The Vincenzo Troia murder

[cavita]

Yes, I have this one though mine seems to be higher quality. I also have his side view mugshot as well as a frontal mugshot of Frank Longo. As I said, I believe they are from their 1934 arrest and were taken from the newspaper

[cavita]

Additionally, according to Troia's death certificate he was born in San Giuseppe Iato in 1886 and it listed his mother's last name as Ruffino, which was an alias that he used as well as Lorenzo Salvatore and Elia Costanza. The May 31, 1934 newspapers said that Troia "entered the United States unlawfully in the guise of a monk ostensibly to attend the Eucharistic congress at Chicago in 1925." By 1926 and early 1927 he was then in Madison, Wisconsin. By October 1927 he was in Rockford and identified by Ezra Duffy, a bootlegger, as one of several men that kidnapped him and held him for ransom in Rockford. In 1930 Troia was listed as a "macaroni maker" by the Liberty Macaroni Company in Rockford which in reality was a front for liquor distribution and fencing of hijacked goods. After fleeing Rockford Troia spent time in the Springfield, Illinois area before his May 1934 arrest. He was also arrested in Peoria, Illinois on September 22, 1934 for questioning in the kidnapping of Peoria banker Milton G. Newman. Also arrested with Troia were Patsy Aiello, Vito Impastato and Tony Campo. All three men were powerhouses in the Springfield family with Impastato being described as boss Frank Zito's "right hand man." Impastato was born in Cinisi, Sicily which is also interesting to note.

[toto]

In 1926 some statements were made to the police that Vincenzo Troia was involved in the murder of Salvatore Mineo mayor of Jato murdered in 1920 by Cosa Nostra. These statements confirmed some others made previously. It's possibly the reason he fled to America. Of course, it could be a different guy but doubtful. It wouldn't surprise me if Antonio Riela was involved in that murder as well because he was using false identities in America as well.

Impastato's in the American mafia are all related to the Badalamenti's from Cinisi and they were all doing drug trafficking from the 1950s until Badalamenti was arrested. Giacomo Impastato was murdered by the Corleonesi in America in 1982 and he was one of these Impastato's as well.

[cavita]

I was wondering what the reason was for Troia to enter the U.S. illegally- the Mineo murder may very well have been that reason. Anthony Riela's entry into the U.S. is just as interesting. It appears he used a passport of a man with the same name. I have an FBI document detailing this. Riela was especially close to the Zitos in Springfield and Rockford and kept in contact with them up through the 1970s. The connections these men had are fascinating and spanned 50 years. It is interesting to think where Troia would have ended up had he lived a full life.

[Antiliar]

So it appears that Troia may have been the Springfield boss from 1930-c1934, then he tried to take over/or did take over the Newark Family.

Was the Vito Impastato arrested with him in 1934 the same one who was connected to St. Louis and Detroit?

[B.]

Thanks for all of the extra info. The more I learn, the more interesting his story gets.

It's still not clear if he stayed in Illinois for a while after Maranzano's death or if he moved to Newark immediately after, but if he gave a Newark address in 1934 during his Illinois visit he was definitely established there by then. Why and when he chose Newark is another question.

How Maranzano's death impacted his status is a question, too. At least one report theorized that his death in 1935 was fallout from the Maranzano situation but that seems unlikely given the amount of time that had passed (the same was said about Buster Domingo who was killed years after Maranzano). Despite his friendship with Maranzano, he proved himself as a neutral mediator during the war to the point of pissing his ally Maranzano off, so I can't imagine that having been a factor. Having been a boss in another city and major national player then moving to a new area and making waves is the most obvious theory to me, and that doesn't disclude the supposed lottery dispute since that could have been included in his power play.

[cavita]

So it appears that Troia may have been the Springfield boss from 1930-c1934, then he tried to take over/or did take over the Newark Family.

Was the Vito Impastato arrested with him in 1934 the same one who was connected to St. Louis and Detroit?

Yes, this Vito Impastato is one and the same. It is also an interesting fact that Impastato was listed as a witness on the marriage certificate to Joe Zito in Rockford on September 22, 1935. Those must have been some strong ties

[Antiliar]

So it appears that Troia may have been the Springfield boss from 1930-c1934, then he tried to take over/or did take over the Newark Family.

Was the Vito Impastato arrested with him in 1934 the same one who was connected to St. Louis and Detroit?

Yes, this Vito Impastato is one and the same. It is also an interesting fact that Impastato was listed as a witness on the marriage certificate to Joe Zito in Rockford on September 22, 1935. Those must have been some strong ties

Thanks cavita. He might have a useful FBI file. Some people claim that he's the brother of Nicolo Impastato of Kansas City, also from Cinisi, but the Impastatos were a large family and I've seen no proof of a relationship. Vito Impastato was the son of Faro Impastato and had a son also named Faro. Nicolo's father was Giacomo Impastato according to the Mafia book.

[cavita]

Correct on his father being Faro, which is a name I've never heard. His mother was Caterina Orlando and he had a brother Giacomo (1897-1986) and a brother Pietro. I'm guessing Nicolo could very well have been a cousin.
By the way, what do you know of the Bommarito family from St. Louis, especially the time period from the 30s and 40s?

[Antiliar]

Correct on his father being Faro, which is a name I've never heard. His mother was Caterina Orlando and he had a brother Giacomo (1897-1986) and a brother Pietro. I'm guessing Nicolo could very well have been a cousin.
By the way, what do you know of the Bommarito family from St. Louis, especially the time period from the 30s and 40s?

I haven't gone over the Bommarito genealogies for a while. Daniel Waugh is the man when it comes to St. Louis. Dopey and another poster from RD were very knowledgeable too. BTW, if you're interested, the Catholic church records from Cinisi are available for free online at Family Search.org: https://familysearch.org/search/image/i ... %3D2046915

[cavita]

Correct on his father being Faro, which is a name I've never heard. His mother was Caterina Orlando and he had a brother Giacomo (1897-1986) and a brother Pietro. I'm guessing Nicolo could very well have been a cousin.
By the way, what do you know of the Bommarito family from St. Louis, especially the time period from the 30s and 40s?

I haven't gone over the Bommarito genealogies for a while. Daniel Waugh is the man when it comes to St. Louis. Dopey and another poster from RD were very knowledgeable too. BTW, if you're interested, the Catholic church records from Cinisi are available for free online at Family Search.org: https://familysearch.org/search/image/i ... %3D2046915

Nice link! By the way, what are your thoughts on this? If Troia didn't enter the U.S. until 1925 and he was 39 years old at the time, he must have been an established "man of honor" in Sicily. If this is the case do you think there would be some kind of record on their end?

[Antiliar]

I would definitely say he was an important person within the Sicilian Mafia before he came to the U.S. There's a whole world of connections that earlier writers missed, like Salvatore Maranzano being the boss of the Trapani province before he emigrated in 1925, or the Morello's connection with Corleone, the Profacis and Villabate, and D'Aquila and the Gambinos with Palermo. I wouldn't date if there's an old case file gathering dust in the archives of Palermo or Rome that concerns Troia and could shed more light to what we already know. Thanks to Professor Salvatore Lupo we now know that there was a rivalry between D'Aquila and Manfredi Mineo in Palermo. So who knows how the events in Rockford, Springfield and Newark related to what was occurring in Sicily. Of course by that time Benito Mussolini was in power, yet Vittorio Coco in his book Relazioni Mafiose shows that the Mafia in Palermo was still active during his rule. You should go through this book because his name is in there:

https://books.google.com/books?id=m9f1K ... ia&f=false

[cavita]

I would definitely say he was an important person within the Sicilian Mafia before he came to the U.S. There's a whole world of connections that earlier writers missed, like Salvatore Maranzano being the boss of the Trapani province before he emigrated in 1925, or the Morello's connection with Corleone, the Profacis and Villabate, and D'Aquila and the Gambinos with Palermo. I wouldn't date if there's an old case file gathering dust in the archives of Palermo or Rome that concerns Troia and could shed more light to what we already know. Thanks to Professor Salvatore Lupo we now know that there was a rivalry between D'Aquila and Manfredi Mineo in Palermo. So who knows how the events in Rockford, Springfield and Newark related to what was occurring in Sicily. Of course by that time Benito Mussolini was in power, yet Vittorio Coco in his book Relazioni Mafiose shows that the Mafia in Palermo was still active during his rule. You should go through this book because his name is in there:

https://books.google.com/books?id=m9f1K ... ia&f=false

Good reference material.... do you know who the other bosses were offhand of the various mafia strongholds in Sicily from 1910-1920? That may shed light on the alliances in the U.S. cities and those ever-present connections that seemed to have spanned state lines

[Antiliar]

I would definitely say he was an important person within the Sicilian Mafia before he came to the U.S. There's a whole world of connections that earlier writers missed, like Salvatore Maranzano being the boss of the Trapani province before he emigrated in 1925, or the Morello's connection with Corleone, the Profacis and Villabate, and D'Aquila and the Gambinos with Palermo. I wouldn't date if there's an old case file gathering dust in the archives of Palermo or Rome that concerns Troia and could shed more light to what we already know. Thanks to Professor Salvatore Lupo we now know that there was a rivalry between D'Aquila and Manfredi Mineo in Palermo. So who knows how the events in Rockford, Springfield and Newark related to what was occurring in Sicily. Of course by that time Benito Mussolini was in power, yet Vittorio Coco in his book Relazioni Mafiose shows that the Mafia in Palermo was still active during his rule. You should go through this book because his name is in there:

https://books.google.com/books?id=m9f1K ... ia&f=false

Good reference material.... do you know who the other bosses were offhand of the various mafia strongholds in Sicily from 1910-1920? That may shed light on the alliances in the U.S. cities and those ever-present connections that seemed to have spanned state lines

That's a murky period. Vittorio Coco's book covers the 1930s and mentions some of the bosses during the 1910-20 period, but not all of them. I know the bosses of Corleone. JimmyB might know exactly who the Castellammarese bosses were, but that still leaves a lot of gaps. Anyway, San Giuseppe Jato would have been closest to San Ciparello, Balestrate, Camporeale, Partinico, Terrasini, and Alcamo. Couldn't really tell you who ran those cities.

[Lupara]

Seems to be a major event based on the number of guys that were shot. Was the Newark family the forerunner of the DeCavalcantes?