Motorfab's Blog: Une Histoire de Crime Organisé

[AustraliaSteve]

Great work from Motorfab, loved the new article.

More on Testa, it was seen as a really big deal when he came to Australia. That famous photo of him in a kangaroo shooting trip with Lenny McPherson was reprinted everywhere at the time. The implications of Testa’s visit here, and of McPherson and Freeman’s trips to the US came up in the Moffat Royal Commission, and IIRC, a lot of that information is collated in this file:
https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/Search ... B=32562327

Rudy Tham also made a trip to Australia at one point, and I believe the links through Jimmy the Weasel to Carlo Gambino are what created the idea that Gambino had interests in transport and gambling concerns in Australia. Sir Peter Abeles and trucking magnate Lindsay Fox are in there somewhere, author Bob Bottom has written extensively on the links. I’m about to leave for work today, if I get time I’ll try and find the passages in Bottom’s book that talk about this.

Just to clarify: so Testa was not a made member but an associate of Milwaukee Phil. The speculation linking the Clown to his death is interesting. I’m guessing it came from LE? Appreciated the break down, Antiliar. I’d like to cover links between US LCN and Australia at some point in the future on my own blog.

[PolackTony]

Great work from Motorfab, loved the new article.

More on Testa, it was seen as a really big deal when he came to Australia. That famous photo of him in a kangaroo shooting trip with Lenny McPherson was reprinted everywhere at the time. The implications of Testa’s visit here, and of McPherson and Freeman’s trips to the US came up in the Moffat Royal Commission, and IIRC, a lot of that information is collated in this file:
https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/Search ... B=32562327

Rudy Tham also made a trip to Australia at one point, and I believe the links through Jimmy the Weasel to Carlo Gambino are what created the idea that Gambino had interests in transport and gambling concerns in Australia. Sir Peter Abeles and trucking magnate Lindsay Fox are in there somewhere, author Bob Bottom has written extensively on the links. I’m about to leave for work today, if I get time I’ll try and find the passages in Bottom’s book that talk about this.

Just to clarify: so Testa was not a made member but an associate of Milwaukee Phil. The speculation linking the Clown to his death is interesting. I’m guessing it came from LE? Appreciated the break down, Antiliar. I’d like to cover links between US LCN and Australia at some point in the future on my own blog.

Thanks to both you and Fab; great when US-based researchers are able to collaborate with those in Europe and Australia to tease out these international connections from multiple sides.

Antiliar has already provided some important info on Joe Testa. I can add that Testa was identified as a member of the Chicago Family on a 1968 list of ID'd Chicago members. While one of the sources who identified Testa as a member was Luigi Fratto (who was dying of cancer in Des Moines, Iowa, when he informed in 1967), whose own membership I consider suspect, Testa was additionally ID'd as a Chicago member by KC member Joe Gurera, who also informed before he died of a heart attack in '67 (and identified a number of Chicago members). The FBI had poor sources of intel for Chicago during this period, as even their few member sources often gave little organizational info and typically didn't ID many members (for example, member Rocco Pranno only identified captains Fifi Buccieri and Willie Daddono when he informed to the FBI). On a 1973 updated version of that list, the FBI again carried Testa as a member but did not have any further sources to identify him apart from the deceased Fratto and Gurera. So, I think we can say that he was a possible, suspected member, though I'd like to know whether a 100% confirmed Chicago member ever ID'd Testa as a made guy. Other info about him, such as the manner in which he was executed, I think speaks against him having been made, but it is a question still.

The allegation that a guy working for Lombardo whacked out Testa that Antiliar referenced was printed in the Tribune in 1989 when Jimmy Aquilla was pinched for his big coke conspiracy case with Henry Centracchio. I don't believe that any other info was provided on what LE thought the exact events were, apart from them telling the Trib that Aquilla had been with Testa at the time of the bombing and that Tony Centracchio was known to be running suburban racket operations for Lombardo's crew.

As Antiliar noted, Testa was both a wealthy businessman and involved with local LE in the SW suburban town of Justice, IL. Justice neighbored the village of Willow Springs, where outfit puppet Mike Corbitt was the notoriously corrupt Chief of Police. Corbitt was a close friend of Testa (to the extent that when Testa was blown up in '81, it turned out that Corbitt was named as an heir in Testa's will and inherited $800k from his estate). In his book "Double Deal" (which is a fun read, though I'd take Corbitt's claims with a big grain of salt as he, obviously, wasn't a member but just a mobbed-up cop and lackey), Corbitt claimed that Testa was never made, explaining that despite his tremendous business acumen Testa was known for having a notably hot and unstable temper and Chicago didn't "make" guys like that. Corbitt definitely painted Testa as a connected businessman and associate of Alderisio (Alderisio having developed close relationships for white-collar crime with successful businessmen like Testa and Harold Lurie, for example) who was a genuine tough guy and palled around with "made guys". Corbitt also claimed that Testa gained his connections from his father, who was alleged to have been a longtime friend of Tony Accardo (Accardo was also personally close to a network of highly successful Italian businessmen in Chicago, some of whom had international ties and connections to the mafia in Sicily). Apart from owning a number of trailer parks in IL and FL as well as other lucrative real estate holdings, since at least the 60s Testa had owned the Sterling Savings and Loan Co, which Corbitt said was a major asset for Alderisio, as they could use it to issue loans for other activities.

Joseph Daniel Testa Jr was born in Chicago in 1928 to Dr. Giuseppe "Joseph Daniel" Testa Sr, who was born in 1892 in Bairo, Torino, Piemonte, and Maddalena "Natalie" Riva, born in 1900 in Chicago to Piemontesi parents. Dr. Testa was a longtime physician, educated and trained in Chicago after arriving in the city from Italy in his late teens. Dr. Testa died in 1966 in Melrose Park, where the Testas had relocated after years of living on the Westside of Chicago. By 1950 Joe testa Jr already owned and managed a trucking company on the Westside, and was living at this time near North Ave and Central, though he later moved to Melrose Park. In the 1960s, Testa was in the papers a number of times for land deals and related disputes in the suburbs of Justice and Schiller Park; in the former, Testa was thought to have been linked to allegations of vote-buying and electoral intimidation, while in the latter, it was reported that a lounge/restaurant owned by Testa was bombed in November 1968. In the 1970s, the Chicago papers of course covered the allegations that Testa was involved in the expansion of slot machine gambling in Australia and Testa's public admission that he had personal ties to Alderisio and mob associates Frank Pantaleo and Philly Tolomeo.

Fab, apologies for going off on a tangent in your thread, but I'd been looking into Testa recently and noted that he came up here so I thought I'd post. Also, I can add that Testa's paternal aunt, Therese Testa Bertodotto, lived in Montluçon, France. So Testa was the Chicago-France-Australia link we've all been waiting for haha.

[B.]

So Testa was the Chicago-France-Australia link we've all been waiting for haha.

Finally. Thought it would never happen.

Excellent work all of you. Glad to see Fabien's blog is now "sticky".

[PolackTony]

So Testa was the Chicago-France-Australia link we've all been waiting for haha.

Finally. Thought it would never happen.

Excellent work all of you. Glad to see Fabien's blog is now "sticky".

I’ve been told that the French like it “sticky” lol.

Fab, just busting balls of course!

[motorfab]

Of course we like it sticky ! To quote Ed's new article "cherchez la femme" . No prob for the joke, on the contrary I'm the first to laugh about how foreigner see us (according to what I saw on movies or in the press, most often as very naughty or grumpy persons )

No prob, it's me at first who talk about Testa, so all good. But finding a connection between Australia, Chicago & Montluçon, seriously I must say it's quite someting, I think this forum is the very last place where I thought it was possible to see something on Montluçon

And thank you guys for having read my article, I repeat myself, but glad if you enjoyed it.

Just to get back on my article and the articles I find yesterday on Mammone in Buffalo, crazy to see early Calabrians mafiosi there, and I wonder if some ways they were connected to Di Carlo & Buffalo borgata. Especially that I never saw elswhere the name of the guys involved in this shooting (Faldo, Tripi, Masdea ...)

[AustraliaSteve]

Sorry for the delay, I’m having trouble finding the book. Give me a day or so.
To continue the subject, Lenny McPherson in particular was a force to be reckoned with in Sydney during that era. Freeman presents as a more refined and debonair. IIRC, Freeman was implicated in a double murder, but McPherson was involved in some serious violence.
Maybe a “Brain and the Muscle” type dynamic? In any case, McPerson in particular had a solemn history. There are stories of him ripping the head off a bunny to intimidate his own mother. There’s some crazy stories about him.

[AustraliaSteve]

Okay, some more on Testa. According to Bob Bottom in “The Godfather in Australia”, the middle man was a Russian gambler living in Hong Kong named Gigor Trava, described as styling himself as “ the Russian Count of Hong Kong”. He was travelling with a friend named George Savoy, and Trava put them in touch with Ronnie Lee, who was an organiser of baccarat in illlegal back room gambling dens. This was in 1965 and was unpublicised at the time. As well as Lee, Testa met Reg Andrews, another identity involved in illegal gambling.
In 1968, using a letter of introduction from Lee, George Freeman and McPherson protege Stan “The Man” Smith travelled to Chicago and were feted by Testa, who put them up in a Schiller Park hotel and the Stardust Casino, paying for all their expenses.
When they arrived back in Sydney, the pair were arrested and questioned by police, denying that they had taken the trip at the behest of McPherson.
When Testa returned in 1969, there was a party held for him (complete with a massive cake with the words “WELCOME JOE”) that was attended by McPherson, Freeman and a number of other “colourful” identities. On this trip, he rented a unit at Double Bay and bought a race horse, naming it “Just U Wait”. During this visit, Commonwealth Police (the body that would later become the AFP) collecting information on “Italian Crininal Societies” noted that Testa had travelled to Melbourne and met with an Italian figure about putting in poker machines in Victorian venues. When questioned however, he strenuously denied ever going there, maintaining that he’d only been to Sydney, Bourke, Brisbane and Darwin.
The Commonwealth Police also unearthed his connections his connections to McPherson and Freeman at a time when Sydney newspapers began reporting on criminal infiltration of the club scene, and believed Testa was behind the organisation of a monopolised gambling scene.
When the Moffit Royal Commission started, Testa flew in to defend himself in person. Representatives from Bally had made a point of distancing themselves from Testa, who had portrayed himself as representing the company’s interests in Australia.
On the stand , he denied having claimed that he was involved i Bally or that he was the mysterious “organiser” behind the club monopolies. He claimed that as a real-estate developer, he had no mafia-type links and donated generously to children’s hospitals and charities.Under oath he admitted being a business partner of Frank Pantaleo.
A Commonwealth Police file on Testa pointed out that out of 22 companies owned or controlled by Testa, 16 of them had a connection to the Outfit.
He said before the commission that, since he now knew the reputation of McPherson and his associates, that he doubted he’d associate with them anymore. However, he claimed in regard to George Freeman that “…he is not a criminal to me, your Honour. I would do business with Mr Freeman because I have done it with him in the past and it was honourable. I do not know that he is really the criminal you are saying in fact”.

Anyway, I’ve got more, but because it pertains more directly to Australia I’ll post it in the other thread.

[motorfab]

Thanks for the additional infos. You should do an article about McPherson. It's not 'ndrangheta but still an interesting guy.

Small update for my blog: Except for the 2 articles concerning the Cupola & the Commission, the English versions will now have the same photos as the French articles.

[AustraliaSteve]

Honestly, there’s so much history there on Mr Big (McPherson) and Mr Sin (Abe Saffron) that I’m actually considering branching out a bit. I have something in the works for non-Calabrian Italian OC in Australia, but up to a certain point (in Australia at least) it gets harder to collate information, due to libel laws and cost of FOI documents.

[AustraliaSteve]

Hey Fabien, had some time recently and been delving into this resource. Fantastic articles on the Cupola and the San Diego decina. This is what TBHF is all about. Fantastic resources and jumping off points for researchers.

[motorfab]

Hey Fabien, had some time recently and been delving into this resource. Fantastic articles on the Cupola and the San Diego decina. This is what TBHF is all about. Fantastic resources and jumping off points for researchers.

Excellent, thanks, it's great if you find them useful. There is maybe some things to correct in the one about the Cupola, but awaiting for new infos ...

[AustraliaSteve]

Just fwiw, I wanted to make a point of thanking you Fabien, for the tireless collection of rare af photographs and mugshots. This is collaborative process for us all, and it still blows me away that you managed to find photos of The Toad and D’Agostino, not to mention the wealth of content that is your blog and your Pinterest. Thanks for your work brother.

[motorfab]

Just fwiw, I wanted to make a point of thanking you Fabien, for the tireless collection of rare af photographs and mugshots. This is collaborative process for us all, and it still blows me away that you managed to find photos of The Toad and D’Agostino, not to mention the wealth of content that is your blog and your Pinterest. Thanks for your work brother.

Hey, thanks ! I mostly use Pinterest to save the photos I want to keep in case I have issues with my computer, and also to share them with one of my contact, who to quote him, is a "computer illiterate" and who use Pinterest for the same reason as me lol. But if it can be useful to other peoples like you, it's cool too ! It's anyway mostly photos find on newspapers archive site or press photo like Getty Images or things like that.

Regarding the blog, a new article should coming soon and the article will take place in Italy. I'm also currently working on another article, but it will be for later.

Thanks for your enthusiasm regarding what I do, I appreciate

[B.]

Yes, Fabien is a master at finding obscure photos from across the world.

[motorfab]

New article dedicated to the influence of Cosa Nostra in Naples https://unehistoiredecrimeorganise.blog ... aples.html