If you believed the mob rats, the Villa66 restaurant in Brooklyn must have been crowded with hit men the morning a shotgun blast blew away gangster Gerard Pappa.

Stoolies have fingered more than six killers responsible for the July 10, 1980, rubout of Pappa as he ate breakfast, sources said.

The challenge for federal prosecutors is none of them was reputed Bonanno soldier Armando Rea – who goes on trial next month for Pappa’s killing.

Former Bonanno underboss Salvatore (Good Looking Sal) Vitale recalled that Rea was tapped to kill someone in the late 1980s because it was believed Rea had not earned his bones – killed anyone – yet.

Genovese turncoat Salvatore (Big Sal) Miciotta said a pair of Colombo hit men carried out the hit.

Frank Gioia, a Luchese family canary, claimed it was a wiseguy in his crime family who whacked Pappa in the Borough Park eatery.

Former Luchese crime boss Anthony (Gaspipe) Casso told the feds that the late Genovese boss Vincent (Chin) Gigante gave the contract to a member of his crime family who put together a hit team.

Casso was caught in so many lies prosecutors didn’t call him as a witness at Gigante’s trial in 1997 and Chin was acquitted of ordering Pappa’s murder.

“There have been allegations of multiple shooters and now the government is trying to rewrite history,” Rea’s lawyer, John Meringolo, argued in Brooklyn Federal Court last week.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Cristina Posa shot back: “Mr. Rea doesn’t have to be the shooter to be guilty.”

Witnesses who saw the gunman fleeing Villa66 with the murder weapon wrapped in a red tablecloth described someone taller than Rea – who is only 5-feet-7 – but was accompanied by a short chubby guy, which matches Rea’s description.

Prosecutors and Meringolo say they will each call a cavalcade of infamous mob turncoats to testify, with each side pitting their rats against the other.

Rea, who lives in Las Vegas and claims he’s broke, began sobbing loudly in court during discussions about his numerous medical issues.

Meringolo denied that unindicted co-conspirator Ronald (Ronnie Mozzarella) Carlucci is paying Rea’s legal tab after an FBI agent spotted the high-powered lawyer’s Maserati parked in Carlucci’s driveway.

Source: nydailynews.com


Here is another mob hit that has the government and other sources claiming loads of different people were responsible for it. It seems like ever rat points the finger at someone new, so how can they believe any of them? Nearly everyone of them is a liar trying to save his own skin, the government created a monster with this policy, and most likely put many innocent men behind bars.

Amen to that gerrylang. These people wud pin a murder on there own mothers to save there ass. The witness protection program is nonsense and i also believe there is probably alot of men doing time after being framed by these types of witnesses.

Hmmmm................30 years after the hit and so many colourful characters, how do you know who to believe?
I always thought this was the work of a pair of Colombo hitmen but perhaps we'll never know what really happened that day!

This is definitely the most likely scenario. Considering ralph spero was with the colombos and gerard whacked him off the record.

Look what happened to Peter Limone and three other guys in Boston, the FBI knew they weren't involved in the murder they were charged and convicted with. Two of them died in prison, the other two served over thirty years, the FBI agent eventually sent to prison over it laughed about it! They don't want to pay the men and their families either, they won a huge lawsuit. It also rumored John Franzese was framed by the FBI too over a bank robbery, which with all the probation "violations" has cost FORTY+ years of his life. Then we have this case where informants have accused no less then six different people with the hit. These informants simply aren't credible, and to allow their hearsay to send men to jail for decades is a miscarriage Someone facing decades or life in prison that can get out of it by "snitching" is insane.

Was this Ralph Spero the brother of "Shorty" Spero who Sammy Gravano worked for when he was a kid?

Capeci describes the FBI best in his book, its disgusting the way they work.

Looks like they dropped the Pappa murder charges...

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime...of_hit_man.html

Cant say I'm suprised.
It was always gonna be a struggle to make any charges stick after 30 years!