Need info on some Stanfa-era hits

[Ivan]

Was looking over the Philly hits list and saw several names that I wasn't familiar with. Can anyone tell me about these? They aren't in The Goodfellas Tapes. Thanks in advance.

Billy Shear (1993) - associate; murdered
Leon "Yonnie" Lanzilotta (1993) - associate; wounded
Michael Forte (1993) - associate; wounded
Gigi Capello (1993) - associate; murdered
William Gantz (1994) - associate; murdered
Nicasio Zagone (January 19, 1994) - nephew of John Stanfa; murdered
Michael “Mikey Ice” Brennan (December 1994) - associate; murdered
Ralph Mazzuca (February 24, 1995) - associate; murdered
Frank Russo (1995) - associate; murdered

[chin_gigante]

Billy Shear and William Gantz were killed by Pete Caprio and Philip Casale. Likely unsanctioned.

Louis "Gigi' Cappello was supposedly killed on Stanfa's orders for refusing to pay street tax, though the details are scarce.

Lanzilotta and Forte were part of the same shooting orchestrated by the Merlino faction after Michael Ciancaglini was killed. Mazzone and Lancellotti responsible.

Roger Vella killed Mazzuca and then called Borgesi and others for help. A car belonging to one of the Salvo brothers was believed to be used to transport the body. Anthony Nicodemo was supposed to be involved. It was unsanctioned.

Russo's killing was unrelated to the Philadelphia family.

My notes for the Brennan murder:

- Michael Brennan was found murdered 6 December by a walker in a wooded area in Cramer Hill, Camden
- Brennan was shot in the neck, chest, and side, and wrapped in a white sheet
- Brennan was described as a hanger-on and a wannabe
- Brennan and Vincent Iannece were arrested in November after getting into a brawl with another man in a bar in Philadelphia
- Brennan and Iannece were released on $2,500 bail
- Some law enforcement sources said Brennan and Iannece were “underlings” of Merlino
- Investigators were looking into claims that Brennan was dating the sister of a “high-ranking member of the Merlino family”

My notes for the Zagone murder:

- Stanfa’s nephew Nicasio Zagone, a carpenter, was shot in the back of the head in Northeast Philadelphia on 19 January
- Zagone was discovered moaning on the floor by his co-worker Frank Gulino at a storefront (which was undergoing renovations) in the Grant Academy Shopping Centre
- A .38-caliber semiautomatic pistol was found under Zagone’s body and his truck was found out back with the engine still running
- Investigators believed Zagone was in the process of unloading his truck when he was shot
- Zagone was taken, in a comatose state, to Frankford Hospital-Torresdale Campus and then transferred to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
- Zagone died of his injuries two days later
- Zagone’s relatives denied any organised crime connection beyond their familial relation to Stanfa, who was the brother-in-law of Zagone’s late father
- Detectives hoped that Gulino could provide them with more details and noted that Zagone worked in the construction business for Frank Congialdi, who was also related to Stanfa
- Also in the shopping centre was the Italian Café restaurant, which was frequented by Stanfa and his top aides during the summer
- Stanfa and his associates attended Zagone’s wake and reportedly stayed there all night
- Investigators were unsure of the motive, whether it was a robbery gone wrong, a suicide, a murder orchestrated by the Joseph Merlino faction or a case of mistaken identity by individuals looking for Gulino, a former associate of Stanfa’s (perhaps Stanfa’s own men were behind it)

[Pogo The Clown]

Russo's killing was unrelated to the Philadelphia family.

If I remember right this hit was carried out by the Turra group.


Going from memory Ralph Mazzuca was a rival drug dealer who broke into Roger Vellas house looking for drugs and or money. In the process he tied up some of Vella's relatives who were living there. When Vella found out about it he killed Mazzuca on his own. Vella later implicated George Borgesi in the disposal of the body.


Pogo

[dack2001]

I disagree on Willie Gantz (and Billy Shear for that matter) being unsanctioned. Caprio reported to Joe Sodano, who was the acting (co-)captain of that crew while Stanfa was on the street. Gantz was a longtime Sodano associate. He wasn't getting clipped without the Nodder ordering it or giving the go ahead. I'm less confident on Shear but don't believe either Caprio or his child molesting friend had the juice to do work on connected guys on their own without Sodano approving.

[chin_gigante]

Sodano was in jail when Shear and Gantz were killed. And on top of that, by the time Gantz was killed Licata was also in prison, and it took place in the gap between Stanfa being arrested and Natale becoming boss, so there were no captains and no administration to approve it. I strongly suspect that the Sodano murder was the only hit carried out by Caprio in the 1990s that was sanctioned

[dack2001]

We are going to agree to disagree on this one. I don't believe for a second that Caprio had the juice or the inclination to kill a guy like Gantz, who worked directly for Joe Sodano, without a go ahead from the Nodder. You think Sodano couldn't send messages in jail or the halfway house? Think Sodano would get out and just forget about one of his guys getting hit? Sodano was both respected and feared. Too bad we don't have a copy of Caprio's testimony from the Merlino trial. That would probably answer the question.

[chin_gigante]

Another reason I suspect it was unsanctioned is because of this excerpt from The Last Gangster:

Caprio, in turn, recruited one of his top associates, a guy named Philip “Philly Fay” Casale. He and Caprio had been involved in at least four other murders. Usually the target was somebody who had money and who had crossed the mob.
Whether the transgression was real, or simply fabricated by Caprio and Casale to justify the murder-robbery that would follow, remains an open question. What is clear is that at least four individuals were killed by Casale on Caprio’s orders before Sodano’s murder.
The four victims were each shot at close range; three as they sat behind the wheels of their cars meeting with Casale. None suspected what was coming. Casale and Caprio were masters of the setup, cheap-shot artists. Both would later become government witnesses and offer graphically brutal accounts of that classic underworld move—the double cross that ends in murder.
Cold and callous, they joked about each hit. In 1991, for example, Casale was lying in wait for his target. They were supposed to meet in a deserted parking lot in Newark. Bored, Caprio started eating potato chips. He had several bags in the car with him that night. After polishing off a fourth bag, and with still no sign of the target, Casale called Caprio and asked what he should do.
“Eat more chips,” Pete the Crumb replied. Two years later, Caprio tapped Casale for another murder. This time the target was a guy named Billy Shear, a mob associate who was suspected of cooperating with authorities. Caprio described Shear as a “cancer,” and told Casale something had to be done “to stop it before it spreads.”
Then, with a sly smile, he said, “I think it’s potato chip time.” A few days later, after Casale had set up a meeting with Shear to discuss a drug deal, Casale told Caprio, “Tonight’s potato chip night.”
Both hits went off as planned. In each case, the target was relieved of his cash and jewelry. Casale and Caprio split the proceeds, although not always evenly. Billy Shear had a thousand dollars in his pocket the night Casale popped him, according to an FBI report. Casale was sitting in the passenger seat of Shear’s car when he pulled out a gun and shot Shear once in the head at point-blank range. When Shear began to moan, Casale shot him again. Then, with Shear silenced and slumped over the steering wheel, Casale calmly went through his pockets. He later gave Caprio two hundred dollars, claiming it was half of what Shear had on him that night.
In 1994 Casale used the same MO when he popped Willie Gantz, a Sodano associate suspected of stealing money from the mob. Sodano was in prison at the time; if he’d been around, Gantz would most likely still be alive. Casale’s fourth victim was a businessman shot in a warehouse where Caprio and Casale thought the victim had a stash of more than a hundred thousand dollars. They never found the money.

[dack2001]

I agree that's what GA is implying but I disagree with the implication. Joe Sodano pushes that button wherever he is. I also feel this information came from Casale. His 302s were passed around amongst defense attorneys before Merlinos trial.

[Ivan]

Thanks for the info so far, fellas. Casale the baby fucker sounds like the ultimate lowlife (that 200 bucks thing... I wonder if that was a lot of money to him? I make that in a hour doing legit work for my best client and play it on one hand of blackjack sometimes LOL).

Keep more info coming if you got it!

Also Colombo shouldn't be on this list; I pasted him on by accident but he's in Goodfella Tapes. Surprised the book never mentions Zagone given that he's Stanfa's nephew.

[chin_gigante]

I need to amend my previous comments about the murders Casale and Caprio carried out in the 1990s. I was using The Last Gangster as a reference, but after looking back at more newspaper articles and other notes it seems GA paints a bit of an oversimplified version of the Casale-Caprio murder story. Here's what I've got from checking my other notes:

- When Casale began cooperating in late 1999 he told the FBI about how he killed Gantz and Sodano on Caprio's orders
- Casale recorded Caprio, leading to his indictment in March 2000
- Caprio flips a couple of months later and tells the FBI that he knows Casale committed the murders of Scoloveno, Shear, and Matonis
- Caprio also tells the FBI about the murder of Edward Snee in 1975
- Casale admits the murders and, when later interviewed for the Witness Protection Program, admits killing Harry Serio as well
- However, Casale tells the FBI that Caprio authorised the Scoloveno, Shear, and Matonis murders
- Caprio denies authorising the three additional murders
- The government tears up Casale's agreement and he's never called to testify
- Caprio never pleads guilty to or admits the Scoloveno, Shear or Matonis murders
- On the stand, Edwin Jacobs questions Caprio about Casale's statements
- Caprio says they're lies and he never authorised Shear, Matonis or Scoloveno's killings
- Caprio points out how he admitted the Snee murder and says he would have admitted 20 homicides if that was the amount he had committed
- Casale is given the maximum 20 years for his original plea that included the Gantz and Sodano murders
- Casale eventually pleads guilty to the Scoloveno, Shear, Matonis, and Serio murders and receives an additional 10 years
- Caprio is ultimately sentenced to 75 months and gets out in 2006

[Tonyd621]

I need to amend my previous comments about the murders Casale and Caprio carried out in the 1990s. I was using The Last Gangster as a reference, but after looking back at more newspaper articles and other notes it seems GA paints a bit of an oversimplified version of the Casale-Caprio murder story. Here's what I've got from checking my other notes:

- When Casale began cooperating in late 1999 he told the FBI about how he killed Gantz and Sodano on Caprio's orders
- Casale recorded Caprio, leading to his indictment in March 2000
- Caprio flips a couple of months later and tells the FBI that he knows Casale committed the murders of Scoloveno, Shear, and Matonis
- Caprio also tells the FBI about the murder of Edward Snee in 1975
- Casale admits the murders and, when later interviewed for the Witness Protection Program, admits killing Harry Serio as well
- However, Casale tells the FBI that Caprio authorised the Scoloveno, Shear, and Matonis murders
- Caprio denies authorising the three additional murders
- The government tears up Casale's agreement and he's never called to testify
- Caprio never pleads guilty to or admits the Scoloveno, Shear or Matonis murders
- On the stand, Edwin Jacobs questions Caprio about Casale's statements
- Caprio says they're lies and he never authorised Shear, Matonis or Scoloveno's killings
- Caprio points out how he admitted the Snee murder and says he would have admitted 20 homicides if that was the amount he had committed
- Casale is given the maximum 20 years for his original plea that included the Gantz and Sodano murders
- Casale eventually pleads guilty to the Scoloveno, Shear, Matonis, and Serio murders and receives an additional 10 years
- Caprio is ultimately sentenced to 75 months and gets out in 2006

I have never followed the Philly stuff in great detail. But this stuff here allowing these guys to testify I just shake my head bc Idk what to say.. instead of flipping the bad to catch the worst the govt imo is flipping the worst to catch the bad.

[chin_gigante]

Found the NJ death records for Scoloveno, Shear, and Matonis

Larry Scoloveno.png

William M Shear.png

Robert P Matonis.png

[Adam]

Casale and Caprio's testimony is problematic.

[chin_gigante]

This thread got me thinking more about Caprio in general. He said his father was a Genovese associate and that he himself was with the Boiardo crew before going over to the Philadelphia family. An Anthony "Studs" Caprio shows up on some of the DeCarlo tapes.

Also found this from the 1940 census showing a Peter Caprio then 10-years-old (in line with his DOB being 29 Aug 1929). Though the father listed is identified as Alfonso Caprio. Not too far off Anthony, if Studs Caprio is indeed his father.

1940 census.png

[Ivan]

All right I'm officially confused now. Who were Scoloveno, Matonis, and Serio, specifically, and why were they killed?