Paul Volpe

[NickleCity]

^^^
It is Novino. This article gives the day and date of the attempted Novino hit and they match: https://buffalonews.com/news/informer-r ... 15ba2.html

[Niagarafalls]

Bart Mazzara? He was a known hitter.

[B.]

Thanks for clearing up Sacco's DOD.

Based on what you shared, Falzone was suspected in both the Sciolino murder and Novino attempt mentioned by the witness. If he was also part of the D'Angelo murder that makes him the most likely candidate the source linked to the Volpe hit. Be very interesting if Falzone helped kill Volpe.

[NickleCity]

Thanks for clearing up Sacco's DOD.

Based on what you shared, Falzone was suspected in both the Sciolino murder and Novino attempt mentioned by the witness. If he was also part of the D'Angelo murder that makes him the most likely candidate the source linked to the Volpe hit. Be very interesting if Falzone helped kill Volpe.

So I've always been of the opinion that Todaro ordered the hit on Volpe because Volpe was aligned with the Pieri faction. Todaro reportedly had been battling Joe Pieri for control of the family according to the information from the Palma Boys Club bug. I wrote about the Volpe hit on GBB in 2018 while trying make sense of Otremens and the Papalia hit: http://www.gangsterbb.net/threads/ubbth ... ype=thread

As Todaro's "Enforcer" it makes perfect sense that Falzone would have played a role in the Volpe homicide. It fits one the theories that Schneider wrote about and which I highlighted on that GBB thread:

In 1981, Sam Pieri, one of Paul Volpe’s last remaining supporters in the Magaddino Family, died. Volpe was now even more isolated and dangerously unprotected from his enemies while his standing within the family was rapidly deteriorating. For a number of years he refused to pay tribute, and his foray into Atlantic City only confirmed his maverick status. Joe Todaro, who was now in control of the Buffalo family, wanted nothing to do with Volpe. Other American mafiosi, especially Nicky Scarfo, began treating Volpe as a pariah. Todaro’s ascension to the leadership of the Buffalo mob also bolstered his biggest Canadian supporter, John Papalia, who never hid his desire to get rid of his rival.

[antimafia]

^^^^
The more theories about the reasons for Volpe's murder, the better. Everyone here should keep the theories coming.

Schneider's account that Volpe refused to pay tribute for years is different from Ron Fino's account that Joe Fino, his father, permitted Volpe to not pay tribute. Parsing what Schneider wrote, another interpretation is that Volpe might have refused to pay tribute for years but eventually started to pay it, paid it between certain years, and so on. I have had Ron Fino's book Mr. Undercover on my wishlist for quite some time and I look forward to purchasing and reading it, but please note that the discrepancy in the accounts is precisely one reason that would contribute to someone being skeptical -- not just Ron Sandelli -- that Volpe was made.

Just so everyone knows, Ron Fino used to post on the now defunct RealDeal Forum, which is where a number of TBHF posters contributed before making their way here. Fino, like many RealDeal posters, interacted with a RealDeal poster whose handle was Jilly, and Ron wasn't able to detect -- none of us were -- that this poster was impersonating the mob-connected Ralph Gigliamo Scibetta (nickname: Jilly), originally from Hamilton but a possible transplant to Toronto (according to the fake Jilly, at any rate). Nor did Ron question the outrageously high number of Ontario-based Buffalo Family members that appeared in charts on the RealDeal, charts to which Jilly contributed. To be fair, Jilly pulled a fast one on the entire RealDeal membership and did so for years, both when the site owner Kenny Torrio was running things and afterward when Kenny "licensed" the site to David Amoruso.

In Canada, there is near unanimity among a number of law-enforcement officials and police services (e.g., Ron Sandelli, Mark Murphy, and Peel Regional Police, which has always handled the case because of where Volpe was found murdered), organized-crime writers (Peter Edwards, Antonio Nicaso, Adrian Humphreys, et al.), and paid police agent Cecil Kirby that Peter Scarcella had a hand in setting up Volpe. Former outlaw biker Kirby is certain that Vic Cotroni ordered the hit, as Paul Volpe was an informant -- he became a coded informant after he was taken off the streets by the RCMP in 1981 to abort the hit put out on him by the Commissos, but RCMP officer Mark Murphy wanted to code Volpe again, as Volpe was giving up information about some of his criminal colleagues up to one week before the eventual hit in 1983. My money is on Nicky Scarfo Sr. ordering the hit but asking the necessary permissions.

I would have liked to ask Ron Sandelli a number of questions but I was told by a couple of writers to whom I reached out just yesterday for contact details that Sandelli is in ill health. Although one article mentions Sandelli having been a police officer for 37 years, his LinkedIn profile indicates he was one for only 30 years, 5 months. Sandelli supervised officer Garry Carter in the 1990s when the latter was investigating Peter Scarcella and his group. It is not unusual for a Canadian law-enforcement officer to shadow a single Italian-Canadian mobster for 5 years or more. On Wednesday, May 25, 1988, Sandelli appeared before the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, where he gave a presentation on "Canadian LCN" -- see p. 1178 of the Organized Crime: 25 Years After Valachi report, found at https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/Digitizat ... 3NCJRS.pdf, among other places.

Given my enthusiasm for researching mob-related murders, I know that current Postmedia-Sun columnist Mark Bonokoski received a telephone call from a member of the hit team who killed Volpe right after the hit, even giving Bonokoski directions as to where Volpe's body could be found at the airport. Bonokoski was working for the Toronto Sun at the time. I have never interacted with him before but I will anonymously reach out to him. I will of course ask whether the person on the other end of the line had an accent like a Buffalonian or Chicagoan.

[jmack]

Here's the reference to the Philly CW (Leonetti) who was asked about Volpe in 1992:



--

I forgot to mention earlier when the RCMP tried to interview Long John Martorano about Volpe in 1984 (he refused to cooperate) the New Jersey State Police gave the RCMP documentation that showed Volpe owned real estate with Martorano. Other partners in Atlantic City real estate properties with Volpe were a redacted associate and a redacted "LCN member" originally from Toronto:



So the FBI believed both Volpe and another man (short name) were "LCN" members from Toronto who partnered together in AC. Any guesses? It could fit VOLPE and refer to his brother but not sure as it doesn't indicate a relation.

--

And here's a couple excerpts from what the Buffalo CW (possibly Sacco) said about the Volpe murder also in 1992:




Unfortunately there's no other identifying info to help narrow down who this suspect is beyond his alleged participation in those murders.

https://www.nytimes.com/1979/05/01/arch ... -city.html

Some of these names may fit the redacted. He refers to Angelo Pucci as his partner.

[antimafia]

^^^^
jmack,

You are correct about Angelo Pucci being Volpe's partner. From p. 183 of Making connections -- the behind-the-scenes story -- how a television team exposed organized crime in Canada by Wade Rowland, the book about the TV documentary series:



Angelo Pucci has previously been reported as being a cousin to Volpe -- I'll have to check whether it was in a book or article -- but I saw this mention of the relationship only once. Angelo has a brother, Frank, who accompanied him and Michele Commisso when they tried to cross the border into New York State, allegedly to ask permission from Buffalo to kill Volpe. Only Michele made it over, as Angelo was drunk and Frank couldn't enter because he had a criminal record. Incidentally, Michele also travelled to Connecticut on this trip, as he was meeting with either Vince Melia or Nick Melia about Helen Nafpliotis, the mistress of Nick who was causing problems by virtue of being his mistress -- Vince had given the contract to the Commissos in Toronto to kill Nafpliotis.

Making reference to the image of the page above, I have a high degree of confidence that the source with code name "Lou" was Lou Myles, the founder and owner of Lou Myles Disegnatore in Toronto. Lou's real surname was Cocomile. When Victoria Gotti -- John Gotti Sr.'s daughter -- needed a suit for her father to be buried in, she travelled to Toronto to get Lou to design it and have it made. Which Lou did.

[antimafia]

Here's a PDF of the NYT article jmack linked to a couple of posts back:

https://www.evernote.com/shard/s229/sh/ ... edec3bec09

[B.]

- The excerpt I posted from the Philly CW is certainly Leonetti and he had no knowledge of the Volpe hit. Scarfo was also in prison between 1982 and 1984, so if he ordered the murder it would have been done from prison through the acting leadership. Leonetti would have been aware of his uncle's involvement especially since he was capodecina over Atlantic City which was Volpe's main connection to the Family, yet he claimed zero knowledge.

- The FBI said the four other "LCN witnesses" from the Philadelphia Division had even less knowledge of Philly's connection to Volpe, these likely being Gino Milano, Nick Caramandi, Tommy DelGiorno, and Larry Merlino. Merlino was another captain in AC and his brother Chucky was running the Family in 1983 so he would have known too if their Family was involved but apparently his knowledge was so limited they only talked to Leonetti. Asking Leonetti about Volpe seems to have prompted discussion of the Buffalo Family hierarchy but little else.

- Falzone's possible involvement points to Todaro ordering the hit. Enio Mora adds to this being a collaboration between US- and Canada-based Buffalo figures. Scarcella too is most likely a Buffalo affiliate in my opinion -- Carmine Guido said Scarcella was with the "Sicilian mob" but he was raised in Canada since childhood and the person I spoke to with deep knowledge of Castellammarese mafiosi never heard of him or other connections to the Scarcella name. This draws back to Detective Amato calling Buffalo a "Sicilian Cosa Nostra Family" to differentiate it from the 'ndrangheta, so Guido may have been making the same distinction when he said Scarcella was with the "Sicilian mob".

- Not sure I understand the "tribute" angle -- it's not uncommon for made members to pay tribute selectively or not at all, so that has no bearing on Volpe's Buffalo membership to me. His operations with Natarelli in the 1960s appear to be partnerships supervised by Natarelli rather than Volpe paying him flat tribute from his own separate activities.

--

My take, to be clear, is that Paul Volpe was a made member of the Buffalo Family in Toronto who was most likely killed on the orders of Joe Todaro with at least passive support from other underworld groups Volpe did business with. Like NickleCity suggested, the timing of the murder came on the heels of ongoing factionalism in Buffalo and Todaro was at that time securing his position. Volpe may have been seen as a potential problem during the Family reorganization that was taking place in addition to other concerns about him. We know from the wiretap of Natarelli meeting with the Volpe brothers in 1965 that Buffalo was already upset with the Volpes back then.

[chin_gigante]

I read Mr Undercover over the past few days and made some relevant notes. Fino doesn't mention Canada a lot but I've compiled what he does say about it below (including one mention of Volpe):

- In early 1969, when the Buffalo and Rochester factions decided to break away from Magaddino, meetings were held in Buffalo (at the homes of Sammy Spano - brother of member Benedetto Spano - and Joseph Fino), Rochester, and Erie, Ontario
- Joseph Colombo and Joseph Aiuppa (both "very close" to Fino) attended one meeting at Fino's house
- Roy Carlisi had a cottage near Crystal Beach, Ontario, and spent a lot of time in Canada
- Despite Fino being acting boss of the breakaway Buffalo faction, he was a pawn of Carlisi
- Ronald Fino was told by law enforcement that, "Fidel Castro had allowed a portion of the mob's money that was seized during the Battista takeover to be returned to the families via Canada and other countries and that Roy Carlisi was one of the contacts through whom part of the transfer was made"
- Dingy LaPaglia and "Tony Balls" were laborers working on a construction project at the Bethlehem Steel mill in Lackawanna and would be seen meeting with Castro connected Cubans in Toronto
- The two were small time associates on record with the Randaccio brothers and would make frequent trips to the Fort Erie Race Track in Canada
- Ronald Fino learned from his father that the pair were involved in "something to do with gold"
- In autumn 1973, Joseph Todaro Jr took Ronald Fino to New York City where they met members of several families including Anthony Guarneri and Louis Marcone
- Fino describes Guarneri as a "Magaddino family capo" and Marcone as a soldier under him [I believe Guarneri was actually in the Pittston family, though later in the book Fino describes Bufalino as the "so-called boss" of northeast Pennsylvania who reported to Magaddino and later direct with the Genovese family]
- Marcone was "involved in racketeering activities in Utica, as well as in Montreal, Quebec"
- "The New York City families and the rest of the borgatas in the United States and Canada" would abide by the Chicago family's decision over who to make president of the LIUNA "provided they were given their fare share and could maintain absolute control over their respective territories, positions, and kickbacks"
- Joseph DiCarlo had a "trail of death from Miami, Florida, and Youngstown, Ohio to Toronto, Ontario"
- "When my father was given the reins of the empire, he, for whatever reason, decided that the capos under him should be given more power and the power of the boss should become more of an overseer with less authority. This gave Dan Sansanese Sr and Roy Carlisi more power than my father had. He allowed Toronto, Ontario (which had been under Magaddino control since the 1950s) and Paul Volpe to exercise its authority and not have to pay any tribute. The same was true in Rochester under Frank Valenti. When he [Fino] was ousted in 1972, Rochester did not relinquish what had been given to them. Animosity broke out, and even the commission rulings could not bring Rochester back into the fold."
- The Chicago family operated in "parts of California [...], Nevada, Colorado, Texas, part of Canada and so on"
- In April 1985, John Papalia wanted Ugo Rossini removed from the laborers' union and for Enrico Mancinelli to take his place
- Joseph Todaro Sr told Arthur E Coia this during a meeting to discuss Coia's ambitions to become president of the LIUNA
- Coia also wanted Rossini out and liked Mancinelli as a choice
- Mancinelli was with Local 837 in Hamilton and managed the union's Ontario District Council
- Todaro Sr and Papalia put together a team consisting of lawyer David Knoll, Ted Gleave, and James Ryding to assist in a hazardous waste business
- They helped Steven Crane (a Canadian) and others blend PCB laden oil with clean fuel and sell it to customers in Canada and western New York
- Knoll opened an offshore account called Rhinestone Enterprises for Todaro and Papalia
- Ryding (also Canadian) was a Todaro associate who also handled money laundering for Todaro and Papalia
- Todaro Sr would go to "extreme" ends to avoid FBI eavesdropping including by "telling the wiseguys to have their conversations in Canada, or to go to an automobile dealership and enter a car being displayed on the showroom and talk there"

[PolackTony]

I read Mr Undercover over the past few days and made some relevant notes. Fino doesn't mention Canada a lot but I've compiled what he does say about it below (including one mention of Volpe):

- In early 1969, when the Buffalo and Rochester factions decided to break away from Magaddino, meetings were held in Buffalo (at the homes of Sammy Spano - brother of member Benedetto Spano - and Joseph Fino), Rochester, and Erie, Ontario
- Joseph Colombo and Joseph Aiuppa (both "very close" to Fino) attended one meeting at Fino's house
- Roy Carlisi had a cottage near Crystal Beach, Ontario, and spent a lot of time in Canada
- Despite Fino being acting boss of the breakaway Buffalo faction, he was a pawn of Carlisi
- Ronald Fino was told by law enforcement that, "Fidel Castro had allowed a portion of the mob's money that was seized during the Battista takeover to be returned to the families via Canada and other countries and that Roy Carlisi was one of the contacts through whom part of the transfer was made"
- Dingy LaPaglia and "Tony Balls" were laborers working on a construction project at the Bethlehem Steel mill in Lackawanna and would be seen meeting with Castro connected Cubans in Toronto
- The two were small time associates on record with the Randaccio brothers and would make frequent trips to the Fort Erie Race Track in Canada
- Ronald Fino learned from his father that the pair were involved in "something to do with gold"
- In autumn 1973, Joseph Todaro Jr took Ronald Fino to New York City where they met members of several families including Anthony Guarneri and Louis Marcone
- Fino describes Guarneri as a "Magaddino family capo" and Marcone as a soldier under him [I believe Guarneri was actually in the Pittston family, though later in the book Fino describes Bufalino as the "so-called boss" of northeast Pennsylvania who reported to Magaddino and later direct with the Genovese family]
- Marcone was "involved in racketeering activities in Utica, as well as in Montreal, Quebec"
- "The New York City families and the rest of the borgatas in the United States and Canada" would abide by the Chicago family's decision over who to make president of the LIUNA "provided they were given their fare share and could maintain absolute control over their respective territories, positions, and kickbacks"
- Joseph DiCarlo had a "trail of death from Miami, Florida, and Youngstown, Ohio to Toronto, Ontario"
- "When my father was given the reins of the empire, he, for whatever reason, decided that the capos under him should be given more power and the power of the boss should become more of an overseer with less authority. This gave Dan Sansanese Sr and Roy Carlisi more power than my father had. He allowed Toronto, Ontario (which had been under Magaddino control since the 1950s) and Paul Volpe to exercise its authority and not have to pay any tribute. The same was true in Rochester under Frank Valenti. When he [Fino] was ousted in 1972, Rochester did not relinquish what had been given to them. Animosity broke out, and even the commission rulings could not bring Rochester back into the fold."
- The Chicago family operated in "parts of California [...], Nevada, Colorado, Texas, part of Canada and so on"
- In April 1985, John Papalia wanted Ugo Rossini removed from the laborers' union and for Enrico Mancinelli to take his place
- Joseph Todaro Sr told Arthur E Coia this during a meeting to discuss Coia's ambitions to become president of the LIUNA
- Coia also wanted Rossini out and liked Mancinelli as a choice
- Mancinelli was with Local 837 in Hamilton and managed the union's Ontario District Council
- Todaro Sr and Papalia put together a team consisting of lawyer David Knoll, Ted Gleave, and James Ryding to assist in a hazardous waste business
- They helped Steven Crane (a Canadian) and others blend PCB laden oil with clean fuel and sell it to customers in Canada and western New York
- Knoll opened an offshore account called Rhinestone Enterprises for Todaro and Papalia
- Ryding (also Canadian) was a Todaro associate who also handled money laundering for Todaro and Papalia
- Todaro Sr would go to "extreme" ends to avoid FBI eavesdropping including by "telling the wiseguys to have their conversations in Canada, or to go to an automobile dealership and enter a car being displayed on the showroom and talk there"

Thanks for the summary here. NorthBuffalo recently posted the Fino-Aiuppa thing in the Chicago thread. Unsurprising that the Carlisis were a big factor there, as Sam Carlisi was one of Aiuppa’s guys.

Struck that Fino claimed that Chicago had operations in “part of Canada”. Chicago had links to the Giuseppe Cotroni in the ‘50s, but I’m not aware of Chicago itself having any direct interests in Canada. Did Fino give any further detail there?

[B.]

Not surprised Carlisi comes up in connection to Canada. The FBI linked a company Paul Volpe was involved with to Buffalo member Charles Cassaro who is a possible Carlisi relative.

Also makes it clear Paul Volpe was part of the Buffalo Family from Fino's POV -- Joe Fino gave Toronto and Rochester more autonomy and Rochester used this to try and break off but he doesn't say that about Toronto.

He did make a mistake about Guarnieri like you mentioned, who the FBI carried as a Pittston capodecina in the 1970s, but maybe that comes through the apparent Commission relationship between Pittston and Buffalo (which is news to me but makes sense). There was a lot of confusion about those Southern Tier guys but it was Pittston's jurisdication. A couple months ago I spoke to someone who grew up very close to Louis Marconi and he knew him to be with Pittston.

Great stuff on the Chicago connections, too.

Tony -- maybe Aiuppa/Sam Carlisi were partnered with Roy Carlisi in Canada since he had a presence there, just like he had partnerships back in Cicero after moving to Buffalo. What Fino said about Chicago's union influence says this extended to Canada as well.

[PolackTony]

Not surprised Carlisi comes up in connection to Canada. The FBI linked a company Paul Volpe was involved with to Buffalo member Charles Cassaro who is a possible Carlisi relative.

Also makes it clear Paul Volpe was part of the Buffalo Family from Fino's POV -- Joe Fino gave Toronto and Rochester more autonomy and Rochester used this to try and break off but he doesn't say that about Toronto.

He did make a mistake about Guarnieri like you mentioned, who the FBI carried as a Pittston capodecina in the 1970s, but maybe that comes through the apparent Commission relationship between Pittston and Buffalo (which is news to me but makes sense). There was a lot of confusion about those Southern Tier guys but it was Pittston's jurisdication. A couple months ago I spoke to someone who grew up very close to Louis Marconi and he knew him to be with Pittston.

Great stuff on the Chicago connections, too.

Tony -- maybe Aiuppa/Sam Carlisi were partnered with Roy Carlisi in Canada since he had a presence there, just like he had partnerships back in Cicero after moving to Buffalo. What Fino said about Chicago's union influence says this extended to Canada as well.

The union angle would make sense, for sure. It is the Laborers International Union after all.

Joe Fino was born in Milwaukee, though the family relocated to Buffalo when he was a very young kid. His dad, Rocco Fino, I believe was from Misilmeri. I’m not 100% sure, but I believe that his mother, Angelina Bertolini, was from Grotte. If so, that would make perfect sense for the Buffalo mafia. But, as you’re aware, the Carlisis were part of a broader network of mafiosi from Canicattì and Grotte in the Prohibition era, that was extended from Chicago to Buffalo and Racine, WI.

[antimafia]

@B. and everyone else:

If you can get your hands on a digital copy of Deadly silence: Canadian mafia murders, please read pp. 75–86 from the chapter "Fox Hunt," which I've just re-read in the hard copy. (NB: There is no digital copy on archive.org or openlibrary.org.)

If someone somehow got their hands on the book in digital form and is willing to screenshot and share those pages here, that would be great. I think that NickleCity is familiar with the content of those pages. Just a warning, though: If anyone is hoping to glean the details from that book in a secondarily digested fashion, such as by reading Iced, you won't get the full analysis provided by Edwards and Nicaso, both of whom were aware before their book was published in 1993 of the declassified-document excerpts that B. and others have posted in this thread and, in fact, used in the writing of the book.

At the time of writing, the authors were already familiar with a dozen theories as to why Volpe was murdered. From the aforementioned pages you will learn that Scarfo and his Philly associates expected a cut from any monies Paul Volpe made in AC; of the verbal threat* delivered in the summer of 1980 to the home in Woodbridge (immediately n. of Toronto) belonging to the ex-police officer from Italy who was acting as Volpe's frontman in AC -- the associate was on a trip with Volpe in NJ, so the threat was uttered to the frontman's wife; that Scarfo Sr. and Joe Todaro Sr., whose wrath had already been incurred by Volpe for years, were then joined by Papalia in their quest to take care of Volpe; that after Sam Pieri Jr. entered the witness-protection program, he provided even more information to the authorities that helped them get a clearer picture of why Volpe was murdered; and that in the authors' opinion, one theory deserved special attention: a Hamilton mobster in the Todaro faction (the shooter), this mobster's younger brother (the getaway driver), and a Buffalo man (an observer only) genuinely were, after Scarcella finished meeting with Volpe, the last people to see Volpe alive. (Incidentally, this book is the one that repeatedly mentions that Angelo Pucci is a cousin to Paul Volpe; no mention of Angelo's brother Frank, though. I have yet to verify the familial relationship between the Puccis and Volpe.)

*From p. 77 of the book: He [the stranger who knocked on the frontman's door] said he was from the Philadelphia Church and looking for donations. "When you come to visit the church, you're expected to make donations," he told her, before she panicked and slammed the door. The stranger climbed into a black car, where three other strangers sat, then drove off.

@PolackTony:

Nothing surprises me about the American LCN's historical legitimate and illegitimate interests in Canada, especially Ontario. The Genovese Family invested in a hotel in Toronto in the 1970s; via Tony Giacalone's Home Juice Company, the Detroit Family had business interests in not only Windsor (the Canadian subsidiary had a corporate address there) but also Sarnia, Chatham, London, Brantford, and Hamilton; the Bufalino Family had interests in Toronto; LCN figures from as far afield as California and Las Vegas had interests in illegal gambling ops here in Ontario. And, like you, I have also heard about the Siderno Group in Toronto and John Papalia in Hamilton having had connections to Chicago.

And in more recent times -- the early 2010s -- we saw that a load of cocaine from Chicago was so valuable that after it made its way to Ontario, Martino Caputo and his partners thought nothing of having his friend Johnny Raposo killed so that he and the partners could get Raposo's share.

[B.]

We often hear that Philly members were upset with Bruno for letting the NYC Families into AC but this could have included members from other Families like Volpe. I can see a falling out with Scarfo being a contributing factor though Leonetti having "no knowledge" of the Volpe murder rules Scarfo out as a direct conspirator for me. You said the authors were familiar with some of the docs posted in this thread, but did they know of the specific interview where Leonetti denied knowledge?

The FBI believed Volpe was involved in major narcotics trafficking between Canada and the US, so his real estate partnership with Martorano is suspicious given he was a massive drug dealer as was his son George. The FBI report is wrong about Martorano being a "capo", though, another example of that title being assigned too freely.

Falzone could be the Buffalo man who was an "observer" of Volpe's final moments.