A friend I know in NY, his father used to be good friends with Jimmy Brown Failla, childhood friends, grew up together. He used to tell his son that Jimmy was apparently a real pussy hound, up until very late in his life. When he was around close friends but not around other wiseguys, apparently he was real fun to be around and funny as hell. Also he had all kind of quirky mannerisms. I was told he loved to prank his friends and in general just fucking around. Once as part of a prank, a dog was needed to scare a friend of theirs who had a phobia of dogs, and Jimmy could imitate a dog's bark, like pitch-perfect. The guy jumped up, slipped on the mat or some shit and dislocated his ankle, basically he scared the guy half to death. He mentioned a lot of stories about Jimmy, which I cannot remember.

A cousin of mine there in NY she was engaged to the son/nephew of a very prominent crime family boss (could have been underboss) but he ended up tragically dying in an accident. She was devastated.

This last one is a very long shot, but a friend of mine from England, her grandma (96 years old at the moment) used to be engaged to a US soldier (they got to know each other when he was passing through England) during the war who ended up dying, KIA. He used to be a pilot or a flight crew member.
Right after, she moved to the States and got to know a godfather (I forget if this was NY or Chicago) who adored her. They stayed together for maybe a year or so, sometime between 1945-1949, but I have no idea who he was. My friend insists her nana told her it was a don, not a capo or underboss which I suggested, also she does not recall whether it was Chicago or NYC. She told her she could barely leave the penthouse because 4-5 bodyguards would be sent with her at all times. At the time he was worried because there was stuff going on inside the family. She mentioned the name Abbruzzo, Abbruzzio or something like that which did not really bring up anything for me... anyway, I guess this will remain a mystery unless her nan talks about it more, which she hated because it's a part of her life which she does not like to discuss.


-I shot him a coupla' times.
-What's a couple?
-Hmm, more than a couple... Really I don't know the exact amount, maybe I shot him 10 times, 12 times?
-Maybe fifteen?
-Hmm, it could've been fifteen...

-Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso