I agree Gary, I hate to promote my website, but I explore the holes in Massino's story....such as (please excuse the length of this quote from my post):

Napolitano met his end because he had been preparing to take over the Bonanno family, Massino said in court. Which doesn't make a whole lot of sense to us at Cosa Nostra News.

“Sonny Black threatened to make a move on the family,” said Massino, who had taken part in the murder while a member of a three-capo panel that was running the crime family for then-imprisoned boss Philip "Rusty" Rastelli, who in fact had authorized the rubout. Rastelli is dead. No further details are offered in the article to support Massino's ascertains about Napolitano.

There had been a rivalry between Sonny Black and Massino -- according to Pistone's book and other sources -- and Sonny Black also reportedly had just taken part in the slayings of three capos who themselves were planning to make a move to take over the Bonanno family. Sonny Black's crew reportedly handled clean up, while the Gambino capo John Gotti, as a favor, sent his crew to dispose of the bodies. {They didn't do a good job: "Sonny Red" Indelicato "popped up" out of the ground within days of the bloody, violent slayings, though Phil Giaccone and Dominick Trinchera remained under ground until Massino turned informant and revealed where their bodies were decades later.)

So right here, we know that Sonny Black was aware of what happened to overly ambitious Bonannos with big mouths. Had he read Machiavelli, he certainly would have known that, when you shoot a prince, you kill him. And you don't shoot your mouth off first. (We're paraphrasing here.) Sonny Black certainly was smart enough to take over the family, which is probably the real season Joe "The Fat Rat" Massino wanted him taken out.

And last, but not least, Sonny Black supposedly was tighter with Rastelli than was Massino; in fact, Sonny may have even been serving as acting boss after the three-capo slaying. Maybe Massino and the "ruling panel" didn't like this.

And why then were Sonny Black's hands chopped off? What was the symbolism in that mutilation if it were not to signify he shook hands with a Fed?

The truth is, like most mob stories, including those that have reached legendary status, we'll never know the truth about why Sonny Black was taken out, though Massino's testimony, on face value, doesn't make a lot of sense when put in context.


Massino also dismissed reports that Bonanno drug dealer Anthony Mirra was killed for the same reason -- bringing Brasco in -- but instead was a target because some in the family believed he was a DEA cooperator.

We wonder ... Mirra, for one, was a known psychopath, a loudmouth quick to pull out a switchblade -- and they don't make good CIs. Ask Gaspipe Casso, who tried to turn but is now serving life.