by antimafia » Sun Oct 16, 2022 12:27 pm
^^^^
The FBI, via the RCMP, would have known about Frank Cotroni Sr.'s death within 24 hrs. to 48 hrs. of the fact (he died Tuesday, August 17, 2004). I wouldn't be surprised if the FBI knew all along about his health issues and the cancer that ultimately killed him. The RCMP conveyed to the FBI the identifications of all the interesting individuals who attended either the funeral home for the visitation (at the Loreto, owned by and associated with the Rizzutos and their relatives), the funeral Mass, and the cemetery service. For example, Nick Rizzuto Sr. paid his respects at the funeral home and the Mass. The FBI even issued a statement before the Saturday funeral about not sending anyone to Montreal to gather intel, relying instead on the RCMP for the surveillance.
Starting in October 2002, Frank Coppa, Sal Vitale, Frank Lino, Joseph D'Amico, and Joe Massino would have turned cooperators before Cotroni's death. I'm speculating that the FBI likely would have told Vitale and Massino about it, probably told Lino, and maybe told Coppa and D'Amico.
There are of course other likely scenarios and ways that New York and specifically Massino found out about Cotroni's passing. Gerlando Sciascia's nephew, Giuseppe Renda ("Joe"), could have told Montagna in person in Quebec about the death. Domenico Arcuri Sr. could have called New York. The New York Bonannos could have been paying more attention to Montreal as a result of the January 2004 indictment against numerous Family members, which included Vito Rizzuto. Jerry Capeci's October 2004 Gang Land column (columns?) about the NYC Bonanno contingent's travels to Montreal in the early 1990s first caught the eye of Montreal organized-crime reporter Paul Cherry, the Staten Island Advance, and the New York Daily News later that month -- the reporting was focused on Mets' pitcher John Franco and the contingent's travels -- but only in November of that year did Cherry, other Canadian reporters, and numerous American papers write about Alfonso Gagliano. Did Capeci write in either his Gang Land column or the New York Sun about Cotroni's death? I'm fairly certain the answer is no to the latter. Vito Rizzuto had a subscription to Gang Land before he was arrested in January 2004; wouldn't NYC guys have one too?
If chin is okay with him posting the intel recently posted about the number of new members that the Bonannos could or could not make at a certain point in the 2000s, including in Montreal, it might be helpful to the discussion. On the other hand, it might derail this thread.
^^^^
The FBI, via the RCMP, would have known about Frank Cotroni Sr.'s death within 24 hrs. to 48 hrs. of the fact (he died Tuesday, August 17, 2004). I wouldn't be surprised if the FBI knew all along about his health issues and the cancer that ultimately killed him. The RCMP conveyed to the FBI the identifications of all the interesting individuals who attended either the funeral home for the visitation (at the Loreto, owned by and associated with the Rizzutos and their relatives), the funeral Mass, and the cemetery service. For example, Nick Rizzuto Sr. paid his respects at the funeral home and the Mass. The FBI even issued a statement before the Saturday funeral about not sending anyone to Montreal to gather intel, relying instead on the RCMP for the surveillance.
Starting in October 2002, Frank Coppa, Sal Vitale, Frank Lino, Joseph D'Amico, and Joe Massino would have turned cooperators before Cotroni's death. I'm speculating that the FBI likely would have told Vitale and Massino about it, probably told Lino, and maybe told Coppa and D'Amico.
There are of course other likely scenarios and ways that New York and specifically Massino found out about Cotroni's passing. Gerlando Sciascia's nephew, Giuseppe Renda ("Joe"), could have told Montagna in person in Quebec about the death. Domenico Arcuri Sr. could have called New York. The New York Bonannos could have been paying more attention to Montreal as a result of the January 2004 indictment against numerous Family members, which included Vito Rizzuto. Jerry Capeci's October 2004 [i]Gang Land[/i] column (columns?) about the NYC Bonanno contingent's travels to Montreal in the early 1990s first caught the eye of Montreal organized-crime reporter Paul Cherry, the [i]Staten Island Advance[/i], and the [i]New York Daily News[/i] later that month -- the reporting was focused on Mets' pitcher John Franco and the contingent's travels -- but only in November of that year did Cherry, other Canadian reporters, and numerous American papers write about Alfonso Gagliano. Did Capeci write in either his [i]Gang Land[/i] column or the [i]New York Sun[/i] about Cotroni's death? I'm fairly certain the answer is no to the latter. Vito Rizzuto had a subscription to [i]Gang Land[/i] before he was arrested in January 2004; wouldn't NYC guys have one too?
If chin is okay with him posting the intel recently posted about the number of new members that the Bonannos could or could not make at a certain point in the 2000s, including in Montreal, it might be helpful to the discussion. On the other hand, it might derail this thread.