The presumed murder of the son of high-ranking Genovese gangster Dominick "Quiet Dom" Cirillo may have finally been solved - a top mobster says the order to kill him came from the victim's father.
Nicholas Cirillo's fate came up in a candid conversation between ex-Bonanno boss Joseph Massino and acting boss Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano secretly recorded for the feds by Massino.
"That came from Dom, that came from Dom," Basciano told Massino in the January 2005 talk when asked who did in the mobster's son.
Massino, the highest ranking Mafia rat ever to testify in a New York courtroom was asked by prosecutor Taryn Merkl to explain what Basciano meant.
"I understand that he's telling me Quiet Dom killed his son," Massino testified in Brooklyn Federal Court.
Authorities have long suspected Nicholas Cirillo was whacked after an altercation in the Bronx with Basciano's son, Vincent Jr., and Bonanno soldier Dominick Cicale.
Two weeks after the clash Nicholas Cirillo, then 41, vanished on Mother's Day 2004. His body has never been found.
High price for breaking rules
Dominick Cirillo, a former acting boss of the Genovese family who earned his nickname because he is low-key and surveillance conscious, refused to cooperate with police.
And he was evasive when questioned by a federal probation officer in 2006 about who was to blame for his troubled son's disappearance, according to court records.
Investigators have previously theorized that the elder Cirillo, who was estranged from his son, approved the murder because assaulting a made member of the Mafia carries the penalty of death. Cicale was already a wiseguy and Basciano's son was up for induction into the mob at the time.
But killing the son of a Mafioso would also be a death sentence. Massino acknowledged that he gave the order to kill Bonanno capo Gerlando "George from Canada" Sciascia - despite his fondness for the gangster - because Sciascia had murdered the son of a made man in Canada.
Massino gestured with his hand like a gun when he asked Basciano: "Do we have anything to do with that [Nicholas Cirillo's murder]?"
"Absolutely not. C'mon," Basciano shot back.
That was apparently good enough for Massino, who noted that a wiseguy could get killed for lying to his boss about a murder.
Basciano told Massino he met with Dominick Cirillo about the beef and the Genovese family "came back and apologized to me."
Cirillo, who is on supervised release for a racketeering conviction, could not be reached for comment.
His daughter Ann Marie Caggiano, refused to come to the door of her waterfront home near the Throgs Neck Bridge yesterday, but spoke over the intercom.
Informed of the testimony, she said: "I really don't want to talk about that."
Yesterday, Bonanno turncoat James "Big Louie" Tartaglione was asked about the ramifications of killing a made man's son: "You're liable to start a war between families," he said.
After Nicholas Cirillo vanished, there was no war.
http://www.fivefamiliesnyc.com/2011/04/tape-in-vinny-gorgeous-trial-reveals.htmlThe FBI is pursuing a murder case against one-time Genovese boss Dominick "Quiet Dom" Cirillo for allegedly ordering the Mother's Day murder of his son, the Daily News has learned.
Renewed interest in the son's 2004 disappearance follows tesimony from ex-Bonanno boss-turned-informer Joseph Massino that the low-key Cirillo signed the death warrant for drug-addled 41-year-old Nicholas.
The younger Cirillo - whose body was never found - disappeared two weeks after a Bronx street fight with Bonanno soldier Dominick Cicale and second-generation gangster Vincent Basciano Jr.
Sources said Cirillo, who had a history of drug abuse, was high on crack during the scuffle.
"There was concern the kid [Nicholas] was out of control and he was going to cause problems for the [Genovese] family," a source told The News.
The FBI believes it has identified the mob hit men who carried out the contract and is confident the Bonanno family was not responsible.
Nicholas was estranged from his old man, an ex-boxer and respected Genovese elder who served on the family's ruling panel when longtime boss Vincent "Chin" Gigante was jailed.
Although his fight was with the Bonannos, his execution was handled by the Genovese clan - and approved by his father, the source confirmed.
"That came from Dom," Bonanno acting boss Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basicano Sr. told Massino in a secretly taped 2005 jailhouse chat.
"Did we have anything to do with that?" asked Massino, waving his hand like it was a gun.
"Absolutely not," Basciano replied.
A wiseguy taking out his own progeny, while extraordinarily rare, is not completely unknown in mob lore.
Legendary Colombo underboss John "Sonny" Franzese considered whacking his ne'er-do-well namesake for snitching - but ultimately spared him.
A late Gambino capo was suspected of sanctioning his son's murder, although the feds could never confirm it.
Most mob fathers usually take one of two approaches with their sons: steering them clear of the business, or inviting them to join in.
Joseph "JoJo" Corozzo's son, Joseph Jr., became a defense lawyer, but far more are lured into "The Life" - from Joe Bonanno's son Bill in the '60s to John Gotti's son John in the '90s.
http://www.fivefamiliesnyc.com/2011/04/fbi-pursuing-murder-case-against-one.html
.
