by PolackTony » Wed May 21, 2025 10:23 am
cavita wrote: ↑Wed May 21, 2025 10:12 am
PolackTony wrote: ↑Wed May 21, 2025 9:59 am
cavita wrote: ↑Wed May 21, 2025 7:59 am
Aunt+Baby wrote: ↑Wed May 21, 2025 3:59 am
The brutal 1994 murder of zip Giuseppe Vicari has always fascinated me. He was beaten & shot inside his cafe on the west side of the city. I have no idea on the background
Apparently he had been arrested the year before on gambling charges and also had poker machines in his basement. Maybe he wasn't cutting the proper people in on the street tax? Where was he from originally?
I believe that he was from Altavilla Milicia.
I’ve discussed him a bit before on an another thread. At the time of his death, owner of La Casa del Caffe, at Harlem and Balmoral on the Far NW Side. I doubt very much myself that he was killed like that over money. Most likely, he was either talking, or someone at least thought he was. He was busted in 1992 as part of the “Operation Espresso” raids on gambling operations in suburban Italian-owned cafes and social clubs, along with guys like Pietro LaBalestra, Ottavio Volpe, Tomasso Lappo, Carlo Fucarino, and Calogero Pedone, all of whom operated establishments with gambling machines. These guys were a mix of Siciliani and Baresi (LaBalestra, Lappo, and Volpe are Baresi, while Pedone was from Marsala [d. 1995, natural causes] and Fucarino was from Bagheria [d. 2009]. Good chance IMO that Vicari’s murder was related to the fallout over those raids. Obviously, the murder was never solved and investigators never released any suspected motives to the public.
Interesting. There are some Pedone people living in the Rockford area that hail from Marsala/Petrosino
Yes, very likely related. As we’ve discussed before, there is a whole extended network of “second wave” Marsalesi across Northern IL and Southern WI.
Calogero Pedone was an older guy and had arrived in Chicago in the 1960s. At the time of the gambling raids, he was described as having been the President of the “St Anthony’s Social Club” in Addison, which he was using to operate gambling machines. I’ve wondered if this was a Marsalese club. While he isn’t the patron saint of Marsala, there is a strong popular cult around Sant’Antonio di Padova there, with the old church in the historic center of Marsala dedicated to Sant’Antonio.
[quote=cavita post_id=294238 time=1747847541 user_id=72]
[quote=PolackTony post_id=294236 time=1747846741 user_id=6658]
[quote=cavita post_id=294228 time=1747839558 user_id=72]
[quote=Aunt+Baby post_id=294216 time=1747825176 user_id=8231]
The brutal 1994 murder of zip Giuseppe Vicari has always fascinated me. He was beaten & shot inside his cafe on the west side of the city. I have no idea on the background
[/quote]
Apparently he had been arrested the year before on gambling charges and also had poker machines in his basement. Maybe he wasn't cutting the proper people in on the street tax? Where was he from originally?
[/quote]
I believe that he was from Altavilla Milicia.
I’ve discussed him a bit before on an another thread. At the time of his death, owner of La Casa del Caffe, at Harlem and Balmoral on the Far NW Side. I doubt very much myself that he was killed like that over money. Most likely, he was either talking, or someone at least thought he was. He was busted in 1992 as part of the “Operation Espresso” raids on gambling operations in suburban Italian-owned cafes and social clubs, along with guys like Pietro LaBalestra, Ottavio Volpe, Tomasso Lappo, Carlo Fucarino, and Calogero Pedone, all of whom operated establishments with gambling machines. These guys were a mix of Siciliani and Baresi (LaBalestra, Lappo, and Volpe are Baresi, while Pedone was from Marsala [d. 1995, natural causes] and Fucarino was from Bagheria [d. 2009]. Good chance IMO that Vicari’s murder was related to the fallout over those raids. Obviously, the murder was never solved and investigators never released any suspected motives to the public.
[/quote]
Interesting. There are some Pedone people living in the Rockford area that hail from Marsala/Petrosino
[/quote]
Yes, very likely related. As we’ve discussed before, there is a whole extended network of “second wave” Marsalesi across Northern IL and Southern WI.
Calogero Pedone was an older guy and had arrived in Chicago in the 1960s. At the time of the gambling raids, he was described as having been the President of the “St Anthony’s Social Club” in Addison, which he was using to operate gambling machines. I’ve wondered if this was a Marsalese club. While he isn’t the patron saint of Marsala, there is a strong popular cult around Sant’Antonio di Padova there, with the old church in the historic center of Marsala dedicated to Sant’Antonio.