I never got a clear answer to this, do you guys know if Joe Bonanno, Carlo Gambino, or Frank Costello ever whack someone themselves? I have never heard any examples of either of them killing anyone when they were younger

Is that even a question? Of course they did

I don't have a clear answer for you,but if I had to speculate,I would pick Gambino as the one most likely to have been a hitter. He was made in Sicily when he was nineteen. As we know,the Sicilian Mob was totally ruthless,and would kill babies in their cribs if it was necessary to satisfy a vendetta.For them to make a guy that young tells me that he had a notch or two on his gun. In addition,a duplicitous,cunning weasel like Gambino knew that killing would have been a step up in his world,so I could see him doing whatever he had to do.

Prohibition was a brutal era. I would not be surprised if political shipments were not enough to keep Costello liquor protected. Would not be surprised if he (partners with Joe Kennedy) had a few 1920's notches on his killing belt. Murders Ordered, however: Abe Reles

Bonanno? Perhaps in Sicily. Not in America. His first two Consiglieres were brutally murdered, however.

I don't believe Gambino ever killed someone. It was a widespread rumor. He and Paul never made their bones.

Gambino killed ALOT, there was a reason every boss except him got moved on and whacked. Magano, Anastasia and Castellano

i don't think paul did but from what i've read in the past carlo was doing hits for mob bosses in sicily in his mid-teens. he was a ruthless killer in his day

Not sure about the others, but Joe Bonanno was a shooter for Maranzano during the Castelemarrasse wars, and he mentions in his book certain hits that the shooters did. I think he was in on shooting Peter Morello who was Maseria's second, and probably others....he gained a "reputation" in that war, and it was not from sitting on the sidelines....


and this is my first post...thanks

All shooters doing the war so you know they drop a body or two.

Good point, Joe Bonanno was indeed a gunner for Maranzano during the Castellamarese war. And welcome to the board.

I'm sure Carlo Gambino had done hits atleast in Sicily. He was respected by powerful mobsters almost immediately in the U.S and I contribute that to "Killers respect Killers". Frank Costello however...I don't actually know but I'd bet not

Id think costello probably orderd quite a few.if i had to guess about gambino n bonanno id say theyve both probably done a few. I think bonanno prolly had more notches tho

Can I throw old boy Carlos Marcello from the Big Easy into this convo? They were pretty small in numbers down here, so do you think he moved with the backing of NY or got dirty himself?

Aside from blog writers where do we have it from a good, reliable source that Gambino was made in Sicily at age 19? He may have been, but there are a lot of blogs out there that just repeat false information. There are a lot of books that repeat bad information. John Davis in books like Mafia Dynasty gets a lot of things wrong (he gets a lot of things right too). One example is the photo he includes of Anglo-Egyptian/Maltese/Sicilian mobster Salvatore Messina and claims it was Salvatore Maranzano. He and Jay Robert Nash were responsible for using the photo of Messina and claiming it was Maranzano. I believe they also claimed that Vito Cascio Ferro sent Maranzano and Gambino to America (he did not). So again, where did the claim that Gambino was made in Sicily at age 19 come from?

I'm with others in that Gambino was probably a killer before he even stepped foot on American soil. Bonanno I'd say was a killer in his youth as well. I just don't know enough about Costello's youth to say one way or another but I would imagine yes.

Too many people fall for the "innocent me" routine that Gambino and Bonanno portrayed. They played the poor old Grandfather routine for a reason.

Gambino was a wolf in sheeps clothing that's for sure!

Or should that be a Lion and a Fox in sheeps clothing!

Name one person killed. Name even one in which he was a suspect.

I think Joe Bonanno Sr. was high up the chain with Maranzanno, so I don't know if he got his hands dirty during the Castellammarese war.

ht2, thats exactly what I was thinking. I have never heard of either of them ever even being a suspect in a murder. Then again during prohibition there were a lot of murders and they did not solve a majority of them. I agree Bonanno and Gambino deffinitely played the old grandfather role really well. When I saw Bonanno's interview that he did for 60 minutes I legit almost thought that there was no way that he ever killed anyone, and I even felt bad for him a little bit. I just dont see him being ruthless maybe its because that was him in his old age, but that interview is one of the reasons I asked this question because I honestly dont see Bonanno having it in him, maybe its just me. I also DEFFINITELY cant see Salvatore (Bill) Bonanno being a killer, no way no how. I also saw the Meyer Lansky interview and he makes me question whether or not he has any murders under his belt. I guess being deceiving is one of the traits that these guys survive by. Here is the interview for anyone who has not seen it btw. The first one is part of the Bonanno 60 minutes interview, I cant find the whole thing. The second one is Meyer Lansky, very interesting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8dfYv1gj4c

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UNJTPtmZhI

does anyone know of any murders that these guys were even suspects in? Im just really curious about this I really am curious about Meyer Lansky too, I just dont see him being a killer either, a moneymaker though with a brain no doubt.

Lansky I see a lot like Lefty Rosenthal, I'm not sure they wanted them to get their hands dirty because they were so good at numbers and making money.

Like Frank Costello said in The Departed, "a lot of people had to die for me to be me". Bosses generally don't get to the top without being dirty somehow. Of course you could probably take the Castellano approach, but that could backfire like it did for him too. And just because you are not suspected in a murder doesn't mean you have never killed. During the prohibition days there were so many murders most were not even attempted to be resolved unless they had concrete evidence in which most had none.

i've never heard of gotti, gigante, salerno, bellomo, cirillo, aiuppa, and giancana killing anyone either. they must not have made their bones and just happened to become feared bosses and ran an organization full of killers

Never heard of Chin's attempt on Costello?

Don't know who made their bones or not. I just took issue with saying Gambino killed "ALOT" when there's no evidence he killed anyone by his own hand. Looks like Carlo became a capo at a young age and would be giving orders, but the op wasn't asking about giving orders. Costello became acting boss for Luciano after Vito abdicated.

Lansky: Yes. The Bug and Meyer mob was violent. I can also see him whacking a Nazi supporter in NYC during WWII.

Gambino: No. He was born into a mafia family and was well connected in NYC before arriving. I don't think he ever pulled the trigger, mostly because he didn't have to.

Bonanno: Yes. He was Maranzano's underboss and chief of staff during the Castellammarese war. He was in his twenties and probably fearless back then. Plus, he supposedly owned a funeral parlor that used double decker caskets, it makes it easier to believe that he was hands on with the murders.

Heres the definitive answer

When these guys were made into they're respective families, to be made you had to be a murderer.

The only reason we don't know exact murders is because nobody flipped from then

Shit, until massino flipped when didn't even know gotti pulled the trigger once and that was on Vito borelli

What's the Castellano approach?



This is probably a myth. Exceptions were probably made for good earners and certain relatives. The mob is known for breaking it's own rules. Anastasia was selling buttons for about 50k.

Just gonna guess that he meant the "casteallano approach" as either meaning nepotism, or making money over killing people.


Louie to be made you had participate in murder(be a driver or a lookout or whatever) not actually be the shooter although some were, but them being made doesnt definitively say that they actually pulled the trigger on somebody.

Bonanno wasn't Maranzano's underboss. Angelo Caruso was.

Marriage

Interesting info. For some reason, I thought they had to actually pull the trigger.

Shooting at someone is not making your bones. That means Gigante never killed anyone, and neither did most of the Genovese leadership. I don't remember Luciano, Torrio, Gotti, Paul Vario or Matty Ianniello killing anyone either. All these mafia bosses never killed anyone. They just became feared bosses.

Nobody is ever born a made man, no matter what family he is born into. There is less evidence of Lansky ever killing anyone. There is no evidence of Bugsy Seigel, Sam Giancana or Paul Ricca killing anyone either.

No..there most definitely is. Ricca killed Emilio Parillo in Italy and Matt Kolb in Chicago. Siegel had a murder charge on his record and insisted on being involved in the Allie Green murder in LA.

Good call on Angelo Caruso being Maranzano's Underboss. People don't realize that most of the time, the Underboss isn't the Don's right hand so much as he's the guy with the second most street power. Bonanno may well have been the #2 of the Castallamarese faction, but he was not the #2 of the Maranzano. That was Caruso, who headed the non-Castallamarese wing.