Gotti shot Vito borelli in the head

As far as Ricca goes, in the old country, he killed a man named Emilio Parrillo supposedly for breaking an engagement to Ricca's sister. In reality Ricca killed Parrillo on Mafia orders. Ricca then killed Vincenzo Capasso, who had testified against him in the Parillo trial, by slitting his throat.
Bugsy Siegel was a prolific killer, and besides being suspected in the deaths of Maranzano and Masseria, it is beyond resonable doubt that he killed all three of the Fabrizzo brothers. I believe he was also one of the early Murder,Inc guys.

The Parillo killing is also alleged to have been personal. That would not qualify as making your bones. If Seigel didn't pull the trigger, then he didn't get his hands dirty according to the thread. The entire Genovese leadership since Vito Genovese have never killed anyone according to the thread. They just magically ascended to the top of the most powerful and feared organized crime family in NYC.

Not having evidence that they didn't kill people isn't the same as saying that they never killed. Undoubtedly they did, but we only know based on convictions or the words of informants. Considering that Mafia activities are supposed to be secret we shouldn't expect to know who killed whom. Just because we don't know who they killed, or that law enforcement doesn't know doesn't mean anything except them getting away with murder.

I think Bonanno might very well have killed someone during the roaring 20s. I find it hard to believe that he rose to number 2 in Maranzano's outfit at such a young age without proving himself first. Back in those days murdering someone mattered. Today it's all about making money.

It's also said that Gambino carried out hits for local Mafia bosses in Palermo before he went to New York. He was said to have made his bones and become inducted in Sicily.

Also keep in mind that Caruso was only chosen to be the underboss, because he headed a large group of non Castelemarasse in that family, it was to keep the family unified. Once Maranzano was killed he knew there was no way he would have taken over and he knew it...Bonanno was the defacto underboss in terms of power. Reading Bonanno's book he mentions several killings in the war, and with his ego they may have been his, and by stressing how imprtant they were he was taking credit "between the lines" so to speak.

Exactly. Saying otherwise is classic straw man.

I don't know much about Costello's early years, but I believe he rose up the ranks for no other reason than he was liked by Luciano and other key leaders. Luciano was primarily interested in making money and surrounded himself with men who were good at it. Costello probably had the business smarts and skill set for keeping the peace and running things smoothly. I question if he was even feared by others prior to becoming boss, but he would be feared after getting into that position.

According to John H. Davis' "Mafia Kingfish" he got plenty dirty himself, but he is not very specific about dates/names

Marcello worked with NY backing but he didn't listen nor answer to NY. He showed his power when Silver Dollar's son raised hell to NY to try and take over and called a meeting.

I would say it would be pretty safe to bet your life savings that Marcello killed someone.

Fuck yeah us southern boys dont answer to no damn yankees, Marcello and Trafficante were the definition of BOSS.

Well, together with a couple of others, he was part of the group that functioned as Maranzano´s gunners/bodyguards during the Castellammarese war. Strictly hierarchically speaking, an underboss of any Family, would not be given such a task. So Bonanno was not the underboss or number 2 at that point. The murders the Masseria side suffered were most certainly importanat in terms of the outcome of the war. No one can argue successfully that the losses Masseria suffered were insignificant.

Carlos Marcello had his enemies beaten to death and then buried in the swamp. For someone as ambitious as him who knew the value of making a buck I would wager he performed hits before I would say Costello could.

If you don't think Bugsy Siegel killed someone you're insane. He killed all 3 of the Fabrazzo brothers himself. Mulberry what's your angle man?

Chin was pretty mean I'd wager he got his hands dirty in his younger, pre Costello attempt days. Just speculation

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quote=BarrettM]Carlos Marcello had his enemies beaten to death and then buried in the swamp. For someone as ambitious as him who knew the value of making a buck I would wager he performed hits before I would say Costello could.

If you don't think Bugsy Siegel killed someone you're insane. He killed all 3 of the Fabrazzo brothers himself. Mulberry what's your angle man?
[/quote]

no angle. some posters are saying since there is no hard proof of gambino and bonanno killing anyone, that means they never made their bones. the same can be said of almost everyone in the mob.

You would have to go to New Orleans to understand our angle on Marcello. Marcello was considered more ruthless than the cunning type like Gambino. Marcello also ran NOLA was an iron fist that nobody challenged and lived other than Silver Dollar Sam's son and he knew not to get violent because he knew he would die.

Trust me, NOLA is like a third world country and Marcello was the dicstator. If compared to those listed on the name of this thread, I'd say Marcello could have could more than the three listed without a doubt.

Silver Dollar's son, that's Anthony correct? The late boss that died around 06-07? If I remember he got the reigns after Carlos passed and he drove the crime family straight into the ground not once tapping on the brakes.

And I'm going to Harras in Nola This weekend, and dropping my life savings on Marcello whacking people himself. I wonder what the odds are....

If any of them know anything they wont be too high....lol

I've read several accounts of Marcello's method, mostly used on underlings (made, not made, didn't matter) who he felt were skimming. They convened every Sunday morning to pay him his weekly percentage and those he felt were not giving him his due were detained for "questioning." If they didn't give satisfactory evidence to the contrary, they would be dispatched, strangled or shot, often by him personally, then dissolved in lye and dumped in the swamp. Since he lived on a 6400 acre swamp, he had plenty of room.

Tis true, drop a body under the swamp, a'int no body gonna find it. Gators, Crawfish, Crabs...they all gonna take a nibble or two or ten.

Agreed. I think that is what he had in mind when he bought all the "worthless" swamp land. Doesn't his family still have his place in Metairie? Wasn't it in Metairie?

Wasn't clear about his position, but you're saying he went from soldier straight to boss of one of the 5 families? If he was leader of the Castellammare faction, he must have had his own crew or was similar to a Capo maybe. Also, Valachi claimed that Bonannao was his sponsor during induction ceremony. Joe B. also claimed to have known Al Capone in 60 min interview. He must have been more important than a bodyguard.

This is how I looked at. Common sense tells me that Joe Bananas must have been highly ranked to have been given his own family.

Bonanno says nothing about his rank prior to his elevation. But he does say that during the war he acted as Mranzano´s chief of staff. Without mentioning any details, he also says that he didn´t attain that position by being a spectator. In that capacity, I suppose Bonanno was Maranzano´s right hand man (but not official underboss) taking care of stuff that needed to be done in order to win the war. As much as he was a gunner, he was also a bodyguard together with a group of men who called themselves "The boys of the first day". Because of the war, traditional ranks within the Family were not important. Keep in mind that the official boss Cola Schiro had vanished, the second most important member Vito Bonventre had been killed and Joe Parrino, another powerful member had been appointed boss by Masseria, but ostracized by his own group. All this put the Castellammarese in a disarray. We don´t know Bonannos rank before the war and after the dust had settled. But he was most likely an ordinary soldier. When Maranzano came out victorious, we know that Angelo Caruso was made Maranzano´s official underboss holding that position until Bonanno took over the Family. Also keep in mind that Stefano Magaddino, Bonanno´s cousin and the most powerful Castellammarese after the death of Maranzano, in a bid to control the NY Castellammarese, pushed Bonanno into the top position. In that regard, Bonanno´s climb from a mere soldier to boss sounds plausible. The Bonanno name carried a lot of weight within the Castellammarese comunity around this time. This must not be overlooked in my opinion.

So I guess functionally he was a top leader, but without any title.

I'm not sure we should necessarily assume the Costello hit was the only one Gigante was involved in. Nor do we know if those other guys were not personally involved in hits.

I'm making a mockery of their claims that guys like Gambino and Bonanno never killed anyone. People don't just become feared and respected mafia capos and then bosses for no reason. The only one who possibly didn't make his bones was Castellano. He was riding Gambino's coattails. He wasn't feared or respected by many in his family because his soldiers didn't believe he made his bones.

I see. Well, it's a rather futile discussion because there's just no way to know with some of these guys, one way or the other.

In some cases it is futile. Carl Sifakis in The Mafia Encyclopedia describes the making bones requirement as a myth. Being a cash cow or "producer" can be enough to get someone made. This was brought up in the mob myths thread.

I also found this article:
http://www.americanmafia.com/Feature_Articles_393.html

For what it´s worth, Costello was sentenced to a 10 month prison term back in 1915 for carrying a pistol. This doesn´t necessarily mean that he was a gunner, but apparently he was not totally unaccostomed to firearms.

Yes it was Metarie. The Marcellos still own a large portion of it, but they are far from in the OC picture. Carlos milked Louisiana his whole life then set his family up for success with his fortune, which is the way its supposed to work.