New LCNBios Update

[slimshady_007]

Wish Massino would write a book.

Now that would be an awesome book. I’d love to hear how it was like in the Bonannos from 1993-1998, when Massino rebuilt the family.

The Massino-worship on the boards back in the day (it was a while ago - you might not have been born yet) was hilarious. People were acting like he was going to bring the mob back to its heyday and they actually thought - and I swear I'm not making this up - this restoration of the good old days would be permanent. I was only like 20 at the time and even I knew that the feds would crack down on this and crack down on it hard.

Massino was always overrated IMO. Sure he rebuilt the family but he also had an inner circle that consisted of a bunch of eventual rats. Massino trusted way too many people he should not of trusted and that proved to be his eventual downfall.

[maxiestern11]

Wish Massino would write a book.

Now that would be an awesome book. I’d love to hear how it was like in the Bonannos from 1993-1998, when Massino rebuilt the family.

The Massino-worship on the boards back in the day (it was a while ago - you might not have been born yet) was hilarious. People were acting like he was going to bring the mob back to its heyday and they actually thought - and I swear I'm not making this up - this restoration of the good old days would be permanent. I was only like 20 at the time and even I knew that the feds would crack down on this and crack down on it hard.

Massino was always overrated IMO. Sure he rebuilt the family but he also had an inner circle that consisted of a bunch of eventual rats. Massino trusted way too many people he should not of trusted and that proved to be his eventual downfall.

I agree Slim. IMO also, Joe fatso was way overrated...... Massino backstabbed a lot of people. A real user!..... like most of them are, but he made it an art form. lol I was never impressed with him!

[wigsplitter]

New entries on prevously unknown Philly and DeCavalcante members as well as rare Chicago pics.


http://lcnbios.blogspot.com/

Good stuff. Thanks.

[SonnyBlackstein]

Massino made one crucial mistake. Shelved, not clipped Vitale.

Thing would’ve worked out very differently if Coppa rolled with no Vitale around.
Vitale was the domino.

They should write a duel biography ‘the borgata brothers, the wackey zainey kawazy hijinks you’ll never believe yet keep ‘turning that page’ story of the real life Chester and spike.”


Working title.

Sources:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UVNHcob3oJg

[wigsplitter]

Massino made one crucial mistake. Shelved, not clipped Vitale.

I agree with you 100%.

[thekiduknow]

Recommended reading on Bill Bonanno's cooperation:
http://mafiahistory.us/a021/f_bbonanno.html

The blow may have been softened by all of the books, movies, and interviews he did about being in the mafia. When it was finally confirmed that he cooperated it wasn't much of a shock. It did do damage to his already questionable credibility, though, as underneath all of that "bound by honor" BS he was an informant. It's always sad when a guy like Bill Bonanno or even Dominick Montiglio loses credibility because their true story told "warts and all" would be compelling and informative on its own. I would have loved it if Bill Bonanno talked about his cooperation with the FBI, what his motivation was and the impact it had on his life, but he thought it would be better to make up bullshit about the Kennedy assassination.

Joe Bonanno also did a three hour interview with an FBI agent where he went over some of the information that's in his book and talked about the mafia. Obviously he didn't have anything too damaging to offer at that point but it could certainly be seen as a form of cooperation.

I think the Bonanno's had a kind of snooty, elitist attitude that Harry Riccobene had and they thought that the life was essentially over so their ratting wasn't "really" ratting. That's the impression that I get from them (and Harry).

Definitely, Joe and Bill really thought they were the last of a dying breed, that the mafia of the 1970s and onwards was somehow 'corrupted' and out of step with how they saw it. In their books they make a big deal out of the commission had supposedly not been ratified after Apalachin, somehow making them 'illegitimate'.

I remember reading somewhere that Joe argued that since he wasn't forced to divulge information, he technically didn't break his oath/belief in omerta by writing about the mafia and giving details about the commission.

[bert]

Who was the source for the story that Massino told him 2 members of their crew were sent to the electric chair? I think the source said it was right after his induction ceremony.

[B.]

I think the Bonanno's had a kind of snooty, elitist attitude that Harry Riccobene had and they thought that the life was essentially over so their ratting wasn't "really" ratting. That's the impression that I get from them (and Harry).

You're on the money. That's how they justified it, for sure. It's also what almost every rat or mobster-turned-author has said, going back to the earliest known informants. It was always better and more honorable in the old(er) days. You know, when they had to invent a formal rule to stop bosses from killing members so that they could steal their wives. Honorable.

Yeah, it's shame about some of these guys discrediting themselves. The saddest in my opinion is Ralph Natale. I was flipping through his book at Barnes and Noble while waiting for my brother to get done with some concert and it had some really great stuff in it about Anthony Ferrante and Felix Bocchino being involved in the Bruno hit and getting rid of the shotgun that struck me as totally plausible. Especially in that there's nothing sexy about Bocchino and Ferrante - nobody except for freaks like me are going to know who those two are and you aren't going to sell any books by unveling bombshells about Little Felix and Tony Meats. But Natale has been so discredited that even this very interesting tidbit ends up being questionable. I personally believe this claim, by the way, even though I think much of what Natale says is garbage. (I am weirdly obsessed with the Bruno hit for some reason, LOL. There's just something eerie about it that I can't put my finger on.)

Nobody is more legit than Nick Caramandi. That's the one Philly "rat book" where I couldn't discern anything phony about it. (Leonetti's book is really good but it has all that "my uncle made me evil" stuff that makes me roll my eyes. I think most things about the behavior of Nicky and his nephew can probably be explained by certain genes that they shared. Previte's book is all right but he bigs himself up in a way that strains credibility. Natale is well you know already. And I'm a bit skeptical of Fresolone's "innocent guy" routine.)

That hot Tony Meats and Little Felix shotgun action sells books. I believe Leonetti also connected Bocchino to the shotgun in the Bruno murder, so there is some corroboration. Bocchino was a partner of Tony Caponigro in some operations, so there's that connection. Ferrante of course was a Caponigro relative.

Agreed on the Bruno murder. Maybe because it's up there with the Castellano killing in terms of infamy yet we don't have any concrete info on how it was planned and executed or even who all was involved, while Castellano and other hits have been "solved". That famous image of Bruno adds to the mysticism, too. I've seen dozens of photos of Angelo Bruno and I know how a shotgun works, but I still don't know how buckshot transformed him into a roasted pig straight off the spit. With all the rumors about Galante's cigar getting placed in his mouth, I'm surprised nobody has asked if the cops replaced Bruno's body with a dead pig.

Speaking of Leonetti/Scarfo and genes, I think it was Ed who mentioned the idea that Joe Valachi's family had a history of mental illness. His brother was institutionalized and his father was a severe alcoholic and who knows what that was covering up. This came up because if you look at Valachi's history, he made some bizarre decisions and got himself in odd disputes, then there's the whole paranoid murder of an innocent inmate. I don't think he was completely off his rocker, but there's reason to think he had some kind of issue beyond whatever the average anti-social gangster has.

[Pogo The Clown]

I've seen dozens of photos of Angelo Bruno and I know how a shotgun works, but I still don't know how buckshot transformed him into a roasted pig straight off the spit.

OK for some reason that just really cracked me up.


Pogo

[Ivan]

That hot Tony Meats and Little Felix shotgun action sells books.

Agreed on the Bruno murder. Maybe because it's up there with the Castellano killing in terms of infamy yet we don't have any concrete info on how it was planned and executed or even who all was involved, while Castellano and other hits have been "solved". That famous image of Bruno adds to the mysticism, too. I've seen dozens of photos of Angelo Bruno and I know how a shotgun works, but I still don't know how buckshot transformed him into a roasted pig straight off the spit. With all the rumors about Galante's cigar getting placed in his mouth, I'm surprised nobody has asked if the cops replaced Bruno's body with a dead pig.

Not sure if you know this, but the blast from the shotgun actually knocked Bruno's head forward down into his lap. The reason it was leaning back like that in the photo is because his wife came out and propped him up that way while embracing his corpse.

You'll have to excuse his wife for doing this. She took those things seriously.

[SonnyBlackstein]

You'll have to excuse his wife for doing this. She took those things seriously.

Gold

[B.]

That hot Tony Meats and Little Felix shotgun action sells books.

Agreed on the Bruno murder. Maybe because it's up there with the Castellano killing in terms of infamy yet we don't have any concrete info on how it was planned and executed or even who all was involved, while Castellano and other hits have been "solved". That famous image of Bruno adds to the mysticism, too. I've seen dozens of photos of Angelo Bruno and I know how a shotgun works, but I still don't know how buckshot transformed him into a roasted pig straight off the spit. With all the rumors about Galante's cigar getting placed in his mouth, I'm surprised nobody has asked if the cops replaced Bruno's body with a dead pig.

Not sure if you know this, but the blast from the shotgun actually knocked Bruno's head forward down into his lap. The reason it was leaning back like that in the photo is because his wife came out and propped him up that way while embracing his corpse.

You'll have to excuse his wife for doing this. She took those things seriously.

Holy shit! Never heard that. Maybe Bruno's wife killed him.

That would be such a cruel twist of fate if Bruno's wife did kill him and all of those gangsters were killed for nothing.

[HairyKnuckles]

That hot Tony Meats and Little Felix shotgun action sells books.

Agreed on the Bruno murder. Maybe because it's up there with the Castellano killing in terms of infamy yet we don't have any concrete info on how it was planned and executed or even who all was involved, while Castellano and other hits have been "solved". That famous image of Bruno adds to the mysticism, too. I've seen dozens of photos of Angelo Bruno and I know how a shotgun works, but I still don't know how buckshot transformed him into a roasted pig straight off the spit. With all the rumors about Galante's cigar getting placed in his mouth, I'm surprised nobody has asked if the cops replaced Bruno's body with a dead pig.

Not sure if you know this, but the blast from the shotgun actually knocked Bruno's head forward down into his lap. The reason it was leaning back like that in the photo is because his wife came out and propped him up that way while embracing his corpse.

You'll have to excuse his wife for doing this. She took those things seriously.

Holy shit! Never heard that. Maybe Bruno's wife killed him.

That would be such a cruel twist of fate if Bruno's wife did kill him and all of those gangsters were killed for nothing.

Ha! Would make up a good movie script.

[Ivan]

You'll have to excuse his wife for doing this. She took those things seriously.

Gold

thank you, thank you, I'll be here all week, try the lobster

[Ivan]

That hot Tony Meats and Little Felix shotgun action sells books.

Agreed on the Bruno murder. Maybe because it's up there with the Castellano killing in terms of infamy yet we don't have any concrete info on how it was planned and executed or even who all was involved, while Castellano and other hits have been "solved". That famous image of Bruno adds to the mysticism, too. I've seen dozens of photos of Angelo Bruno and I know how a shotgun works, but I still don't know how buckshot transformed him into a roasted pig straight off the spit. With all the rumors about Galante's cigar getting placed in his mouth, I'm surprised nobody has asked if the cops replaced Bruno's body with a dead pig.

Not sure if you know this, but the blast from the shotgun actually knocked Bruno's head forward down into his lap. The reason it was leaning back like that in the photo is because his wife came out and propped him up that way while embracing his corpse.

You'll have to excuse his wife for doing this. She took those things seriously.

Holy shit! Never heard that.

It's from Breaking the Mob by Frank Friel, which you might want to check out some time. It's got some really wild shit in it.