positively convinced it was a Commission meeting," our source said. "You did what the Commission said, or else."
(Interesting note, sports fans: there is a particular way to pronounce "Lilo," we've learned from a former Bonanno family member (inducted in the 1970s) who was well acquainted with the fierce Galante. One way we can tell if a source is "for real," for example, is listening to how they pronounce the man's nickname.... if they don't say it the right way, we know what we're dealing with.)
It's no secret that there were problems between the Genovese family (working with the Luchese family) and the Gambino family when John Gotti seized control following the December 1985 assassination of Gambino boss Paul Castellano.
Genovese chief Gigante worked with Luchese leader Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso to kill John Gotti, accidentally slaying Gotti underboss Frank DeCicco in a spectacular midday car bomb detonation on April 13, 1986, in the Dyker Heights section of Brooklyn.
We'd always believed that Gigante was in on several additional hits ordered by Gaspipe against the Gambino family, though after researching this story, it seems more likely that Gigante and Casso together carried out only the DeCicco plot, then worked separately after that, with the Lucheses focusing on the Gambino family and the Genovese family (less successfully) concentrating on John and Gene Gotti.
As for Gotti, he suspected both families had been working against him -- and had taken action.
It's strange though -- two high-profile Gambinos slain after DeCicco both were believed to be involved in the Castellano hit (which had gone off without commission approval, supposedly the reason why "The Chin" was so angry). But both men also were considered to be involved in an attempt on Gaspipe's life.
There are reasons to believe the Luchese and Genovese families continued working together -- but the details of each hit seem to suggest it was mostly the Lucheses out in front doing the plotting and killing.
Casso certainly had strong motives of his own for killing Gambino family members.
Five months after the DeCicco bombing, on September 14, 1986, a carload of associates and/or members of the Gambino family attempted to assassinate Gaspipe as he ate an ice cream cone while sitting his his front seat. Although wounded, Casso survived.
Once Gaspipe recovered, he did what any Mafia boss in his position would likely do: he sought revenge. Using his mob cops he got hold of the only man he could identify from the shooting, James Hydell, who Gaspipe then tortured before killing.
Some five years after the DeCicco hit, in November, 1990. Edward Lino, a Gambino family captain, was murdered by the so-called Mafia cops, Louis J. Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa, on Gaspipe's orders. Lino, described as "a dapper and respected legend in the mob" as well as "a tough Gambino family soldier who had played a role in the killing of Paul Castellano, the family's don, in 1985," was also known to be a shooter. This is not a guy you'd want to fuck with -- which may be why Casso chose to use his "mob cops" to take out the proven Mafia shooter.
Lino could've been killed as revenge for the Castellano hit like DeCicco was -- however, Casso suspected that Lino also was somehow involved in the attempt on Gaspipe's life. (Perhaps Casso had squeezed this out of Hydell?)
We'd always believed that Gigante was in on several additional hits ordered by Gaspipe against the Gambino family, though after researching this story, it seems more likely that Gigante and Casso together carried out only the DeCicco plot, then worked separately after that, with the Lucheses focusing on the Gambino family and the Genovese family (less successfully) concentrating on John and Gene Gotti.
As for Gotti, he suspected both families had been working against him -- and had taken action.
It's strange though -- two high-profile Gambinos slain after DeCicco both were believed to be involved in the Castellano hit (which had gone off without commission approval, supposedly the reason why "The Chin" was so angry). But both men also were considered to be involved in an attempt on Gaspipe's life.
There are reasons to believe the Luchese and Genovese families continued working together -- but the details of each hit seem to suggest it was mostly the Lucheses out in front doing the plotting and killing.
Casso certainly had strong motives of his own for killing Gambino family members.
Five months after the DeCicco bombing, on September 14, 1986, a carload of associates and/or members of the Gambino family attempted to assassinate Gaspipe as he ate an ice cream cone while sitting his his front seat. Although wounded, Casso survived.
Once Gaspipe recovered, he did what any Mafia boss in his position would likely do: he sought revenge. Using his mob cops he got hold of the only man he could identify from the shooting, James Hydell, who Gaspipe then tortured before killing.
Some five years after the DeCicco hit, in November, 1990. Edward Lino, a Gambino family captain, was murdered by the so-called Mafia cops, Louis J. Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa, on Gaspipe's orders. Lino, described as "a dapper and respected legend in the mob" as well as "a tough Gambino family soldier who had played a role in the killing of Paul Castellano, the family's don, in 1985," was also known to be a shooter. This is not a guy you'd want to fuck with -- which may be why Casso chose to use his "mob cops" to take out the proven Mafia shooter.
Lino could've been killed as revenge for the Castellano hit like DeCicco was -- however, Casso suspected that Lino also was somehow involved in the attempt on Gaspipe's life. (Perhaps Casso had squeezed this out of Hydell?)
Several months later, on April 13, 1991, Gambino soldier Bartholomew "Bobby" Boriello was shot dead outside his Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, home on Bay 29th Street. A trusted Gotti aide, Boriello had once chauffeured the Dapper Godfather around New York City (Boriello also drove Gotti’s son, Junior).
Casso gave the order. Information on Boriello furnished by Eppolito and Caracappa was provided to the shooter, Luchese captain Frank "Big Frank" Lastorino, who shot Boriello twice in the head and five times in the torso. Boriello died in the street beside his 1991 Lincoln Towncar while his wife, Susan, and their two young children were inside the house.
When Gotti heard about Boriello's murder, he was furious -- and had suspected the Genovese family of taking out his former driver.
Sammy the Bull Gravano, based on depositions he gave the government when he became a co-operating witness, detailed how Gambino family bosses had a sit-down with the Genovese family, demanding the murder of West Side associate Preston Geritano. The Gambinos thought, mistakenly, that he'd been behind Boriello’s murder.
Then in 2004, Geritano was slain -- however by then it had nothing to do with Gotti or the Gambinos. His murderer was his own brother-in-law, Andrew Gargiulo, a successful bookmaker who was identified by several law enforcement officials as a soldier in the Genovese crime family. Gargiulo had used a hunting knife to stab Geritano, 57, after the two started arguing around 2 p.m. inside Brooklyn's Amici restaurant on Fort Hamilton Parkway. The disagreement spilled outside and turned into a brawl during which Gargiulo stabbed his brother-in-law twice in the torso.
Geritano, described as an associate in the Genovese crime family, was once a longshoreman. He also had been arrested on cargo theft charges and was also involved in gambling and loansharking. He was pronounced dead at 2:45 p.m. at Lutheran Medical Center.
Now we turn to the tape recordings of the Genovese family's New Jersey boss, Louis "Bobby" Manna.
Manna’s headquarters was based in an office in Casella’s Restaurant in Hoboken. From there, he managed gambling, loansharking, labor racketeering, corruption and pier thefts in the region. Based on investigative findings, Manna controlled portions of Hudson County.
Manna was jailed for three years in the 1970s for refusing to answer questions about organized crime, but his goose was cooked in June, 1989, when he was convicted of ordering the murder of New York businessman Irwin Schiff and of plotting the murder of then-Gambino boss John Gotti, as well as Gotti’s brother, Gene. Manna had been indicted along with Martin Casella and Richard "Bocci" DeSciscio.
Authorities said the plot to kill the Gottis surfaced in 1987 during a joint FBI-New Jersey State Police investigation into Manna's Mafia activities. Dozens of secretly recorded conversations were obtained after the FBI placed a listening device in Casella's Restaurant. The taped conversations occurred between August 1987 and January 1988.
The plot against John Gotti arose in a Sept. 21 in a conversation among Manna, Casella and another man. The plan was to attack Gotti near a club he frequented in Ozone Park, Queens. ''Wear a disguise,'' Manna said. ''It's an open place.''
The FBI subsequently notified Gotti of the plot. According to an Oct. 9 transcript, the Genovese mobsters learned of the warning -- but wanted the two Gottis dead so badly, they continued plotting.
"Hey, John Gotti knows,'' Casella said on Oct. 9.
An unidentified man responded, ''John Gotti knows we. . . .''
''That we ordered it?'' another man said.
The plotting continued. On Jan. 10, Manna referenced ''a big hit, John Gotti,'' and then apparently discussed the selection of gunman.
Two days later, in a conversation between Manna and James Napoli, Manna said: ''Gene Gotti's dead.''
''When are you gonna hit him?'' Napoli asked.
''Gene Gotti's dead,'' Manna repeated.
''We're gonna be paying for this, you know, for the rest of our lives,'' Napoli said.
The FBI subsequently notified Gotti of the plot. According to an Oct. 9 transcript, the Genovese mobsters learned of the warning -- but wanted the two Gottis dead so badly, they continued plotting.
"Hey, John Gotti knows,'' Casella said on Oct. 9.
An unidentified man responded, ''John Gotti knows we. . . .''
''That we ordered it?'' another man said.
The plotting continued. On Jan. 10, Manna referenced ''a big hit, John Gotti,'' and then apparently discussed the selection of gunman.
Two days later, in a conversation between Manna and James Napoli, Manna said: ''Gene Gotti's dead.''
''When are you gonna hit him?'' Napoli asked.
''Gene Gotti's dead,'' Manna repeated.
''We're gonna be paying for this, you know, for the rest of our lives,'' Napoli said.
"John Gotti was taking over. (Be)cause our friend (Malangone) grew up with him, we could make a deal. He (Chin) was dead," Longo said, adding that the scheme collapsed when Gaspipe declined to take part. Why would he have done anything to strengthen his arch enemy's position?
"If Gaspipe could have been talked into killing our friend, you know who would have been our boss, Alley Shades … He was always up John's ass," said Longo, who was Malangone's bodyguard and chauffeur in 1988, when the plotting and counter-plotting was in full swing.
Considering all the plotting and murdering going on back in the Gotti years, we wonder if it's even really news that "The Chin" wanted Massino dead....