Notes on Sal Vitale testimony (Asaro trial)

[axx]

Interesting read, thanks B.
Asaro is a quite a character, your textbook mobster with anger management issues. Funny about him having good relationship with Urso, didn't he once describe Asaro as a 'fucking lunatic' in some taped conversation ?

[slimshady_007]

I think that Massino made up the entire story about Sciascia whacking Paul Cotroni. It just doesn’t add up. Massino also struck me as extremely narcissistic and I believe that he really wanted Sciascia killed because he was badmouthing TG. Imo Graziano should’ve been the one getting whacked. To have a captain high on coke at meetings is embarrassing for the family and Massino.

[johnny_scootch]

- After the three captains murders, the club where it took place was burned down. Not sure the timeline on this but I don't remember hearing it before.

I remember reading this in possibly 'The Last Godfather' By DeStefano. There was so much blood all over the club they felt there was no way they could do a good enough job cleaning it up so they set the club on fire.

[Chaps]

Awesome breakdown B! Thanks for taking the time to do this.

I remember reading about the club burning somewhere as well. I also remember reading it was either owned by or connected in some way to Sammy Gravano. The only problem is that a building is still there that looks to have been there around that time period. I also believe in the documentary "Gangland Graveyard" Capeci sayin that was the building.

[Pogo The Clown]

They burned the building down after the 3 Capos murder in Bad Blood.


Pogo

[scagghiuni]

I think that Massino made up the entire story about Sciascia whacking Paul Cotroni. It just doesn’t add up. Massino also struck me as extremely narcissistic and I believe that he really wanted Sciascia killed because he was badmouthing TG. Imo Graziano should’ve been the one getting whacked. To have a captain high on coke at meetings is embarrassing for the family and Massino.

why to lie in court about that? he had no reason to do it

[slimshady_007]

I think that Massino made up the entire story about Sciascia whacking Paul Cotroni. It just doesn’t add up. Massino also struck me as extremely narcissistic and I believe that he really wanted Sciascia killed because he was badmouthing TG. Imo Graziano should’ve been the one getting whacked. To have a captain high on coke at meetings is embarrassing for the family and Massino.

why to lie in court about that? he had no reason to do it

Idk only Massino knows. His story about Sciascia killing Controni isn’t true since someone else has already admitted to the murder. The only way I see the story being true is if Sciascia wasn’t directly involved but was involved with the conspiracy. However, I don’t see why Sciascia would supposedly admit to Massino that he committed an unsanctioned hit. Just my take.

[scagghiuni]

I think that Massino made up the entire story about Sciascia whacking Paul Cotroni. It just doesn’t add up. Massino also struck me as extremely narcissistic and I believe that he really wanted Sciascia killed because he was badmouthing TG. Imo Graziano should’ve been the one getting whacked. To have a captain high on coke at meetings is embarrassing for the family and Massino.

why to lie in court about that? he had no reason to do it

Idk only Massino knows. His story about Sciascia killing Controni isn’t true since someone else has already admitted to the murder. The only way I see the story being true is if Sciascia wasn’t directly involved but was involved with the conspiracy. However, I don’t see why Sciascia would supposedly admit to Massino that he committed an unsanctioned hit. Just my take.

maybe sciascia lied massino or maybe the bikers arrested were just the hitmen, did they say who order the hit?

[B.]

I would like to come back to the case of the murder of Paul Cotroni in August 1998.

For those who are not aware, Paul Cotroni was someone who believed himself invincible and infallible, only because he bore the name of Cotroni. On the scene of organized crime, Paul Cotroni was a small fry, without special status, apart from being a drug dealer. In addition, he was a fighter, drinker, and like to punch at people in nightclubs. He also often draw the attention of the police to him. On many occasions, he had received several warnings to control his "battlesman's impulses", if I can say so. During the biker wars, in the late 1990s, he sided with the Hells Angels, as he saw that the Hell were to win the war against the Rock Machines, and started selling drugs for them. Johnny Plescio, a senior member of the Rock Machine, had warned him to stop selling drugs for the Hells Angels. But Cotroni continued as if nothing had happened. Note that Plescio was himself later a victim of the biker wars.

The Sûreté du Québec's investigation shows that Plescio, under pressure from Raymond Desfossés, a prominent member of the West End Gang, ordered the murder of Cotroni. The contract is entrusted to Gérald Gallant, a contract killer, and another man, a certain Gérard Hubert acted as an accomplice. The two will be arrested later and Gallant will confess to having killed Cotroni for the sum of $ 20,000.

At the time of Cotroni’s murder, the Cotroni clan, led by Frank Cotroni, maintained good relations with the Rizzuto clan and recognized the latters as the rulers of Montréal Mafia. There was no retaliation to the murder of Frank's son. Cotroni's funeral was organized by the Loreto Funeral Complex, belonging to the Rizzutos ...

So, I'm still wondering what Massino and Sciascia were doing in an internal matter that involved a "trouble maker", be it the son of an elder member of the Montreal mafia?

Here is a link to Gérald Gallant's multiple murders confessions. https://www1.journaldemontreal.com/2014 ... jour4.html

Thanks for giving more detail on the Cotroni murder. I wasn't comfortable saying much about it without you weighing in.

--

More thoughts on all of this:

- I'm not convinced that Sciascia did order the Cotroni murder, but I'm fairly convinced Massino believed that Sciascia did. Massino says Sciascia confessed to doing it, though, so it all boils down to whether you believe Massino. If Massino is to be believed, then it seems odd that Sciascia would personally admit to a murder he wasn't involved in.

- It adds to Massino's credibility that he correctly remembers it was Frank Cotroni's son who was murdered in the period leading up to Sciascia's death and we know Sciascia did have a nephew in Montreal, so that much matches. If that's true Paolo Cotroni had a reputation for being out of control and punching people at nightclubs, that is consistent with the story Massino tells about Cotroni starting a fight with Sciascia's nephew. Massino either had to know already that Cotroni was a troublemaker or he was just reporting what he was told about this single incident; either way, he was familiar with the situation.

- One part of Massino's testimony that stood out to me is where he recalls Joe LoPresti telling Sciascia, "You're not my friend, you're my captain." The way Massino described that situation, it sounds like Sciascia had a tight grip on Montreal though he lived remotely in NYC. He could have let his close friend and paesano LoPresti do what he wanted or put him on the shelf, figuring it didn't affect him directly in the Bronx, but this shows that Sciascia was unwilling to take disrespect and immoral behavior even from within his own inner circle up in Montreal and the punishment was death. If Paolo Cotroni did lay his hands on Sciascia's nephew, it would be consistent with Sciascia's behavior to have him killed when you consider what Sciascia was willing to do to LoPresti, a made member who was like a relative to Sciascia.

- Canadian mafiosi are comfortable contracting murders to outsiders, including gangs, so that much isn't inconsistent with Sciascia's potential involvement. The big question mark isn't that bikers committed the murder, but what the motivation was. You mentioned Cotroni was involved in drug dealing and biker politics, plus he had a reputation for trouble, so he seems like someone who multiple people/groups may have wanted dead. It's possible too that the hitmen were given a false motivation to insulate Sciascia.

- There is always more than one motivation to kill someone in the mafia. There are cases where someone does something so egregious that the organization kills him for that alone, but most mafia murder victims have committed multiple infractions. Paolo Cotroni's murder could have been a collaborative effort that satisfied multiple parties for different reasons, and for that matter Sciascia's murder may have been for multiple reasons. Massino may have decided to kill Sciascia for the Cotroni murder, but the issues with Graziano probably contributed to his demise. Massino says initially there was no rush and the Sciascia murder was on the backburner, so I'd be curious how that coincides with the Graziano issue. Maybe the Sciascia contract was low priority and then when he began complaining about Graziano they upped the priority.

- A good example is the infamous," You know why he's dying?" from John Gotti. The victim was in trouble because he'd been accused of ripping off Sammy Gravano, but Gotti says he ordered the murder not for the accusation against him but because he didn't come to a meeting when Gotti called him. So you can see where Gravano instigated the murder contract and it was a financial accusation that put the victim in hot water, but the actual reason the boss decided to kill him was for disrespecting the boss and violating protocol.

- Sal Vitale says he was once told by Joe Massino that there are three sides to everything, "your side, my side, and the truth." I have to imagine that applies to the Cotroni / Sciascia situation(s). You'd think we'd have no more questions about an organization once the boss, underboss, and half the captains flip, but even now there are questions about the Bonanno family during the 1980s-2000s.

--

Some other misc. thoughts:

- Massino could have used the Cotroni murder to justify Sciascia's murder. Made members have been killed for killing associates, especially relatives of made members, so it would have been readily accepted among the membership that Sciascia earned his fate. An important part of the testimony to me is where Vitale says they staged the Sciascia murder as an unsanctioned hit to avoid heat from law enforcement. It's only when he's asked further that he adds they also wanted to keep it a secret from Sciascia's loyalists. It's telling to me that Vitale initially said the ruse was to trick law enforcement. I'm also not so sure they tried that hard to keep it a secret within the family.

- Let's look at how "secret" the Sciascia hit truly was: Joe Massino, Sal Vitale, Patty DeFilippo, John Spirito, Michael Mancuso, Tony Urso, Richie Cantarella, and Jerry Asaro all either participated or knew about the hit beforehand, likely among others. That's a generous group for any hit and not what we think of when we hear about a barebones "sneak" job. Vitale was shocked that Massino personally thanked Asaro for helping dispose of the murder vehicle. That was out of character for Massino with any murder, but for him to acknowledge the Sciascia murder to Asaro of all people tells us Massino wasn't terribly worried about hiding the murder within the family.

- A while after the murder, Vinnie Basciano approached Joe Massino and told him he would have participated in the Sciascia murder if he had been asked, so it must have been an open secret by then. Rizzuto himself is said to have acknowledged that the Bonanno family killed Sciascia when Vitale visited Montreal after the murder. Even though everybody knew what happened to Sciascia and it was no mystery within the family, there was no retaliation in the four to five years that the Massino regime stayed on the street. Cicale says Massino kept an eye on Sciascia's friends Sal Montagna and Vinnie Basciano and met with both of them to gauge their response.

[CabriniGreen]

- Let's look at how "secret" the Sciascia hit truly was: Joe Massino, Sal Vitale, Patty DeFilippo, John Spirito, Michael Mancuso, Tony Urso, Richie Cantarella, and Jerry Asaro all either participated or knew about the hit beforehand, likely among others. That's a generous group for any hit and not what we think of when we hear about a barebones "sneak" job. Vitale was shocked that Massino personally thanked Asaro for helping dispose of the murder vehicle. That was out of character for Massino with any murder, but for him to acknowledge the Sciascia murder to Asaro of all people tells us Massino wasn't terribly worried about hiding the murder within the family.

This kinda reminds me of the The three capos hits... They involved capos, imported shooters from Canada, used a Gambino club, used Gottis crew for disposal, it was a point they made in the Sixth family book. That it was amazing it stayed a secret for 20 years or more with so many people involved. I dunno, maybe it's a Bonnano thing....



- A while after the murder, Vinnie Basciano approached Joe Massino and told him he would have participated in the Sciascia murder if he had been asked, so it must have been an open secret by then. Rizzuto himself is said to have acknowledged that the Bonanno family killed Sciascia when Vitale visited Montreal after the murder. Even though everybody knew what happened to Sciascia and it was no mystery within the family, there was no retaliation in the four to five years that the Massino regime stayed on the street. Cicale says Massino kept an eye on Sciascia's friends Sal Montagna and Vinnie Basciano and met with both of them to gauge their response.
[/quote]

Did Rizzuto only suspect they did it? Or was it openly acknowledged? I thought Vitale tried to bullshit them with the, " We are investigating.. looking for who did this....".( I'm paraphrasing here)

And I'm continually baffled how Basciano and Sciascia are like, known, huge traffickers, yet the Bonnano brass apparently had NO IDEA how they made money? What the entire fuck? lol

It's different for Sciascia to reach out and organize a murder in Canada, than for the Rizzutos to do the same in NY. Sciascia WAS the NY guy. If not for the deportation order, hes in a house on Mafia Row next to the Rizzutos, and maybe LoPresti too...

[CabriniGreen]

Isnt all this a little similar to Porellos son getting killed for him slapping LoCascio? Or the thing with Basciano and Cirillos son?

[CabriniGreen]

One more thing; It doesnt really make sense to kill Sciascia, and NOT disappear the body, if you dont want the murder solved. That had nothing to do with it.

It wasnt for the soldiers and capos in NY either. No one would object to the Boss killing a member who hit another members' son without permission. Look to Parello, and the Cirillo thing.

No, that smokescreen was for Montreal.

Also, if Massino had the full picture, he knew this kid was going to get killed, everyone else seemed to. Isnt it like that Gervais kid? Didnt the Bikers kill him for selling drugs without permission too?

[B.]

A comparable situation came up in other testimony at the Asaro trial.

Peter Zucaro (a Bonanno associate at the time) beat up the nephew of Gambino member Tony Lee Guerrieri and was confronted by Andy Ruggiano and Guerrieri who tried to lure him into a limousine. Zucaro pulled a gun and in the ensuing scuffle punched Guerrieri in the face. Zucaro was still basically a kid and his superior Frank Bonomo met with Guerrieri and successfully convinced him that Zucaro didn't know better so all was forgiven. The significance of the story is that he wasn't punished, as he easily could have been killed for this.

In Cotroni's case, he was in his 40s, the son of a longtime member, and his uncle led the Montreal crew for many years. Definitely more difficult to say he didn't know better if it's true he put his hands on the captain's nephew, especially if the nephew was Renda.

--

Other stuff from the Asaro trial

The following induction list was obtained by the FBI and is described as follows, with the proposed members on the left and deceased members on the right:

Vito Grimaldi / Leo Giarino '89
Joe Cammarano / John Fiordilino '89
Vincent D'Antoni / Armando Pollastrino '90
Pete Cosoleto / Bobby Lino '89
Anthony Frascone / Paul DiCocco '89
Jimmy Barbieri / Vito DeFilippo '89
John Mirabile / Mario Campanella '90
Peter Ligammari / Giuseppe Buccellato '90
Jerry Asaro / Pat Messina '90

Among the mafia members/associates surveilled at Jimmy Burke's 1996 wake were:

Jerry Asaro
Vincent Asaro
Charles Carneglia
Anthony Corozzo
Blaise Corozzo
Peter Gotti
Joseph Indelicato (probably JB)
Joseph Panzarella
Daniel Rizzo
Anthony Ruggiano Jr.
Ronald Trucchio

A car registered to a female Vario relative was observed at the wake but no indication which Varios may have attended. A Sepe relative also attended.

April 18, 1998 wake (deceased unknown) surveilled by LE in Ozone Park:

Vincent Asaro
Jerry Asaro
Gaspar Cammarata
Vincenzo D'Antoni
Peter Gotti
Vito Grimaldi
Mike Guerrieri
Ciro Perrone
Michael Perrone

Multiple cars registered to Asaro, Giallanzo, and Valenti relatives were observed by LE at the wake, as well as a car registered to Frank Adamo.

The 2008 wake of Gambino soldier John Ruggiero was attended by the following:

Carmine Agnello Jr.
Vincent Asaro
Christopher Carneglia
Blaise Corozzo
Blaise Corozzo Jr.
Nicholas Corozzo
Peter Gotti
Peter Gotti Jr.
Victoria Gotti
Michael Guerrieri
Frank Guidici Jr.
Anthony Gurino
Caesar Gurino
Nicholas Palmieri
Frank Roccaforte
James Ruggiero
Louis Ruggiero
Louis "Brother" Scida
Alphonse Trucchio
Brian Trucchio
Bartolomeo "Bobby" Vernace


The following attended the 2010 wake of Rose Gurino:

Vincent Asaro
Anthony Corozzo
Blaise Corozzo
Blaise Corozzo Jr.
Joseph Corozzo
Stephen Cilluffo
Vincenzo "Vinny Car Wash" Frogiero
Michael Guerrieri
Angelo Gurino
Anthony Gurino
Anthony Gurino (another one)
Caesar Gurino
Louis Gurino
Bartolomeo "Bobby" Vernace

2011 wake for Louis "Brother" Scida:

Vincent Asaro
Stephen Cilluffo
Anthony Corozzo
Blaise Corozzo
Blaise Corozzo Jr.
Joseph Corozzo Jr.
Alphonse Trucchio
Bartolomeo Vernace

In September 2013 the following men were surveilled meeting at a Glendale social club:

Vincent Asaro
David Delfranco
Thomas DiFiore
Sergio Gucciardi
John Sciremammano
John Spirito Jr.

Attendees at September 2013 wake for Joseph Cammarano Sr.:

Vincent Asaro
Antonino Bonventre
Giacomo "Jack" Bonventre
Anthony Cammarano
Dino Cammarano
Joseph Cammarano Jr.
Ronald Carlucci
Vincenzo D'Antoni
Tommy DiFiore
Vito Grimaldi
Joseph Grimaldi
Anthony Rabito
John Ragano
John Sciremammano
Joseph Torre
Michael Palmaccio
Michael Patavona

The December 28, 2012 Bonanno holiday party was attended by Jerry Chilli, Frank Pastore, Vito Grimaldi, Al Armetto, Tommy DiFiore, Vincent Asaro, Pete Lovaglio, and JB Indelicato. It was held at the Z-2 Lounge on Staten Island and the Bonanno group used a private room with tinted windows for the party.

[maatsetungi]

- A while after the murder, Vinnie Basciano approached Joe Massino and told him he would have participated in the Sciascia murder if he had been asked, so it must have been an open secret by then. Rizzuto himself is said to have acknowledged that the Bonanno family killed Sciascia when Vitale visited Montreal after the murder. Even though everybody knew what happened to Sciascia and it was no mystery within the family, there was no retaliation in the four to five years that the Massino regime stayed on the street. Cicale says Massino kept an eye on Sciascia's friends Sal Montagna and Vinnie Basciano and met with both of them to gauge their response.

If I don't remember wrong didn't Rizzutos stopped paying to Bonnanos/Massino after Sciascia murder? Vito knew who ordered the killing of Sciascia and got his revenge by cutting ties to Bonnano family.

[RONALD]

Thanks alot B, i am looking for a long time, to read the trial testimony of Vitale.