Early 1970s Chicago member informant

[Frank]

What about Joe Costello? I know little about him, if he was even alive in 1971, but he does have some similarities with the informant.

He was a low-key second-generation Sicilian member who had direct access to Giancana. We have that NARA file transcript of Costello consulting with Giancana about an issue, where Costello appears to make a couple references to his "caporegime" (which shows he saw things in more traditional terms, ala the informant using "Mafia" and "Mafia member") and the conversation shows that Joe Costello is himself a member. The fact that Costello would seek Giancana's advice directly could show a close relationship, as implied by the informant about Giancana's departure being a big loss to him personally.

Costello's father and uncle were important figures in the 1920s. They came from Caccamo, which produced a number of members from that period, so the Caccamesi could have recruited compaesani from Sicily.

The name Costello is primarily an Irish name and Frank Costello adopted it from his original Italian name, making me wonder what the Chicago Costellos' original name was. Either way, it fits with the informant's info about a relative changing his name and it not being recognizable in Sicily.

I believe one of the Costellos got killed just going off memory off hand. You might be on to it

[Antiliar]

What about Joe Costello? I know little about him, if he was even alive in 1971, but he does have some similarities with the informant.

He was a low-key second-generation Sicilian member who had direct access to Giancana. We have that NARA file transcript of Costello consulting with Giancana about an issue, where Costello appears to make a couple references to his "caporegime" (which shows he saw things in more traditional terms, ala the informant using "Mafia" and "Mafia member") and the conversation shows that Joe Costello is himself a member. The fact that Costello would seek Giancana's advice directly could show a close relationship, as implied by the informant about Giancana's departure being a big loss to him personally.

Costello's father and uncle were important figures in the 1920s. They came from Caccamo, which produced a number of members from that period, so the Caccamesi could have recruited compaesani from Sicily.

The name Costello is primarily an Irish name and Frank Costello adopted it from his original Italian name, making me wonder what the Chicago Costellos' original name was. Either way, it fits with the informant's info about a relative changing his name and it not being recognizable in Sicily.

Costello had two cousins mentioned in the dialogue with Giancana, Sammy and Johnny Macaluso, if that helps. His brother-in-law was Angelo Volpe.

[Snakes]

Sam Cesario's father is from Cosenza, so he probably isn't a paternal blood relative of the informant given the implied Sicilian heritage, but I agree there is something to him attending the funeral. Could point to close friendship or a relation of some kind (if not to the informant, to someone close to the informant).

I tried to track down Cesario's daughter's name but with no luck. I think Cesario's ex-wife's name was Viola or Gina Baratta. Maybe the daughter married into the informant's family or something. I'm just spitballing.

Wonder who sponsored Cesario into the Outfit? Maybe there's something there.

If I remember correctly, Cesario was married to Harry Aleman's mother's sister, making him Aleman's uncle by marriage. Interesting, in that Cesario was a suspect in Cesario's murder. Not sure if this helps or not but Cesario was possibly killed for one or both of these reasons:

1. Refusing to hand over monies and/or valuables which belonged to Phil Alderisio. It is fairly well known that Cesario had a relationship with Alderisio's former girlfriend after the latter's death. The girlfriend apparently had some money that belonged to Alderisio and Chuck Nicoletti sent some guys to collect. Cesario balked and was killed for it.

2. Refusing to stay out of Skid Caruso's territory, after several warnings. I can't remember who had the exact quote but it was something along the lines of in the Outfit, "you don't ask a third time."

Not quite sure who would have sponsored Cesario. Possibly Buccieri? Maybe Antilliar has seen it or knows. It doesn't appear that Cesario was made in the mid-60s but he could have been later, although the early days of LCN investigating still had much room for improvement on identifying made members.

[B.]

I'd say the absolute latest this guy could have been born is 1915 and that would mean he was involved in bootlegging as a teenager. More likely to me is that this guy was born around 1910 and that he came of age in the mafia near the end of prohibition, though can't rule anything out.

Does anyone have Joe Costello's DOB - DOD?

Costello had two cousins mentioned in the dialogue with Giancana, Sammy and Johnny Macaluso, if that helps. His brother-in-law was Angelo Volpe.

Thank you! So he did have other relatives in/around the organization aside from his father and uncle.

On a level of probability it would make sense for the informant's family to be from one of the main towns/areas in Sicily that supplied early Chicago membership. Caccamo is one of those, for sure. I liked where Tony Polack was going with Termini, too, given the number of later members with heritage there.

[Frank]

Sam Costello was killed in 1938, not in the 1931 time period. Sorry. But the Sicilian Costello group did merge into the Capone gang and the Outfit

[B.]

Yeah, if the informant was Costello he wouldn't have been referring to his father or uncle being killed in 1930/1931. Would be helpful to know what the Costellos' original surname was, whether it was something phonetically similar or completely different. A bunch of Caccamesi were killed in the 1920s, especially in Chicago Heights, so could be some unknown interrelation.

We can't necessarily be married to the 1930/1931 date of the shooting, either. Pete Misuraca was off by almost a decade when he said Tony Cusenza was murdered soon after his (Misuraca's) brother's murder. Misuraca was related to the Cusenzas and you'd think the proximity to his brother's murder would give him a sharper memory of it. Joe Valachi was off by almost two years on Buster Domingo's murder. Similar to Misuraca, he was close to Domingo so you'd think he'd be closer to the mark remembering it. Or Mike Franzese being off by three years on his own induction ceremony, among countless other examples of informants/witnesses who mess up dates.

Depending on the informant's age in the 1920s/1930s, we could be looking at a pretty wide margin of error as far as the exact year goes. He already fluctuated between 1930/1931.

EDIT: Also as Ed pointed out, the 1930/1931 shooting may not have involved one of the informant's relatives but another important figure.

[Ed]

Sam Cesario's father is from Cosenza, so he probably isn't a paternal blood relative of the informant given the implied Sicilian heritage, but I agree there is something to him attending the funeral. Could point to close friendship or a relation of some kind (if not to the informant, to someone close to the informant).

I tried to track down Cesario's daughter's name but with no luck. I think Cesario's ex-wife's name was Viola or Gina Baratta. Maybe the daughter married into the informant's family or something. I'm just spitballing.

Wonder who sponsored Cesario into the Outfit? Maybe there's something there.

If I remember correctly, Cesario was married to Harry Aleman's mother's sister, making him Aleman's uncle by marriage. Interesting, in that Cesario was a suspect in Cesario's murder. Not sure if this helps or not but Cesario was possibly killed for one or both of these reasons:

1. Refusing to hand over monies and/or valuables which belonged to Phil Alderisio. It is fairly well known that Cesario had a relationship with Alderisio's former girlfriend after the latter's death. The girlfriend apparently had some money that belonged to Alderisio and Chuck Nicoletti sent some guys to collect. Cesario balked and was killed for it.

2. Refusing to stay out of Skid Caruso's territory, after several warnings. I can't remember who had the exact quote but it was something along the lines of in the Outfit, "you don't ask a third time."

Not quite sure who would have sponsored Cesario. Possibly Buccieri? Maybe Antilliar has seen it or knows. It doesn't appear that Cesario was made in the mid-60s but he could have been later, although the early days of LCN investigating still had much room for improvement on identifying made members.

Snakes,
That's right. Now I remember reading about the possible motives. Aleman was a heartless guy. Imagine killing your own uncle?

B,
Where did you pull out Costello's name from? I like his businessman profile, his connection to the liquor business and to Joe Fusco, a name mentioned by the informant. Lets see if his date of birth and death line up.

[Snakes]

Sam Cesario's father is from Cosenza, so he probably isn't a paternal blood relative of the informant given the implied Sicilian heritage, but I agree there is something to him attending the funeral. Could point to close friendship or a relation of some kind (if not to the informant, to someone close to the informant).

I tried to track down Cesario's daughter's name but with no luck. I think Cesario's ex-wife's name was Viola or Gina Baratta. Maybe the daughter married into the informant's family or something. I'm just spitballing.

Wonder who sponsored Cesario into the Outfit? Maybe there's something there.

If I remember correctly, Cesario was married to Harry Aleman's mother's sister, making him Aleman's uncle by marriage. Interesting, in that Cesario was a suspect in Cesario's murder. Not sure if this helps or not but Cesario was possibly killed for one or both of these reasons:

1. Refusing to hand over monies and/or valuables which belonged to Phil Alderisio. It is fairly well known that Cesario had a relationship with Alderisio's former girlfriend after the latter's death. The girlfriend apparently had some money that belonged to Alderisio and Chuck Nicoletti sent some guys to collect. Cesario balked and was killed for it.

2. Refusing to stay out of Skid Caruso's territory, after several warnings. I can't remember who had the exact quote but it was something along the lines of in the Outfit, "you don't ask a third time."

Not quite sure who would have sponsored Cesario. Possibly Buccieri? Maybe Antilliar has seen it or knows. It doesn't appear that Cesario was made in the mid-60s but he could have been later, although the early days of LCN investigating still had much room for improvement on identifying made members.

Snakes,
That's right. Now I remember reading about the possible motives. Aleman was a heartless guy. Imagine killing your own uncle?

B,
Where did you pull out Costello's name from? I like his businessman profile, his connection to the liquor business and to Joe Fusco, a name mentioned by the informant. Lets see if his date of birth and death line up.

At the same time, Aleman was blamed for almost every Outfit murder in the seventies so who knows? I bet if it could be magically revealed who was behind all of the Outfit murders of the past 75 years it would be a bunch of guys we never heard of or would never expect!

[B.]

B,
Where did you pull out Costello's name from? I like his businessman profile, his connection to the liquor business and to Joe Fusco, a name mentioned by the informant. Lets see if his date of birth and death line up.

During one of the Chicago discussions a while back, Villain posted excerpts from an NARA file with a taped transcript of Joe Costello consulting with Sam Giancana. During the conversation Giancana says that Costello is "in the clique" and Costello discusses protocol involving his "gaborchina" / "gobrachino" (ph. almost certainly capodecina / caporegima), and consulting with Frank LaPorte about a business policy in Chicago Heights. It's clear from the conversation that Costello is a member and has a relationship to Giancana. It seems he's consulting Giancana for advice, not necessarily asking for a formal ruling.

I mentioned him in the original post because he's a Sicilian member using "traditional" terms, kind of like the informant. He definitely hits many points on the checklist.

[B.]

From Puparo's page:

Chicago arrest of NY boss Angelo Caruso
11 November 1931 Chicago police arrested Dago Lawrence Mangano, Paul Palmeri (palmieri) (undertaker at 1538 Whitney Ave. Niagara Falls), Frank Chiavavolloti (Chicago), Angelo Caruso (NY), Sylvester Agoglia (Chicago) in a car. Police then also arrest Louis Spenilli (Ny), Joseph Costello (Chicago) as suspects in the kidnappings of St Louis furrier Alexander berg and Rockford gambler Ralph J. “Fuzzy” Pearce. Police are still looking for Sam “Golf bag” Hunt and Harry Heiter. Paul Palmieri was, with Caruso and the rest, freed after a short time.

I don't know the story of this arrest, but if that's the same Joe Costello it shows he was active by the prohibition era and also connected nationally to Sicilians around the US.

I know Mangano, but what is known of Agoglia or Chiavavolloti? Are those correct spellings?

[Snakes]

From Puparo's page:

Chicago arrest of NY boss Angelo Caruso
11 November 1931 Chicago police arrested Dago Lawrence Mangano, Paul Palmeri (palmieri) (undertaker at 1538 Whitney Ave. Niagara Falls), Frank Chiavavolloti (Chicago), Angelo Caruso (NY), Sylvester Agoglia (Chicago) in a car. Police then also arrest Louis Spenilli (Ny), Joseph Costello (Chicago) as suspects in the kidnappings of St Louis furrier Alexander berg and Rockford gambler Ralph J. “Fuzzy” Pearce. Police are still looking for Sam “Golf bag” Hunt and Harry Heiter. Paul Palmieri was, with Caruso and the rest, freed after a short time.

I don't know the story of this arrest, but if that's the same Joe Costello it shows he was active by the prohibition era and also connected nationally to Sicilians around the US.

I know Mangano, but what is known of Agoglia or Chiavavolloti? Are those correct spellings?

Agoglia is, I've never heard of the other guy.

[Antiliar]

I don't know who sponsored Sam Cesario.

The last name the Costello brothers was Castelli. Matt Luzi told me. They came from Caccamo.

Frank Chiav. was originally with Big Jim Colosimo. Agoglia was a presumed Frankie Yale guy in Brooklyn. He was arrested with Al Capone for the Christmas day massacre of the Irish gang leaders in Brooklyn in 1925. In 1932 he was arrested with Paul Ricca, Lucky Luciano, and Meyer Lansky in Chicago.

[funkster]

Haven't had time to read through all the posts, but wtf is being hinted at in discussion of the guy and his "wife" showing up at Phil's wake? A New York guy in disguise?

[Ed]

A "Joseph L. Costello" aged 43, killed himself in 1963. He was being investigated by the IRS for financial misdealing. He was described as an associate of the crime syndicate.

In 1960, Costello and his cousin John Macaluso, president of liquor distribution company, testified on behalf of Tony Accardo that he was their top beer salesman.

Costello's obituary says his sister was married to a "Joseph Battaglia."

[Frank]

Haven't had time to read through all the posts, but wtf is being hinted at in discussion of the guy and his "wife" showing up at Phil's wake? A New York guy in disguise?

You should read the whole subject from page 1. Its really amazing