From what I have always read, Bobby Manna was his connection......It would appear that after Bruno got whacked, the close connection began BUT, I seem to think that the close affiliation began before that.

There is no doubt in my mind that NY wanted a piece of Atlantic City and no NYC families would dare tread on that turf while Carlo was alive. Now Carlo died in 76.......How can anybody be so sure that Nicky himself did not pre-plan this entire rotating of the guard (in the shadows of course)

I mean that Scarfo conspired with the West Side to have all the Philly power hungry heavyweights, do his dirty work under the false protection of the West Side?

It just seems rather odd how Narducci would watch Caponigro get taken out for whacking Bruno and then immediately attempt the exact same maneuver and expect to get away with it.
Also, why didn't the West Side immediately put out a contract on Narducci for whacking a boss without permission?
This is very fishy!

Anyone else believe that Little Nicky played a part in Chicken Man's death?

I put the odds at 60% Yes, 40% No.....I have no proof, it is just theory......I also wonder if Leonetti knows the real truth?

Scarfo and Manna became close in the early 70's in Yardville, so they were tight long before Bruno got whacked. In fact in Phil's book he mentions going to Manna's restaurant with Scarfo and Manna basically let him know Bruno didn't have long to live and Scarfo said he was fine with that, so even though he wasn't directly involved he wasn't gonna save Bruno either. I doubt this was the case with Phil Testa though.

I've also read that Nick's father was connected with the Genovese but that seems up for debate, it would definitely make sense though.

As for your point about Chickie, in Phil's book he mentions that nobody on the street knew that Chickie Narducci was involved in the Testa murder plot except for Nick, because he found out from the West Side administration, who found out from Pete Casella himself. I can see them leaving that up to Nick to handle as he saw fit rather than putting their own guys at risk.

I'm sure Serp can offer better insight to all this, just things I recall from reading.

They were connected before his family left NY and his blood is still connected.

Did Nick not turndown a possible boss position so that Testa was put up ?

Not many know that this relationship is in part to the secrecy of his death service and his grave .

Gallery Magazine / October 1981 article by Tony Scaduto "The Mobs Bloody War for Atlantic City". Investigators will never know whose idea it was , but it is clear that Phil Testa got Tony Bananas Caponigro to handle it. leaving Testa safely in the background. Some time after Christmas 1979 , Tony Bananas went up to New York for a meeting with Funzi Tieri. At the meeting according to informers , Caponigro told Tieri that a consensus had been reached within their family - Bruno was no longer fit to command and had to go. Would Tieri back them up ? Right after Bruno"s murder, Frank Sindone was acting like a man wearing a detective's shield. Sindone was running around making a lot of noise and was almost uncontrollable, says Lt. Frank Wallace, who commands the Organized Crime Unit of the Philadelphia police Department. "He (Sindone) starting playing cop, conducting an investigation, and he really shook things up". The afternoon following Bruno's murder Sindone was certain his boss had been killed by traitors in the family and he had a pretty good idea of their identity. He reported his suspicions to John "Johnny Keyes" Simone, also a captain, and demanded that Bruno's killers be punished. Johnny Keyes, 69, was Bruno's cousin and was closer to the Don than any other family member. He (Simone) had also been looking into the murder, but he was more cautious then Sindone. He told Sindone to go slow, and suggested they both question one vital suspect before further action. That suspect was John Stanfa. The next afternoon he was questioned by a ferocious Frank Sindone, with Johnny Keyes looking on, gauging Stanfa's reactions. At first Stanfa cried his denials. Soon though, he apparently said enough to give the two Bruno loyalists the last bit of evidence they needed. They knew who has assassinated their boss. But they weren't certain what they could do about it - and what they learned worried the hell out of them. Behind the family captains who had murdered Angelo Bruno, they had learned, stood a force much stronger then the entire Philadelphia family. That force was Frank "Funzi" Tieri. The plot went forward. But Phil Testa was to cunning to put himself on the firing line. Knowing Bruno loyalists would seek revenge, Testa kept himself at a distance from the men who had propelled the plot to its conclusion. Many of the details of the machinations leading to the murder of Angelo Bruno were figured out by the capo playing cop, Frank Sindone, and by Johnny Keyes. Sindone and Johnny Keyes now went to the Gambino family with their evidence, including the very grave suspicion that behind it all lay the cunning hand of Funzi Tieri. Sindone still so out of control, demanded that the Gambinos live up to their prior agreement to protect the Bruno family - by calling a sit down of the commission and asking for Tieri's death for his illegal, unauthorized, unethical killing of a fellow Don. It isn't believed that a commission meeting was ever called. but Tieri learned of the assassination plot was unraveling, and he did what every intelligent Mafia man does when fingers are pointed: he lied. Tieri told other Mafia bosses that he had been ill - used by the power - hungry Tony Bananas; he had not approved the murder of Angelo Bruno, he claimed, but had only said that he had no right or desire to interfere in an internal family affair. Tieri also said that because he had been conned by these dishonest men from Philadelphia, he would see to their punishment. Phil Testa came up smelling clean, and looking powerful. He gathered together the two factions in the Bruno family and convinced them he had nothing to do with Bruno's death and that family members must close ranks to save the family from the New Yorker's greed. He also convinced them to make him the new Don. But Testa could never feel safe as long as Sindone, the cop playing capo, and Johnny Keyes Simone were still around, because he couldn't be sure how much they knew. He alway's had to worry that these two men, so loyal to Bruno, might deceide that Testa had been a traitor and should be killed. So Testa - perhaps acting on his own, or with the backing of Funzi Tieri, who may have been concerned about the information the two men possessed- passed the death sentence on them.
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think scarfo was bobby mannas cellmate for like 18months in the early 70tys. for contempt of court. bruno was in there 2 i think tony banannas it was like 8 of them rufused to talk to a grand jury. scarfo and manna are same age. bruno and them much older.

When Ang Bruno was whacked there was a meeting at the Caribe Gardens in south philly attended by representatives of the NY family. At this meeting was Chickie Narducci. The NY family asked Narducci to take the boss position. Narducci declined because of his loyalty to Phil Testa who was actually in line for this position. Testa was named boss and immediately named Scarfo as his under boss instead of Narducci. This infuriated Narducci and he felt disrespected so Testa would have to go. This is the real story

What is ironic, is the gambino’s supposedly looked after philly/Bruno. Johhny keys, a bruno loyalist, was later killed by the gambinos at the behest of scarfo.

Testa actually made Scarfo his consigliere and Peter Casella his underboss. According to Leonetti, Scarfo wasn't too pleased about this because he expected to become nr. 2

Right on Billy ...

The visit to the Chin he was offered the top spot but said Testa should be offered boss first and that’s what happened and Nick was made Consigliere. !

The Gallery magazine article is the first time that I have ever read that Sindone and Simone were Bruno loyalists, and that Phil Testa was behind the plot to kill Bruno. They (Sindone / Simone) were always said to be co - conspirators with Tony Bananas. If this theory is true than Sindone / Simone were both killed for staying true to Angelo Bruno. Phil Leonetti says that there was bad blood between Testa and Bruno and that Bruno had gone to Atlantic City to ask Scarfo to side with him against Testa. With Angelo offering the Scarfo faction $$$ to side with him. Nick's answer to Bruno was that we are one family. That Testa and Bruno should iron out their problem. So it just may be that Testa / Caponigro may really be the real traitors, not Sindone / Simone ?

Scarfo had johhny keys clipped as a request to castellano. Scarfo was cleaning house and viewed keys as a potential threat. Keys was in fact a bruno loyalist and may have viewed scarfo as having some prior knowledge of Bruno’s killing. Remember, scarfo had a good west side connection and it was the west side that caponegro approached. I find it hard to believe scarfo had no knowledge especially since testa knew. I also imagine bobby manna knew about the plot and he was close to scarfo. Did bobby manna keep this secret from scarfo ?? I doubt it. Keys was killed when he was in his 70’s supposedly because he bad mouthed testa. I think that was an excuse. Purely conjecture on my part .

And Casella was a drug dealer 2 boot..Scarfo hated that..I posted the same statement a couple days ago on a different post.

Very interesting, alot of new info for me...I always thought testa was a good guy. So was acardi who destroyed philly lcn?