Chicken Man Testa

Why was he killed by his underboss? was it just a power struggle?

It was like fashion killing a boss in the Philly mob,thats why Scarfo had the cure for it,by killing every rising star around him i dunno...i think that it was a power struggle but i think the real question is...why Peter Casella wasnt killed by the commission after the "Chicken Man" hit?

chicken man was cool name but he made scarfo his 2 guy and after testa died scarfo killed his kid thats fuckd up. i think it was chuckier merlinos hate that got the kid killed you dont call off a wedding to a mobsters daughter weeks before it was to happen.

ya that is a dicey type of people to be cancelling a wedding on...Springsteen has a great song about the chicken man

The Chicken Man was clipped by Pete Casella, Chickie Narducci and Rocco Marinucci. For years as a soldier Chickie was a great earner with little or no power. Also he had an on again off again relationship with Phil. Mind you Bruno and Chickie were already plotting on him before The Docile Don got clipped.

Chuckie was very very sneaky not that they all are not but Skinny is Chuckies son so if that give you any indication .

I have no doubt that Chuckie had it out for Salvie cos he could see that Sal was very good at what he did and was able to earn on his own merit .

Chuckie came up broke till Nick moved him up and Chuckie seen the new guy trend and how Phil was moving up and how the picture looked for the family.

So nothing would surprise me that Chuckie would go out of his way , and possibly did being UB was able to make Sal look bad .

IMO it was really Scarfo that fucked him over the most

According to Leonetti, Testa talked to Nick when he was in prison and asked for permission to call it off and Scarfo told him absolutely he was too young to settle down and he would smooth it over with Chucky.

Instead he told Chucky, "can you believe the disrespect to your daughter" lol

What a life, the guy tried to do right and would have got fucked either way

Yeah, constant treachery and back stabbing. Nick would have never reviled his true motives to Salvi " the life is treacherous .

I think all the local media and attention salvy testa got made scarfo jealous. I really thank that was 100% why he had him killed. Everything else is excuses..
My opinion.

Phil said it best - the way Nick said to Chuckie... "What about... Salvie?" like real slow, like it was already implied he'd go. That was the moment Phil knew that Salvie was marked.

I think you're right on 100%. The media attention made the other guys on the streets jealous, and that's when they all started "beefing" to Chuckie Merlino and Scarfo. That Wall Street Journal article that called him the "crowned prince of Philadelphia" and the "fastest rising star in the Scarfo organization" certainly was the beginning of the end for him in my belief. Salvie calling off the wedding to Merlino's daughter was just the "play" that Chuckie and the other made guys needed to start taking their other so-called beefs to Scarfo - he's dealing drugs with the blacks in North Philly, he's so powerful he's going to start his own family, etc.

At that point I think the jealously combined with the paranoia that Scarfo already had and he felt that he didn't have any other option but to whack Salvie. I agree that a lot of the reasons given sound like excuses, but Little Nicky being paranoid is certainly one I can get behind and not dismiss. He saw how treacherous Philly had become after Bruno and the Chicken Man were both rubbed out in one year; how could you be the boss right after all of that happens and NOT sit back and think if/when somebody is going to try to take you out? All in all I think it's a shame he was killed for such an absurd reason, but absurdity was pretty much the definition of the Philadelphia mafia during Scarfo's reign. Had Salvie stayed alive and got nailed for 35-45 years like some of the other guys in that RICO case, he would be back in Philly right now like the rest of the Scarfo era guys and there would be no question who the undisputed boss of the family was.

I remember reading in George A's book about Tommy Del (Mobfather) that he said at some point in the 1970's Phil Testa went to Angelo Bruno and sought permission to branch out and start his own family. Tommy Del goes on to say that it was such a breach of protocol that Testa should have been whacked immediately for even entertaining the idea. I was just curious about this because up until I read the book I had never heard anything like this about Phil Testa wanting to break away. I've only ever heard the usual about the supposed "rift" he had with Bruno. It was just interesting to me because it seems like the same beef that was used on Salvie about being too powerful and breaking away from the family may have actually originated from guys beefing on his dad to Bruno about the same thing.

King : Testa and Bruno were tight as mobsters get but as time went on they hated each other .

Bruno was going to Scarfo house in AC to try to get some dirt on what Testa was up to because he had all the mussel in the family Bruno tried to keep all the money and cleaner guys near him .

This is what eventually got him killed !

Many don't know this that Bruno was forced to take over the Philly family, he wanted to be a Skipper in Florida and had some businesses in Cuba and south Florida.

I herd this from my grandfather, I am not a researcher but if you dig you will find out Bruno was pushed in Philly top spot !!

Basically Chickie Narducci who was a captain at the time was really hell bent on becoming boss similar to how Tony Bananas felt when angelo was still boss. Chickie was a big team earner and millionaire but he really wanted power. So he got Pete casella(the underboss) involved in this plot. Obviously they didn't have commission approval or the backing of the Genovese family so that didn't work out. Peter Casella was spared and told to retire to florida. However Salvie testa took care of Chickie and rocco marinucci who was Casella's driver and the one who detonated the nailbomb.

Kind of off topic here, but does anyone have any info on Faffy?

I know he's been out of prison for a little while and I'm sure he still has some time left on his supervised release before he is completely "free". I was just curious if he was back involved and if so to what capacity? Also kind of curious as to where he would line up with the family supposedly split into all of these different factions. I can't remember where I read it (probably Scott) but it was suggested that Faffy would end up in Joe Punge's camp when he was released.

It was not excuses " Salvie was messing around with dope and he was not hiding it well .

He was seen by many with guys from Black Mafia , guys in Salvie crew kept it quiet as long as they could and then the jealousy and drunk nights happen.

Salvie was in tight with a Youngblood and a guy name Ellis and more,and was making money , now I don't know if it was part of the street tax but even Sal guys were running there mouth or jealous about the cash or who knows maybe they wanted them for them selfs.

The gossip was heavy about that along with What was going to happen because of Chucky daughter, it was a conversation that was had often buy people that knew them.

On "60 minutes" Philip Leonetti said Salvie was not dealing dope,was he misinformed, or ????/

Mike Youngblood was Black Mafia and went away for drugs in the 80s (he was actually part of Martarano's drug operation) and I also have heard and even seen it written that Mike Youngblood was a major associate of Sal Testa. Whether the two were directly engaged in drug dealing or not I cannot tell you for sure. Mike Youngblood and the Black Mafia were also into Numbers and some gambling as well so the association between the two could have been a number of things. Most likely though, anything drug related with Salvie was loaning him money with points to finance his drug deals, which basically everyone in the Scarfo Family was doing at that time. It's how they were able to skirt the drug rule within a Scarfo even though it was a joke because the only difference was they were just getting someone else that wasn't in the Family to physically handle the drugs. Joe Punge even got caught with Mike Madgin (who was a rat) financing meth deals and even getting a cut of drug operations in addition to the extent where he would get referral fees for connecting drug dealers with suppliers, etc. If that drug rule was actually enforced then Raymond Martarano should never have been made let alone able to live...

Right on PHL-MOB it was well known so I have no clue why Phil would say the opposite other then looking good in front of the cameras .Phil had the info and it's how I herd was from Phil or Yogi , I could of herd it from Franny but I am pretty sure it was put out there by by made guys in ACand Philly .

He was deep into dealing or financing from what was said after he dropped Chuckie daughter, but before it was not talked about only after was it a problem. So of course with anything in that life it's only good when it's good for the bosses!!!

But with out a doubt Salvie was well wrapped up in the BM !! and the numbers from the black neighborhood came through one of the guys in Phil crew , so Phil was very very close to the whole thing and may have known much more !!!

There is so much the public does not know about that case and who was involved with who ! Phil was getting cash from the BM numbers and Salvie was the bank or more , then there is always a chance Salvie had a partner in the whole thing and never said a word .

If Scarfo didn't go to prison would Merlino father and son and the Ciancaglini's and Mazzone have gone to war with the Scarfo's and Leonetti like they did with Stanfa?

Cos I think Stanfa being a siggy was just an excuse.

How about Ligambi?

He owes his rise to Scarfo after being little more than a bartender.

Ligambi was a Chuckie Merlino guy.

Joe Ligambi was a book that did restaurant work and bartending as legitimate income here in AC and Chuckie brought him around and from what we herd he was good at his job (book) that is . He was here for a while but could not make it like" Beeps" before him .

This area is a island and at points only 3-4 blocks wide , it's very very difficult for a out of town guy come in and book , it's always been a locals that were successful and kicked !

Serp- so is the implication here that Chucky figured out that he was a good sports handicapper (which apparently was the reason Chucky even got to know him in the first place) and then after that subsequently moved him from Philly to AC to book? Cuz wasn't Uncle Joe the bartender at TK's spot? Which was always a connected spot as far as I've know even well before Uncle Joe got there. You're right though it did eventually fail. Just don't get why Chucky would bring him to AC from Philly if it's a locals game?

I've always thought Scarfo was actually pretty funny especially when Leonetti would quote Scarfo whether Phil was trying to be funny or not. "If he's [Ligambi] such a sports wizard then why is he tending bar?" -Little Nicky to Chucky Merlino prior to meeting Ligambi for the first time at Chucky's behest

Yes ! TK's was connected through the owner and a good guy Teddy Kline and Teddy was a bartender at one point .

Ligambi was looked upon by Chucky as there guy in AC because that's what they could not get is one of there own "that if anything happen the family still had the book and I am sure they had more plans .

They tried with Beeps to the point of buying a building on Artic ave right across from a very well known book and pool hall , but Nick did not want to mussel in Ducktown ( force a local out of his business of 30 years)so he put Beeps up in a spot right across the street and had it remodeled pool hall up front card rooms in back living quarters up stairs .

But Beeps had no personality and Mucks was right across the street and the ALI club around the corner he just couldn't do it, must of pissed Nick off cos Nick had Muck beat when Beeps first put up shop and Muck was out front of Nicks house screaming truths and no truths about Nick , can not believe Nick let him live.

Ligambi was in the kitchen and then a waiter before Teddy at TK's gave him the job at the bar where he could network. But no matter could not get it going .

Serp, wasnt Beeps the same guy that all the locals always beat in cards & took advantage of till Nick Virgilio (I think)sat in 1 day 4 him & basically every hand he told the others "u lose" & they all stopped their bullshit w/ Beeps?

Yeah his name was Bidda-Beep

Beeps is a made guy in North Jersey he is in the Philly family.

I thought he was made when he was here but he was a associate sent by one of his skippers to try to get a book going here in AC ( for or with Nicks blessing)that was in the family.

This was before uncle Joe this was in the 70's late but in the 70's may have lasted till the 80's but like I always say if I knew any of this was going to be talked about ever again I would have tried to retain some of this stuff.

When you are living it " it's like nothing!!!

And nobody was fucking with Beeps as far as I know , there was a guy they called blah blah black sheep !! But his name was Joe and he was very unstable if teased. He was not right in his head you get me , not a associate or anything like that but very well-known in Ducktown and Chelsea.

If it was Joe Blah blah then it was when he was young because he lost it in his late 20's or early 30's (PHL-Mob)

But not the guy that the Blade was sticking up for , I am pretty sure that was a candy store card game or the card game at the bar at Texas ave and Atlantic ave .

There was three or more bars with back rooms on every block and this was games from the beginning like the 20's and 30's this town was full blown OC of all different nationalities depending where you were in the city but the entire city was .

He looks like Super Mario after he dipped his head in a deep fat fryer.

Handsome kid though.