And while we're at it, the Favara disappearance is another example of how writers speculate--wrongly--and their mistakes become "the conventional wisdom":
As soon as Favara disappeared, everyone on the planet, starting with law enforcement, knew it was on Gotti's orders. The fact that Gotti absented himself in Florida at the time was just another pointer at him (in much the same way that Capone just happened to be in Florida during the famous St. Valentine's Day Massacre of 1929). Gotti was a crew chief. So, the "conventional wisdom" that you read on practically every website is that Gotti's crew--Angelo Ruggiero, Gene Gotti, John Carneglia, Tony Roach Rampino and Willy Boy Johnson--did the job on poor Favara.
Not so fast. Even a certifiable dunce like Gotti would realize that his own crew would be the
first people on the cops' list of suspects. He'd also know that, the more people involved in a crime, the greater the chance that someone would either rat out or talk too much. And whom did he have in his crew? A bunch of f**k-ups: Ruggiero, whose nickname, "Quack-Quack," was awarded after he talked openly about drug dealings on tapped phones and bugged premises. Gene Gotti, in many respects dumber than his brother. Tony Roach, a drug addict. Oh, and Willy Boy, known by another name--Source Wahoo, who was secretly informing on Gotti to the cops. If any of them had been involved in the Favara hit (especially Willy Boy), Gotti would swiftly have been indicted for murder long before he became a Don.
Mafia guys routinely use members or associates of other families to do high-visibility hits--both as a way to keep the spotlight off themselves, and to give and receive favors payable on demand. Gotti was close to Joe Massino of the Bonanno Family. I'll guess Massino arranged the Favara hit. Gotti returned the favor a year later when Massino called on him to dispose of the bodies of the three Bonanno captains that Massino and Dominick (Sonny Black) Napolitano ordered killed.
The bodies were supposed to disappear "forever." But, about a week later, kids playing in that Ruby Street lot saw a hand sticking out of the earth. The hand belonged to Alfonse (Sonny Red) Indelicato, one of the three victims who were supposed to disappear "forever." Who was on the burial detail? Carneglia, Ruggiero and Gene Gotti.
