I have a question; James Eppolito SR was a soldier in Anthony Gaggi's crew. Why did Paul side with Roy DeMeo and Gaggi in their dispute with Eppolito SR and JR???Apparently DeMeo cheated Eppolito JR out of a drug deal. This should have been instant death for the both of them once Paul found out.

Also Eppolito SR rackets and territory was being chipped away by DeMeo I believe.

Eppolito SR wanted his own captain whacked and that pretty much sign his own death warrant along with his son.

My question is; Why did Paul side with DeMeo and Gaggi??

Good Question. In early 1979 Jimmy and his son were involved in a charity scam that was supported by First Lady Rosalyn Carter. They were even pictured together. As you can imagine Paul was not happy with this attention. That may have been one reason. Also Nino was close to Paul so not surprised he sided with him

Jimmy SR was pretty bold to go to the Boss of a major family and ask permission to whack his own captain and his top lieutenant (Roy DeMeo)

Everyone was afraid of the DeMeo crew and Gaggi but Jimmy SR had some balls and it got him and his son whacked.

Even John Gotti and his guys were afraid of the DeMeo crew.

It's been awhile since I read it, but going by Murder Machine, Gaggi was somewhat of a golden boy to Castellano. I doubt Castellano would ever contemplate going against him, especially when there were guys loyal to Dellacroce who had little faith in him.

yaeh i think him scamming the charity was gonna bring on heat. paul had no times for that

[quote=pmac]yaeh i think him scamming the charity was gonna bring on heat. paul had no times for that[

/quote] Absolutely. When Paul was pissed at you you were gone most times

76 to 85 paul had alot of people put down i would love to see a list. atleast 40+guys. not all made guys just people in the gambino familys orbit and other familys

. Absolutely l. There is a big misconception that Paul was a pushover just because he was more of a white collar boss but that’s not the case. I mean Gotti was obviously scared of what he might do which is why he tried so hard to get Frank Decicco and Sammy on his side. I don’t have a full list but I will try to list who i know Paul ordered dead

Frank Amato
Vito Borelli
The Eppolitos
Johnny Keys Simone
Nick Scibetta
Roy Demeo
Frank Piccolo
Many more

he was also acting boss for carlo from like 74 so im sure he started puting peoples lights out ahead of him knowing carlos gonna name him boss. i also wonder how that went did carlo tello abunch of capos on his death bed pauls next. will never know those guys all died

Yeah 74/75 was when he was acting boss. Neil was in jail during that time. When they did make Paul boss it took place at Nino’s house which shows their closeness and another reason why Paul sides against Eppolito. Jimmy Eppolito made a really bad decision. He obviously didn’t realize how close Nino and Paul were and he also accused Nino of drug dealing.

Anyone think if Jimmy Eppolito whacked Gaggi and/or Roy; without permission; and in secret; Would Paul have eventually found out who the culprit was?

Jimmy should have done this instead of going to Paul and sealing his death warrant.

. I doubt Jimmy could even get anyone to go after Nino or Roy. As we know Gotti shit his pants when Paul floated the idea about his crew killing Roy in late 1982. The only way Jimmy felt he could do it is with the backing of the boss

Jimmy has some balls though; He knew Roy and Gaggi had a crew of killers and he still floated the idea around that those two guys needed to be six feet under....

He's bold...

Balls for sure but not too much in the brains department lol. One thing I always wondered is how the deaths of Jimmy sr and jr affected Louie Eppolito. I mean he was basically a gangster with a badge I wonder if his corrupted ways happened not long after this. I also wonder if he wanted revenge against the Gambinos in a way. When Cassio got shot and went after the Gambinos obviously Louie was a big part of a Jimmy Hydells and Ed Linos deaths

Just thought about it; Paul had a deal drugs and die creed; Obviously that's not totally true; Cherry Hills; etc...

If Paul was not close to Gaggi and was strict about his drug creed; Eppolito would have inadvertently gotten his son whacked and Roy killed also.

Paul had a double standard about drugs like most bosses. If he liked you he looked the other way and he obviously profited from it.? When he didn’t like you like the Bergin crew he wasn’t too happy.

@JCrusher

Bet Louis Eppolito was affected alot by his uncle's and cousin's murder. I believe he's one of the few who pulled the death sheet off their bodies and saw that their heads were pretty much blown to pieces. That would affect anyone..

You are right about Paul's double standard. I made a topic about the Cherry Hills about a month ago and he was full blown letting them operate with drugs with full immunity... Even let them encroch on Angelo Bruno's Philly territory.

Yes I remember reading that in his book about seeing their heads blown off. I guess I meant if he was doing corrupt stuff back then or only after that event.

I would love to know that myself. What's interesting; How in the world was Louis Eppolito assigned to their crime scene?? Isn't that a conflict of interest or so

Not sure. I could ask father who was a NY cop during that era

Eppolito Sr told Paul that his son Jim Jim was dealing drugs, which broke Paul's no dealing rule (You deal, you die). Then in the same sentence he asked if he can kill one of Paul's close friends.

He got himself and his son killed by being mind-bogglingly stupid.

Also one thing forgotten about is the other individual in the car when this went down, Peter Piacenti. All the people in that car was dead by 1988 but Pete got out of that situation and died in 2007 I think

@JCrusher

That sounds good; Would love to know. Louis Eppolito possibly didn't know who was under those death sheets before he got to the crime scene but who knows??

@Neo

You summed it up picture perfect; Stupidity on the part of Jimmy.

@JCrusher

Peter Piacenti? Who's that?

Where does the narrative of Gotti being afraid of DeMeo come from?

He was a Gambino soldier Who unwittingly came along for the ride when they killed the eppolitos. Jimmy Sr knew something was up so they had to kill them earlier than planned which shocked Pete even more I bet

Not a narrative it’s pretty well known. Gene Gotti was caught on wiretap in 1982 basically saying John wanted no part of a Demeo when Paul was looking to kill him. Also that Roy had a “army of killers around him”. Gotti was tough but there were certainly guys he feared. Demeo,Casso. Obviously he was afraid of getting whacked by Paul. Tony Ducks supposedly hated him too as well as Chin

Some more of the listed members Paul ordered killed.
Peter Campisi
Ed Grillo
Guido DeCurtis
Joseph LoPiccolo
John Palmieri, long time friend to Frank Piccolo, Paul wanted him dead for unknown reason and Gambino approved it.
Anthony Plata
Carmine and Frank Consalvo were done on Galante's orders, not Paul. This is said to be the reason Dellacroce was for Galante being killed as Carmine Consalvo was a protege to Neil.
There are more and I am sure someone may have already compiled a list.

It’s wild that Castellano had so many people whacked, and he was considered soft and not from the streets, haha. When in Rome....

Anthony “Tony Plate” Plate is a mobster I have mentioned a few times in my tenure here. He was a longtime Gambino soldier/enforcer who spent a lot of time in Miami. In 1979 Neil and Plate were indicted for a murder of a bookmaker Charles Calise(from my hometown who my grandfather actually knew). Anyway Plate was murdered by the Bergin crew. I was always under the assumption that Neil ordered the hit but i assume Had it approved or maybe he actually ordered it. Anyway yeah there is a lot more to the list. I mean the Demeo Crew and the Westies did a lot of hits for Paul