Cerone/Aiuppa

It is said that Giancana hated both of these men. I believe he thought Aiuppa to be incompetent, and I'm not sure what exactly he didn't like about Cerone, but it is documented that Mooney did not like him. Just interesting because at a point, Giancana was arguably one of the most powerful Mafiosos in the country, and immediately after his death, Cerone and Aiuppa ended up being at the top of the hierarchy. Obviously Mooney didn't hand pick them, but its ironic. Curious if there was a reason these two men were not well liked by Sam.

Cerone together with his cousin Skippy were known alcoholics among Chicago's criminal brotherhood and according to some reports, many members like Aiuppa were allegedly mad at Cerone for placing Ricca in a dangerous situation. So it is possible that Giancana shared the same opinion about the Cerones with the rest of the membership but I highly doubt that he hated Cerone. We have numerous cases in which Sam and Cerone collaborated together, although when it came down on who was going to inherit Ferraros underboss position, Giancana went with Battaglia instead of Cerone.

As for Aiuppa...I personally never came across information that Giancana allegedly hated Aiuppa. Also I believe that Giancanas hit was sanctioned by Accardo himself, not Aiuppa.

Well there is a wiretap where Giancana is talking to Frank Ferrara where Giancana tells him "If Joe Aiuppa comes to you for money, tell him to go to hell. We gave him Cicero, and if you can't make a living there, you can't make one anywhere." or something along those lines, so I figured he probably didn't think too highly of Joey O. I've always thought Accardo gave the final OK on Giancana, but have felt that Aiuppa pushed hard to make it happen. I believed Aiuppa was behind Roselli's death too. Just based on things I've read, I don't think Aiuppa cared much for that faction of the outfit either.

Yes and you're 100% spot on, because such convo really exists. During those days Cicero was divided on south and north, with the north part being controlled by the Giancana/Buccieri crew, while the southern part was given to Aiuppa who in turn also had interests around Melrose Park although it wasnt his territory, still. Aiuppa was a part of the old Capone/Cicero crew for which Giancana didnt care much. In fact, Giancana made problems to many of the old Capone members. So during Giancanas reign, Aiuppas crew was one of the so-called "weakest" crews, especially after the death of Aiuppas mentor Claude Maddox.

So that doesnt mean that Giancana hated Aiuppa because he obviously gave him half of Cicero. On top of that Aiuppa wasnt the only member on Giancanas shit talking list and in fact, most of the organization also said the same stuff for him. But that doesnt mean that Battaglia or Buccieri or Nicoletti hated Giancana, but instead they only gave their negative opinions regarding some of his actions at the time. I think you understand what Im saying here, right bud?

Yes I most certainly do. It's interesting that Giancana had disdain for the old Capone gang/crew. Just shows how Americanized he was and how he really didn't give two shits about the history of it all. As for Cerone, I did a little digging to try and remember where I heard that, and it came from Joe Fosco who claimed Giancana thought Cerone was weak and incapable. But his claim is that when Giancana returned from Mexico it was Jack and Joey O who strongly pushed to have Sam whacked because in his absence their power had grown, and with Paul Ricca out of the picture, they knew they could get away with it. Have to take that with a grain of salt though as he has it out for seemingly everyone associated with Elmwood Park. I believe he tried to to sue John Difronzo in the early 2000's.

Angelo LaPietra was a protege of Aiuppa wasn't he?

Correct. Which makes a lot of sense. 2 badass MoFos.

Wish there was more stuff out there that focused on the two of them during their prime.

Angelo LaPietra was a protege of powerful Outfit capo and one time underboss Fiore Buccieri, not Joey Aiuppa. The LaPietra bros, Turk Torello, Joe Ferriola, Calabrese, Monteleone etc. all were members of the old Buccieri crew. Yes, LaPietra was elevated as capo for the "new" Chinatown crew during Aiuppas reign, but under Torellos jurisdiction who in turn inherited Buccieris position as territorial boss for both the old Cicero and the new Chinatown crews. Im saying the "new" Chinatown crew because the old one was previously controlled by Skids Caruso who in turn answered to Ferraro and Alex, but later retired and so the Buccieri crew took over his area and absorbed all of the remaining members.

Toodoped, it is said that Angelo was one of the guys who tortured William Jackson which I do believe to be true. Your thoughts?

When police found the almost naked body of Jackson, he was face forward with rope marks on his wrists and feet. He had many cuts and burns all over his body, his chest had been crushed and he had a hole in his right ear from some type of sharp object.

Jackson was impaled through his rectum with a meat hook, hanging a foot in the air, while being questioned by mob enforcers. Jackson kept insisting he was not an informer but his torturers did not believe him. They stripped him naked, smashed his kneecaps with a bat, one of them shot him with a gun, broke his ribs, stuck him with sharp objects, used a cattle prod on his penis and anus making him evacuate his bowels, burned parts of his body with a blow torch. Then they left him for three days until he finally succumbed to his wounds.

Jackson's body was found on August 12, 1961, in the trunk of his own car, which had been abandoned on Lower Wacker Drive in Chicago.

Buccieri, Cerone, DeStefano, Torello and Yaras allegedly tortured and later killed Jackson. Im not sure about LaPietra...Buccieri was LaPietras capo and Torello was Buccieris top lieutenant, and so I think they were enough lol

Good special discussing the Chinatown street crew. Angelo LaPietra is introduced 6:40 seconds in Toodoped and NY Mafia...

The video says its not available in my country. Can you send me the name of the video?

In addition, our LaPietra project is almost finished.

Mobsters - Season 4 , Episode 2. A&E network was the ones who produced it.

The title is Family Secrets.

Oh ok I already saw that one. Stay tuned...

Excellent! Thank you again for all your work on this with NYMafia!

TooDoped do you know who shot Angelo LaPietra in his knee, which I believe happened in the 1940s? I've been told it was a young kid of a guy who Angelo and Jimmy were pounding on. I've always wondered the real story there as I know he walked with a limp for years after that. I think LaPietra gets that 'hook' nickname from the media - he was called 'The Bull' by everyone in Chinatown. I don't think he was associated with Action Jackson and the 'hook' reference was for his juice racket - having guys on the hook - not the meat hook.

A very good friend of mine grew up in the 26th street crew working for them and I can guarantee you that Angelo did in fact enjoy torturing people using a meat hook and blow torch along with knives and guns. One of the things they used to do to people was cut their eyelids off during interrogation. Now the origin of the nickname is up for debate.

Hey bud, Merry X-Mas and Happy New Year!!! To be honest, I think it was you and me or maybe it was someone else, who already had this convo and I went through all of LaPietras files, newspaper articles and other stuff, and still never found anything regarding that story or regarding the reason behind LaPietras limping. Who knows, maybe I missed something mainly because theres not much regarding his early years and also lots of pages are redacted.

Btw currently Im finishing one article regarding LaPietra and so stay tuned...

Can't wait to read it!!!

Sorry pal, I just don't buy that. If Angelo were using blowtorches and meat hooks and 'peeling eyelids' I think there would be a few more notable murder victims with those injuries. If you know anything about the juice in Chicago you would know these guys would hurt you for not paying - but only hurt you to the extent you could continue working. If you are in a hospital or dead, you ain't making your vig and you become a loss to them. These guys were ruthless fucks but not Ramsay Bolton shit over here.

Angelo was long gone from the street exposure by the 1970s and if you were not made, you were not exposed to him whatsoever. At that point, his crew was out there doing the juice while he was moving up.

Don't buy it, its your choice.

Cutting off eyelids was a practice that was done at certain times during interrogations where they tortured people. I can guarantee you on the grave of my grandmother that it took place. Surprising that its not really talked about all that much. The only people that knew about it were on the inside who were physically there to witness it firsthand. They did it on purpose because when being tortured for 2 or 3 days in a row well its pretty fuckin bad being forced to stay awake that long when you can't physically close your eyes. This usually did a pretty good job at getting information out of people. But unfortunately for the dumb fuck they got a bullet in their head or their throat cut anyway.

Btw @ChiTown...I found one info regarding LaPietras limping and it seems it was a medical problem caused by excessive drinking. I explained it in my new LaPietra article which is 99% finished.

Can't wait to read it. Probably by the end of this week? Thank you again!

It will be finished by tomorrow since Im placing the finishing touches, although its up to NYM and MafiaStudent on when it will be posted.

Great article on Angelo LaPietra and the chop shop wars in 1977.

Angelo LaPietra and the Chop Shop Wars

The feds picked up a conversation on tape when the were down in Florida planning on taking out Frank Esposito. I believe it was Cerone, Bucceri, Turk, Skip Cerone, Dave Yaras, and Inserro talking about multiple hits, one being about what they did to Jackson.

Thats right. Also, I dont remember the story but I think the hit in Miami (possibly on Frank Esposito) was nixed only because Ross Prio was in the same area as their target.

Good stuff here. Just uploaded yesterday about Angelo LaPietra and his crew.