When Castellano got whacked

When Castllano got whacked when did the public become aware of who did it ,,was gotti ever brought in for questionig or a suspect after the murder ..How did they investigae it?

Well I'm sure those like Pizzaboy and others that lived in or around New York kind of figured it out after Gotti became boss. They were around the mob long enough you tend to figure shit like that out and/or hear many many things.

Kind of like when Lilo Galante got whacked and Rusty became boss, you tend to know that Rusty or people close to him were behind it somehow(Sonny Black, Joey Massino, etc.) and of course when Angelo Bruno was whacked then Caponigro was boss in Philly. Most of the time it explains itself, especially on the streets.

Yeah I see what your saying but back then there wasn't a 24 hours media along with the internet and mob forums ..When did the internet come out 94?

I thought Galante was never really boss, just that people were afraid to tell him he wasn't.

Seems to me Gotti was more pissed than Dellacroce at Big Paul becoming Boss of Bosses. Dellacroce had more to lose over that deal than Gotti.

I got the impression Dellacroce agreed with Castellano that it was time to focus mostly on being sophisticated (white collar) criminals rather than street hoodlums - they were not young anymore.

I don't know about in the States but over here England they named John Gotti as the main suspect in the bulletins of the hit.

This is something that intrigues me. How much news time did the Castellano hit and say Galante hit get over in England? What kind of coverage did it get in the papers?

The Castellano hit I remember was on all the TV news and in all the national press. Galante I can't remember. We do tend to get quite a few mob stories. Usually just copies of what is reported in the US or ill informed patronizing stuff our reporters come up with

I remember seeing this on the 10:00 news on the day it happened and seems to me that John Gotti's name was mentioned on that news broadcast.

The streets talk my friend, that was my point. Has NOTHING to do with the news or internet.

Gotti name wasn't mentioned at least for weeks or maybe even months, if at all.

There's no way it was mentioned the night of the murder or even the week of...

Back in 1985 Gotti was pretty much unknown to the public. The FBI obviously knew who he was since he was charged with RICO in 1985 and assault in 198 of that repairman.

The first time John Gotti was mentioned in the press was back in 1959. According to a newspaper article, John Gotti, Angelo Ruggiero, Dominick Pizzonia and one Philip Nash had been arrested by the police for their involvment in a street fight against some black youths.

Already the day after the Castellano hit, the newspapers speculated about who was behind it. John Gotti´s name was mentioned in that context.

On the 19th, three days after the hit, Jerry Capeci wrote a piece published in the Boston Herald. Considering what informants and Mafia witnesses later told the investigatorns, the piece was right on the money. Capeci wrote, for example,:

- "The assassination of Big Paul Castellano was a kill or be killed affair for Gambino Family renegades....John Gotti knew that he had to move or be eliminated himself."

- "A year long feud between Castellano and Gotti´s crew of Queens mobsters did not erupt into violence earlier because of the peace making efforts of crime Family underboss Aniello "Mr O´Neil" Dellacroce."

- "Secret FBI tapes demonstrate clearly that at least one member of the Commission was sympathetic to the renegades in their feud with Castellano nearly three years ago. The conversation was between Ruggiero and Gerry "Lang" Langella, the acting boss of the Colombo Family. During the conversation, a portrait of Castellano emerges as a loudmouth, paranoid liar who is suspected of targeting two of his high ranking Family members, Gotti and Dellacroce, for death. There also was a discussion about how difficult it would be to assassinate Castellano. At one point, Ruggiero complains that Castellano is so paranoid and distrustful that he is worried about men carrying guns to meetings."

- "The feud escalated dramatically when Ruggiero and two other Family mobsters, John Carniglia and Gotti´s brother Gene, were arrested on heroin trafficking charges. Castellano had an edict prohibiting drug dealing by his Family members."

Capeci obviously had some good sources already back in 1985.

This made the news immediately after it occurred.