B. wrote: ↑Thu Sep 22, 2022 9:00 pm
Buster Dinora's father was Carl Dinora born 1874 but I can't trace him. Might have originally been DeNora and looks like a mainland name.
FWIW, the Rosario Davi from Monreale/Palermo who was killed in suburban Chicago in 1950, his wife back in Palermo was a "Dinaro".
At this point it feels like a higher power is throwing these names into the databases. Every time a new name is being researched it immediately connects to another new name. Be interested if this one is a coincidence. If the Springfield Dinaros were Palermitano especially Monreale it fits the make-up of the Family since there was another Monreale guy in Springfield.
There was a Patsy Aiello who was a deceased Springfield guy, probably a member. Bill F has him as from Cosenza but this is an error as he was from Castelvetrano which shows there were at least two Springfield guys from there. Father was Gaspare Aiello and mother was Ninfa D'Angelo.
Great find. BF likely confused him with a guy in Chicago from Castrolibero, Cosenza. Looks like this Pasquale Aiello was born 1899 in Castelvetrano, died 1944 in IL. So with Salvo, Aiello, and the Campos, we see multiple links to Castelvetrano with Springfield. One wonders if there are any familial ties to the Partannese Aiellos in the Bonannos later.
Also were a bunch of Aiellos from Cinisi in Springfield, by way of STL. No idea if they were connected too, but given the Impastatos, Manzellas, and Abbate, could be worth looking into.
"Hey, hey, hey — this is America, baby! Survival of the fittest.”
Another deceased suspected member was Leonardo Ciaccio. All the candidates I found were from Sciacca.
Depending where Dinora was from this looks to be an entirely Sicilian Family barring unknown names. Same SE Trapani / W Agrigento area that shows up in Pueblo, Birmingham, Kansas City, and early Chicago with top members from San Giuseppe / San Cipirello / Cinisi who were well-connected to the ones in other cities and the Sicilian mafia.
I don't think there were a ton of unknowns unless some of these guys had older relatives in it. Informants couldn't name members but consistently named the same list of guys as being the longtime inner circle around Zito back to the 1930s. The members look to have associated and done businessc/crime with each other, kept their formal org quiet, and locals knew who they were but maybe not fully "what" they were.
Salvatore Zito was said to be uninvolved in crime/rackets but his brother Frank followed him to Alabama and then Illinois. Worth including as suspected because every one of his brothers was involved in the US and Sicily + the uncle and San Cipirello boss in-law.
Interesting in that I've seen FBI files from stating that the Springfield family was in decline from the late 1950s after law enforcement crackdown and that the members basically were satisfied with their legal income. If that was indeed so why was Zito at Appalachian in 1957? Conversely, I believe it was never reported if Carlo Caputo of Madison was there. I'm of the belief that Springfield was a power at least up until Zito does, if not a little after that.
cavita wrote: ↑Fri Sep 23, 2022 2:33 pm
Interesting in that I've seen FBI files from stating that the Springfield family was in decline from the late 1950s after law enforcement crackdown and that the members basically were satisfied with their legal income. If that was indeed so why was Zito at Appalachian in 1957? Conversely, I believe it was never reported if Carlo Caputo of Madison was there. I'm of the belief that Springfield was a power at least up until Zito does, if not a little after that.
I'm sure it was like many Families where they still wanted to represent the network and have their "club" but weren't interested in being a significant "organized crime" Family. Springfield comes across like a Sicilian cosca.
Since we know a maternal uncle of the Zitos was almost certainly made in San Giuseppe Jato, I'm guessing there were older generations of Zitos too. Speaking of which, I wonder if the uncle was related to the later San Giuseppe boss of the same name Antonino Salamone. He lived in NYC after the Ciaculli massacre and was partner of Giuseppe Ganci who was close to Riela.
Charles Supino aka Charles Fenello aka Charles Farrell was involved with the Springfield LCN and the earliest arrest I can find on him was September 23, 1933 when he was charged in the attempted kidnapping of Newton Millman in Peoria, Illinois. Also involved were Patsy Aiello, Vito Impastato, Frank Longo, Tony Campo and Vincenzo Troia who was using the alias Joe Caiola. Charges against him were dismissed but on November 17, 1935 he was held over to the Grand Jury on liquor violation charges and was remanded to the Montgomery County Jail in Hillsboro. Once again on February 20, 1936 he was arrested for liquor running in Streator, Illinois.
In about May 1937 Supino moved about 120 miles north of Springfield and settled in Streator, Illinois which was a hotbed of illegal activity, chiefly gambling. For whatever reason on the morning of November 14, 1937 Supino received a long distance call and minutes after hanging up, he told his 23 year old wife he had to leave town on “important business.” Around 9:40pm that evening Mrs. Supino heard six gunshots outside her residence at 809 North Wasson Street. She ran to the window and saw her husband slumped on the ground having been shot six times with a .32 caliber pistol. She then saw the killer run to the curb and jump into a “shiny new automobile” and speed away. Authorities said the killer apparently hid in the bushes near the driveway and waited until Supino exited his car and headed towards the back door of his home.
Later FBI files stated that Tony Zito of the Springfield LCN was responsible for the murder however, Milwaukee informant Augie Maniaci stated that Phil Cannella who was later made a member of the Rockford LCN and Carlo Rospo, of the Cleveland LCN murdered Supino. Rospo was familiar with the Rockford LCN as he had hid out in Rockford after committing a murder in Cleveland.
Other than being involved in the Springfield LCN and being born about 1912 I couldn’t find anything further on Supino- no family connections, birthplace, etc.
I looked into him too and didn't find anything. He is mentioned in some files w/ the spelling Supine. Very young so if he was a member it wasn't for long.
Well I just found survivors listed as siblings Mary Cultrara of New York, NY, Louis of New York, NY, Frank and John of Peoria, Illinois, Joseph of Wisconsin. His parents were listed as Carl and Joana Supino and his wife was Winifred Mary DeGrado but it appears she remarried a man by the last name of Lockwood.
May 23, 1969 in Springfield eight suspected crime syndicate gambling operations and an alleged pornography outlet were closed in simultaneous raids by more than 100 state policemen. Twenty-six people were arrested in the gaming raids and a warrant was issued for the suspected pornographer. Among those arrested were Mike Fortune, 27, a former chief page in the Illinois Senate. Joseph Dinora, 56, a “minor Springfield hoodlum” and Mike Greco, 44, one of the notorious Greco brothers allegedly associated with crime syndicate operations in Chicago authorities said. The alleged pornographer was Ray Steskol, owner of Capitol Music Company.
cavita wrote: ↑Fri Sep 23, 2022 7:23 pm
May 23, 1969 in Springfield eight suspected crime syndicate gambling operations and an alleged pornography outlet were closed in simultaneous raids by more than 100 state policemen. Twenty-six people were arrested in the gaming raids and a warrant was issued for the suspected pornographer. Among those arrested were Mike Fortune, 27, a former chief page in the Illinois Senate. Joseph Dinora, 56, a “minor Springfield hoodlum” and Mike Greco, 44, one of the notorious Greco brothers allegedly associated with crime syndicate operations in Chicago authorities said. The alleged pornographer was Ray Steskol, owner of Capitol Music Company.
Good info. Not sure who the Springfield papers meant by "the notorious Greco brothers" in Chicago. Closest that comes to mind would be Joe and Donald Grieco, but they didn't have a brother named Michael. There were also Grecos with the Milwaukee outfit.
"Hey, hey, hey — this is America, baby! Survival of the fittest.”
There were bugs of Zito talking to an unknown younger guy but nothing of note. Those bugs were almost unintelligible, too bad as we might have gotten some insight. If his reference to a "decina" was about Springfield that'd be a twist because they could easily have run the Family with just the boss/under. Or maybe it was like SF where they had an honorary capodecina with no soldiers and everyone reported to the under.
There were reports that after the Springfield family died off, the Rockford family moved in on their rackets which is completely false. If anything, St. Louis would have done that. There was one FBI file that stated Tony Giordano of St. Louis said sometime in the late 70s if anyone wanted to start up anything illegal in Springfield that Dinora was the guy to see.
Some info in this post on close Chicago ties to Vincent Salvo's family in Springfield. Salvo may have been a relative of Accardo: viewtopic.php?p=239469#p239469
"Hey, hey, hey — this is America, baby! Survival of the fittest.”
Interesting to note that Vincent Salvo was described as a “lieutenant” to Frank Zito by the March 1,1933 Daily Illinois State Journal newspaper, which would signify to me that he had the position of capo.
