Why Casso , Bowat, Amuso - kill D'Arco

Anyone know the real reason why Amuso and Casso wanted to kill D'Arco? They claimed they thought he was a rat but that was bull shit. What was the true reason?

D'Arco was already in their bad books because of his failed hit on Peter Chiodo. Amuso and Casso also came to believe that D'Arco was skimming money from their tribute payments.

Not hard to believe. I find it hard to believe D'Arco was as virtuous as his book made him out to be.

Though that's mostly likely true Moe it's no denying C & A were certified nut jobs.

I'm glad they got caught because the punishment is worse. Had there been no more charges, and they came out of hiding, the Bronx/Harlem faction would have finally gone on the offensive with the full backing of the Westside. Uptown, Downtown, the Bronx, and with the blessing of Chin himself.

Those two animals would have been slaughtered in the street, and that wouldn't have been nearly enough punishment. Now, spending your final 30 or 40 years in a cage, that's justice. And, God forgive him because he wasn't a Saint by any means, but wherever Mikey Salerno is today, I can see that childlike grin of his. They couldn't shine that man's shoes.

I hope they live another thirty years, right where they are.

Did D'Arco really try to align with and get Daidone and Crea to take out Lastorino, Baratta and Zappola towards the endgame in 1991, or is he just trying to make his defection seem a bit more noble?

I find it very hard to believe that he wasn't taken out earlier considering how much of a liability his junkie son was and how insubordinate he was with his superiors.

Does anyone really believe this guy would have lived to see another day if he shouted back to Casso on the phone or disrespected Bowat at a sitdown?

It's possible for one reason only: The Bronx/Harlem faction was getting ready to go on the offensive with the backing of Chin and the Westside at EXACTLY that time (around '91).


That's the life, Moe. Years ago, you'd walk down the street and see a brokester who owed the whole neighborhood, then say to yourself, How the fuck is that guy still walking around? Some people just get lucky. Other guys die for absolutely nothing. But if you choose that life, it's on you.

Besides, they had no one else in the Brooklyn faction with a little experience who they could bullshit into believing that he was the boss. That crew was THAT fucked up at the time.


I doubt it, but who knows? The Casso telephone thing might have been D'Arco raising his voice out of frustration, then embellishing it in the book.

As far as Bowat and that sitdown, I doubt that, too. But again, you never know. You have to take a very powerful position at the table to be taken seriously or you'll get eaten alive.

I am thinking D'Arco took advantage of Casso's and Amuso's absence and kept more than he was supposed to keep rather than kicking up everything. Casso and Amuso were far from stupid and i really believe that was D'Arco's demise.
D'Arco may have even cut a few deals with other guys telling them to say they only kicked up X amount ( less) than they really did. However, those guys gained as well by being able to keep more.
When you normally get 25k a month from a guy and now its only 10, antenna's go up.
D'Arco probably justified it by the fact that he was on the street taking the risk and he was running things, plus, lets face it, he saw an opportunity and thought he could get away with it.
This is just my own opinion but a few guys here know more than me.

I read the posts here and older ones about Amuso .

Now i understand the dislike for Casso with his crazy ways and him being a rat.

But why the same hatred for Amuso ? did he do the same thing ?

Don't kid yourself, Belmont. You're one of the ten best posters on this entire board when it comes to this section. Much like myself, you post what you know, and you don't speculate too much about what you don't know. You're a valuable asset here .

As far as the whole Lucchese fiasco, you know more than you think you do. Don't forget, they wanted to wipe out the ENTIRE Jersey faction, and that's right up your wheelhouse.

Casso was a maniac, and Amuso suffered from some kind of warped co-dependency. I almost feel bad for Amuso because that was probably an honest mental problem.

None of it matters. If and when they ever came out of hiding (the charges get dropped, etc.), they all would have been slaughtered. I know I'm a repetitive pain in the ass, but the Bronx/Harlem Lucchese faction had the ENTIRE Westside behind them. The Brooklyn Luccheses had the Brooklyn Luccheses. Ballgame over.

Because he was a party to it. Like I said in my much longer post above, he obviously suffered from some kind of co-dependency that allowed him to go along with Casso on everything. He's a stand-up guy, though. Credit where credit is due.

Thanks " and understood . I did not know if Amuso was like that the whole time.
I am sure the dependency came from Casso proving him wrong a few times when Casso had the answers already to Amuso's thoughts .
Casso did have a few fed's (i hear) also the NYPD guys that got pinched in his pocket.

I would think in the beginning Amuso was keeping Casso a little at bay ,but when Casso kept coming up dead on he must have caved .

I think I said that right !

Interesting, guys.

Joseph De Fede isn't mentioned once in D'Arco's book which I find quite interesting, considering he was the next acting boss after D'Arco. Pretty much every other Lucchese mobster from Hill, Burke, DeSimone and Vario to the DiPalermo's to Crea and Migliore to the obvious ones (Amuso, Casso, Corallo, Furnari) get mentioned, but not Little Joe.

One more thing. Before Al turned, people had their guard up around him - Jimmy Ida seemed to have his number. It's covered in the book, but I think I seen this story fleshed out somewhere else on the web in greater detail. Al seemed to gaining a bit of distrust. Whether this was Amuso & Casso feeding disinformation and/or paranoia...

His story about the attempted hit at The Kimberly Hotel seems to be a case of extreme paranoia. If they were going to whack him & Avellino, why didn't they complete the job on Avellino after D'Arco scarpered?

And besides Avellino was a huge earner for the family and held in even greater esteem than D'Arco.

If I remember correctly, Moe, at first he claimed to be friendly with Jimmy before Jimmy put his guard up. And I can tell you with absolute certainty that that's bullshit. Jimmy wouldn't even look in Al's direction when they co-existed in Little Italy.

I also remember him mentioning that Jimmy hung out at La Mela, like it was some kind of big breaking news. Anyone who knew him knew that Jimmy loved that place and ate there almost every day. And he PAID wherever he went. He wasn't one of the scumbags who expected every meal and drink to be "on the arm."

And that's ironic because Little Al was one of those scumbags who expected everything for free. He bullied waiters and walked out on checks in unconnected restaurants all over the old Little Italy. Scumbag.

Casso has to live out his days, as what he hates the most, a rat, I can think of a worse punishment for him.

I have the lil al book in my bathroom and when I forget my phone its the read and I've read it alot. Its a solid book my page I picked up today so Hickey d the genovese guy is doing dope deals with the prince street crew after the genovese kill hicky do they want all his loanshark money or drug deal money like if someone owed him 20 k for dope or what if he owes the prince st dudes there must have been some conflicts.

If they didn't like al why make him the vario crew capo that put him in charge of a huge crew and Bruno f and manzo the airport big guy who had seen right threw al and nixed his induction saying this guy is a ice cream scooper.lol.

They needed someone weak and gullible enough to believe that he was really the boss. Facciolo was strong out that way, that's why they whacked him. It's been proven and admitted by law enforcement, including the FBI, that Bruno wasn't a rat.

But that was their m.o. Whack a guy who's too well respected, then hang a rat label on him. They did the same thing to Mikey Salerno. And that man would never give the law more than his own name, if that. Scumbags.

Pizza you think people made beefs about unsettle dope deals at high levels between someone like dickey and the prince street guys that had to be a real bad look for the lcn rule book but you never no who gave a investment with a blind eye but wasn't trying to get fucked for there money if a guy got whacked or not.

Without a fucking doubt. They lie about each other so much, they don't even know when they're telling the truth. Especially back then. The '70s and '80s were particularly full of backstabbers who'd lie just to ruin a guy's rep if someone was jealous of him.

That was 89 after gottis brother gene I think took 50. You no I read scarpa said n 90 the Colombo took a real stance against drugs probaly dope cause scarpa didn't give a fuck but he never told his bosses about dope deals.

He's a rat, but I believe it.

scarpas whole crew, son included dealt pills, pot, coke all over bklyn and s.i. everyone knew., no secret.he kept killing and bringing money, the higher ups said zero. greg was pinched by the secret service, no prison, case was forgotten about..he got away with what ever he wanted to do.. the families would kill a guy here and there just to say we clean our house. like Pizza said lies and jealousy. got good guys killed

Eh, like my wife has been saying to me going on thirty years, even a busted clock is right twice a day.

How can D'Arco say he is not a rat?

He says that he squealed on Amuso & Casso because they weren't "playing by the rules" and they were going after families. Bull shit. He didn't play by the rules. The fact that he ratted because he was going to get whacked rather than ratting because he was going to prison doesn't make him any less of a rat. And the feds had him pegged as one of the leading figures of the family and were closing in on him due to the Matamoras landfill investigation, so this narrative that he didn't have any pending cases against him is a bit erroneous.

If D'Arco was ratting because he was disillusioned with the mafia and it wasn't the mafia he fell in love with, fair enough, but he didn't just rat out his superiors (Amuso & Casso). He f***ing ratted out his underlings! Pete Del Cioppo and Harpo Trapani didn't pass down orders to kill family members and family captains so his argument falls to pieces right there.

There was a cap on how long Sammy Gravano could testify for the feds. There was no such cap with D'Arco. He ratted and ratted and ratted and ratted and ratted - for over a decade. He was clearly desperate to evade prison. He is a coward and it is a disgrace that he didn't serve any prison time for all the murders he participated in.

And it's right there in the book that he was caught in a lie once on the stand, so he and the feds have no right to preach about Casso and say what a great servant D'Arco was!

D'Arco regurgitated the same stuff they didn't want to take Casso at face value for!

@ Moe

Virtually ALL rats say the same fucking thing. They only get religion AFTER they flip. They did it for their family. They did it because they wanted a better life. They did it because there was a contract on them, so it was really self-defense and they're not rats for that reason. It's coded into the DNA of the stool pigeon. You're born loyal or you aren't. It can't be taught. You have it or you don't. And rats don't have it no matter how long they've been wiseguys.

And I feel the same way about dirty cops. I actually hold them in lower regard because you have to expect a criminal to lie, cheat, kill and steal. But guys like Eppolito and Caracappa are the worst of the worst because they're paid to protect and serve. If you wanna be a cop, go ahead but be an honest cop. If you wanna be a wiseguy, go ahead but don't give up your friends. Pick a fucking side and stick with it.

My two cents.

Ill throw a dime in on that.

Something funny in the D'Arco book (which I finished) that I feel compelled to talk about.

Paraphrasing here....

D'Arco: "When I was testifying, Vic couldn't look me in the eye. He kept pretending to take notes."

Capeci: "Amuso sneered directly at D'Arco for several moments."

LOL.

Moe thats a good point..I just finished his book for the 2nd time and its clear he didnt just rat to save his life he testified against other families trials like Gigante and Jimmy Idas I believe, like pb said I agree they all say the dame bs

I would have less of an issue believing D'Arco if he simply ratted in trials he had personal - tangible - involvement in and ate a 3 or 4 year sentence (that is if he had no issue with going to prison) but the guy clearly ratted every time he could do so it would, firstly, delay his sentencing and, secondly, shave a little off his sentence each time he testified - until eventually he got off scot free without serving any time.

It's garish.

At the end of the day, he ordered several murders. He likely had a guiding hand in one or two relating to people who were more civilian than mobster.

Garish.

Imagine how pissed off Ida and Gigante were seeing this guy testifying about them? After all their efforts to remain secretive lol.

Ah well one criminal puts two others away and genuinely stays out of trouble. I suppose it's the price you pay.

This is a big problem these guys pledging that if you rat you die.

Then when they do rat they can not hit the guy cos it would put to much heat on the family.

Well they have to get that figured out,I know they can not hit while they are with the feds, but that is punishment enough living under theses feds and these guys are not built for it ,this is why we see most leaving them.

But once they leave the WPPG it should be number # 1 to take out that or them , at all cost.

If this was to happen there may be a change of thinking.

look at Philly they are and will at all cost going to hit these guys.
You will never see Phillip L living out in the open. No way and its not just cos of the WestSide there are a few in Philly that will give up everything to kill him.

I know Philly is not a money making machine but they will at a drop of a hat drop one of these clowns in a New York minute.

And New York better find a way to insulate them self from losing to much hitting these guys cos they are losing all credibility.

Look when they try to get a racket going ,as soon as they step in the guy that is getting messed with goes to a fed and a fed steps right in and busts the whole thing.

Then the company that put the fed there is allowed to operate at will.
It will be difficult but it can be done ,and I would love to explain how . But I am not in that field..But I am sure they will or can..

Hate to correct you Serp but Lou Monteciello testified against Ligambi whilst living carefree down the shore. He was as open as it gets and not a finger was laid.

lou was worried about being whacked by marty after those wiretaps were made public he even admitted that in court

but your right he is alive and has ratted i think if he went to those old neigbourhoods he would get whacked


plus ligambis lawyers were trying to prove the mob was not violent whacking this guy would be going against there whole defense

al d`arco was never charged with a crime he flipped because he believed he was going to be hit. I dont think he would have flipped if he was charged with a crime he did time in the 60s and in the 80s if my memory is correct he never opened his mouth then


i understand him flipping what would you do if you found out your own family were trying to kill you? yes i know some say he was imaging it but i dont think it was his imagination they were fed up with and even if it was his imagination so what if it was not al it would have been someone else guys were getting whacked for nothing look a pete guys had no choice but to flip . Not saying he was a good guy or anything but him flipping was understandable

i dont think he lied about Ida there is clear evidence they spoke on several occasions. Some say they used casso info through al but thats rubbish because all of the info about gigante etc was already documented in his file before casso flipped. If al was lieing he about Ida aswell he would not have testified against him.


at the end of the day your right he is a rat no differant to the rest i dont understand your obsession with this guy. He is a scumbag but so are most of these guys.

I got ya Sonny , but any day it could and will get ugly for him.
And thats the best guy you would want holding a grudge on you.

He is level headed and my not have done it while he was Boss ,but now he is not the one to get all the heat if this guy winds up out in the Atlantic after a late night swim...

I should correct what I said. D'Arco didn't "order" the murders but he did pass on the orders and was involved in their inception and planning.

And you have a point. I should shut up about this guy already.

He shouldn't put himself on a pedestal like he does though. Neil Migliore and Sonny Black didn't run away when people came for them.

And just to go back to your first paragraph. As a co-operating witness, D'Arco had to submit all culpability in crimes, including murder, to the feds in his 302's. So this, allied with his involvement in the Matamoras case becoming more clear, should have seen him get a token prison sentence of approximately 5 years.

He never served anything and it's like his decade long stretch of ratting was mutually beneficial in that it served to shave any sentence he would get.

That is the root of the issue. It contradicts his reasons for ratting.

But you are right. I am rambling again. And they are all scumbags who are bad as the other, but ratting should not absolve you of culpability.

Just like Phil L Moe" he shot this guy down here and the guy was a AC cop or became one after he shot him ,and never herd a word...

The guys name is "Guy" last initial is a C and he went on to be a sergeant, I know this. He also was before he was a cop was the leader of a gang called the Rogues or Bones they were tough gangs down here.

true guys like sonny black did not run away but they are one of the few i can think of so many guys when believeing there was a hit on them they flip tory scadfi, joey camp, the crow, tommy del, pete chiodo etc the list goes on and on


your right he does contradict himself but all rats do that from sammy the bull to low level guys andrew didonatro

What did all the guys do from the 1920 on till the 90's do . They did what ever they had to do .

It worked out or they got hit.

But I will tell you this ,there is not many gangsters that flipped that like it. 90 plus % wish they stood up and took it like a man.

That's the life they chose period .

the first ever made guy who flipped joe valchi flipped in 1963 because he thought he was going to get whacked.

Jimmy franantion the one time acting boss of the los angles mafia flipped after believeing he was going to be killed in the late 70s

that statement is not entirely true and i believe more would have flipped if there was a witness protection program remember the program was only made in 1970

in the 80s in philly guys were flipping all over the place lawrence, the crow, tommy del, philip, ginio and that guy in north jeresy. In New york vincent flipped in the genovese family, you had guys flipping in LA, cleveland etc

since the 60s guys have been flipping

now i do agree though most guys who flip miss the life nicky the crow says he wishes he did his time. I will say this thoughhe amount of rats have dropped though if you think in the 90s there was guys flipping everywhere

As pointed out above Serp the diff being back then you didnt have a choice (WPP). Now you do. It'd most likely have been similar numbers rolling then as is now. Maybe slightly less back then but I dare so not as much as people think (Yeah I know, Back in your day things were different )



Truth.

Mob boss was a great read. As far as rats are concerned I can sort of sympathize with D'arco.

I just read Mob Boss again for the second time. What is so weird to me was already touched on above.

Did it seem strange to D'arco that he was made capo of a successful crew? Forget acting boss. How did he even accept being a capo without it raising red flags?? He didn't mention that in the book.

He must have been very gullible like someone wrote above. This is a guy who was made at 50 years old. He was not a very good earner. He didn't really do killings. He seemed to work for other people and jumped around from scam to scam most of his career. He wasn't aligned with anyone that successful. He seemed to know everyone, but he mostly worked for semi-washed up old-timers. So he should've realized that he didn't deserve to be a capo OR an acting boss.

I think Casso and Amuso put him as the Capo because they wanted someone they could control. They picked someone without a lot of power so they wouldn't be threatened. As someone else said above, there were several powerful soldiers in that crew like Manzo and Facciola. And it speaks a lot about of Amuso & Casso's poor leadership - they were threatened by anyone with power and money.

Anyway... I still think it's a great book. Mostly BECAUSE it's a book about a normal wiseguy who eked out a living in the 60's to 80's, not a hugely successful guy. Normally he never would've become a captain. And would his son ever have been made? They knew he was a junkie before they even made him...

I wouldn't close the book on Bent Finger Lou just yet. Remember, Stanfa & Co, let Sonny Riccobene come back and actually led him into believing he'd be in on the rackets before they whacked him.


Then again, Big Ron Previte is still taking bets in one of the Philadelphia LCN territories and has yet to be touched.