Was it ever established what the motive was behind Colombo's shooting? Was it Joey Gallo? Or had the other bosses had enough of Joe bringing un-wanted attention on Cosa Nostra with his Italian rights league?
Joey Gallo death according to wikipedia: In 1972, one year after his release from prison, gunmen murdered Joey Gallo in a Manhattan restaurant. The murder was ordered by family leaders Joseph Yacovelli and Carmine Persico. The leaders suspected that Gallo had arranged the shooting of then boss Joseph Colombo, an attack that left Colombo comatose. John "Mooney" Cutrone a made man and close confidant of both Larry and Joey, was seen as Joey's logical successor. However, to maintain harmony in the crew, Cutrone supported Albert for capo. The untested and less experienced Albert now became boss of the Gallo crew.[2] After nine years of peace, Albert and the Gallo crew were again fighting the Colombo family. The Gallos major effort at retaliation against the Colombos came when they found out that several members of the Colombo leadership, including Alphonse Persico and Gennaro Langella would be meeting at the Neapolitan Noodle restaurant on the Upper East Side. In preparation, a member of the Gallo group arranged for a hitman to be flown in from Las Vegas, who would be dispatched to ambush the Colombo leadership during the meeting. However, the hitman fired at the wrong table, in the process killing two innocent businessmen.[3] In the months following the botched assassination at the Neapolitan Noodle, an uneasy truce prevailed between the Colombos and the Gallos when both sides struggled to gain the upper hand. In 1974, the truce was shattered when Cutrone and his followers defected from the Gallo faction back to the Colombo family. Cutrone, Gerry Basciano, Sammy "The Syrian" Zahralbam, and other Gallo members had been dissatisfied with Albert's leadership and decided to form a new faction. Almost immediately, violence broke out between the Gallo and Cutrone factions. Gallo loyalist James "Lefty Jimmy" Geritano wiretapped Basciano's phone and used the information to plan an ambush of Basciano and Zahralbam. On July 1, 1974, the two men were attacked and wounded but escaped serious injury.[4] In response, on August 1974, the Cutrone faction killed Gallo loyalist Stevie Cirillo while he was playing craps at a charity benefit.[5] In September 1974, a sniper shot and wounded Albert's right hand man, Frank "Punchy" Illiano outside the Gallo headquarters on President street. [edit]End of Gallo wars At some point between 1974 and 1976, the Mafia Commission intervened in the Gallo/Cutrone conflict. The family bosses believed that the violence was interfering with business and bringing public attention to their activities. The Commission negotiated an agreement under which Albert and his followers would join the crew of Vincent "The Chin" Gigante, then a powerful capo in the Genovese Family. Cutrone and his rebels would remain with the Colombo Family. The peace agreement was violated in February 1976, when a sniper fired two gunshots into the Gallo headquarters, slightly wounding crew member Steven Boriello. Now part of Genovese family, Albert immediately filed a formal protest to the Colombo leadership. The Colombo bosses responded by summoning Cutrone and Basciano to a "sitdown" to explain their actions. Neither man attended the meeting; they also ignored attempts by the Colombo leadership. At this point, the mob families lost patience with Cutrone and Basciano. On June 16, 1976, a gunman shot and killed Basciano while he was eating at a luncheonette. Cutrone went into hiding, but the Colombos convinced him that Basciano's death ended the problem. On October 2, 1976, a gunman shot and killed Cutrone while he was eating breakfast at a diner. Revealingly, the Colombo family did not show any signs of displeasure at the killing of Cutrone, a made man.[6
I don't think Gallo was involved, I think it would have been run by the commision, and I doubt they would have given a loose cannon like Gallo the go. If Gallo and his crew were involved I think his brother would have been killed also, or shelved in the very least. I figure the other bosses decided Colombo was bringing too much heat with the Italian American Civil Rights League, and got together with other high ranking members of the Colombo family and devised a plan.
Is there anyone but Davis (the "Mafia Dynasty" writer) who thinks it wasn't Gallo?
The one and only Jerry Capeci.
Personally, I don't believe it was just a lone nut. It could have been Gallo, but surely he must have gotten permission from the top. Maybe he wanted to make a statement to the Colombo hierarchy that he wasn't somebody who you should fuck with. Therefore he could have ordered Colombo to be assassinated at the meeting.
But I also think it could have been looked like that hit came from Gallo and that he was just the decoy/pawn.
if you put the tape of Joe Colombo being shot in slow-motion you can clearly see THE ICEMAN standing 3 feet away, holding the same .357 Magnum he used on Galante, with "ICEMAN" engraved in the handle
if you put the tape of Joe Colombo being shot in slow-motion you can clearly see THE ICEMAN standing 3 feet away, holding the same .357 Magnum he used on Galante, with "ICEMAN" engraved in the handle
Good god man,you're right!If you look closely at the gun you can make out the special rail system that makes it possible to attach a telescopic sight,which is how THE ICEMAN killed Kennedy,and a special knife launcher attachment,for plunging knives in the back of annoying labor union leaders' skulls
Didn't Gallo sort of have a history of taking credit for hits he didn't actually do? I believe he tried to play it off as he was the one who killed Albert Anastasia, while it was done by guys under the direction of Don Carlo. I think it was Carlo Gambino again who pulled of this daring hit, and not Joey Gallo.
You wanna hurt me? Go right ahead if it makes you feel any better. I'm an easy target. Yeah, you're right, I take credit too much. I also listen too much. I could be a cold-hearted cynic like you... but I don't like to hurt people's feelings. Well, you think what you want about me; I'm not changing. I like... I like me. My wife likes me. DeMeo likes me. 'Cause I'm the real article. What you see is what you get.
On topic: on what level of power was Colombo in comparison to Lucchese, Gambino, and Bonnano. And did he mostly inherit his influence from Profaci?
You wanna hurt me? Go right ahead if it makes you feel any better. I'm an easy target. Yeah, you're right, I take credit too much. I also listen too much. I could be a cold-hearted cynic like you... but I don't like to hurt people's feelings. Well, you think what you want about me; I'm not changing. I like... I like me. My wife likes me. DeMeo likes me. 'Cause I'm the real article. What you see is what you get.
You're no saint. You got a free cab, a free room, and someone who will listen to your boring stories. Didn't you notice on the plane when you started talking, I started reading the vomit bag? Didn't that give you some clue that this guy's not enjoying it? Everything's not an anecdote. You have to discriminate. You choose things that are funny or mildly amusing or interesting. You're a miracle! Your stories have none of that! They're not even amusing accidentally! Honey, I'd like you to meet Richard Kuklinski. He's got some amusing anecdotes. Here's a gun so you can blow your brains out. You'll thank me for it. I could tolerate any insurance seminar. For days, I could listen to them go on and on. They'd say, "How can you stand it?" And I'd say, "'Cause I've been with Richard Kuklinski. I can take anything." You know what they'd say? "I know what you mean. The phony hit man. Whoa!." It's like going on a date with a Chatty Cathy doll. There should be a string on your chest that I pull out. Except I wouldn't pull it out, you would. Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! By the way, when you're telling these little stories, here's a good idea. Have a point. It makes it more interesting for the listener!
On topic: on what level of power was Colombo in comparison to Lucchese, Gambino, and Bonnano. And did he mostly inherit his influence from Profaci?
The Gambino's were a larger and more powerful family. The Colombo's then were about equal in size to the Lucchese. The Lucchese did have alot of union influence though as well as a large Bronx and NJ presence. The Bonanno's were maybe a little larger but always seemed to be the outside family. The Colombo's seem very Brooklyn based?
Sonny: The Iceman shot Lincoln, then arranged for the Commission to set up John Wilkes Booth as the patsy. Ditto JFK and Oswald.
I know for a fact that the Iceman killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, but I didn't know that he also killed Kennedy. I guess this is finally solved then... Olivant should eat his heart out!
on topic again I always wondered what kind of influence the Colombos had "back then" as well. Since their inception they've been the youngest and smallest family, arguably the weakest. I know at one point Joe Colombo was close with Joe Bonnano - helping Magliocco (sp?) hide out Bonnano's son during the Banana's War. He was also apparently close with the Gambino's - in DiLeonardo's testimony during the history portion he said that Joe Colombo was a regular at his grandfather's house on Sundays.
My guess is that until the general time frame of the deaths of Lucchese and Gambino, and when Carmine Persico took over, the Colombos were probably under influence/control by Lucchese and Gambino. They've basically been in termoil since their inception - as a unit I don't see how powerful they could have been with rival factions fighting, the changing of bosses every couple years, etc... that history has plagued them to this day.
I wonder what would have happened down the road if Persico just gave Orena control . I bet they wouldn't be in the position they are in today, for sure.
I think Columbo was fairly small-time compared with the other Dons. I think his influence was exaggerated by his ultra-high-profile activities re. Italian-American Civil Rights League: browbeating the FBI and New York Times to stop using "Mafia" and "Cosa Nostra"; ditto Al Ruddy for "The Godfather" movie--and, collecting huge amounts of money for the League, including donations from fellow Dons. But, my understanding is that Columbo was always more or less under Gambino's thumb. Gambino made him a Don after Columbo, as a capo in Magliocco's family, ratted out Magliocco's and Bonanno's plot to whack Gambino and Lucchese.
So in Joe Colombo's days the Colombo family was almost a sub-group of the Gambino's? This is why Don Carlo was the greatest Don. He manipulated another family into coming under his control. In the 1960's, the Gambino's and the Lucchese were very close (due to the wedding between Lucchese's daughter and Gambino's son). Even the Genovese as big and as bad as they were couldnt have stood up to 3 families. Oh.......Don Carlo was smart!
Don Carlo was all brains, but he wasn't all that tough. A lot of the blue collar hoodlums in his family were embarrassed to have him as a boss. He was much more of a businessman than a Cosa Nostra boss. I don't think he would've ever become boss if it hadn't been for his powerful friends.
And no The Colombos were never ever a sub group of the Gambinos. Not even close. You think guys like Carmine Persico or Sonny Franzese would ever let a guy like Carlo Gambino boss them around? Or Crazy Joe, a guy who went to war with his own boss!! Not too mention the fact that Crazy Joe beat Neil Dellacroce to a bloody pulp inside a crowded New York restaurant in the early 1960s.
You wanna hurt me? Go right ahead if it makes you feel any better. I'm an easy target. Yeah, you're right, I take credit too much. I also listen too much. I could be a cold-hearted cynic like you... but I don't like to hurt people's feelings. Well, you think what you want about me; I'm not changing. I like... I like me. My wife likes me. DeMeo likes me. 'Cause I'm the real article. What you see is what you get.
You're no saint. You got a free cab, a free room, and someone who will listen to your boring stories. Didn't you notice on the plane when you started talking, I started reading the vomit bag? Didn't that give you some clue that this guy's not enjoying it? Everything's not an anecdote. You have to discriminate. You choose things that are funny or mildly amusing or interesting. You're a miracle! Your stories have none of that! They're not even amusing accidentally! Honey, I'd like you to meet Richard Kuklinski. He's got some amusing anecdotes. Here's a gun so you can blow your brains out. You'll thank me for it. I could tolerate any insurance seminar. For days, I could listen to them go on and on. They'd say, "How can you stand it?" And I'd say, "'Cause I've been with Richard Kuklinski. I can take anything." You know what they'd say? "I know what you mean. The phony hit man. Whoa!." It's like going on a date with a Chatty Cathy doll. There should be a string on your chest that I pull out. Except I wouldn't pull it out, you would. Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! By the way, when you're telling these little stories, here's a good idea. Have a point. It makes it more interesting for the listener!
This is from "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles." I watched this weekend for the first time in ages, and the scene had me literally laughing out loud again, it's a great movie.
This is from "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles." I watched this weekend for the first time in ages, and the scene had me literally laughing out loud again, it's a great movie.
One of my favorite movies. There was no one like John Candy.
This is from "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles." I watched this weekend for the first time in ages, and the scene had me literally laughing out loud again, it's a great movie.
One of my favorite movies. There was no one like John Candy.
One of my favorite movies of all time too, Candy was great.
I've heard that Gallo had some of his buddies with him where as Dellacroce was alone. But Why did Carlo tolerate his underboss being beaten and publicy humiliated?
I've heard that Gallo had some of his buddies with him where as Dellacroce was alone. But Why did Carlo tolerate his underboss being beaten and publicy humiliated?
thats what always got me about this dellacroce def weilded more power than crazy joey and i have a hard time phataming that carlo would have let this go down w/no retatlation to the much lesser colombo family.
Crazy Joe was the type of guy that even the toughest guys feared. Like that saying, 'there's always a bigger bad ass'. Well, Crazy Joe was that bad ass.
I guess this is finally solved then... Olivant should eat his heart out!