Jail Pal Eyed In Turchi Hit Roger Vella Had A Last Dinner With Victim
by Kitty Caparella, and Nicole Weisensee, Daily News Staff Writers
POSTED: November 23, 1999
Roger Vella Jr. - the mob associate who wanted to go back to prison to be with Joey Merlino - is the lead suspect in the Oct. 22 gangland slaying of onetime mob consigliere Ronald Turchi, say law enforcement sources.
The night before Turchi disappeared, Vella, 28, ate dinner with Turchi, 61, at the Saloon, a South Philadelphia restaurant, two witnesses said.
Turchi, demoted to soldier, and Vella were allegedly associated with a sports gambling business in South Philadelphia with reputed mob associate Anthony Staino, said street and law enforcement sources.
"Both were bothering people," a witness said. "I wouldn't be surprised if [Vella] set him up."
From late August through early October, Vella "smacked around" associates of the sports gambling business in an attempt to collect the mob's street tax, the same source said. "Those guys are scared to death of him."
Vella's street name is "Outta His Mind." Reputed acting mob boss Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino called Vella "outta his mind" in an FBI tape recording made public.
Vella and Turchi, a bookmaker, met nearly every day to discuss the illegal sports gambling business, the source continued. "They were pretty close. They went out to eat at Nifty Fifty's, the Saloon, and Turchi came to [Vella's] house and ate."
Investigators are looking into Turchi's relationship with Vella and others in an attempt to piece together his last days and find his killer or killers.
Authorities have theorized that Turchi was targeted so he couldn't cooperate with the government and testify against other members of the crime family.
On Oct. 22, the day of his disappearance, Turchi had a luncheon date with an undisclosed person to discuss getting into the imported olive oil business, said a law enforcement source.
Investigators have narrowed the window in which they believe Turchi was killed to a 10-hour period between 11 a.m. and 9 p.m. on Oct. 22, the source added.
The last time anyone is known to have seen Turchi alive was 11 a.m. when Deborah Vitagliano told police he left her South Philadelphia home for a lunch appointment.
At 9 p.m. that night, police, unaware Turchi was missing, ticketed his wife's car, a 1992 black Toyota on Passyunk Avenue near Christian, law enforcement sources said.
Three days later, Turchi's wife reported him and the car missing. Police "found" the car the next day on Oct. 26, at the same location where it had been ticketed, the sources said.
Police discovered Turchi's naked body, shot twice in the head, with his hands and feet tied with white rope and a white plastic bag over his head, in the trunk.
Investigators want to know if Turchi's nakedness was a mob message, or just a sign of disrespect.
Turchi and Vella became friends when they were in federal prison at Allenwood, Pa., and later at The Kintoch Group, a halfway house for federal prisoners on Broad Street near Wood.
Last Thursday, Vella was returned to a restrictive "sanctions center" at Kintoch, where he was ordered to serve four months for parole violations for associating with Merlino and convicted felons.
Vella is permitted to work in a restaurant during the day, but must report back to Kintoch.
The Turchi slaying is the second murder in which Vella is a suspect. He was earlier named as a target in the 1995 unsolved murder of drug dealer Ralph Mazzucca, who was shot, hogtied and set afire.
Mazzucca's killing and five other murders and attempted murders are under investigation by a federal grand jury, expected to indict Merlino mob associates.
Vella's attorney, Joseph Santaguida, dismissed the latest allegations.
"I don't really believe any of it. The Mazzucca murder, Turchi and he shot Gorilla" referring to the Aug. 28 shooting of Pagan Motorcycle Club president Steven Mondevergine. "He's a one-man crime wave," said Santaguida sarcastically.
"Yeah," added his secretary, "He's the Center City rapist too."
