Saw this posted in the archives of the other forum, figured I post it here since I remembered a few of you asked for it in the past.

Family Matters: A 28-Year-Old Is Said To Be Heir to Top Job In Philadelphia Mafia --- Salvatore Testa Has Knack Of Surviving Gunshots; A Clean Police Record --- Did a Jeweler Die of Fright? The Wall Street Journal April 19, 1984 Thursday


Copyright 1984 Factiva, a Dow Jones and Reuters Company
All Rights Reserved


(Copyright (c) 1984, Dow Jones & Co., Inc.)

The Wall Street Journal

April 19, 1984 Thursday

LENGTH: 1790 words

HEADLINE: Family Matters: A 28-Year-Old Is Said To Be Heir to Top Job In Philadelphia Mafia --- Salvatore Testa Has Knack Of Surviving Gunshots;
A Clean Police Record --- Did a Jeweler Die of Fright?

BYLINE: By Paul A. Engelmayer, Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

BODY:


PHILADELPHIA -- With more than 70 commendations for bravery, heroism and valor, 40-year-old Michael Chitwood is the most decorated police officer in this city's history. Still, he says, he fears one man: a 28-year-old former real-estate salesman with a clean police record.

The man's name is Salvatore Testa. And according to Mr. Chitwood, who left the Philadelphia Police Department in 1983 to become the chief of police in nearby Middletown Township, "He gives you that look like he might rip your jugular vein out."

More to the point, according to the 1983 report of the Pennsylvania Crime Commission, Salvatore Testa is a member of the Mafia. Indeed, crime-commission members now say that Mr. Testa is the fastest-rising star in Philadelphia's organized-crime family. At an age when many people are just starting to climb a career ladder, Mr. Testa is said by law-enforcement agencies to be on the brink of controlling this city's Mafia -- a job usually held by men twice his age.

It is no small job. According to the crime commission, the Philadelphia Mafia's drug-dealing, loan-sharking, racketeering and gambling operations bring in several hundred million dollars a year. Much of that activity is centered in the coveted Atlantic City market, which the Philadelphia mob shares with the New York Mafia.

Crime-commission investigations show the Philadelphia mob, mostly through "straw owners," controls a significant number of legitimate businesses, including about 100 local restaurants and dozens of bars. It also operates jewelry shops, trucking outfits, vending operations, game arcades, construction and cement companies, janitorial concerns, beer distributorships and other businesses with heavy cash flows that allow behind-the-scenes owners to siphon off an estimated several hundred million dollars annually.

In size, the Philadelphia mob "competes with the largest corporations in the area. The tax loss (to government) is horrendous," says the commission's executive director, Wallace P. Hay. He estimates that between 5% and 10% of an average Philadelphian's weekly expenditures are ultimately channeled back to the mob.

Partly because of his youth, partly because of his exploits and largely because of his uncanny ability to survive gunshots, Salvatore Testa is certainly the mob's most celebrated figure these days. A handsome, stocky 6-footer, he has appeared numerous times on the front pages of local papers. In 1980, in an incident police say wasn't mob-related, Mr. Testa was shot in the groin and leg after an argument outside of a South Philadelphia restaurant. He made his front-page debut in August 1982 after he was shot eight times at close range at an outdoor market in South Philadelphia and left for dead. He survived, but two gunmen were caught and convicted. He dodged another assassination attempt several months ago.

Mr. Testa's father, Philip ("Chicken Man"), headed the mob here for a year before being blown up in March 1981 by a nail bomb planted on his front porch. The junior Mr. Testa wouldn't be interviewed for this article. But his attorney, Robert F. Simone, strongly denies that Salvatore Testa is a mobster, emphasizing his clean police record. "I don't think there's any evidence that he's done anything wrong," says Mr. Simone, who maintains his client gets a bad rap because of his father's reputation. "The evidence is that his last name is Testa. Guilt by association is what it boils down to." Mr. Simone speculates that the gunmen who shot Mr. Testa may have been aiming for someone else.

Still, the crime commission and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have identified Salvatore Testa as a capo, or deputy, to Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo, 55, reputedly the current boss of the Philadelphia Mafia. And to local lawmen, Chicken Man's son symbolizes a new, swaggering breed of mobster that has become dominant in recent years.

The change dates from March 1980, when 69-year-old Angelo Bruno, the "Gentle Don" of Philadelphia organized crime for 21 years, was gunned down in his parked car. Since that time, some 21 reputed area mobsters have been murdered, including many of the more businesslike figures. The leadership vacuum has been filled by a younger, more flamboyant crowd. Like Salvatore Testa, its members are viewed as more violent and brash than the old guard.

To many, a recent incident amply demonstrated the fear instilled by this "new mob." As the police reconstruct things, from the accounts of witnesses, Mr. Testa and several colleagues loitered conspicuously near a local jewelry store run by the nephew of a rival of Mr. Testa's. Sometimes they tapped on the window. The nephew -- who had no known criminal activities -- closed shop early one afternoon in December, shut himself in a walk-in safe and shot himself in the head. "Scared to Death?" asked the front-page headline of the tabloid Philadelphia Daily News the next day.

Shortly afterward, says Gino Lazzari, a special agent of the crime commission, informants reported Mr. Testa bragging that he didn't have to "hit" anybody anymore and that "all he had to do is call them up and tell them he wants to see them."

In another widely publicized incident, a local real-estate developer was punched, kicked and stabbed in the throat, reportedly after a nightclub argument with Mr. Testa. According to press and police accounts, a Pennsylvania grand jury looked into the fracas but didn't press charges after the victim suddenly decided not to cooperate.

"We'd love to convict him of doing something," says Capt. Frank Wallace, until recently the head of the Philadelphia Police Department's organized-crime unit. "Needless to say, he's the apple of our law-enforcement eye."

Law-enforcement officials believe young Testa is Nicodemo Scarfo's right-hand man and heir apparent. When Mr. Scarfo was released from a Texas jail in January after serving 17 months on a handgun-possession charge, it was Mr. Testa who, bedecked in suit and tie and 10-gallon hat, kissed him on the cheek, carried his bags and rode with the boss to the airport in a rented white limousine. Mr. Testa's attorney says the encounter was "merely a show of friendship. There's no crime to be with somebody."

Salvatore Testa's swift rise through the underworld, as described by Mafia watchers, shows the extraordinary importance of family connections in this most veiled of professions.

Mr. Testa's father, a longtime lieutenant of Angelo Bruno's, had a criminal record stretching back to 1940. By the mid-1970s, he had become Bruno's underboss. When Bruno died, he was the natural successor.

But Philip Testa sheltered his son from mob activities for more than two decades, the police say. Salvatore was raised in South Philadelphia, where he attended several private Catholic schools. Albert DiGiacomo, vice principal of St. John Neumann High School, remembers him as an average student who was respectful to his teachers and got along well with other students.

After a year at Temple University, he went to work as a real-estate salesman for a South Philadelphia firm owned by family friend Ralph Pupo, Angelo Bruno's son-in-law. Mr. Pupo says Salvatore was an "astute" salesman who worked 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. six days a week. "He's a very kind and gentle person," Mr. Pupo says. "To us, he's still a wonderful little boy."

Around 1979, Salvatore gave up full-time real-estate work. That year, he and the son of another reputed mobster applied for a liquor license at an Atlantic City nightclub they had bought in 1977 with $195,000 of their fathers' money. But the New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control turned them down, citing in its decision its suspicion that the young men were fronting for their "criminally disqualified" fathers. In protest, the pair's attorney accused state officials of applying the adage "Like father, like son."

The police believe Philip Testa initiated his son into the Mafia shortly before he was murdered. (Salvatore's mother had died of cancer four months earlier.) Soon after the murder, the police say, they began to hear that Salvatore had vowed revenge.

Exactly one year to the day after Philip Testa's death, the body of a man named Rocco Marinucci turned up in a green plastic trash bag in a south Philadelphia parking lot. Mr. Marinucci, a low-level ally of Philip Testa's foes and a prime suspect in the elder Testa's murder, had been shot numerous times in the chest, neck and mouth, and his hands were bound with clothesline. Three large, unexploded firecrackers had been stuffed into his mouth -- a symbol, say organized-crime experts, that Philip Testa's friends had reciprocated for the nail bomb. No one has been charged with Marinucci's murder.

Since then, according to the crime commission's Mr. Hay, Mr. Testa has consolidated his power, bringing many friends into the mob. He has also inherited many of his father's allies. The most crucial has been Mr. Scarfo, a dapper former boxer who took over the mob after the death of Philip Testa, his mentor.

According to the Philadelphia police, much of Philip Testa's wealth has also passed to his son, including four Philadelphia properties valued at about $800,000. Salvatore Testa made an additional $1.1 million last year from the sale of his Atlantic City nightclub, bought through a third party by developer Donald Trump. The night Philip Testa was slain, the police found $15,000 in cash on his body and another $90,000 in his home.

Salvatore Testa is almost never seen in public without several husky friends, who surround him when he frequents this city's stylish nightclubs. Detectives say he is an amateur athlete with a fascination for mob lore. Officers who searched the Testa home after the father's death found a video cassette recorder downstairs with tapes of just two movies: "The Godfather" and "Godfather II." Until recently, Mr. Testa was engaged to be married to the daughter of Salvatore "Sonny" Merlino, described as Mr. Scarfo's underboss.

Authorities say Mr. Testa has played a key role in Mr. Scarfo's bloody turf feud with a mob faction headed by Harry "The Hunchback" Riccobene, 73, a former Bruno deputy who fell out of favor when Philip Testa gained power. Mr. Riccobene was the target of two unsuccessful murder attempts in 1982, shortly before he left to serve a racketeering sentence in jail.

The attempt on Mr. Testa's life in the summer of 1982, police say, was meant as retaliation. Joseph Pedulla and Victor DeLuca, the two men convicted in January 1983 of the shooting, are described as allies of Mr. Riccobene. Most recently, Mr Riccobene's half brother, Robert, was shot dead as he walked his mother from his car to her home. Mr. Riccobene's nephew, Enrico, was the jeweler who committed suicide eight days later.

I know I have asked this question in other threads but never get an answer so here goes again. Can anyone shed some light on the first gunshot Sal survived? No one seems to know any details of it and the WSJ article is the only source I have seen that claims Testa survived a first shooting incident before Pedulla and Deluca shot him in the Italian Market.

its ironic that the guy who wrote this article pretty much sealed testa's fate

Interesting.

Whattup all. Nice forum. To answer Mussolini's question, Testa's first shooting incident occurred outside a night club where he frequented and a friend of his managed. He actually was intervening in a fight between Nick Milano, who was pretty young at the time, and another patron. Story goes that Nick was just a valet at this club, a job Testa got for him. So one night Milano got in an argument with some guy in the parking lot where he was parking cars and Testa intervened after the guy tried to pull a piece on Milano. Testa caught some fire in his groin/leg area trying to protect Milano. Probably saved Nicky Whip's life according to his older brother Gino who recounted this story from the witness stand years later.

Thanks so much for the info. Do you know the fate of the guy who shot Testa?

Welcome Savie84, good to have you aboard!

George Anastasia's reporting on the events and history in Philadelphia along with this storya nd others, seems like some really great information for major screen plays in what seems like a really great movie, does anyone know if there has ever been talks of movies involving Philadelphia, and not the 10th and wolf flik.

I have always thought Philadelphia in the 80's would make for an awesome movie! I hope they do one day.

Thanks Nicky! Should've joined sooner haha. I look forward to chatting with you guys

That's a good question. No idea but I'm sure he didn't get away with it

Thanks for the info man, I've been wondering about the first shooting incident since I first read the WSJ article about 3 years ago and asked on multiple OC boards and never got an answer.

I always thought it woul make a good saga split into two parts like Godfather one and two. This is wishful thinking but I think it'd be a nice to see Part One be about the Bruno and Testa era and the Part Two cover Scarfo up into when Skinny Joey took over. One should be directed by Coppola and Two by Scorcese. I think they're different styles would contrast the quiet old world Bruno style to the brash, flamboyant Scarfo/Merlino era. I even got the castin down (think DeNiro as Phil Testa and Scarfo played by Pesci). Bruno could be played by maybe Uncle Junior? This would be a nice new thread. Any thoughts guys?

No problem. Anastasia should do a Mob Scene video on Sal Testa. I can't understand why he hasn't yet.

^^im sure he has check out his archives

ya its weird he hasn't but he has talked about Salvie a lot in documentaries maybe that why he didnt do a mob scene video on him

I had the same idea, but a three part epic with the following directors:

Origins - late 70s: Coppola
1978-1989: Scorsese (because the era leading up to Bruno's hit is more Goodfellas-esque than like The Godfather IMO)
1989-2001: Tarantino (he would be perfect for a movie about people like Veasey)

I don't really think enough crazy shit has happened since 2001 to warrant a movie. You could have an epilogue talking about how Martarano got hit and how Ligambi got indicted in 2011.

This will of course never happen, LOL. Though they did make a friggin' Cleveland mob movie last year so who knows, we might get a decent Scarfo flick some day. They should make it before he dies, he needs the ego gratification.

One of nicky scarfos biggest mistakes was killing salvie Even crazy phil said they didn't have any1that was able to run the streets like home.and had he lived and not got sent away scarfo coulda kept control. _

i love how the lawyer always defends their clients honour... "he's not a mobster... he was in the wrong place at the wrong time... it was mistaken identity... why would anyone want to shoot my client?"

Love it or not, that's their job. You'd do the same.

It was Riccobene guys that shot him with a shotgun while he was eating a bucket of clams outside a storefront. read Blood&Honor

Back when the Philly mob still had clout and at that point was especially dangerous. Hard to think it was 30 years ago

if they ever make a movie about philly around scarfo era 80-87, danny devito has to play harry hunchback, dye his here white grow the beard he's spot on, plus aint devito from philly? its always sunny great show but they got to end it. dont know who play scarfo. ya this article sealed salvie fate, in leonetti's book he new it was coming he should have run. any one interested in scarfo mafia prince is a must read scarfo was a sick man.

thanks for this,sad sal got killed over this

Danny DeVito was originally from Asbury Park, NJ. His father was a well known bookie.

Saw this post.

Salvie was loved. Scarfo's biggest mistake was getting rid of him. But in Scarfo's sick mind salvie being loved is what hurt him. But as someone else said if Scarfo would have left Salvie do his thing he would have ran these philly streets right

Mafia prince was the first mafia book I read. Incredible book to read.