Asaro Clan Info + Early Castellammarese Mafia

Discuss all mafia families in the U.S., Canada, Italy, and everywhere else in the world.

Moderator: Capos

B.
Men Of Mayhem
Posts: 10692
Joined: Mon Oct 27, 2014 10:18 pm
Contact:

Re: Asaro Clan Info + Early Castellammarese Mafia

Post by B. »

Great research. Vincenzo "Jim" DePasquale did work for the coat company.

Filippo Rappa:

Image

- He was identified as participating in and even ordering mafia murders around Palermo province up until he came to the US and was likely made in his hometown Borgetto, where Rappas have been part of the Family leadership up to present day.

- Filippo Rappa's brother arrived to a cousin named Salvatore Orlando (from Borgetto) who was living on Flushing Ave at the same time early Bonanno leaders Paolo Orlando and Antonino Passananti lived there. The Borgetto Orlandos were cousins of Grippis in Borgetto, another name that shows up in the Bonanno Orlando-Passananti circle from Camporeale / Partinico.

- When Salvatore Orlando came to the US there was also an Orlando from Prizzi on the ship whose mother was a Governale, another name from that early Bonanno circle ID'd in the May 2014 Informer. Looks to me like the Rappas could be connected to the early Camporeale-Partinico Bonanno clan which wouldn't be a big surprise as Borgetto and Partinico basically form one town. That these same names show up in Prizzi as well in connection to these people wouldn't be too out there given the clan was already spread out between Camporeale, Partinico, and Roccamena.

- There was also a Luigi Orlando who arrived to his "uncle" Bonanno boss Nicolo Schiro but his family had been living in the Borgo Vecchio neighborhood in Palermo. When Bonanno member Salvatore Mangiaracina from Partinico moved to the US his wife and children were living in the same part of Palermo. Mangiaracina's cousin who he arrived to on one occasion was Stefano Piccolo from Monreale, the same one identified by Nicola Gentile and Stefano Magaddino as an early NYC mafioso of note.
User avatar
Antiliar
Full Patched
Posts: 4371
Joined: Sat Oct 25, 2014 12:08 pm
Contact:

Re: Asaro Clan Info + Early Castellammarese Mafia

Post by Antiliar »

It all comes together. Makes me wonder if Antonino Governale was in fact the founding rappresentante of the Bonanno Family.

Going back to Italiano and Rappa, I suspect that Bill Bonannos dates may be off. Consiglieri typically either retire or die in office (unless they move up to underboss or boss). Strongly suggests that Father Bonanno wanted them out, perhaps because he wanted Castellammarese to dominate the administration.
User avatar
thekiduknow
Full Patched
Posts: 1054
Joined: Wed Sep 12, 2018 4:43 pm

Re: Asaro Clan Info + Early Castellammarese Mafia

Post by thekiduknow »

Antiliar wrote: Tue Jul 12, 2022 8:35 pm
Regarding Vincente Pasquale, he could be a match for Jim DePasquale mentioned as Bill's uncle on page 40 of Last Testament. He was born Vincenzo DePasquale on Jan 28, 1891 or 1894 in Marsala. He first lived with his brother Biagio at 12 Montrose Ave. in Williamsburg.
They are one and the same. Bonanno was also a partner in the Morgan Coat Co. That was the firm that got charged, and ultimately paid a fine for the Wage and Hour Violation he mentions in his books.

Quick tangent:

A month after the Morgan Coat Co was charged, 10 other firms were charged with the same violation. One of the owners was Salvatore Bianco(from Partanna) who was killed a few months after Rappa in March, 1945. Another one was Domenico Randazzo, who at the time employed brothers Giovanni and Antonio "Pat" Messina, both future Bonanno members. Giovanni would later be partners with Gaspare DiGregorio in another garment firm, and after he died in 1961 his brother Frank Messina became a partner I believe.

The police connected the two murders, and during their investigation they interviewed a Salvatore DePasquale, likely Vincent's brother Salvatore, said to be Rappa's partner who said that Bianco and Rappa were close friends but not business partners.

Bianco was also partners with future Bonanno caporegime Smitty D'Angelo's brother Anthony in his family's funeral parlor.

His brother in law was Rosario Nastasi, who was killed during the third Colombo war.

On Bill Feather's site he has Bianco as a possible Colombo member, which I can see based on his relation to Nastasi, but I think it's more likely he was with the Bonannos if he was made at all. He was said to have been a loanshark, which police thought might be a reason for his murder.
User avatar
thekiduknow
Full Patched
Posts: 1054
Joined: Wed Sep 12, 2018 4:43 pm

Re: Asaro Clan Info + Early Castellammarese Mafia

Post by thekiduknow »

Came across this the other day regarding the DePasquales:

Image

This is from a Tucson informant. Really no surprise that he made some of them, especially given that they were involved in the garment industry. I think Vincenzo was more than likely made, he comes up constantly in files as being really close to Bill. I think he even went to Montreal with Bill and Joe Notaro at one point.
User avatar
thekiduknow
Full Patched
Posts: 1054
Joined: Wed Sep 12, 2018 4:43 pm

Re: Asaro Clan Info + Early Castellammarese Mafia

Post by thekiduknow »

Antiliar wrote: Tue Jul 12, 2022 9:25 pm
Going back to Italiano and Rappa, I suspect that Bill Bonannos dates may be off. Consiglieri typically either retire or die in office (unless they move up to underboss or boss). Strongly suggests that Father Bonanno wanted them out, perhaps because he wanted Castellammarese to dominate the administration.
That definitely could be it, that the years were off and they held the rank until they were killed. B. has brought up the Gotti tapes where he threatens to demote the captains, promote guys for a day just to vote Gallo out, so Bonanno could have also done something similar.
B.
Men Of Mayhem
Posts: 10692
Joined: Mon Oct 27, 2014 10:18 pm
Contact:

Re: Asaro Clan Info + Early Castellammarese Mafia

Post by B. »

A+

Bianco does look to be part of that Bonanno Partanna / Santa Ninfa / Salemi element, member or not, and the timing of his murder is suspicious. Didn't know multiple Bonanno-connected garment shops got charged.

With more of these Partanna guys showing up it brings to mind Chicago rebel faction leader Vincenzo Benevento from Partanna who "controlled" Grande Cheese before Bonanno/DiBella/Candella took it over. Interesting too Benevento was killed around the same time as his compaesano Bianco.
B.
Men Of Mayhem
Posts: 10692
Joined: Mon Oct 27, 2014 10:18 pm
Contact:

Re: Asaro Clan Info + Early Castellammarese Mafia

Post by B. »

Re: Bonanno Castellammarese-izing the admin. I've had that thought too.

- What we know of the 1900-1940s shows a lot more representation from outside CDG. Joe Bonanno describes both Angelo Caruso and Frank Italiano as representing a non-Castellammarese faction and obviously that's true of Rappa as well. This faction had political weight given they were represented on the admin.

- Stefano LoPiccolo has been labeled a possible Gambino member (is there a source for it?), but Gentile says he met with Maranzano at the house of "Lo Piccolo", who I presume to be Stefano. When recalling the end of the war, Magaddino says he ran into Stefano LoPiccolo on the train who told him what to expect from Maranzano in Chicago, at which point the unsub old Bonanno member says "LoPiccolo!" showing he knew him too. Adding in LoPiccolo's relation to Salvatore Mangiaracina (himself important during the war), I lean toward LoPiccolo being a significant Bonanno leader under Schiro and maybe Maranzano / early Bonanno unless there's something to discount it.

- The May 2014 Informer makes a strong case that while Castellammare was influential going back to Saracino and DiGaetano, the roots of the organization drew more political power from Camporeale and Partinico. The Bonannos don't seem to have started as the "Castellammarese Family" as Joe Bonanno describes them, but transitioned into a CDG-dominated Family and Joe Bonanno -- as treacherous and shrewd as they come -- likely made maneuvers to secure that shift. He intermarried with the Camporealesi but shows a strong preference for the Castellammarese in his book.
User avatar
thekiduknow
Full Patched
Posts: 1054
Joined: Wed Sep 12, 2018 4:43 pm

Re: Asaro Clan Info + Early Castellammarese Mafia

Post by thekiduknow »

As we've talked about before, the inner Trapani/Agrigento members were still pretty prominent by the 1960s. That might be another reason why Bonanno tapped Frank LaBruzzo as acting boss/his potential replacement right before the split.
User avatar
Angelo Santino
Filthy Few
Posts: 6564
Joined: Sat Oct 25, 2014 8:15 am

Re: Asaro Clan Info + Early Castellammarese Mafia

Post by Angelo Santino »

Rick and I along with James Buccellato and Frank Fiordilino just completed an early Cast Del Golfo 1860-1957 episode and it came out amazing. Can't wait to get this one up and you can believe we'll be collaborating again. This week will be Tampa with Scott Deitche, next week will be a beautiful Chicago episode with Rick, Tony, Eric and Snakes.

We got some good stuff coming. I'm very happy to have been a part of it.
User avatar
Antiliar
Full Patched
Posts: 4371
Joined: Sat Oct 25, 2014 12:08 pm
Contact:

Re: Asaro Clan Info + Early Castellammarese Mafia

Post by Antiliar »

Angelo Santino wrote: Tue Mar 28, 2023 9:40 pm Rick and I along with James Buccellato and Frank Fiordilino just completed an early Cast Del Golfo 1860-1957 episode and it came out amazing. Can't wait to get this one up and you can believe we'll be collaborating again. This week will be Tampa with Scott Deitche, next week will be a beautiful Chicago episode with Rick, Tony, Eric and Snakes.

We got some good stuff coming. I'm very happy to have been a part of it.
The 1837 report you cited is on the first page of this thread
User avatar
Angelo Santino
Filthy Few
Posts: 6564
Joined: Sat Oct 25, 2014 8:15 am

Re: Asaro Clan Info + Early Castellammarese Mafia

Post by Angelo Santino »

Antiliar wrote: Tue Mar 28, 2023 10:19 pm
Angelo Santino wrote: Tue Mar 28, 2023 9:40 pm Rick and I along with James Buccellato and Frank Fiordilino just completed an early Cast Del Golfo 1860-1957 episode and it came out amazing. Can't wait to get this one up and you can believe we'll be collaborating again. This week will be Tampa with Scott Deitche, next week will be a beautiful Chicago episode with Rick, Tony, Eric and Snakes.

We got some good stuff coming. I'm very happy to have been a part of it.
The 1837 report you cited is on the first page of this thread
Angelo Santino wrote: Fri Jul 10, 2020 5:54 pm 1837:

QUESTIONS OF FACT
1. Do you know that Gattina is guilty of murder in the person of Francesco Paolo Prato, and of excitement to the people to commit the massacre against a class of people?
2. Do you know that the brothers Pietro and Luca Mirra have taken an active part in the aforementioned crimes?
3. Do you know that the remaining Spallina, Ferriera, Trapani, Giovenco, Zito, Rosalia, Vavila, Benvenuto, Maranzano, Zimmardi and Macaluso are guilty of attempted massacre?

Considering that the public examination has prepared the following facts:
1. The morning of 11 next July in this was killed in the courtyard of the Conceziono al Capo the named Francesco Paolo Prato, because he was believed to be the proponator of poison; the first to attack him was Vincenzo Gattina; the brothers Pietro and Luca Mirra took an active part in it, and all three excited the crowd to bring the massacre towards the class of people, made to be believed to be a propagator of poison; with attacking by the feet and publicly dragging the body of the interceptor through several streets, often proclaiming the voices of Viva S. Rosalia, preceded even by Salvatore Zito, who waved a handkerchief; Hurrying the said Gattina as troublemaking to deal with that huge crime, announcing that after that they had to go to the Police Directorate to do the same in person of another subject, who said he was puranco propagator of poison.

2. That the other aforementioned Spallina, Ferriera, Trapani, Giovenco, Zito, Rosalia, Vavila, Benvenuto and Maranzano made this attempt.

3. That Zimmardi was seen at the time of that union.
Considering that the generic of the murder is well based on the report of the health expert; Considering for the specification that the facts expressed above come from sufficient disputed documents and witnesses;

Considering that the real object of the attackers was not only to kill the man who mistakenly believes they were the author of poisoning, but that of inviting the people to the massacre of indeterminate individuals, who wanted to make the perpetrators of such alleged crimes believe, or this the object of carrying out further searches for poisons in the houses of the city peace, as they had said in wanting also to kill an existing person in the Police Directorate, and thus helping the killers and the robberies; For these reasons, the aforementioned Commission has unanimously declared, and declares

1. Finding to be the aforementioned Gattina, Pietro and Luca Mirra brothers, Spallina, Ferriera, Trapani, Giovenco, Zito, Rosalia, Vavila, Benvenuto and Maranzano guilty of their respective crimes as a consequence of the queries.

2. Do not find enough to be Zimmardi guilty of the crime for which he was to be prevented, by ordering to obtain a large instruction to remain in prison during the same.

3. To ascertain that he is not the last, that is Macaluso, guilty of the crime with which he was accused, and to put himself once again in absolute freedom.

Finally, behind the straight question proposed by the President, the aforementioned Commission came with the same uniformity of votes to condemn imentate individuals to the following classification of penalties, namely:

1. Vincenzo Gattina to death penalty with shooting and with the 2nd degree of public example according to art. 130 of the criminal laws.

2. Pietro and Luca Mirra brothers to death penalty by shooting in accordance with art. 131 of the said laws. (A century later and Mirras were still getting shot.)

3. Salvatore Spallina at the 3rd degree of irons for twenty-four years, in accordance with art. 132 of the above-mentioned laws.

4. Salvatore Zito at the 2nd grade of the irons for eighteen years.

5. Gioacchino Ferrierı, Gaetano Trapani and Ignazio Giovenco on the fence for years! 3.

6. Giuseppe Rosalia, Giacomo Vavila, Angelo Benvenuto and Salvatore Maranzano to imprisonment for six years, being of a minor age.

Finally, he condemned all the aforementioned individuals jointly and severally to the costs of the judgment in favor of the Real Treasury.
In the end he condemned the more repeated Spallina, Zito, Ferriera, Trapani, Giovenco, Rosalia, Vavila, Benvenuto and Maranzano to the curse for three years under penalty of 300 ducats.

He also ordered the execution of this sentence tomorrow morning at 7 a.m., and that 200 copies be printed in print for the corresponding publication and branch.
All by the care and diligence of the Captain Rapporteur.
Made, read and published today in continuation of the trial in Palermo,
on August 4, 1837.
Signed:
Ludovico Matina artillery colonel president.
Giuseppe Ferrara captain of the first grenadiers.
Job Romanzi captain of the 1st line.
Francesco Valliso captain of the 2nd line.
Antonio Albertis 1st Lieutenant of the 1st Grenadiers.
Gaetano Prinzivalli 1st lieutenant of the 10th line.
Domenico Patierno captain speaker.
Gaetano Vanni judge of the Civil Court, man of law.
Francesco D 'Avella 2nd sergeant of 1st line King, chancellor.
Seen
Captain Speaker DOMENICO PATIERNO, major assistant.
:lol: . I feel like I'm reading this for the first time. I don't remember even posting this, where I got it from but I promise I didn't make it up. I'm like Nemo (Jose Coronado) with Alzheimers on Netflix's Unauthorized Living, minus the drug empire. I forget things.

Damn, this would have been great to cover. Maybe James can look into things from his end and we can follow up on it next time we get together for part 2 with Frank.
User avatar
Antiliar
Full Patched
Posts: 4371
Joined: Sat Oct 25, 2014 12:08 pm
Contact:

Re: Asaro Clan Info + Early Castellammarese Mafia

Post by Antiliar »

This is the source, the Italian original: https://books.google.com/books?id=lO0sA ... la&f=false
B.
Men Of Mayhem
Posts: 10692
Joined: Mon Oct 27, 2014 10:18 pm
Contact:

Re: Asaro Clan Info + Early Castellammarese Mafia

Post by B. »

Curious if this Salvatore Maranzano is a direct descendant. I've mentioned to Jimmy B before how you don't see the Maranzano name come up much in historic CDG mafia coverage.

If I remember right (could be wrong), Turridru's grandfather wasn't Salvatore like him but Mariano or the name of an older Maranzano brother but the Maranzano name comes up so infrequently there could be something to it and it would make sense that he came from a deep lineage based on what's known about him.
User avatar
jimmyb
Straightened out
Posts: 320
Joined: Tue Jan 13, 2015 10:43 pm

Re: Asaro Clan Info + Early Castellammarese Mafia

Post by jimmyb »

nash143 wrote: Thu Oct 29, 2020 4:14 am I am attempting to map out a family tree that details CDG-born Bonanno members (+ Magaddino) and their offspring. I've come up against a few dead-ends.

Can anyone help identify paternal links for the following Bonanno members?

- Joseph Sabella b. c1965
- Antonino Bonventre b.1930 (Father of Giacomo)
- Giuseppe Buccellato b.1912 - I have his Father as Filippo b. 1876 - does anyone know how Filippo ties into the other Buccellatos?

Any help appreciated!
I can't remember if I shared this with you yet, but Felice and Martino were brothers. Filippo Buccellato was their first cousin
User avatar
nash143
Sergeant Of Arms
Posts: 518
Joined: Sun Mar 08, 2015 11:04 am
Contact:

Re: Asaro Clan Info + Early Castellammarese Mafia

Post by nash143 »

jimmyb wrote: Wed Mar 29, 2023 8:47 pm
nash143 wrote: Thu Oct 29, 2020 4:14 am I am attempting to map out a family tree that details CDG-born Bonanno members (+ Magaddino) and their offspring. I've come up against a few dead-ends.

Can anyone help identify paternal links for the following Bonanno members?

- Joseph Sabella b. c1965
- Antonino Bonventre b.1930 (Father of Giacomo)
- Giuseppe Buccellato b.1912 - I have his Father as Filippo b. 1876 - does anyone know how Filippo ties into the other Buccellatos?

Any help appreciated!
I can't remember if I shared this with you yet, but Felice and Martino were brothers. Filippo Buccellato was their first cousin
Do you know if the Father of the Filippo Buccellato you mention was named Giuseppe (b1840)- and if he was the brother of Giovanni (b1845, father of Felice and Martino)?

I figured if Giuseppe Buccellato b1912 was first born, his paternal grandfather would also be Giuseppe.
Post Reply