Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires (84 page)

Early successes, his unopposed takeover of the family after the murder of Paul Castellano, followed by a string of courtroom acquittals, inflated his over-confidence. Flattering print and televisions stories about his opulent lifestyle, his unorthodox mannerisms, and his courtroom invincibility, magnified his opinion of himself. Gotti invented and epitomized gangster chic; he was a new type of openly fearless, flamboyant mobster, vicariously admired for his “come and get me if you can” defiance of authority.

“He was the first media don,” says Bruce Mouw, the FBI agent chiefly responsible for the investigation that ultimately convicted Gotti. “He never tried to hide the fact that he was a superboss.” Andrew Maloney, the U.S. Attorney who prosecuted Gotti, was angered by the media’s obsession with their favorite gangster. “He was made to order for the press. The way he looked, dressed, his arrogance toward the law. The press was manipulated by him and turned him into a folk hero. Almost everyone forgot or downplayed the fact that he was a vicious murderer.”

Wanted for the attempted assassination of Frank Costello, Vincent “Chin” Gigante surrendered after three months as a fugitive in 1957. Costello declined to identify Gigante as the gunman who grazed his head and he was acquitted. (
AP/Wide World Photos
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As Genovese boss in the 1980s and 1990s, Vincent Gigante’s closest confidantes and trusted aides were (clockwise from top left) Venero “Benny Eggs” Mangano, the underboss; Dominick “Baldy” Canterino, a capo; and Dominick “Quiet Dom” Cirillo, a capo (on the left with unidentified man). (
FBI and NYPD Photos
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FBI agents discovered Vincent Gigante led a double romantic life and spent most evenings in a tony East Side town house. Investigators used a rooftop observation post at a nearby yeshiva to spy on Gigante’s nocturnal mob meetings, observing him through the rear windows (below) of the town house. An attempt to bug the town house failed when agents drilled through the wrong wall. (
Photos from author’s archive
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Arrested on RICO charges, Vincent Gigante appeared for arraignment in his customary street garb: pajamas and a bathrobe. At the court hearing, “Chin,” apparently feigning mental illness, appeared disoriented, insisting that he was at a wedding and wanted to see the bride. (
Photo courtesy of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
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Liborio “Barney” Bellomo became street boss when Gigante was imprisoned; he is a strong contender to become the next Genovese godfather when his prison term for racketeering ends. (
Photo courtesy of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
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Philip “Rusty” Rastelli emerged undisputed boss of the Bonanno family in 1979 after obtaining the Commission’s approval to whack his archrival, Carmine Galante. (
Photo courtesey of the New York City Police Department
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Joseph Massino, pictured around the time of Carmine Galante’s murder in 1979, played a key role in arranging the hit, and was promoted into the Bonanno family’s hiearchy. ((
Photo courtesey of the New York City Police Department
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Accompanied by his brother-in-law and crime alter ego Salvatore “Good-Looking Sal” Vitale and capo Frank Lino, Joe Massino attended a wake for slain Gambino Underboss Frank DeCicco in 1986. To avoid law-enforcement surveillance, Massino later boycotted mob funerals. (
FBI Surveillance Photo
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On the morning of May 6, 1981, Joe Massino and Cerlando “George from Canada” Sciascia were seen outside the Capri Motor Lodge in Whitestone, Queens. The government claimed that Massino imported Sciascia and other Canadian triggermen to murder the rebellious “Three Capos” the previous night. In 2003, Massino was indicted for a hit on Sciascia. (
FBI Surveillance Photo
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At the 1981 “peace conference,” Joe Massino orchestreated the ambush-murders of three rival Bonanno capos: Alphonse “Sonny Red” Indelicato (top left), Philip “Phil Lucky” Giaconne (top right), and Dominick “Big Trin” Trinchera (lower left). Soon afterwards, Massino arranged the execution of his ally, Dominick “Sonny Black” Napolitano (lower right), for allowing an FBI agent to infiltrate the Bonanno family. (
Photos courtesy of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
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