Stefano Badami

[B.]

It's still not clear if Stefano Badami was boss of the Newark family, boss of a separate pre-DeCavalcante family, or for that matter the exact years that he was a US mafia boss. Because of Valachi we know Badami from Corleone was a New Jersey boss at least for a time during the Castellammarese War and that Saverio Monaco from Vita, Sicily, was his underboss who was murdered at the end of the war. Anthony Rotondo referred to Badami and Monaco as early DeCav leaders, but likely Newark family members from Vita would end up with the Gagliano family and Badami continued to operate in their sphere until Badami's own mysterious murder in the 1950s. Badami also had his own strong ties to the Gagliano family that coincide with his initial arrival to the US.

One interpretation of Rotondo's info is that the DeCavs were part of the Newark family, making Badami boss of "both" groups, which is questionable given that Newark was disbanded and said to have been distributed among the NYC families. It seems unlikely they would disband a NJ family only to create a new NJ family in its wake in the same area, and the DeCavs don't seem to be mentioned by Angelo Bruno in his list of who received pieces of the Newark family. It's also possible Rotondo was mistaken or confused. Badami is mentioned in some easily attainable books and online as an early DeCav boss, which itself is not based on any evidence, only the fact that he was an NJ boss and authors assumed NJ = DeCav. Rotondo may have read about Badami and connected the dots in his own head or someone else he knew made the same mistake. Or there was some other arrangement we can't figure out with what we have now.

We have had enough threads theorizing on the Newark family, though, and I'd like to focus on Badami himself because regardless of his official affiliation, he was a boss with some interesting connections.

- Badami came to the US in 1927 at age 38, traveling with Salvatore Pennino (42 years), both born in Corleone and coming to the US from Tunisia. Badami's wife "Oulista" said to be living in Roccamena. Pennino's wive was listed as an Irsola Gagliano, with Pennino coming to a brother-in-law "Famasse" Gagliano. The address is partially smudged but it appears to say 638 227th Street New York. Tommaso Gagliano, then a high-ranking member of the Reina family, lived at 638 East 227th Street, so Badami's travel partner was the brother-in-law of Tommaso Gagliano. Other records confirm that Tommaso did have a sister Orsola/Ursula who married a mafioso named Salvatore Pennino of Corleone.

- Badami is listed as coming to a "friend" but without a name listed. This could be an indication that Badami shared the same destination as Pennino and would also be meeting up with Tommaso Gagliano, who was simply a "friend" of Badami's. Pennino is listed as traveling in possession of $1200 while Badami had $500 with him. Badami said to have"temporary admission extended until 4/1/1929", so he would be allowed to stay in America just over two years from the time of his arrival.

- Salvatore Pennino, identified as a mafia member in Corleone, would be murdered in the US according to a 1962 Italian Senate report. US death records show that Salvatore Pennino (b. 1885), husband of Ursula, died in Manhattan in May 1933. This stands out, as his brother-in-law was at the time the boss of a New York family on the winning side of the Castellammarese War. His friend Badami was likely no longer the New Jersey boss but it is interesting that Pennino was very close to Corleonesi bosses in both NY and NJ in the years leading up to his murder, so would be good to know the motivation for his killing.

- The above mentioned Italian Senate report, which described Salvatore Pennino as having been a mafioso, also identifies his son Carmelo (b.1911) as a mafioso with ties to Michele Navarra as well as being a campieri connected to the Rao estate. The US Raos were of course Corleonese mafiosi in the Lucchese family linked to boss Gagliano, so it shows this connection existed in Sicily as well. Carmelo died of natural causes in 1963. Carmelo's sister, daughter of Salvatore, is described as being married to the mafioso Antonio Marcello Mancuso of Corleone (b.1913). Another sister was married to Serafino Mancuso (b.1911; seemingly not related to Antonio), drug trafficker from Alcamo connected to many well-known international mafiosi, including Frank Coppola, Salvatore Vitale, Salvatore Greco, Angelo "the Captain" DiCarlo, and Raffaele "Jim" Quasarano.

- A 1946 immigration record documenting Stefano Badami's travel from Montreal back into the US via Vermont confirms that he first arrived in the US in 1927, so given Badami's age, that his traveling companion Pennino was a deeply connected mafioso and the two men were likely welcomed by Tommaso Gagliano, not to mention Badami's quick rise as boss of NJ, it is almost certain Badami was already a member back in Corleone when he came to the US.

- The potential connection to Gagliano would also lend itself to the idea that Badami ended up with the Lucchese family after the split of the Newark family. Reports at the time of Badami's death in 1955 suggest that it was connected in some way with legal problems faced by Lucchese capodecina Settimo Accardi, with Francesco Monaco, a paesan of Accardi and the brother of Badami's murdered underboss Saverio "Sam", being the suspect. According to Anthony Rotondo, Sam Monaco was killed on the orders of Badami, so it's possible that Frank Monaco was paying Badami back for his brother's murder decades later, with Accardi's absence somehow enabling the murder.

- Given that Gagliano was alive when the Newark family was disbanded, Badami's Corleone heritage, and involvement in the garment industry, the Lucchese family would be an obvious landing spot. It would also be a landing spot for Monaco, who was from Vita, Sicily, like the Accardis and Pizzolatos of the Newark and later Lucchese family, and like Badami (plus other Lucchese figures), Frank Monaco was in the dress manufacturing business. Monaco may have simply been an associate and not a made member, as he would die in 1989 and has never been mentioned as a member by informants/witnesses over the years to my knowledge, though it is always possible he was overlooked or the information wasn't made public.

- Despite being the lead suspect and being detained as a material witness along with restaurant owner Vito Oddo, Monaco was never charged with the murder. Police described Badami as having been involved in a Bergen County lottery operation until 1951 though he had a clean police record. At the time of his death, he was described as in poor health from diabetes and in a "sickbed" at his home (a 1946 travel record also shows that Badami had impaired eyesight), leaving the day of his murder for an appointment.

- Badami was drinking coffee with Oddo Clam Bar owner Vito Oddo when two "thugs" were said to have entered, moved Oddo and a cleaning woman to a pantry, then stabbed Badami 40 times. What stands out is that Badami was apparently not out and about much by this time and left home for an appointment, so either he was known to spend a lot of time at Oddo Clam Bar or the killers were aware of the appointment he had set, suggesting Oddo may have been involved which would reflect police suspicions, as they detained Oddo as a material witness with high bail. Monaco had been found in the area in possession of a switchblade, though another knife was found hidden under a magazine at the murder scene. Oddo would die less than two years later in 1957 and looks to have been in garment manufacturing like Badami and Monaco either prior to or in addition to running his restaurant. Badami had also survived an attempt on his life two months previously, escaping shotgun fire outside of his home.

- Joe Valachi testified that Badami was "assassinated by Cosa Nostra". Valachi's knowledge of the incident hasn't been mentioned in detail, but Valachi was an active member at the time, had strong ties to the Lucchese family, and had personally met Badami many years earlier.

- Valachi's memory also supports the earlier connection between Badami and the Gagliano/Lucchese group. He claims he was sent to help "Don Steve/Esteban" whose last name sounded like "Bonanno" fight Richie Boiardo (who was in conflict with a number of NJ mafiosi, many/most of them part of the Newark family) by Maranzano. Remember that Maranzano was a close ally of Tom Gagliano and personally supervising hit teams that included men recruited by the Gagliano group, like Valachi. So Maranzano supporting Badami would make sense given Maranzano's close relationship to Gagliano, who in turn was close to Badami.

- All of that said, Badami can't be ruled out as a DeCavalcante boss (as suggested by Rotondo) nor even as a DeCavalcante soldier after the 1930s, as the DeCavs do have ties to Corleone. Frank Majuri's parents were from Corleone, with his father Calogero Maiuri being a likely mafioso, and Frank used the alias "Frank Gagliano", suggesting a relation or close connection to the Gagliano/Lucchese group. Frank Majuri's residence in Elizabeth and marriage to the daughter of Emanuele Caruano, himself a possible early DeCav member, may have been the reason he ended up with them, but the presence of one Corleonese mafioso with possible Gagliano connections could suggest that Badami, who fits almost the same description, was also with the DeCavs. It should be noted, too, that there were Maiuri/Majuris in the Corleone family of Sicily at this time who ran in the same circles as the Penninos of Corleone.

- Stefano Badami's dress manufacturing business was in New York and it should be noted there was a Louis Badami (b. 1895) from Corleone who settled in the Peterstown section of Elizabeth (HQ for the DeCavs), also running a dress factory out of New York like Stefano. Louis Badami's father was Nicola Badami. There is no reason to believe these Elizabeth Badamis were involved in the underworld but the surname, Corleone background, and involvement in NY garment manufacturing show a possible relation to Stefano and if so, it indirectly connects Stefano to Peterstown/Elizabeth. Stefano Badami would live in Orange, NJ. Badami's WWII draft card lists a Vincent Carifi as someone who will always know his address, indicating a close friendship. Carifi was a Neapolitan who lived in South Vailsburg area with no known underworld connections.

Not much to summarize, only to say that Badami had clear ties to the Gagliano/Lucchese group through his heritage, associations, and profession. The exact organization he ran, his affiliation at the time of his death, and the reason for his death are still unanswered questions, but this hopefully provides a little more background on him.

[Frank]

I like reading about Badami, Troia, and Bacino. Three guys that we are not sure how they fit in. All three seemed to be made in Italy and came to US in the mid to late 1920s. Nice info B.

[B.]

I like reading about Badami, Troia, and Bacino. Three guys that we are not sure how they fit in. All three seemed to be made in Italy and came to US in the mid to late 1920s. Nice info B.

Troia was definitely made in Sicily, as he was the boss of San Giuseppe Iato when he fled to the US in the 1920s after being suspected in the local murder of a politician. Gentile refers to him as a boss during the Castellammarese War, but he wasn't the boss of the NJ family yet, so we've figured that he was either the boss of one of the midwest cities he stayed in like Springfield or he held onto his official boss title from SGI given that he was very transient in the US and his brothers were believed to be running SGI in his absence which would have allowed him to keep his title (i.e. he may have intended to return to Sicily once his name was cleared on the murder charge and only later decided to stay permanently in the US, at which point he gave up his Sicilian boss title). By the time he settled in NJ after the war he appears to have lost his previous boss title and we see him make the power play against Newark boss Gaspare D'Amico.

I don't know if this detail comes directly from Gentile or his FBI interviewers, but in an FBI document summarizing an interview with Gentile they refer to the D'Amico organization as a "New York-New Jersey" family. This vague detail would imply that D'Amico's family had members in NYC as well as NJ, much like the DeCavalcantes. There is no doubt the D'Amico organization that Troia tried to take over was the Newark family, but a possible NYC faction of the Newark family adds another layer of mystery to what is already a speculative topic.

Even though it's fairly clear that D'Amico was boss of the Newark family in the wake of the Castellammarese War and that Troia tried to take over this family before it was broken up, we don't have any info on Badami stepping down or being deposed so that D'Amico could take over. Badami appears to have been allied with the winning side of the C.War, as evidenced by his relationship to Tom Gagliano and the direct support he received from Maranzano, plus he survived the aftermath despite his underboss Monaco and another member being murdered. Rotondo claimed Badami had Sam Monaco killed and this is supported somewhat by Frank Monaco's suspected involvement in the Badami knife murder 25 years later, so in order to interpret the situation properly we would have to know exactly where Badami and Monaco each stood with Maranzano, Gagliano, and other leaders in 1931.

D'Amico was a paesan of Joe Profaci, who was a new power in NYC, and the Newark family had other Villabatesi which may have factored into him taking over as boss, but that relationship alone can't explain it. I can only figure that if Badami lost his position as boss ~1931, it was because of Maranzano's death but that doesn't make total sense when you consider Monaco's murder and Badami's relationship to Gagliano. That brings us back to Badami's traveling partner and Gagliano's brother-in-law Pennino. If it's true that Pennino was murdered in NYC in 1933 as the Sicilian authorities say, it's possible that his friend Badami lost standing around this time as well. Gagliano's influence clearly couldn't save his own brother-in-law', so similarly his influence wouldn't have been able to keep Badami in power.

That's all assuming Badami was boss of the Newark family and not a separate group, like the future DeCavs. Though I strongly believe that Badami was with the same family as D'Amico and Troia, even if he was boss of a separate family he likely wasn't a boss at the time of his 1955 murder which would still keep the question alive of when Badami lost his position as boss. If a sitting boss had been stabbed to death in 1955, we would likely have had at least one of the many sources from the 1960s commenting on how a boss was killed in the 1950s. Though Settimo Accardi's legal troubles are one suspected reason why the opportunity opened for Badami's murder, consider also that Badami was killed in the years following his friend Gagliano's death. Regardless of when he lost his position as boss, Badami may have survived as long as he did because of support from Accardi and Gagliano and when that was gone Frank Monaco or whoever killed him was able to follow through.

[B.]

Pennino and Badami coming to the US via Tunis also can't be ignored. As CC and Antiliar's article points out, there was a Sicilian mafia family in Tunis very early on and an early Bonanno boss looks to have been the boss in Tunis before coming to the US. Tunis may have been an important location in international mafia politics during this period and it stands out that the Corleonesi mafiosi Pennino and Badami were in Tunis before heading to top Reina member Tom Gagliano in the US.

Consider also that Badami appears to have become a boss in NJ only a short time after his arrival to the US, probably two or three years at the absolute most and likely sooner than that. I may have even placed too much emphasis on Badami receiving his position as a result of Gagliano's influence -- it is more likely based on the timeline that Badami was boss in NJ before Gagliano was boss of an NYC family, though Gagliano is believed to have been an underboss already so his influence can't be thrown out completely. Badami probably had stature of his own in Sicily that factored into his quick rise in NJ.

[Frank]

I like reading about Badami, Troia, and Bacino. Three guys that we are not sure how they fit in. All three seemed to be made in Italy and came to US in the mid to late 1920s. Nice info B.

Troia was definitely made in Sicily, as he was the boss of San Giuseppe Iato when he fled to the US in the 1920s after being suspected in the local murder of a politician. Gentile refers to him as a boss during the Castellammarese War, but he wasn't the boss of the NJ family yet, so we've figured that he was either the boss of one of the midwest cities he stayed in like Springfield or he held onto his official boss title from SGI given that he was very transient in the US and his brothers were believed to be running SGI in his absence which would have allowed him to keep his title (i.e. he may have intended to return to Sicily once his name was cleared on the murder charge and only later decided to stay permanently in the US, at which point he gave up his Sicilian boss title). By the time he settled in NJ after the war he appears to have lost his previous boss title and we see him make the power play against Newark boss Gaspare D'Amico.

I don't know if this detail comes directly from Gentile or his FBI interviewers, but in an FBI document summarizing an interview with Gentile they refer to the D'Amico organization as a "New York-New Jersey" family. This vague detail would imply that D'Amico's family had members in NYC as well as NJ, much like the DeCavalcantes. There is no doubt the D'Amico organization that Troia tried to take over was the Newark family, but a possible NYC faction of the Newark family adds another layer of mystery to what is already a speculative topic.

Even though it's fairly clear that D'Amico was boss of the Newark family in the wake of the Castellammarese War and that Troia tried to take over this family before it was broken up, we don't have any info on Badami stepping down or being deposed so that D'Amico could take over. Badami appears to have been allied with the winning side of the C.War, as evidenced by his relationship to Tom Gagliano and the direct support he received from Maranzano, plus he survived the aftermath despite his underboss Monaco and another member being murdered. Rotondo claimed Badami had Sam Monaco killed and this is supported somewhat by Frank Monaco's suspected involvement in the Badami knife murder 25 years later, so in order to interpret the situation properly we would have to know exactly where Badami and Monaco each stood with Maranzano, Gagliano, and other leaders in 1931.

D'Amico was a paesan of Joe Profaci, who was a new power in NYC, and the Newark family had other Villabatesi which may have factored into him taking over as boss, but that relationship alone can't explain it. I can only figure that if Badami lost his position as boss ~1931, it was because of Maranzano's death but that doesn't make total sense when you consider Monaco's murder and Badami's relationship to Gagliano. That brings us back to Badami's traveling partner and Gagliano's brother-in-law Pennino. If it's true that Pennino was murdered in NYC in 1933 as the Sicilian authorities say, it's possible that his friend Badami lost standing around this time as well. Gagliano's influence clearly couldn't save his own brother-in-law', so similarly his influence wouldn't have been able to keep Badami in power.

That's all assuming Badami was boss of the Newark family and not a separate group, like the future DeCavs. Though I strongly believe that Badami was with the same family as D'Amico and Troia, even if he was boss of a separate family he likely wasn't a boss at the time of his 1955 murder which would still keep the question alive of when Badami lost his position as boss. If a sitting boss had been stabbed to death in 1955, we would likely have had at least one of the many sources from the 1960s commenting on how a boss was killed in the 1950s. Though Settimo Accardi's legal troubles are one suspected reason why the opportunity opened for Badami's murder, consider also that Badami was killed in the years following his friend Gagliano's death. Regardless of when he lost his position as boss, Badami may have survived as long as he did because of support from Accardi and Gagliano and when that was gone Frank Monaco or whoever killed him was able to follow through.

As I was reading your post I also thought about the fact that Badami was killed after Gagliano died. D'Arco saying that the Lucchese was spun off from the DeCaves really throws another twist in it. I wonder if there is someone that could have been misidentified around the time when the split that brought about the Genoveses and Lucchese, that was boss of the DeCaves. Maybe some of the DeCaves in that time period became Lucchese.

[B.]

Badami could be the answer behind D'Arco's story, butchered as it may be. Badami is the first known New Jersey boss and he came from Corleone via Tunis to NYC, likely meeting with Tom Gagliano immediately. Badami may have become a boss so quickly through Gagliano and his Corleonese boss Tom Reina's influence. That could translate, to some degree, as an NJ family being an offshoot of the Lucchese family, which is the reverse of what D'Arco said but the only logical explanation. Combine this with the fact that a group of future NJ Lucchese leaders were believed to have been part of an NJ family before it was broken up and share a hometown with murdered NJ underboss Monaco, there is no denying a strong relationship between an NJ family and the Lucchese family if nothing more.

I'm a broken record but Frank Majuri used the alias Frank Gagliano and the Majuris lived in East Harlem and the Bronx before moving to Elizabeth, NJ. Those areas are ground zero for the Morello/Reina/Lucchese family. Calogero Majuri was involved in crime and there were many Majuri/Maiuri/Maggiore (all spellings correspond to the same surname) members of the Corleone family over decades. Seems likely Calogero Majuri was a member or associate of the Morello/Reina family when he lived in NYC and then became a member or associate of the DeCavs, where his son ended up. It could also be possible Calogero was part of a different family and his son Frank was made into the DeCavs because Frank's wife was from a Riberesi mafia family and the Newark family had been disbanded by that point, making Frank's affiliation with the local Elizabeth group the logical choice instead of wherever his father ended up, assuming it wasn't also with the DeCavs.

It's also possible that the Majuris stayed loyal to the Morellos which factored into leaving NYC for NJ or otherwise affected their affiliation. Apparent Majuri relatives the Bellomos look to have stayed or otherwise joined with the Morello/Terranovas, so the same could be true of the Majuris. The use of the Gagliano alias is hard to interpret but could be seen as a sign that the Majuris were closer to the Morello/Reina group and not the Morello/Genovese side.

Wish I could find more on Louis Badami's ties to Stefano Badami. Between their shared Corleone background, similar ages, residences in NJ, and ownership of dress manufacturing factories in NYC, they had to have at least crossed paths. There were few Corleonesi in NJ during that time, let alone Corleonesi from the same generation with the same last name and profession. No doubt Louis Badami would have known the Majuris, Corleone natives who lived in the same Sicilian community in Elizabeth, so if Stefano knew Louis Badami that would be an easy social connection to the Majuris and potentially point to more.

[Angelo Santino]

There were Bedami's in Tampa. Any connection?

[B.]

I believe the FL guys have a different spelling and hometown. That is a cool Tampa family chart, though. The use of "elder" and placement of Scaglione and Mistretta makes me wonder if Tampa was yet another small US family that had the "council" or "chair" made up of senior members. So far we have Milwaukee, San Jose, Detroit, St. Louis, and maybe one I'm forgetting all giving evidence of a senior council or board of elders. As a smaller Sicilian-centric family, Tampa fits the same mold as the others.

[B.]

Something relevant here, too...

- At the time of the Monaco and Russo murders, LE believed the two men were murdered in retaliation for the murder of Dominic "Apes" Pacelli. My understanding is that Pacelli was not a mafia member but an independent of some kind, though LE did not know the layout of the mafia in New Jersey in the 1920s and early 30s so there are too many possibilities.

- Saverio "Sam" Monaco came to the US with an older relative named Lorenzo Monaco. Like the other Monacos, Lorenzo Monaco and his brother Benedetto settled in New Jersey, where it appears Benedetto Monaco was stabbed to death in 1918 in his 50s.

- There was another Sam Monaco killed in Ohio a year before the NJ Saverio "Sam" Monaco was murdered. I found the timing suspicious, but have since learned that the Sam Monaco in Ohio was from Campania unlike the Sicilian Monacos of NJ. This Monaco lived in Wooster, Ohio, where he worked closely with Calabrian criminals, all signs point to them being a mainland group like Camorra.

- Luigi Russo appears to have been a mainlander from Caserta, potentially from hometown Maddoloni di Caserta, also the hometown of drug trafficker and suspected mafia member Aniello Santagata. This could mean a mainland faction of the Newark family existed. When Newark was split up, the elements absorbed by the Five Families appear to have been almost entirely Sicilian, so if there were other mainland members aside from Russo and possibly Santagata, you have to wonder where they went. The Genovese family's NJ faction was dominated by guys from mainland background, not unlike the NYC side of the family, so you have to wonder if they absorbed the mainland element from Newark. Some info points to Jerry Catena being an associate of the Newark family before he ended up with the Genovese but aside from Moretti, who was never part of the Newark family, most of the Genovese NJ figures we know of were made after Newark was disbanded and couldn't have been members. Boiardo was independent (possibly a minor Camorra connection) before joining the Genovese family in the 1940s so that rules him out.

- Like Badami, the Monacos were involved in the garment industry. The garment business was under Lucchese influence early on and is an important connection between all of these figures. With Badami's ties to Gagliano, his association with Settimo Accardi up until the 1950s, and the remaining Vita guys in NJ joining the Lucchese family after Monaco's death, it appears that the :Lucchese family absorbed what was left of the Badami/Monaco administration when the Newark family was disbanded. If Badami and Monaco had been at odds as some info implies, it adds an interesting twist that Badami and Monaco's people ended up with the same group when there were other options available.

[Frank]

Does all available evidence show that both Newark and DeCav families we're formed after the splitting up of the old Morrello family into the what are the Lucchese and Genovese families?

[B.]

Does all available evidence show that both Newark and DeCav families we're formed after the splitting up of the old Morrello family into the what are the Lucchese and Genovese families?

The few references to the Newark family don't go earlier than the 1920s, so we don't have evidence they existed before that but possible members and their relatives were living in NJ before Badami's arrival in 1927. There was probably a boss before Badami if he was the Newark boss.

For the DeCavs, members have claimed they were a family much earlier and Riberesi families with mafia connections were in Elizabeth by the first few years of the 1900s. A non-member source claimed the mafia was active in Elizabeth from the 1920s but the informant's info wasn't firsthand from that period and a mafia presence in Elizabeth would predate the 1920s.

There isn't any reason to connect the Newark or DeCav families with the split of the Morello families. It's possible Majuri was involved with the Morello family when he lived in NYC and could have ended up with a local Jersey group later but I can only blindly speculate what path he took. The Lucchese family is connected to certain individuals and at least one faction in Newark but there isn't reason to believe they were originally part of the same group aside from D'Arco's strange story. If the DeCavalcantes split off from anyone, it would have been the Gambinos given their extensive connections.

[Frank]

Badami could be the answer behind D'Arco's story, butchered as it may be. Badami is the first known New Jersey boss and he came from Corleone via Tunis to NYC, likely meeting with Tom Gagliano immediately. Badami may have become a boss so quickly through Gagliano and his Corleonese boss Tom Reina's influence. That could translate, to some degree, as an NJ family being an offshoot of the Lucchese family, which is the reverse of what D'Arco said but the only logical explanation. Combine this with the fact that a group of future NJ Lucchese leaders were believed to have been part of an NJ family before it was broken up and share a hometown with murdered NJ underboss Monaco, there is no denying a strong relationship between an NJ family and the Lucchese family if nothing more.

I'm a broken record but Frank Majuri used the alias Frank Gagliano and the Majuris lived in East Harlem and the Bronx before moving to Elizabeth, NJ. Those areas are ground zero for the Morello/Reina/Lucchese family. Calogero Majuri was involved in crime and there were many Majuri/Maiuri/Maggiore (all spellings correspond to the same surname) members of the Corleone family over decades. Seems likely Calogero Majuri was a member or associate of the Morello/Reina family when he lived in NYC and then became a member or associate of the DeCavs, where his son ended up. It could also be possible Calogero was part of a different family and his son Frank was made into the DeCavs because Frank's wife was from a Riberesi mafia family and the Newark family had been disbanded by that point, making Frank's affiliation with the local Elizabeth group the logical choice instead of wherever his father ended up, assuming it wasn't also with the DeCavs.

It's also possible that the Majuris stayed loyal to the Morellos which factored into leaving NYC for NJ or otherwise affected their affiliation. Apparent Majuri relatives the Bellomos look to have stayed or otherwise joined with the Morello/Terranovas, so the same could be true of the Majuris. The use of the Gagliano alias is hard to interpret but could be seen as a sign that the Majuris were closer to the Morello/Reina group and not the Morello/Genovese side.

Wish I could find more on Louis Badami's ties to Stefano Badami. Between their shared Corleone background, similar ages, residences in NJ, and ownership of dress manufacturing factories in NYC, they had to have at least crossed paths. There were few Corleonesi in NJ during that time, let alone Corleonesi from the same generation with the same last name and profession. No doubt Louis Badami would have known the Majuris, Corleone natives who lived in the same Sicilian community in Elizabeth, so if Stefano knew Louis Badami that would be an easy social connection to the Majuris and potentially point to more.

Also per your info on a different thread didn't the Merlos come to the US with the Majuris. Maybe they started out associated with the Morello/ Reina group also. Which leads to the root of the tree comment by Stango. It could be possible that they all have it backwards, and the DeCaves came from the Lucchese.

[B.]

The Merlos are from Ribera and along with the Riggis were some of the earliest recorded Riberesi to live in Elizabeth. The Merlos and Majuris call themselves cousins but not sure how they are related other than it being through Frank Majuri's wife who was a Caruano from Ribera.

Another Lucchese connection is that Charlie Majuri was the best man at Anthony Accetturo Sr.'s wedding and Majuri is the baptismal godfather of Anthony Acceturo Jr. Accetturo is "coincidentally" one of the few sources who has talked about the Newark family. Accetturo came up in the Lucchese NJ crew knowing Joe Abate who was from Vita by way of Tunis (Tunis coming up again, like Badami), the Pizzolatos, and others who dated back to the Newark family as associates if not members, so he was in a position to hear firsthand of its existence. The Accetturo and Majuri friendship could have been random but it's another significant Lucchese connection to an NJ family through a guy with Corleonese heritage.

I shouldn't have said there is no DeCav and Morello/Genovese connection earlier. For one, the Majuri and Bellomo relation could mean something more if the older generations in those families ran in the same mafia circles in NYC. Also, despite the strong ties to the Gambino family spanning many decades, the DeCavalcantes were originally said to be represented on the Commission by the Genovese family. Sometimes these relationships are based on longstanding ties between groups though not always. The Majuris were said by Anthony Rotondo to represent a Corleone faction in the DeCav family but we don't know who else was in this faction except for the Majuris and when it was at its peak.

[sdeitche]

There were Bedami's in Tampa. Any connection?

No relation. The Tampa Bedamis, with an "e", were originally from Allessandria Della Rocca/Santo Stefano like most Tampa Italians that lived in Ybor City.

[sdeitche]

I believe the FL guys have a different spelling and hometown. That is a cool Tampa family chart, though. The use of "elder" and placement of Scaglione and Mistretta makes me wonder if Tampa was yet another small US family that had the "council" or "chair" made up of senior members. So far we have Milwaukee, San Jose, Detroit, St. Louis, and maybe one I'm forgetting all giving evidence of a senior council or board of elders. As a smaller Sicilian-centric family, Tampa fits the same mold as the others.

Yes, and lasted into the 90s. However, one very Tampa-specific feature was the appearance of Spaniards and Cubans, like Baby Joe Diez, on some of these councils.