Cosa Nostra News

So what happened to Jake Russo , then? Stefano Magaddino never met a dollar he didn't covet. Did he become part of the Veterans Memorial Bridge, as one of many rumors making the rounds after his 1964 disappearance alleged? Not according to new claims that Russo was done in because he dared to threaten a boss who made unreasonable demands of him. Stefano Magaddino, the ruthless, Buffalo-based mob boss whose influence extended from parts of New York (including Rochester) and Pennsylvania to Toronto for more than 30 years, was legendary for his stinginess and cruelty. Threatening Magaddino to his face about how you planned to undermine him was tantamount to signing your own death warrant. Magaddino was "the Undertaker" because of his Niagara Falls funeral home, but also because of his knack for ordering murders. A Sicilian immigrant, Magaddino, cousin to Joseph Bonanno, smuggled liquor across Lake Ontario from Canada during Prohibition. In ...

This was supposed to be a straightforward story about Jake Russo, but of course I can never not plunge headfirst down whatever rabbit hole catches my eye.... Can't ignore what intrigues me.... Rochester acting boss Jake Russo disappeared in September 1964, and nearly 55 years later, his body has never been found. Jake Russo may have disappeared because of Stefano Magaddino's greed. Recently surfaced videotaped interviews with a former Russo cohort may finally reveal what really happened all those years ago. In interviews conducted and videotaped several years prior to his 2014 death, Rene Piccarreto Sr., the former consigliere of the Rochester crime family, said that Russo was strangled in the basement of a downtown Rochester restaurant that later became a popular area pizzeria called the Pizza Stop. But back in 1964, the restaurant was owned by Frank Valenti, the man who succeeded Russo atop the Mafia family there. Actually, Russo had only been put in charge w...