40 Year Anniversary of Joe Maggio Murder

[cavita]

Just after noon on Wednesday April 9, 1980, two sheriff’s deputies found an abandoned gray 1973 Chevrolet automobile with black vinyl roof off the side of Safford Road just east of Meridian Road in northwest Rockford. In the backseat the deputies found the car’s owner, 43-year-old Joe Maggio, slumped over with a single bullet wound to his head. Detectives stated that Maggio was last seen alive at 11 a.m. on April 7th and the initial report from the pathologist stated at the earliest Maggio died was that Monday evening. Witnesses said they had reported seeing Maggio’s car parked on Safford Road as early as 5:15 a.m. on April 8.

Who was Joe Maggio and what brought him to be found like this? Joe Maggio was born August 30, 1936 to Salvatore and Maria Maggio. Joe’s first brush with the law came on May 30, 1953 when he was arrested with two other individuals for minor drinking, but what marked his younger years as interesting is what his FBI file noted years later. When the FBI interviewed a detective from the Rockford Police Department, the detective, “advised that he has known JOE MAGGIO since [REDACTED]. Detective [REDACTED] said that MAGGIO was not well-liked by the other young men of the neighborhood because he was considered a “stoolie” for the “outfit.” He said that this was because MAGGIO had a reputation for running to NICK VINCE with stories about the “young punks” in South Rockford and kept VINCE posted on their activities.”

Now, Nick Vince was a trusted associate of the Rockford LCN and was also the brother to Charles Vince, a made member and later capo of the Rockford outfit. It seems by the time Maggio was in his teens he was already within the sphere of the Rockford LCN. On May 2, 1959 the bodies of two gamblers, Joe Greco and Donald Burton were found beaten and strangled in the trunk of Greco’s car. A full Grand Jury inquiry on July 6, 1959 called many people to testify and Joe Maggio was one of them as he knew both men. At first the 22-year-old Maggio refused to testify but when threatened with contempt he finally relented but didn’t give much information and the double murder was never solved. A couple weeks after the Grand Jury inquiry Maggio was charged with assault and battery against Max Schatzer and he was fined $25 for this incident but Maggio’s reputation as a young tough was already growing at this point.

On September 23, 1960 Maggio, along with two other associates were arrested in DeKalb, Illinois on charges of attempting to start up a gambling game but when all was said and done, the only charge that stuck was trespassing and the men paid modest fines. However, by April 21, 1964 Maggio caught his first official arrest for gambling along with Sebastian “Knobby” Gulotta, 33, and Donald Blades, 26. The men were arrested at the West End Smoke Shop, 608 West State Street. Officers found 20 pairs of dice, two dice shakers, racing forms, racing magazines, four decks of cards, scratch sheets and other gambling paraphernalia. Maggio was noted as having $130 on him and Gulotta had $800. At this time, Gulotta was reported as being groomed for the Rockford outfit and was expected to be made a member soon should any big job come up that he was chosen for.

That big job came in January 1965 with the murder of former Rockford resident Charles LaFranka. LaFranka was visiting Rockford from Chicago and was last seen around January 10th stepping from the St. Mary’s Society on South Main Street. On January 16th his badly beaten and strangled body was found in the trunk of his car parked on a street in Elgin, Illinois. Milwaukee LCN member and FBI informant Augie Maniaci stated that soon after the murder of LaFranka, the Rockford LCN made three new members- Sebastian “Knobby” Gulotta, Frank Correnti and Joe Maggio.

In December 1968 after a few years of compiling information, the FBI tried their hand at prosecuting the Rockford LCN. Using gambling and liquor violations, the FBI paraded almost the entire membership of the Rockford LCN as well as many associates before the federal Grand Jury. Joe Maggio was included in the dozens of witnesses and although only modest fines were handed down to three men, this caused the Rockford outfit to go more underground and be more cautious at boss Joe Zammuto’s request.

In May 1971 Maggio traveled to Denver, Colorado with an unnamed individual to obtain further credit from an executive for a store that Maggio had opened in Rockford. When the executive refused to discuss an increased credit line, Maggio apparently threatened him and Maggio’s associate told him, “Don’t you know who we are, we’re the outfit, we’ll break both of your legs.”

In February 1972 Maggio also gained some notoriety as he claimed to have several oil paintings that were allegedly painted by Colonel Rudolph Ivanovich Abel, the former Soviet spy who the U.S. Government exchanged for U.S. pilot Gary Francis Powers. One of Maggio’s associates was a cellmate with Abel and this is how Maggio allegedly came into possessions of the paintings according to a story in the Chicago Tribune. At this time Maggio was involved in many schemes to make money by defrauding people and companies and he was under investigation for these operations.
Maggio must not have listened to Zammuto’s low-profile suggestion as he became involved in a boat registration scheme to defraud boat owners by claiming to work for the Merchant Marines and mailing out false “boat registrations” for boat owners in Alabama. Along with two other associates, Maggio was arrested on September 20, 1972 and sentenced to three years in prison in January 1973 for mail fraud. Maggio appealed this sentence which was denied and he began his prison time in December 1973. What was very interesting is that the FBI logged many calls in September 1973 from LCN member Frank Bompensiero in San Diego to Maggio in Rockford but they did not know the nature of these calls. Maggio eventually did his time and when he got out of prison, he found he was released into a changing landscape in the Rockford area. Narcotics were already taking over and the nationwide mafia families were jumping on this huge moneymaker.

In early February 1980 Rockford LCN boss Joe Zammuto was having a series of meetings at his winter home in Hollywood, Florida with the members of his crime family. At one of these meetings Zammuto informed the family that they would now be involved in the importation and distribution of narcotics in the Rockford area. Joe Maggio was the only one who stood up and voiced his opposition to Zammuto’s decision. Within a short time after these meetings, Maggio’s daughter Katherine was severely beaten on February 20th and FBI files stated it was by a drug dealer related to Joe Zammuto. Though the Rockford Police arrested 28-year-old Steven Davis for the beating, Katherine Maggio denied Davis was the perpetrator. Attempts to find a familial relation between Davis and Zammuto turned out negative results as well. The FBI did report that in the two weeks after his daughter’s beating, Joe Maggio was seen openly arguing and threatening the drug dealer.

The Rockford LCN may have figured they would have a problem with Maggio so they moved swiftly and the result was his murder less than two months later. Though the FBI named a prime suspect in Maggio’s FBI file that person was never arrested and forty years later his slaying remains an open case.

[Villain]

Good stuff, i remember this story from you.

Btw, i know they were independent, although there was still some influence, but did the Rockford boys ever felt any pressure from Chicago regarding the dope biz, since we are talking about the early 80s when guys like Accardo were still around and quite active?

[cavita]

Good stuff, i remember this story from you.

Btw, i know they were independent, although there was still some influence, but did the Rockford boys ever felt any pressure from Chicago regarding the dope biz, since we are talking about the early 80s when guys like Accardo were still around and quite active?

From what I've gathered from the FBI files, the Rockford end was strictly Sicilian-influenced in that they were working with the mafia families in the Agrigento Province and who were importing it into Canada and then down through Buffalo, across the eastern seaboard and then into the Midwest The Rockford guys were working with some people in Chicago and then they were running it between Chicago, Rockford and Las Vegas. This one part of it seemed to be somewhat independent as one of the major dealers in Rockford was "run out of Las Vegas by the Mafia chief there" according to news reports and FBI files.

[Villain]

Good stuff, i remember this story from you.

Btw, i know they were independent, although there was still some influence, but did the Rockford boys ever felt any pressure from Chicago regarding the dope biz, since we are talking about the early 80s when guys like Accardo were still around and quite active?

From what I've gathered from the FBI files, the Rockford end was strictly Sicilian-influenced in that they were working with the mafia families in the Agrigento Province and who were importing it into Canada and then down through Buffalo, across the eastern seaboard and then into the Midwest The Rockford guys were working with some people in Chicago and then they were running it between Chicago, Rockford and Las Vegas. This one part of it seemed to be somewhat independent as one of the major dealers in Rockford was "run out of Las Vegas by the Mafia chief there" according to news reports and FBI files.

Thanks. Well it seems that their Sicilian influence possibly explains their independence and also their own decision regarding the dope trade, aside from Chicago. You agree?

Also do you think if for example Buscemi took over, the Outfit was going to control Rockford to an extent?

[cavita]

Good stuff, i remember this story from you.

Btw, i know they were independent, although there was still some influence, but did the Rockford boys ever felt any pressure from Chicago regarding the dope biz, since we are talking about the early 80s when guys like Accardo were still around and quite active?

From what I've gathered from the FBI files, the Rockford end was strictly Sicilian-influenced in that they were working with the mafia families in the Agrigento Province and who were importing it into Canada and then down through Buffalo, across the eastern seaboard and then into the Midwest The Rockford guys were working with some people in Chicago and then they were running it between Chicago, Rockford and Las Vegas. This one part of it seemed to be somewhat independent as one of the major dealers in Rockford was "run out of Las Vegas by the Mafia chief there" according to news reports and FBI files.

Thanks. Well it seems that their Sicilian influence possibly explains their independence and also their own decision regarding the dope trade, aside from Chicago. You agree?

Also do you think if for example Buscemi took over, the Outfit was going to control Rockford?

I think as far as narcotics went they were largely independent so they were more influenced by the Sicilian mafia. As for gambling, I've always believed they worked hand in hand with the Outfit as I've seen a lot of corroborating evidence there. Great question on Buscemi...I've never thought of that possibility. When he was made in Rockford in 1959 a lot of the LCN members distrusted him (1) because he came from Chicago and (2) because he seemed to be favored by boss Zammuto- Buscemi's sister married Zammuto's son so that probably had something to do with it. FBI files noted that if Buscemi were to become boss he would definitely bring the two cities closer. Oddly, he went the other way and strengthened ties with his Sicilian counterparts instead.

[Villain]

Good stuff, i remember this story from you.

Btw, i know they were independent, although there was still some influence, but did the Rockford boys ever felt any pressure from Chicago regarding the dope biz, since we are talking about the early 80s when guys like Accardo were still around and quite active?

From what I've gathered from the FBI files, the Rockford end was strictly Sicilian-influenced in that they were working with the mafia families in the Agrigento Province and who were importing it into Canada and then down through Buffalo, across the eastern seaboard and then into the Midwest The Rockford guys were working with some people in Chicago and then they were running it between Chicago, Rockford and Las Vegas. This one part of it seemed to be somewhat independent as one of the major dealers in Rockford was "run out of Las Vegas by the Mafia chief there" according to news reports and FBI files.

Thanks. Well it seems that their Sicilian influence possibly explains their independence and also their own decision regarding the dope trade, aside from Chicago. You agree?

Also do you think if for example Buscemi took over, the Outfit was going to control Rockford?

I think as far as narcotics went they were largely independent so they were more influenced by the Sicilian mafia. As for gambling, I've always believed they worked hand in hand with the Outfit as I've seen a lot of corroborating evidence there. Great question on Buscemi...I've never thought of that possibility. When he was made in Rockford in 1959 a lot of the LCN members distrusted him (1) because he came from Chicago and (2) because he seemed to be favored by boss Zammuto- Buscemi's sister married Zammuto's son so that probably had something to do with it. FBI files noted that if Buscemi were to become boss he would definitely bring the two cities closer. Oddly, he went the other way and strengthened ties with his Sicilian counterparts instead.

Thanks a lot