Bruno was from Villalba and his cousin Sinatra was from Vallelunga and the boss of that town. During his visit to Sicily, Bruno met with other members of the Vallelunga family. His cousin, Trenton-based soldier Pappy Ippolito's family also comes from Villalba (hence cousins) and it looks like he was a 2nd cousin of the infamous Sicilian mafioso Calogero Vizzini of Villalba. Did Villalba have its own family or was it under Vallelunga?
Fresolone's book has a lot of great info but he makes many mistakes/assumptions about the Philadelphia faction of the family. It's extremely unlikely that Testa and Bruno had no contact for any significant period of time. South Philly was a small place especially for mafia members and Bruno and Testa would have had to melodramatically go out of their way to not run into each other. For example, Bruno ordered some Philly members to admit knowing each other when interviwed by the FBI because there was no way they could not know each other given living/hanging out in the same neighborhoods.
Thoughts on some of what is being discussed in this topic:
- Phil Testa and Bruno were inseperable through the 1960s. Testa becomes underboss in 1970 and we don't have much concrete info on their relationship after that, only that Testa kept his position until Bruno's death. Bruno had previously had much more severe issues with former underboss Ignazio Denaro, though, and didn't demote him, simply stripped him of influence, so simply keeping someone in a position isn't a good indicator of anything.
- It's likely that Testa and Bruno either had a falling out or were otherwise not on great terms by the time of Bruno's death, as Testa was recorded in the late 1970s talking with other members (Riccobene, Narducci, Scarfo) about how Bruno was leaving him out of the loop, even on the election of the new consigliere post-Rugnetta. It seems unlikely that a move to murder Bruno would have moved forward if Testa was still a hardline Bruno loyalist like he had been previously; Testa had an intimidating reputation.
- Like others have said, Scarfo had a strong connection to the Genovese family through his prison time with Manna and others in the 1970s as well as his residence in AC. Scarfo's address/phone book obtained during the Falcone investigation showed extensive contacts with NY, particularly the Genovese family.
- Phil Testa was a captain since 1958 and underboss since 1970 in an east coast family that was the largest/closest in proximity to NYC/NJ. The idea of him being some cowpolk who had none of his own contacts in NYC is ridiculous, though as said it seems Scarfo's connections were much stronger. Reports from the 1960s have Testa traveling to NYC multiple times on numbers business. Looks like this may have involved Gambino members/associates, but it's vague. Either way, Testa wasn't completely foreign to NYC.
Something interesting about the Testas is they lived in Pittsburgh before Philadelphia.
Pogo The Clown wrote: ↑Sat Apr 21, 2018 12:51 pm
It was a coup by his UnderBoss Pete Casella and Capo Frank Narducci Sr. Casella supposedly wanted to take over because he wasn't make any money as UnderBoss and Narducci was pissed that he wasn't promoted to Underboss when Testa became Boss. Capo John Capello may have been backing the as well. Not sue on that.
Pogo
Cappello was Pete Casella's brother-in-law and supported that faction. Soldier John Grande, who was very close to Frank Narducci, was also backing them. It's possible this is one reason why John Grande played a much smaller role in the 1980s, while his sons were major players.
Bruno was from Villalba and his cousin Sinatra was from Vallelunga and the boss of that town. During his visit to Sicily, Bruno met with other members of the Vallelunga family. His cousin, Trenton-based soldier Pappy Ippolito's family also comes from Villalba (hence cousins) and it looks like he was a 2nd cousin of the infamous Sicilian mafioso Calogero Vizzini of Villalba. Did Villalba have its own family or was it under Vallelunga?
Fresolone's book has a lot of great info but he makes many mistakes/assumptions about the Philadelphia faction of the family. It's extremely unlikely that Testa and Bruno had no contact for any significant period of time. South Philly was a small place especially for mafia members and Bruno and Testa would have had to melodramatically go out of their way to not run into each other. For example, Bruno ordered some Philly members to admit knowing each other when interviwed by the FBI because there was no way they could not know each other given living/hanging out in the same neighborhoods.
Thoughts on some of what is being discussed in this topic:
- Phil Testa and Bruno were inseperable through the 1960s. Testa becomes underboss in 1970 and we don't have much concrete info on their relationship after that, only that Testa kept his position until Bruno's death. Bruno had previously had much more severe issues with former underboss Ignazio Denaro, though, and didn't demote him, simply stripped him of influence, so simply keeping someone in a position isn't a good indicator of anything.
- It's likely that Testa and Bruno either had a falling out or were otherwise not on great terms by the time of Bruno's death, as Testa was recorded in the late 1970s talking with other members (Riccobene, Narducci, Scarfo) about how Bruno was leaving him out of the loop, even on the election of the new consigliere post-Rugnetta. It seems unlikely that a move to murder Bruno would have moved forward if Testa was still a hardline Bruno loyalist like he had been previously; Testa had an intimidating reputation.
- Like others have said, Scarfo had a strong connection to the Genovese family through his prison time with Manna and others in the 1970s as well as his residence in AC. Scarfo's address/phone book obtained during the Falcone investigation showed extensive contacts with NY, particularly the Genovese family.
- Phil Testa was a captain since 1958 and underboss since 1970 in an east coast family that was the largest/closest in proximity to NYC/NJ. The idea of him being some cowpolk who had none of his own contacts in NYC is ridiculous, though as said it seems Scarfo's connections were much stronger. Reports from the 1960s have Testa traveling to NYC multiple times on numbers business. Looks like this may have involved Gambino members/associates, but it's vague. Either way, Testa wasn't completely foreign to NYC.
Something interesting about the Testas is they lived in Pittsburgh before Philadelphia.
[quote="Pogo The Clown" post_id=75089 time=1524340291 user_id=53]
It was a coup by his UnderBoss Pete Casella and Capo Frank Narducci Sr. Casella supposedly wanted to take over because he wasn't make any money as UnderBoss and Narducci was pissed that he wasn't promoted to Underboss when Testa became Boss. Capo John Capello may have been backing the as well. Not sue on that.
Pogo
[/quote]
Cappello was Pete Casella's brother-in-law and supported that faction. Soldier John Grande, who was very close to Frank Narducci, was also backing them. It's possible this is one reason why John Grande played a much smaller role in the 1980s, while his sons were major players.