Scarfo definitely feared Testa but it seriously wasn't because of this news article. Look at the informants, neither Tommy Del, Nicky Crow or Phil Leonetti cite the article story as being the reason he was killed, they all say the same thing. First off, Scarfo was playing the Merlino/Testa situation to his advantage. I think its Nicky Crow or Leonetti who says Testa actually went to Scarfo while he was in La Tuna and asked for his advice on how to handle the situation with Merlinos daughter. Scarfo told him he was young, and had the right to see and be with who he wanted, and if it wasn't Chuckies daughter then so be it. Testa told Scarfo Chuckie was making an issue of him calling the wedding off, Scarfo told Testa he'll handle Chuckie when he came home. Scarfo himself was playing both sides because he actually feared that if Testa married Merlinos daughter, they'd form this eventual super-faction of the Testa's and Merlinos and would move to take over the family for themselves.

Second, there's the issue of Testa's rackets, his crew and the money he was earning and Merlino wanting it for himself. When Scarfo came home, the guys under Chuckie Merlino, Faffy Iannerella and Tommy Del were feeding things to Scarfo, some of which was debatable, like Testa using drugs as well as dealing them, Testa wanting to break from the Scarfo mob and start his own family, and that Testa had gotten too close with the blacks. Testa wasnt a user, but he certainly made money off the Meth, and p2p trafficking that was going on. By most accounts Testa was very loyal to Scarfo, it's debatable if he ever wanted to start his own family, again most sources say that was unlikely, and he definitely wasn't forming a supergang with his crew and black gang members. What Chucky's men were doing was giving Scarfo reasons and getting him riled up enough to sign off on a hit on Testa. According to Nicky Crow, Merlino definitely felt disrespected by Testa calling off the wedding after everything was set and paid for, but according to Crow, Merlinos own words were "he can live if he simply steps down as a capo and gives up everything (his rackets and his crew) and started from the bottom again as a soldier". Thats supposedly what he told Crow and Charlie White. That gives the impression that it wasn't about the wedding, but simply a scheme for money, and a way to make Testa's posessions, his own (Merlino). Leonetti, despite his later claims, did not vouch for Testa, nor did anyone else, and Scarfo decided to hit him.

Considering all this informant testimony, which you can read from Crow himself in his book, Blood And Honour, and the court testimonies of Tommy Del, the article played a little role in Testas death. By the time this article came out, Testa may have already been on the hitlist, as I believe it came out around the same time, or after the funeral they had all attended, in which Merlino gave Testa the kiss of death. Nicky Crow also testified that he was told that during a dinner, which he didn't attend, that Merlinos group "buried Testa last night, and Scarfo says he's gotta go"....Crow also testified during court that he believed as he was told, that Testa was killed as an "affair of honor" for calling off the wedding , an action Scarfo had earlier backed him on, and that Testa had "gotten too big for his britches". The latter of which was the result of the burying of him by Merlino and his crew to Scarfo.

Its a nice story to recite, but the article literally had little to do with the murder of Salvy Testa.

And Testa only stopped showing up to meets after he'd heard there was a hit out on him by his own guys. He stopped going to Atlantic City, and every supposed meeting, was simply a reason to get him to a place so he could be killed. They came up with numerous, fake meetings and Testa ditched them all, he knew how they planned. He didn't expect his child hood friend and the guys he had recruited into the mob to turn on him, which is what happened and that's how they caught him. Pungitore approached him with a phony issue of one of the Grande brothers having issues with collection money, and that he needed help from Testa on how to handle it, Testa was lured to a clubhouse he was renovating, and was shot in the back of the head by Wayne Grande, I believe it was.

And Merlino was known as a heavy drinker, but at this time, Scarfo still had a little faith in him that he'd get it together.