- 11/13/2023
These mob hits will make you appreciate your 9-5. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’ll be discussing the most high-profile gangland killings of influential crime bosses.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 In a brazen shooting straight out of a crime drama, 53-year-old Francesco "Frankie Boy" Callie
00:06 was found with multiple gunshot wounds to the torso outside his home.
00:10 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're discussing the most high-profile gangland killings of influential crime bosses.
00:17 By 5 p.m., Gotti and his crew of assassins were in position.
00:21 Four gunmen stood at various points near the entrance to Sparks.
00:26 Carmine Galante. This cigar-chomping mafioso may have only been an acting boss of the Bonanno crime family at the time of his death,
00:34 but that doesn't make the details of said demise any less gruesome.
00:38 "So it ended here, in the backyard of a Brooklyn restaurant. Carmine Galante was the victim of a few men with guns."
00:44 Galante was one in a long and unfortunate line of mafia bosses who got whacked while they were trying to enjoy dinner.
00:50 Philip "Rusty" Rustelli was by all accounts the rightful head of the Bonanno family.
00:55 But Galante committed an internal coup in 1976 while Rustelli was in prison.
01:00 "He really saw himself as becoming the boss of bosses, and he was not a well-liked individual.
01:05 Not only did the commission not want Galante to become head of the Bonanno crime family,
01:10 they certainly did not want him to become the boss of bosses."
01:12 Galante quickly escalated tensions with the Gambino family during this time via a series of alleged assassinations.
01:19 The acting Bonanno boss was shot to death as a result of this power grab,
01:23 shortly after finishing his lunch at an Italian restaurant on July 12th, 1979.
01:28 "It was almost surreal, the whole thing. I don't think he thought he would ever die. He's got that God complex."
01:40 Mickey Spillane. No, we're not talking about the noted crime author of the same name.
01:45 This Mickey Spillane was an Irish-American mob boss who butted heads with the Italian mafia
01:49 over control of New York's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood.
01:52 "And in the west side of Manhattan, Mickey Spillane ruled from his own White House,
01:58 the White House Bar, which he opened in 1960.
02:02 But there was trouble looming for both men."
02:05 Spillane's operations in Hell's Kitchen's held designs for activity that pushed into mafia-owned Manhattan territory,
02:11 and a war between both factions would occur as a result.
02:14 Spillane may have been known as a gentleman gangster during his tenure at the top,
02:18 but the mafia eventually found a way to get Spillane via the ambitious Jimmy Coonan.
02:22 "As Jimmy Coonan tells Roy DeMeo, you know, I can be boss of the neighborhood,
02:29 but I'll never really be boss of the neighborhood as long as Mickey Spillane's still alive."
02:35 This internal threat to Spillane's empire combined forces with Brooklyn hitman Roy DeMeo,
02:40 and fatal shots rang out against Hell's Kitchen's gentleman gangster outside his home on May 13th, 1977.
02:47 "Spillane headed down to the street unarmed, and walked over to the car to talk to whoever it was that was there,
02:54 and he was shot five times by someone sitting in the car."
02:59 Johnny Papalia.
03:00 Canada may not be the first place the average person thinks of when it comes to organized crime,
03:05 but those people are forgetting about former bosses like Johnny Papalia.
03:08 "That's Johnny Papalia, their older brother. What was he like?"
03:12 "Cold. Just cold, that's all I can say."
03:17 Papalia was a major player in Hamilton, Ontario,
03:19 a crime boss whose profile you may recognize from the infamous French Connection trafficking crimes of the 1960s.
03:26 This was a boss who ruled through fear,
03:28 a smart and cunning man at the top who was as callous as he was ruthless.
03:32 Even the most prepared and cautious crime bosses tend to slip up eventually, however,
03:37 and time did catch up to Johnny Papalia on May 31st, 1997.
03:41 This scourge of Hamilton was shot from behind by a hitman working for the rival Musitano crime family.
03:47 John D'Amato.
03:48 John "Johnny Boy" D'Amato was another acting boss,
03:51 this time for the DiCavocanti crime family from New Jersey.
03:55 "John D'Amato was not respected at all by, internally, DiCavocanti family."
03:59 "He was kind of a lunatic. He had a reputation as being a party guy, somebody you really can't rely on."
04:08 D'Amato was promoted to this position in absentia by proper boss Giovanni Righi,
04:12 who was incarcerated at this time.
04:14 Johnny Boy wouldn't enjoy this temporary position of power for very long, however,
04:19 as D'Amato would be dead less than two years removed from his promotion.
04:23 "In October of 1992, after leaving his girlfriend Tina S.'s house,
04:28 the DiCavocanti family godfather, Johnny Boy D'Amato, vanished without a trace."
04:33 It's said that his 1992 assassination was motivated by D'Amato's alleged bisexuality,
04:39 allegations that were further corroborated in courtroom testimony by DiCavocanti hitman Anthony Capo.
04:44 John D'Amato was shot by Capo while the former was riding in the backseat of a car.
04:49 "They drive him towards a section of Brooklyn called Mill Basin,
04:53 and while he's in the car, Anthony Capo turns around and shoots him in the head."
04:58 The body was never found.
05:01 Angelo Bruno.
05:02 Angelo Bruno was another mafia boss whose reputation tended to eschew
05:06 the organization's rough-and-tumble reputation for violence.
05:09 "To the authorities, he portrays himself as a quiet tobacco salesman.
05:12 But in reality, he makes millions from illicit gambling rackets."
05:18 However, this reputation did not save the gentle Don from sustaining fatal shotgun wounds
05:24 while sitting in his car on March 21st, 1980.
05:27 "Bruno lives in the heart of the city's Italian-American community.
05:31 Here, he feels safe.
05:33 As a mafia Don, he rules these streets, but not for long."
05:39 What's even worse was that this act was carried out by one of Bruno's own,
05:43 an associate and advisor named Antonio Caponegro.
05:46 This unapproved hit essentially meant Caponegro was a dead man,
05:49 as the governing mafia commission had this traitor assassinated for his insolence and ambition.
05:54 "Rumors spread.
05:56 They revealed that Caponegro murdered Angelo Bruno so he could take the position of Philadelphia Godfather."
06:01 Other associates who conspired with Caponegro also suffered violent ends for their trouble.
06:06 Frank Calley.
06:08 The most recent demise covered in this video served as a wake-up call to anyone
06:12 who surmised that the American mafia was finished airing their violently dirty laundry on city streets.
06:17 "Following the brazen murder of a reputed mob boss,
06:20 tonight, sources tell ABC News police in New York are investigating
06:24 whether it was a sanctioned hit or the opening salvo in a new mafia war."
06:29 Frank Calley was serving as another acting boss for the Gambino crime family
06:33 when he was brazenly assassinated outside of his Staten Island home on the 13th of March, 2019.
06:39 "According to police, Calley was having dinner with his family around 9 p.m.
06:43 when he stepped outside to talk to someone and was shot and killed."
06:47 Calley's death served as the first time a mafia boss had been cut down in this fashion since the mid-1980s.
06:53 As a result, the violent lives and deaths of those involved with organized crime
06:57 once again were splattered on New York City headlines.
07:00 Everything old was new again.
07:02 "Detectives believe Camello shot Calley 10 times outside his Staten Island home.
07:08 Law enforcement sources say security camera footage
07:10 shows Camello pulling into Calley's driveway on Wednesday night
07:14 and moments later, opening fire."
07:17 Sam Giancana.
07:18 If the adage "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" holds any water,
07:23 then perhaps it could explain why the CIA enlisted the help of mafia boss Sam Giancana
07:28 when they were attempting to assassinate former Cuban leader Fidel Castro.
07:32 "The CIA had invited him to take part in a bizarre plot to murder Fidel Castro.
07:37 The mafia were the fool guys.
07:41 If the operation was discovered, they, not the government, would take the blame."
07:46 Additionally, it was shortly before Giancana was due to speak before the U.S. Senate in 1975
07:52 on alleged agency overreach when the mob boss was gunned down in his home.
07:56 "In 1975, he was called before a Senate committee investigating the CIA plot to kill Castro.
08:02 The night of June the 19th, two escorts had just arrived in Chicago to take him safely to Washington."
08:09 The uncorroborated story alleges that Giancana was cooking sausage and peppers
08:13 when he was shot by a hitman,
08:15 but what is known is that the boss's body was found on the floor of his basement kitchen.
08:20 "Like so many who live in a world of secrets,
08:23 Giancana perhaps in the end understood less about the world than he thought he did."
08:27 Albert Anastasia
08:29 This history of the modern American mafia can be traced back in part to ruthless individuals like Albert Anastasia.
08:36 "Albert Anastasia was the perfect model.
08:39 Within the mafia, Anastasia was recognized as a ruthless, unflinching killer."
08:48 This mad hatter was a killer and a boss from the original Murder Incorporated
08:52 who would rise in power to head the Gambino crime family.
08:55 "Hits are no longer personal vendettas, they are business.
08:59 Luciano imposes strict rules that govern how Anastasia and Murder Incorporated should operate."
09:06 It's unclear today who was responsible for slaying Anastasia while he was sitting in a barber's chair,
09:11 nor has any one family taken full responsibility for the hit.
09:15 "Albert Anastasia is laid to rest.
09:18 As a testament to his brutal character, only a handful of mourners attend his funeral."
09:24 Rumors abound however.
09:26 Was it ordered from the Patriarcha family over in Rhode Island?
09:29 Internal dissenters from the Gambinos?
09:31 No one's really sure, and dead men tell no tales.
09:35 Bugsy Siegel
09:36 The name Bugsy Siegel is one that's recognized even by those without a passing interest in the history of organized crime.
09:42 "Bugsy used his charm and millions of dollars from the mafia on the gamble of a lifetime."
09:48 That's because it was men like Siegel whose big dreams and even bigger plans
09:53 helped turn the city of Las Vegas into the sinner's paradise it is today.
09:56 "According to legend, Bugsy saw an oasis in the desert with bright lights,
10:01 luxurious accommodations and gaming tables."
10:03 However, the mob isn't exactly patient with failure,
10:06 and Siegel's initial attempts to turn a profit with the Flamingo Hotel were just that.
10:11 The former Murder, Inc. man would be dead within a year after the disastrous Flamingo opening,
10:16 the victim of an assassin's bullet on June 20, 1947.
10:20 "When a man crept up through the chubbery against the window."
10:25 "Somebody put a carbine on the trestle outside the living room."
10:29 "Nine shots ripped through the silence."
10:32 Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos.
10:38 You have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them.
10:41 If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications.
10:46 Remember how we mentioned that Frank Cali's murder was the first NYC boss slaying since the 80s?
10:55 Well, it was the murder of Paul Castellano that served as the infamous precursor to that modern fatality.
11:00 "Once the Gotti crew learned that Baladi was going to be brought into the inner circle,
11:06 it was a kill or be killed situation for them."
11:08 Castellano's death wasn't approved by the Mob Commission,
11:11 but was instead the work of an upstart named John Gotti.
11:14 "Gotti and Angelo Ruggiero recruited members from within the Gambino family to hit Castellano."
11:21 This internal coup within the Gambino crime family was organized by Gotti,
11:25 as the future Teflon Don would assemble a murderous crew to take down Castellano in broad daylight.
11:30 The slaying occurred outside of the Sparks Steakhouse,
11:33 as both Castellano and his bodyguard Thomas Baladi were shot dead by a group of men on orders from Gotti.
11:40 "Following the assassination, Gotti took over as boss of the Gambinos, but legal issues plagued his reign."
11:47 [music]
Recommended
11:26
|
Up next
1:16:20
19:36
1:20:20
1:16:20
2:58
1:19:19
8:32
14:52
20:08
2:15
1:24
1:59
10:57
10:42
22:05
1:40:26
12:32