Out with old

Forgot to tell you. Friday Sept. 5 was the 78th anniversary of the killing of Joe Pinzolo. Who was Pinzolo? Glad you asked. He was the man Joe “the Boss” Masseria put in charge of the Reina (or Rina or Reena, take your pick) family after he, Masseria, ordered the Ice racketeer’s death back in February. Although Reina’s gang accepted Pinzolo as their leader, quietly they planned his overthrow. We get an unglamorous view of Pinzolo from Joe Valachi who met him once when the latter was being looked over for possible membership into the mob. Valachi referred to him as being an ugly “greaseball”, which author of The Valachi Papers, Peter Maas tells us was a term used by the younger Italian gangsters when referring to the older generation Mafioso.
Pinzolo’s actual name was Pinzolo Bonaventura and his criminal career dated back to the first decade of the century when he gained a bit of notoriety in 1908 for being the first black hander ever to be captured in the act of trying to blow up a building. On July 14, of that year he was sent to blow up a tenement building because the owner, Francisco Spinella, had ignored numerous black hand letters demanding $4000. Spinella, who owned other properties that had been bombed by the black hand, turned the letters over to the police. Detective Petrosino and two members of his detective squad were staking out his tenement and at about 11:00pm they saw Pinzolo walk down the street and pass the building twice, then on the third pass after making sure no one was on the street he dashed inside. The three detectives immediately ran in after him and caught him in the act of lighting a fuse to some dynamite. Two of the detectives grappled with the gangster who reportedly “fought like a tiger” while the other doused the lit fuse. In the melee Spinella came out of his apartment with a rifle thinking he was under attack. He wanted to shoot Pinzolo but the detectives intervened and at one point the barrel of a gun was pressed so hard against Pinzolo’s face that it actually went through his cheek. Reports are conflicting as to who inflicted the wound one report says it was Spinella and another says it was Petrosino either way the young gangster was sent off to prison and after his release worked his way up in the mafia becoming a lieutenant to Joe “the Boss” Masseria.
On September 5, (not September 9 as reported in The Valachi Papers) Pinzolo was knocked off in a suite that was leased to Thomas Lucchese, who was one of the late Reina’s lieutenants, but according to Valachi another of Reina’s lieutenants did the actual shooting, Girolamo Santucci, known as “Bobby Doyle”. Who afterwards told Valachi, “I got the break of my life. I caught him alone in the office.” (More on this in Gangster City. Paperback edition coming in March 2009)

"Health to all Neapolitans and death and destruction to all Sicilians!"

That's not my credo mind you. We here at the DGIS studio maintain a Hard Rock Cafe, love all serve all mentality. The Camorra members who made up the Navy Street gang back in 1910's however...Back in the days prior to the U.S. entering WWI the title of this post was a common toast at Neapolitan drinking fest. This coming Sunday marks the 92 anniversary of the Navy Street gang putting the latter part of their motto into effect. Earlier in the month the Terranova family received and invitation in the mail, a copy of which still exist, which read:


Dear Sicilians you are cordially invited to send either Ciro, Vincent or Nicholas to a dinner we are having. Don't worry we won't kill you. Honest, you can trust us. - Yours truly, the Navy street gang.


PS Whomever you choose please have them bring Charles Ubriaca as well. - TNSG


The Terranova brothers then played rock, paper, scissors to see who got to go to the party. Nicholas won and he and Ubriaca went to Brooklyn and enjoyed a find banquet. After leaving the premises Terranova and Ubriaca were ambushed and shot to pieces. Later a Navy street canary named Ralph Daniello would sing and the murderers would be placed on trial. Antonio Vollero , one of the bosses would do about 14 years in jail and another Tony Paretti would end up in the chair. (for more coverage check out Gangster City pgs 34-36, don't have it? The paper back edition is coming March 2009)

Curse of Tanner Smith

Police felt that Michael Stenson- drilled 89 years ago today- was a member of the Marginal gang and killed as a result of the death of “Tanner” Smith. An eyewitness to the murder said that Stenson and another man had been walking together when an argument suddenly broke out. During the argument Stenson’s companion drew a gun and shot him and began to run away as Stenson doubled over. The wounded man regained his composure and drew his own gun and began to chase his assailant but dropped dead in the middle of the street between some streetcar tracks. Stenson’s murder may have been premeditated and had the ok from powerful men because, although the police denied it, a witness said that there was a cop on the corner who watched the whole thing but did not interfere.

The envelope please...

And the winner of the first annual Dead Guys in Suits art contest is...rip rip tear....receiving two out of three votes, it's entry #5. Congratulations to Scott I. and thank you to all who participated.

Hey Moe, hey Moe

On this date in 1930 a sedan containing five men and a woman pulled up in front of a residential building and, in front of a number of witnesses, tossed the bullet riddled body of Moe Howard out onto the street. He had been shot five times and a small amount of cocaine was found on him. Police say he was wanted for a murder from the previous February (what murder wasn't divulged) so perhaps it was a case of revenge. Autopsy reports also showed that prior to death the victim had also been poked in the eye and scrapings from under the finger nails showed evidence that he had recently been in a pie fight.

Take a seat boys, we'll be done playing in a minute

Antonia Zaraca had only been out of Elmira for a number of weeks and was staying in a room above Giuseppi Jacko’s café in Harlem’s Little Italy. The former rarely left the latter's premises unless he was accompanied by a number of friends. This day September 2, 1912, his friends were off at a party so Zaraca stayed in the café playing cards with Jacko. During the game four men entered and took seats. A short time later a group of about twenty more men, some of them known through out the neighborhood as gunmen, also entered. They watched Zaraca and Jacko play a hand and then cheered for Jacko when he won the game. As the ex-con and café proprietor shuffled the cards and prepared for the next round one of the onlookers drew a gun and fired into Zaraca’s face. The bullet ripped through his left jaw and tore into his head. The wounded man attempted to rise but fell over dead. Jacko kicked over his chair and turned to run but another gunman fired and brought him down with a shot to his left temple.
Seeing that the large gang of men, which included known gunmen, that entered the café did not alarm Zaraca and Jacko and that these men cheered for Jacko after he won the game, it appears that the victims were either members of the same gang or allied with them. Perhaps the victims were some how double crossers in the feud between the Morello-Terranova’s and the “Charley Bakers”. {Gangster City pgs 32-33}
One police theory was that it was a revenge killing for a gang leader known as "Coney Island". According to police it was after this guys murder that Zaraca refused to leave Jacko's without an escort of friends.

The stars that we reached were just starfish on the beach

We had joy we had fun we had dead guys in the sun. Well summer is over, but thats ok cause I always liked fall better and what better way to kick off the season than by introducing the three celebrity judges for the first annual dead guys in suits art contest. Lets say hello to, (cue theme music)

Judge #1 Matilda Downey Matilda is an actress who visitors to this sight would most likely know as Yaryna, Phil Leotardo's goomar who got whacked in the second from last episode of the Sopranos.

Judge #2 Mario Gomes Mario is an Al Capone enthusiast and researcher who has appeared on the History channel, Fox and Court TV.

Judge #3 Greg Vaccariello Greg is a Stand-Up comic, TV actor and great grand-nephew of New York City's own Five Point alumnus Paul Kelly.

The criteria for the judging is that there is no criteria. Whatever picture tickles your fancy, or fancy's your tickle. It's all for fun, games and a book. The judges will now go over the pics and when a decision is made it will be sealed in an envelope and passed to me through a Price Waterhouse representative. (are they the ones that do the Oscars? If not pretend I said the company that does the Oscars.)