Cosa Nostra News

William I. Aronwald—a former Assistant DA in Manhattan who was Chief of the Justice Department’s Strike Force Against Organized Crime in the 1970s and whose father was slain with bullets meant to have his name on them—died of cardiac arrest near his home in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., on October 29. He was 79 years old. Colombo acting boss Joel (Joe Waverly) Cacace  The alleged motive for the mistaken identity murder of his father was disrespect that angered a mob boss, who wanted payback for the perceived slight. William’s father, George M. Aronwald, was a 78-year-old hearing officer for the Parking Violations Bureau in Queens when he was shot to death in a gangland-style hit in a Long Island City, Queens, laundry in 1987.  The hit, a piece of  Colombo family business, wasn't solved until many years later. At the time of the murder , William Aronwald had left the DA's office and was working as a criminal defense lawyer in White Plains representing Michael Raymond, ak...

A uniquely American subculture of lifelong outlaws, made members and associates of organized crime are the enemies of society; they kill and steal probably more indiscriminately than citizens believe. But we are a society based on the rule of law -- even the deaths of criminals, if not murderers themselves, is not something a lawful society countenances.  Two recent deaths -- one a homicide, another an overdose with unanswered questions that raise many unresolved issues -- took place in the past year. Based on all our efforts we find law enforcement has made little headway -- at least as per public information. Perhaps the investigations legitimately are stuck -- perhaps Riker's Island officials aren't interested. We write this simply to raise awareness of these deaths.   And the fact one is unsolved, the other unresolved.

CORRECTED:  Press reports incorrectly identified crime families A Brooklyn man was  found Saturday  a few blocks from his Mill Basin home on Avenue U and East 58th street. Wrapped in a blue tarp, Carmine Carini, 35, allegedly an associate of the Luchese crime family, was found chained to a cinder block held underwater. Victim appeared to be brutally slain. His ankles and knees were bound with duct tape. An orange rope, affixed to the cinder block, was apparently used to weigh his body down and was tied to his feet. Since he was found with his head bashed in and stabbed multiple times, cause of death is unknown.