A Brooklyn synagogue's fundâ€raising Las Vegas Nite program ended in violence early yesterday when a reputed associate of the soâ€called Joey Gallo group in organized crime was killed by a shot in the head, apparently fired from outside the building.
The victim, Steve Cirillo, 31 years old, of 270 Degraw Street, Brooklyn, was believed to have been a player or spectator at gaming tables with his wife, Jo Ann. His death may have been another to stem from a struggle for control within the Gallo group of about 50 members. Since July 1 there has been one other murder and three men have been wounded.
Police records indicated that Mr. Cirillo had been arrested seven times since November, 1966, when a charge of possessing a pistol led to a misdemeanor conviction. In October, 1970, he was reported to have been accused with another man in beating another person to death on a street, but a charge of homicide was dismissed.
The police received estimates that 40 to 75 persons may have been in the basement of the Congregation B'nai Israel of Sheepshead Bay, 3007 Ocean Avenue at Jerome Avenue, at 2:10 A.M.
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The Men's Club of the Orthodox Jewish synagogue had started Saturday†and Sundaynight gambling programs —cards, roulette, dice — two months ago in hope of raising money for a new building.
A sound like a firecracker startled the players. Then a woman ran into the street, crying and screaming that her husband had been shot. Before policemen summoned by a call to the 911 emergency number arrived, the basement had emptied, with tables and cards strewn about. Mrs. Cirillo, 29, said she had been at a table away from her husband and had not witnessed the shooting.
Weapons Discovered
Policemen of the Avenue U precinct and detectives of the 10th Homicide Zone, commanded by Lieut. Bennie R. Pulice, found a rifle and a handgun in the synagogue's playground inside a foliageâ€covered cyclone fence near a children's swimming pool.
Investigators suggested that the killer had fired either through a fence link or from inside the grounds, shooting through an open basement window at Mr. Cirillo, who was standing near a door under bright lights.
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The automobiles were towed away by the police yesterday morninng from the Jim Dente's Service Station across the street at 3010 Ocean Avenue, where they were blocking each other.
Mr. Dente said he closed his station nights at 7 o'clock and gambling customers frequently filled it with their parked cars thereafter. A 1:30 A.M. yesterdayâ€for the third time in two months—an oil truck was unable to deliver his 3,000â€gallon order, he said.
Despite antiâ€gambling laws, Las Vegas Nites have become a fundâ€raising technique for a number of Brooklyn and Queens synagogues, churches and other organizations in the last several years. Earlier this year, professional gamblers were reported trying to enter the field and offering fees to sponsors, but an official of the B'nai Israel temple insisted yesterday that his group ran its program alone.
Law enforcement officials believe the Gallo group, once a faction in the organizedcrime family headed by Joseph A. Colombo Sr., has been warring within itself over the leadership of Albert Gallo, successor to his brother, Joey, with a breakaway group led by John Cutrone.
