I dont know if we're talking about scary faces or scary reputation but here's few examples which had a little bit of both...


Salvatore Sam Cardinella


Rocco Pranno (first from the left)


Rocco Pranno


Fur Sammons


Sam Battaglia


Frank Buccieri


Albert "Obie" Frabotta


Billy Dauber


Frank Schweihs


Phil Alderisio




Jack Cerone


Sam "Sambo" Cesario


Alex Ross

What about Tony Spilotro and the Gemini Twins (Anthony Senter and Joseph Testa)?

Not sure about Jack Cerone in that photo. He looks like Barney Fife.

the beating never happened, nothing ever written about the gallos mentions said beating, there apparently is no source.

I wonder what was going on in Tony Ducks' mind when he chose two violent hitmen as his successors. Up until Vic Amuso becoming boss in 1987, the Luccheses were the most peaceful of the five.

No doubt about it -- this day and age;
Michael Sarno from Chicago. He killed high leveled people and blew up a rival poker machine business i believe it was?
And this he did after the century shift. After 2000.
Guy is obviously in Prison but man he had the mindset of a violent 1930's gangster. Would not have messed with him.

I'm sure what was going on with the Gambinos and Genoveses had something to do with it. The peace had been broken.

Without a doubt Frank Schweihs. Scared the shit out of other killers like the Spilotro brothers

lupo the wolf

Lupo is one of the worst. The absolute worst. Next to degenerate murderer in the dictionary is a picture of that animal.

It was said that before prohibition, you could easily tell a mafia person apart from a civilian. The mob people weren't doing well back then. They looked like h e double hocky sticks. Then after prohibition, they put on the ritz and started blending into high society. Lupo is from the days when they looked like heck.

His worst photo is the classic one, where it looks like he just got back from his meat hook at the murder stables, like he hadn't taken a bath in like 3 weeks.

But for me, his scariest photo is actually the one of him as a old man, clean cut, shaved, seemingly civilized and mellowed out, hair combed and flawless, most of his mob life maybe left far far behind, except he is leering sideways into the camera like a lion in a zoo looking through a glass wall at visitors...wishing he could pounce on them. Disturbing. Disturbing the way he tilted his head. To understand this, you have to see the whole photo, not just the one that shows his head tilt, but his whole upper body.

alfa, I believe you are referring to ignazio saietta, a blackhand of the early century, before LCN was established here, he owned a property known as the "murder stables" he was accused of having a part in the murder of joe petrosino, a cop who went to sicily, and was executed there. he was born 1877, and died 1947, his brother-in law, was ciro terranova. supposedly got his nick name by breeding wolfs, and when someone he wanted killed he would tie them up in a big leather bag, and put a wolf pup in with them. he was supposed to have done this all the time, but, like I say, who really knows?

Wow, I never heard the wolf story. That's ugly. I always read about Lupo hanging his political opponents on meat hooks down at his so-called murder stables. Yes, it's Saietta I am referring to.

It's funny you know. You look at his jailhouse photo where he is young and his hair is cut. He looks like a little kid.

Lupo in Jail?

Funny how far taking a bath will go. His other mugshots look savage.
Two different people.

Edit: I think the mugshot of Lupo with dark hair, black suit, and black tie on, a few posts above, was taken before the photo I linked. My photo might be from around or near 1920. Not sure about it though. He actually looks younger in my photo than in the possible older mugshots. Strange.

Lupo was said to be not a force as an old man, nor after he was released from prison. Its said that he and Morello would try appeal after appeal once they was locked up in Sing Sing, I think it was, and once those failed, it really crushed the both of them. Morello was able to be released and reclaim his status within the Masseria family, but Lupo was just left alone and lived well into old age, before dying. There was a statement he made in which he says he wishes he was still a little boy in Italy, because then he never would've been exposed to the mafia. He expressed some serious regret of his life choices. Prison really messed him up, the photo of him as an old man I think shows that, so we have two different interpretations of that photo. To me he looks like a guy just waiting to die. Also the fact that he wasnt bothered, had no known role in the hostilities between Masseria & Maranzano and even simply living as long as he did, especially during those days, proves that he was a changed, and dejected man. He lost his position during his time in prison and never sought to gain it back during all those years after his release.

A woman was the initial owner of the murder stables, Saietta was just kept after her horses. While owner, she let the Morellos use that place as a grounds for torture and killing. She was eventually killed directly outside of the stables and I think thats when Saietta took over the place. All this stuff is covered in Mike Dash' "The First Family" book.

@Sinatra

You are the first person I've seen on here mention the Morello book. I didn't think anyone on here had read it but it's a must for that time period, as well as tracing the origins of the Genovese family, and indeed, the others too. He mentions D' Aquila, Mineo, the Terranovas. It's a really good read, awhile back someone posted an article of the Morellos counterfeit operation. An old newspaper article, I wanted to suggest First Family to em.

Good stuff man...

I agree.

Toodoped, where did you find the Sam Cardinella photo? I thought there weren't any, he isn't a widely known character, even though he is the only gang boss ever executed in Chicago I think (another proof Lepke Buchalter wasn't the first mobster in USA history to get the death sentence).

I just searched for Cardinella You can check out one of my previous articles on the Cardinella mob, its called the Devil

http://www.gangsterbb.net/threads/ubbthr...9682#Post889682