When John Gotti Pulled The Trigger...
The mortality rate was decidedly low for two men once linked to Connie Castellano, daughter of Gambino boss Paul Castellano. But while one of the two, her husband, may have invited his horrifying fate, assuming he was guilty of what he had been accused of, the other man, a suitor with a sarcastic sense of humor, most certainly did not. Top, Sal Vitale; bottom from left: Joe Massino, Vinny Basciano, John Gotti Constantino Paul (Big Paul) Castellano was a model of the proverbial white-collar mobster, the kind who could capably run complex business enterprises like a garment-center trucking concern and a wholesale food company. His white-collar faction, which included the labor racketeers, etc., was supplemented and balanced by the blue-collar wiseguys under underboss Neil Dellacroce—the hijackers and head crackers, etc.—who provided the muscle, as some pundits viewed the Gambino family breakdown under Castellano. (We have problems with that dichotomy, though, such as in which column woul