Bosses Bruno and Ida:
Two consecutive bosses, Joe Bruno and Joe Ida, lived in Middlesex County, NJ. This would have given them the opportunity to recruit local criminals. When did they get there?
According to Joe Bruno's 1946 obituary, he had been a resident of New Brunswick, NJ for the past 30 years, since ~1916.
(https://www.newspapers.com/clip/1174978 ... phia-boss/). However, census records show that he moved there at some time before 1930 after having lived in Bristol, PA and Cortland, NY (Upstate).
Similarly, Joe Ida was in the neighboring Highland Park, NJ by 1930. (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X4XK-P8X).
He may have been there earlier but I wasn't able to find any records of him before that.
While none of the early members of the Newark crew appear to be directly tied to either of these bosses, they emerged as associates during this era.
Other early North Jersey figures:
- John Cappello - lived in Union City, NJ. This area was NYC suburbs and not tied to Newark. I don't think he was a Philly member when he lived here.
- Anthony Perella - lived in Newark but was a member of south Jersey-based Frank Barrale crew
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Anthony Caponigro:
Caponigro appears to have been the first member based in Newark having been made ~1947-49, additionally, most of the members were tied to him. Up until the late 1970s, they were a faction in John Simone's Trenton based crew, but he was clearly the de facto leader of this group. While his position may not have reflected it, he was one of the main power players there along with Richie Boiardo and Jerry Catena. How did he link with Philadelphia?
The Albert Anastasia connection
On a recording, Nicholas Stefanelli and Joseph Licata discuss him with John Gambino. Apparently, Caponigro and Louie Luciano had been used by Albert Anastasia before being put with the Philadelphia family under Joe Bruno.
Key:
NS - Nicholas Stefanelli
SL - Joseph Licata
JG - John Gambino
Joe Bruno was boss from August 1936 to October 1946. I'm not sure when Marco Reginelli was his underboss, I thought Joe Ida held that role and Reginelli was Ida's UB during his reign. i think that it's possible there was a slight mixup in the names and Bruno was said instead of Ida. The mention of Reginelli and Calabrian connection between Anastasia - Ida - Caponigro lend itself to that idea.
Caponigro was always a blue-collar guy, but I'm not sure if he was sticking up card games by the late '40s. He was a boxing manager and also ran the pinball machine racket in the area.
(https://www.newspapers.com/clip/1182261 ... k-luciano/)
Concerning the latter, in January 1945, Caponigro and Luciano were arrested for the murder of gangster Charles Lacara who attempted to get into that business. Along with these two, future Genovese member Peter Cavanna and future Colombo member Joseph Leone were also pinched. Across various articles at the time, it's made obvious that Caponigro was the leader of this group. It's possible that the fallout from this hit may have caused him to be put with Philly.
The Tino Fiumara situation
According to informant Patrick Kelly, Tino Fiumara started out as an associate of this crew before being put with the Genovese family.
(https://www.newspapers.com/clip/1175858 ... ladelphia/). This was done because he killed Peter Martella, Pasquale Collucci, and Nicholas Collucci in October 1967. This worked and he wasn't killed. I'm wondering if the Caponigro/Luciano transfer may have been precedent for this type of situation.
It looks like Caponigro was the first to be made and subsequently people around him like Luciano, Pasquale Martirano, Ralph Napoli, and Alfred Salerno joined. I'm not sure how Dominick DiNorscio got hooked up with this group.
By 1948, Caponigro was involved in moving alcohol with Peter Casella (https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.htm ... lPageId=67)
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Who did Caponigro report to before John Simone who is said to have moved to Trenton in ~1954, was he direct with the administration ?
Please add whatever information you have relating to the origins of the Philly Newark crew.
