Rizzuto / Arcuri murders in the 1930s

[B.]

Maybe this is known, but a "Rosario Arcurio" was suspected in the Bronx killing of the elder Vito Rizzuto (father of Nick) in 1933. "Arcurio" was later killed in the Bronx in 1934. His true name was Rosario Arcuri (~1896) and he appears to have been from Cattolica Eraclea like Rizzuto and the more well-known Arcuris. Arcuri's father was a Giacinto Arcuri and his mother was a Guaragna. Future Bronx Bonanno member Emanuel Gauragna's family came from Cattolica, so there could be a relation there.

A Giacinto Arcuri born 1852 in Cattolica Eraclea to a Domenico Arcuri and Anna Alfano is a possibility for Rosario's father... a little bit old, but it wasn't uncommon for Sicilian immigrant men to have sons a bit later in life from what I've seen (maybe Christie or someone knows a reason for this). The name Alfano stands out because JD has mentioned that Nick Alfano had ties to the elder Vito Rizzuto and Alfano's soldier Nick Buttafuoco, both from Cattolica. Alfano also served as an emissary to Montreal and had ties to the Canadian Magaddino faction. Alfano is a very common name and Nick Alfano was not from Cattolica, so there may be no connection to Anna Alfano, just thought it was worth mentioning. I've found butchered variations of the last name Buttafuoco (i.e. "Bufugo" in one case) connected to some of these other familiar Cattolica last names, also, but no connection established between immediate relatives of the known mafia members from Cattolica. Not sure if Alfano was a captain yet in 1933/34, but would be interesting if Rizzuto and/or Arcuri were under him or if Alfano wasn't yet a captain, maybe they were all with the same crew. The later Bronx crew split off from the Galante/Notaro crew, but seems like Alfano had a presence there earlier.

Does anyone know the exact year Calogero Renda left the US? I'm wondering if it was before or after Rosario Arcuri's murder. Seems possible that Arcuri could have been killed in response to his alleged role as Rizzuto's killer. My knowledge of the current Montreal war(s) is pretty limited, but weren't the current Arcuris fighting against the Rizzuto faction? Pretty crazy that issues between the Arcuris and Rizzutos may have gone back 70+ years.

It seems like we have more questions that come up the more we learn about the mob, but I also feel like there are less coincidences the deeper you go. That the elder Vito Rizzuto would be associated with a top Bonanno figure with ties to Canada and other Cattolica Eracleans, then for his relatives and paesans to be under the same organization in Canada seems like more than a coincidence to me. Not suggesting Alfano necessarily set them up in Montreal, as there could be and probably are a lot more components but seems there's something there.

[scagghiuni]

interesting
the arcuri's in montreal are stil on the run or what?

[Laurentian]

Yes. One have reported them to be living somewhere in Florida, the latest reports say.

[dixiemafia]

I remember reading about it in one of the Montreal books that they torched some warehouse and Vito was pressuring the guy to pay up for it as the owner was in on it. They messed him up pretty bad too.

Crazy how some of this shit works.

[Lupara]

Very interesting. I don't think these are coincidences. JD also discovered some time ago that Paolo Violi was brought over to the States by the Bonannos.

[antimafia]

Calogero Renda left the U.S. between the "summer of 1935, after Rizzuto's death" (The Sixth Family, 2008 and 2014 editions, p. 15 in both) and at some point in 1936--the book indicates that when U.S. Immigration searched for Renda in 1936, he was already back in his hometown (p. 15). In Business or Blood, Renda was said to have "returned to Cattolica Eraclea in 1936 after a stopover in Argentina." (p. 87) The two books leave open the possibility that Renda left the U.S. in 1935, but he appears to have been in New York--despite trips back and forth between the U.S. and Sicily--before and after Rosario Arcuri was murdered on August 24, 1934.

In their 2008 edition (revised and updated), Humphreys and Lamothe did an excellent job of tracing the movements not only of Vito Rizzuto Sr. (Nick Rizzuto Sr.'s father) but also of Calogera Renda and the four other close friends from Cattolica Eraclea and Siculiana who accompanied them on a trip that started in the province of Agrigento in late 1924, with all six of them eventually landing in the U.S. Below is a link to the ship manifest that lists all six individuals (I've saved the document in Evernote).

https://www.evernote.com/shard/s229/sh/ ... 521b7e46aa

Apart from Arcuri and newspaper publisher Max L. Simon, Stefano Spinella/Spinello was also one of the men who were charged with the murder of Rizzuto Sr. Lamothe and Humphreys weren't sure whether this Spinella/Spinello was from Cattolica Eraclea--in fact the co-authors settled on referring to him as "Spinello" but did note that this surname could have been Spinella. Edwards and Nicaso cite as a source, in the chapter 13 endnotes in their book, the indictment for the first-degree murder of Vito Rizzuto Sr.--the indictment shows the names "Rosario Arcuro" (misspelled) and Stephano Spinello (the first name is definitely misspelled). Unlike Humphreys and Lamothe, though, Edwards and Nicaso state that Stefano Spinella was also from Cattolica Eraclea; the latter co-authors also state that this Spinella was related to the murder victim through Calogero Renda. Humphreys and Lamothe indicate that Renda's mother was a Grazia Spinella but never asserted that Stefano was related to either Renda or Rizzuto Sr.--the co-authors merely wondered whether a blood relationship was a possibility. If you take a look at the ship manifest, you will see "Gracia Spinella" listed as the name of Calogero Renda's mother, with "Gracia" of course being a misspelling.

The New York Times spelled Stefano's surname as "Spinelli" in one short item about the murder trial. Link to the NYT Archive item is

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesm ... geNumber=5

I've also saved the item in Evernote--here's the link:

https://www.evernote.com/shard/s229/sh/ ... 618869ef7e

Rizzuto Sr., Renda, and Spinella/Spinello had addresses in the Bronx at one time. I'll have to check the articles that a number of us have probably saved to see whether Arcuri also once lived in the Bronx--he was murdered in Crotona Park in the Bronx, but Edwards and Nicaso indicate he was being "hunted by police, insurance investigators, and mobsters alike." (p. 87) If Spinella/Spinello was from Cattolica Eraclea, seems as though he and Arcuri had beefs with Rizzuto Sr. and that the paesani weren't getting along in the new country.

Manny Guaragna ("Manny from the Bronx"), whose father had ancestry from Cattolica Eraclea, lived with his parents and sister in the Bronx on E. 155th St. when he was a young boy--it was JD's research, which he shared on the forum, that got me interested in the Guaragna family tree. (I'm presuming Manny lived in the Bronx most or all of his life but I'm not sure--when he died, his visitation was at the Victor Quirolo & Sons Funeral Home on E. Tremont Ave. in the Bronx.) Guaragna was born in 1933 or 1934; one of you probably has an exact DOB. Guaragna's father, Giovanni (John), has a DOB of December 8, 1895.

Gerlando Sciascia lived in the Bronx and had businesses there before he and his family moved to Uniondale, NY and Harrison, NY (not sure whether the house in Harrison was a second home). He continued to spend lots of time in the Bronx when he hung out at Throggs Neck Jewelers, which was owned by his paesano John Chiazzese.

Giuseppe Arcuri, the Bonanno soldier from Cattolica Eraclea who died in the Bronx in 2001, is the brother of the deceased Domenico Arcuri Sr., whose sons Domenico Arcuri Jr. and Antonino played a part in the attempt a number of years ago to wrest control from the Rizzutos in Montreal. Had I done some genealogical research shortly after Arcuri Sr.'s death in Florida in October 2012, I would have discovered that he and Giuseppe had the same parents (Domenico and Filippa Arcuri); that Giuseppe and the parents had lived in the same household in New York during a certain period; that Giuseppe, his parents, and Sciascia had applied for their U.S. Social Security Number during a period of roughly three years (between 1955 and 1958); and that there is the possibility that Domenico Arcuri Sr. at one time was also living in New York with his parents and older brother Giuseppe before Domenico and his parents--as well as Domenico's other sibling(s)--moved to Montreal. See my Evernote item at

https://www.evernote.com/shard/s229/sh/ ... 75beec2e44

I have always been curious why some mafiosi had moved from the US to Canada, especially when their family members made the move or were already living in Canada, while others did not. Did Giuseppe Arcuri settle in New York because he wanted to? because his good buddy Gerlando was there? Or had Giuseppe hoped to move to Quebec but was unable to? Sciascia was ultimately unsuccessful in his attempts to move back to Canada for good; yet his brother has been living in Quebec for at least more than 30 years.

[SonnyBlackstein]

Fantastic info B. and antimafia.

[HairyKnuckles]

Nice research! I wonder if these guys at some point were early made Bonanno members? That could explain how the Bonanno Family got a grip on Montreal in the early 1950s.

[Laurentian]

Article on the trial of Steve Spinelli as reported in the newspaper of The Putnam County Courier, April 20, 1924

Carmel NY Putnam Country Courier 1934 Grayscale - 0115.pdf

That file can be found at http://fultonhistory.com/Fulton.html

Note : I tried to attach the pdf file but I was unsuccessful in doing it.

[dixiemafia]

Nice research! I wonder if these guys at some point were early made Bonanno members? That could explain how the Bonanno Family got a grip on Montreal in the early 1950s.

Ditto!

[B.]

The reason I was wondering about Calogero Renda leaving the US was to see if it was close after the Arcuri murder. Not suggesting they were connected, but do you know if there were any suspects in that murder? If not, Renda would surely be worth questioning.

The Bronx is a running theme here. Also interesting that after Sciascia was dead, Dom Cicale claims the Montreal crew maintained a relationship to Basciano in the Bronx. Even Galante who oversaw Montreal was also head of the Bronx members. Then you have Alfano who had a presence in the Bronx / Westchester county having ties to the relatives of future Montreal members, who all seemed to live in the Bronx. Side note, but if Alfano had an early Agrigento "faction" around him, I would be curious if there are any ties to the future Agrigento group JD has talked about w/ Angelo Salvo and other Manhattan / Jersey guys, including Ligammari who had ties to Montreal.

Whether it's all coincidental or not, that an Arcuri would kill a Rizzuto in the Bronx, then generations later two Arcuris would conspire with a former Bronx crew member from Castellammare to take out the Rizzutos is a great story no matter what way you cut it and I'm surprised it hasn't been featured more in this endless Montreal saga.

[SonnyBlackstein]

that an Arcuri would kill a Rizzuto in the Bronx, then generations later two Arcuris would conspire with a former Bronx crew member from Castellammare to take out the Rizzutos is a great story no matter what way you cut it and I'm surprised it hasn't been featured more in this endless Montreal saga.

+1

[B.]

Very interesting. I don't think these are coincidences. JD also discovered some time ago that Paolo Violi was brought over to the States by the Bonannos.

I think you might be talking about the Magaddino transcript I posted about:

- Magaddino refers to Bonanno recruiting "this young fellow" in Montreal, who Dominick says is "Paolo Viola" (Violi), which Magaddino confirms. Magaddino says he "made him cross the ocean as a stowaway" and that his "mother was sent for and settled in Montreal." He seems to be saying that Violi was recruited overseas to join the Montreal family? Strange.

Hard to say if that's exactly what happened or if it's a loose explanation. It was in context too with talk about Violi's father-in-law Luppino, who Magaddino seemed to say was allied with Bonanno at one point.

[Lupara]

Very interesting. I don't think these are coincidences. JD also discovered some time ago that Paolo Violi was brought over to the States by the Bonannos.

I think you might be talking about the Magaddino transcript I posted about:

- Magaddino refers to Bonanno recruiting "this young fellow" in Montreal, who Dominick says is "Paolo Viola" (Violi), which Magaddino confirms. Magaddino says he "made him cross the ocean as a stowaway" and that his "mother was sent for and settled in Montreal." He seems to be saying that Violi was recruited overseas to join the Montreal family? Strange.

Hard to say if that's exactly what happened or if it's a loose explanation. It was in context too with talk about Violi's father-in-law Luppino, who Magaddino seemed to say was allied with Bonanno at one point.

Thanks for the reminder. Somehow I thought it came from JD, because he usually comes up with these little findings that may be crucial knowledge.

It's unclear from the text whether it was Magaddino or Bonanno who brought over Violi. Magaddino would make more sense. However, Bonanno sent a wreath for Rocco Violi's funeral suggesting they had ties.

[scagghiuni]

maybe the bonanno's, through montagna and the arcuri's, wanted to take over montreal mafia again