by PolackTony » Sat May 17, 2025 3:22 pm
chin_gigante wrote: ↑Sat May 17, 2025 3:01 pm
It would make sense for an administration member to be present if his presence would cause the target to lower their guard.
I'm reminded of the Sonny Black murder, where official Bonanno consigliere Steve Cannone came along to the house to put Napolitano at ease and left immediately after he was shot.
According to Sal Vitale, official boss Phil Rastelli was standing by at a diner when Caesar Bonventre was killed. Bonventre was lured to his death under a pretence of attending a meeting with Rastelli, so they had him nearby if for whatever reason the murder could not go ahead then the meeting could still take place so as not to arouse Bonventre's suspicion.
Vic Amuso may have already been the official Lucchese boss when he was present for the murder of Buddy Luongo.
Even in Chicago, Sam Carlisi and John DiFronzo were both present for the faux-initiation ceremony set up to kill the Spilotro brothers. Carlisi would have been the boss at that time and DiFronzo was probably the underboss.
All great examples to illustrate this point. While we don’t know — and likely never will for sure — who the actual gunman was in the Giancana hit, the idea that Accardo, then consigliere, very likely played some direct role in the event is not far fetched in the least and as you note, it would not be unique in the history of the American mafia by any means if he did. On top of his position in the admin at the time — and one which is specifically focused on protecting the interests of the membership — the longstanding and likely very personal relationship of the two men in question adds another layer of plausibility.
That we now know for a fact that Nick told the Feds that LaPietra told him that Accardo was involved is the news here. Otherwise, the idea that Accardo was involved shouldn’t come as much of a surprise at this point IMO.
Though it’s a much less reliable source than those that told us about the examples Chin cited here, in his book Frank C Jr also claimed that Aiuppa followed the hit team car in another vehicle in the (failed) attempts on Jr’s maternal uncle, union leader Ed Hanley, because Joey O wanted to watch it go down. Given the source (he obviously didn’t have firsthand knowledge of it, and I don’t recall ATM if Jr said who the story came from), can’t take it as fact at face value, but I also don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility that Aiuppa would do something like that.
[quote=chin_gigante post_id=294000 time=1747519273 user_id=5708]
It would make sense for an administration member to be present if his presence would cause the target to lower their guard.
I'm reminded of the Sonny Black murder, where official Bonanno consigliere Steve Cannone came along to the house to put Napolitano at ease and left immediately after he was shot.
According to Sal Vitale, official boss Phil Rastelli was standing by at a diner when Caesar Bonventre was killed. Bonventre was lured to his death under a pretence of attending a meeting with Rastelli, so they had him nearby if for whatever reason the murder could not go ahead then the meeting could still take place so as not to arouse Bonventre's suspicion.
Vic Amuso may have already been the official Lucchese boss when he was present for the murder of Buddy Luongo.
Even in Chicago, Sam Carlisi and John DiFronzo were both present for the faux-initiation ceremony set up to kill the Spilotro brothers. Carlisi would have been the boss at that time and DiFronzo was probably the underboss.
[/quote]
All great examples to illustrate this point. While we don’t know — and likely never will for sure — who the actual gunman was in the Giancana hit, the idea that Accardo, then consigliere, very likely played some direct role in the event is not far fetched in the least and as you note, it would not be unique in the history of the American mafia by any means if he did. On top of his position in the admin at the time — and one which is specifically focused on protecting the interests of the membership — the longstanding and likely very personal relationship of the two men in question adds another layer of plausibility.
That we now know for a fact that Nick told the Feds that LaPietra told him that Accardo was involved is the news here. Otherwise, the idea that Accardo was involved shouldn’t come as much of a surprise at this point IMO.
Though it’s a much less reliable source than those that told us about the examples Chin cited here, in his book Frank C Jr also claimed that Aiuppa followed the hit team car in another vehicle in the (failed) attempts on Jr’s maternal uncle, union leader Ed Hanley, because Joey O wanted to watch it go down. Given the source (he obviously didn’t have firsthand knowledge of it, and I don’t recall ATM if Jr said who the story came from), can’t take it as fact at face value, but I also don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility that Aiuppa would do something like that.