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PB:
For the past few years, Nick Melia, his brother Vincenzo, and other Calabrian organized-crime figures in Connecticut have been of great interest to me because of the links they have had to one particular Canadian 'ndrangheta clan in the Greater Toronto Area -- the Commissos -- and to Michele "Mike" Racco (died 1980) who lived in Toronto. Racco was seen as an influential 'ndrangheta figure in Canada and the US, and he commanded respect from disparate Italian organized-crime groups in both countries. I wanted to ask you some questions about these Connecticut guys and others, but first let me share some of my research. (Anyone else who wants to chime in or answer my questions, please do.) I should initially point out that American law-enforcement and intelligence-gathering units were quite instrumental in uncovering the roots of the Siderno Mafia in North America and how this group operated on this continent.
The excerpt below is from James Dubro's 1985 book
Mob rule: inside the Canadian Mafia. This important book is part biography of Toronto-based Buffalo Family member Paul Volpe and part exposition of the Siderno Group in Canada. This excerpt has personal information about Vince Melia, illustrates his ties to 'ndrangheta figures in the cities of Toronto and Montreal, and gives a general outline of Melia's plot in 1981 to kill Nick Melia's troublemaking girlfriend at the time, Helen Nafpliotis. The part of the excerpt in italics appeared in italics in the book.
Vince Melia, fifty-five, a Sidernese mobster close to Mike Racco who had become one of the leaders of the Calabrese mob in Connecticut, contracted out to his Canadian counterparts to have his brother's troublesome girl-friend [sic] killed. Vince Melia was no stranger either to Toronto or to the police both in Canada and the United States. Melia had lived in Toronto for several years before moving to Connecticut. The following entry under Vince Melia's name appears in a U.S. Immigration intelligence report on the Siderno mob:
Melia, Vincenzo: born 29 April 1929, 32 Wakemore Street, Darien, Connecticut. During a conversation between Michele Racco, Toronto, Ontario and Domenic Torrente of Montreal, Quebec, it appeared that Torrente was having problems with Melia, and he wished Michele Racco to intercede in the difference. Racco, in a later conversation with Melia discussed the differences noted above. Melia stated that he told someone (probably Torrente) that Racco was to decide. A third discussion took place between Michele Racco and Joe Marterisano (phonetic), who informed Racco that he had received a call from Melia and was told to call Racco to be brought up to date on things.Clearly Melia was well connected and a force to be reckoned with on the international mob stage.
So when Vince Melia contacted his ally Cosimo Commisso and asked him to send a hit man down to Stamford, Conn., to kill a hairdresser named Helen Nafpliotis, Cosimo Commisso named a price and readily agreed to provide a Canadian hit man. This was part of the hit-man exchange program between Canada and the States. Nafpliotis was having a messy affair with Vince's brother Nick, whose wife was in a jealous rage over the thirty-two-year-old, bleached-blonde hairdresser, and had already on one occasion gone after Helen with a hockey stick. More importantly, Helen had been an eyewitness to a Melia shooting. She had to go.
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Anyone wanting to learn more about the Nafpliotis murder plot and the aftermath should read
Mob rule;
Mafia enforcer by Cecil Kirby and Thomas C. Renner (a book that also is known under an earlier title,
Mafia assassin: The inside story of a Canadian biker); and
Police undercover: The true story of the biker, the mafia & the mountie by Mark G. Murphy -- these last two books will reveal a lot about the Commisso clan and its ties to 'ndrangheta figures in the US. Online, you can find information about Melia's appeal of his extradition at either
http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/667/300/76737 or
http://uniset.ca/other/cs5/667F2d300.html -- the information is identical on both webpages. Here are links to two newspaper articles, about the aftermath, that you'll find in Google News Archives:
Vincenzo Melia Vincenzo Melia 2 Here are some of my notes about Vince's and Nick Melia's general movement in terms of migration:
*Vince, an Italian citizen, had moved from Siderno (Calabria) to Toronto. Then he moved to Stamford.
*Nick too had spent some time living in Toronto before moving to Connecticut.
Questions:
1. One of the individuals charged in the conspiracy to murder Nafpliotis was Gerlando Russo, identified in articles and books as Jerry Russo. Over the years, insofar as his name has appeared in articles in Connecticut-published newspapers, was his first name sometimes spelled "Gerry"?
2. Did being inducted into the 'ndrangheta, whether in Italy or in North America, preclude any Connecticut guys from being made into an American LCN family with outposts in the state? We all know how being made into more than one family is problematic if not supposedly impossible, but I'm asking about specific cases or a specific edict.
3. Were there any alleged 'ndrangheta guys in Connecticut with the surname Torrente or Larosa?
4. There was known 'ndrangheta activity in Stamford. Any activity in the following cities?
Meriden
Darien
Hartford
Bridgeport
Norwalk
Waterbury
Or was it a case of there being activity in one or two cities but that the 'ndrangheta guys were spread out among various cities in the state?
5. Which Connecticut newspapers have good online archives, including pay-per-article and other subscription services?
6. Which university or public libraries in Connecticut have good newspaper archives, regardless of whether the media are in digital, microform, microfiche, or hard-copy format?
Thanks in advance.
