Banana Split

[HairyKnuckles]

This info is basically straight out of FBI documents.

1964 - A dispute developed in the Bonanno Family centering around Gaspare DiGregorio, a captain. DiGregorio was angry due to Bill Bonanno´s elevation to consigliere and complained to his father in law Stefano Magaddino that Bonanno was mismanaging the Family. Because of DiGregorio´s actions, Bonanno placed him on the shelf, ostracizing him. Magaddino took measures by meeting with the Commission in an attempt to oust Bill from his position and install DiGregorio in his place. DiGregorio was then put under the Commission´s protection. The Commission sought to meet with Bonanno who avoided the confrontation. After numerous fruitless attempts on bringing Bonanno in, the Commission voted to withdraw the recognition of Joe Bonanno as a boss. The Commission wanted it made clear that they bore no ill will against the Bonanno Family as a whole, but wanted the three top guys to be removed from power; Joe Bonanno, Johnny Morales and Bill Bonanno. The next step was to warn all LCN members not to do any business with the individuals in the Bonanno Family, unless they accepted to revolt against Bonanno by proclaiming loyalty to the Commission. This resulted in many of the Bonanno members jumping sides and no longer taking orders from Bonanno.

Oct 21, 1964 - Joseph Bonanno abducted from a New York City street after late dinner with lawyers.

1965 - DiGregorio reshapes the Family and replaces Bonanno loyalists with men who are close to him. He picks "Skinny" Pete Crociata as his underboss and Paul Sciacca as the consigliere. Among the new captains are Mike Adamo, Joseph DiFilippi, Joe "Bayonne" Zicorelli, Natale Evola (previously shelved by Bonanno) and Armando "Nando" Pollastrino. Out are Bonanno loyalists Johnny Morales, Bill Bonanno, Frank LaBruzzo and Joe Notaro. Four important captains Angelo Caruso, Zicorelli, Thomas "Smitty" D´Angelo and Michael Consolo were "on the fence" and were involved in some degree of negotiations with both sides. However, as time passed by, Caruso remained with Bonanno while Zicorelli, D´Angelo and Consolo chose the DiGregorio side.'

Jan 28, 1966 - The Troutman Street Shootout. Bill Bonanno is lured to a "peacemeeting" held in a house belonging to one of Joe Bonanno´s uncles. The meeting got cancelled and while leaving the house Bill, Frank LaBruzzo, Carl Simari, Joe Notaro and possibly others gets shot at by men stationed across the street. The fire is returned but no one gets killed or even injured. The shooters may have been Frank Mari, Phil "Rusty" Rastelli, Mike Adamo and Jimmy "Legs" Episcopia.

May 1966 - Joseph Natore aka Joe Notaro dies from a massive heart attck while seated in a restaurant with other Bonanno loyalist.

July 13, 1966 - Frank Mari shot at and injured in shoulder during an attack in Bay Ridge Brooklyn. A bullet also grazes his temple but he survives.

Aug 1966 - Frank Labruzzo, brother in law to Joe Bonanno, succombes to cancer.

1966 - Gaspare DiGregorio steps down as boss and Paul Sciacca steps up.

Oct 1967 - The Commission gave its official approval to the elevation of Paul Sciacca as boss and Frank Mari as underboss. They also approved of Tommy "Smitty" D´Angelo as the new consigliere.

Oct 1967 - Two Bonanno loyalist Vincent Cassese (a 57 year old policy operator) and Vincent Garofalo (brother of Frank) shot at and seriously injured. But both of the men survives.

Nov 10, 1967 - While seated at the Cypress Gardens Restaurant in Queens Tommy D´Angelo, his brother James and a well known policy operator Frank "500" Telleri were machin gunned to death. Ballistics examinations revealed that the weapon that had been used in these killings also had been used in the attack on Mari more than a year previously. The shooter was most likely Gasparino Magaddino, a Bonanno relative who had recently arrived to New York from Castellammare del Golfo. A third D´Angelo brother (Jerry) had also been present at the restaurant but had managed to escape. According to FBI, Jerry D´Angelo later identified the killer to the Sciacca faction.

March 4, 1968 - "Skinny" Pete Crociata, possibly D´Angelo´s successor as consigliere, was shot six times, once through his neck, while sitting in his car outside his home. He survives the attack. Suspected shooter was Hank Perrone.

March 11, 1968 - Salvatore "Hank" Perrone was shot to death on Leonard Street in Brooklyn. Eight shots were fired into his body. According to the FBI, the shooter was reliably identified as Martin "Bobo" Barberer, a close associate of Frank Mari and Jimmy "Legs" Episcopia. A key was found on Perrone´s person that led the police to a garage where a stolen car was found. This garage was being rented by Frank Crociata, believed to be a brother of "Skinny" Pete.

Apr 1, 1968 - Michael "Bruno" Consolo shot to death outside his home. In July an informant advised the FBI that Consolo earlier on the date of his death had met with members of the Bonanno faction for a talk.

Apr 5, 1968 - William Gonzales, a close associate of Vito DeFilippo and a son in law of the same is shot at and injured while in company of three other Bonanno loyalists (Vito DeFilippo, Patty DeFilippo and Willy Riviello) so he may not have been the prime target. Gonzales survived the attack.

Apr 18, 1968 - Frank Crociata was wounded by gun shot while seated in Rossini Democratic Club, a social club owned by Bonanno member Joseph DiMaria. Frank Crociata survives the shooting.

Apr 19, 1968 - Charley "Sidge" LoCicero, a Colombo member, shot to death while enjoying a strawberry malted at Cuselli´s luncheonett on the corner of 11th Avenue and 66th Street in Brooklyn. According to Bill Bonanno, LoCicero had been involved with the murder attempt on Gonzales. But according to Greg Scarpa, the killing of LoCicero was an internal LoCicero family affair.

May 2, 1968 - An unsuccessful hit was made on Joseph Calli, a Brooklyn resident and a former close associate of Frank LaBruzzo.

Also, according to Bill Bonanno, he had the opportunity to kill Gaspare DiGregorio when he was spotted coming out from a restaurant but "freezed". I don´t know the exact date when this happened. Another murder attempt that never came to blows where when Bill Bonanno and a hit teams stalked Sereno Tartamella aka Bobby T outside his home in Huntington, NY. According to Bill, the hit team saw Tartamella through the window but called it off when Tartamella´s wife appeared. I don´t know the exact date of that event either.

[Hailbritain]

Great info Hairy , was Nick alfano not named as sciacca's consigliere ??

[Hailbritain]

Sorry hairy I meant digregorio's consiglire not sciaccia's

[HairyKnuckles]

Great info Hairy , was Nick alfano not named as sciacca's consigliere ??

Alfano was identified as the consigliere some years later. I believe he succeeded Adamo in 1969.

[Hailbritain]

Its nuts I've read an NY newspaper report about Mari's niece marrying Sciacca's son at a fancy Long Island country estate then the following month Mari was dead. Maybe Sciacca wanted to make the slippery killer feel at ease?

[Pogo The Clown]

Great stuff Hairy. Thanks for taking the time to post this.


Bonanno was clearly in the right. It wasn't Magaddinos' or the Commissions business who he choose as his Consiglieri. Bonanno should have whacked DiGregorio for his insubordination.


Pogo

[TommyGambino]

Why did DiGregorio step down?

[Pogo The Clown]

Why did DiGregorio step down?

Declining health. He died a few years later.


Pogo

[Wiseguy]

Great stuff Hairy. Thanks for taking the time to post this.


Bonanno was clearly in the right. It wasn't Magaddinos' or the Commissions business who he choose as his Consiglieri. Bonanno should have whacked DiGregorio for his insubordination.


Pogo

Agree about the Commission but I can see why others in the Bonanno family were upset about Bill being made consigliere. Blatant nepotism putting a young guy in that position.

[Pogo The Clown]

According to Bonanno the Capos (could have been the members in general) voted for Bill as the Conisglieri because they thought that was what he wanted. Bonanno could be bullshiting but it could be true. I believe at that time the Consiglieri was still an elected position.


Pogo

[B.]

According to Bonanno the Capos (could have been the members in general) voted for Bill as the Conisglieri because they thought that was what he wanted. Bonanno could be bullshiting but it could be true. I believe at that time the Consiglieri was still an elected position.


Pogo

I could have sworn there was even something about DiGregorio being the original one who nominated Bill for consigliere, but I could be wrong.

The reasons for the war are somewhat of a clusterfuck, as it's clear there were was a lot of resentment building within the Bonanno organization and also outside of it, with Magaddino and other bosses having problems of their own with Bonanno. What's crazy to me is that tensions were so high during the early part of this conflict, but there wasn't much violence. A lot of the violence came at the tail end when the dispute was pretty much on its way to being over.

[HairyKnuckles]

I think that DiGregorio was manipulated a lot by Magaddino. If we go by what Bonanno said, Magaddino had held a grudge against him for a long time and took advantage of the situation in a try to replace Bonanno as boss. At the same time, Bonanno´s relationship with the other bosses had been deteriorating for a long time by then and by reading documents found on MF (for example) it becomes clear that the bosses wanted to get rid of him, perhaps largely due to his own fault. At the end, Bonanno bacame an outsider. To someone of Bonanno´s stature and reputation (and in his eyes), that hurts.

[B.]

I think that DiGregorio was manipulated a lot by Magaddino. If we go by what Bonanno said, Magaddino had held a grudge against him for a long time and took advantage of the situation in a try to replace Bonanno as boss. At the same time, Bonanno´s relationship with the other bosses had been deteriorating for a long time by then and by reading documents found on MF (for example) it becomes clear that the bosses wanted to get rid of him, perhaps largely due to his own fault. At the end, Bonanno bacame an outsider. To someone of Bonanno´s stature and reputation (and in his eyes), that hurts.

Those Magaddino wiretap transcripts show in his own words that he held a jealous grudge against Bonanno and meddled in the affairs of the Bonanno family. He was a master manipulator no doubt. The only legitimate beef Magaddino might have had is the Canada situation, but even then it's not clear how much influence he actually had in Montreal before the Bonannos took it.

On the DeCavalcante tapes, they talk about Joe Bonanno making guys when the books were closed, which I believe may have been happening in Montreal and/or the west coast.

The other big problem with Bonanno is that he was alleged to have conspired with Magliocco to kill Gambino and Lucchese. Magliocco apparently admitted to this in an informal commission meeting and also implicated Magaddino in the conspiracy. Magaddino of course denied it, but personally I wouldn't be surprised if Magaddino had been burning the candle at both ends.

Finally, the possible takeover of California and the west coast by Bill Bonanno with the backing of his father is another reason Bonanno was on the outs or worse.

There were a lot of accusations against Bonanno.

[Giacomo_Vacari]

Good list. I have a list of those that died in the war over on GBB. One hit you don't have on there is Michaelangelo Vitale. A soldier or may have been promoted to Capo. He was in Sicily recruiting for the the Bonanno faction and making sure the drugs flowed smoothly to the States. He was killed in 67' in Sicily.
Magaddino was the one that started the split. Chicago was getting mad about Bonanno planting his flag out in Arizona. Designed of LA, was afraid that Joe was planning on taking over his city. Joe Cerrito and Frank Lanza of the bay area asked for a meeting with Bonanno, and got Pietro and Nick to show up. Don't know what was said, but Nick was able to set up a crew in Los Gatos with Cerritos blessing. Gambino backed up Magaddino claim on the commission. Lucchese was backing up Gambino and was chipping away at the New Jersey crew connections and customers of the Bonanno family. Joe Colombo was Carlo Gambino gommah during this time. The Genovese family stayed out of it till the end, then they backed Joe Bonanno.

[Giacomo_Vacari]

Designed is supposed to be DeSimone. Hate auto correct.