Johnny "Keys" DeSimone

[Heathen]

Does anyone have any real info on him? I know he was Bruno's couisin. I know in gravano's book, which I'm not really sure how much I trust. He talks about DeSimone as a fairly heavy and smart guy, says he really respected him. Gravano says DeSimone said to him he did 50 hits, so even if he did 1/5th of that number he must have been a fairly big guy. In Leonitti's book he is barely given a passing mention. Just wondering if any has any real info on him.

[B.]

Last name Simone, not DeSimone.

Some basics:
- Originally with the Buffalo family and rumored to have been involved in murders there before moving to Trenton. Buffalo was also where he established his longtime friendship w/ John Tronolone, later an Ohio/Florida mafia leader.
- Always had cousins and close friends in the Trenton area and he visited the area as far back as the 1930s and probably earlier; several of these cousins/friends would become members his crew in the 1950s/60s.
- Moved to Trenton by the 1940s and promoted to Trenton capodecina of the Philly family in the late 1950s under Domenico Pollina.
- Closely associated with Sam DeCavalcante when DeCavalcante lived in the Trenton area. Simone was also close to the Gambino Aurello crew members in Trenton, particularly Nicky Russo, and ran the city's gambling operations in partnership with them.
- Began spending much of his time at his home in Florida during the 1960s and onward due to LE pressure in NJ but remained capodecina of his crew.
- Following a major dispute involving Newark-based Philly associate Tino Fiumara, it was John Simone who represented Fiumara at a sitdown that ultimately saved Fiumara's life and had him transferred to the Genovese family.
- As mentioned, a cousin of Angelo Bruno but his standing in the mafia was earned independent of Bruno's influence and he may even have predated Bruno as a member.
- His crew appears to have been disbanded following his death, with surviving members reporting to Phil Leonetti and possibly other captains. Albert Pontani would be inducted and become the family's lead man in Trenton, reporting to Leonetti, and Simone's top men the Costellos would remain active through the 1980s though not to the degree they were under Simone.
- The Newark crew still exists, which split off from Simone as its own crew sometime in the 1970s.

I am personally unconvinced that he was involved in the murder of Angelo Bruno. He was seen meeting with other alleged conspirators, but as a family leader, it would be in his interest to meet with them and without other inside knowledge I can't say I have seen anything incriminating about Simone's involvement. According to Gravano, his murder seems to have been the result of his trying to take over the family as boss when the NY families had already put their support behind another candidate, but I am not going to rule out that he conspired against Bruno either.

Here is a breakdown of Simone's crew, which included family members/associates in Trenton, Bucks County PA, Newark, and Florida:
viewtopic.php?f=32&t=2846

[NJShore4Life]

This is informative:

http://www.capitalcentury.com/1981.html

[SonnyBlackstein]

@B: Why are you unconvinced of Simone’s involvement in Bruno’s hit?

I assumed this was common/ly knowledge/accepted.

[chin_gigante]

Dont wanna speak for B but I think the evidence is that Simone was the one who went with Frank Sindone to visit John Stanfa in the hospital after the Bruno hit. Either because Stanfa was in on it (unlikely as the model of car only had roll down windows so Bruno had to do it himself, the fact that Stanfa could have easily been killed and how he was only Bruno's driver at last minute) or to maybe let him know he wasn't going to be hurt by the conspirators

[chin_gigante]

Oh wait, I've read that incorrectly. My fault. Saw "unconvinced" as "convinced".

[Manhattan_]

Gallery Magazine / Octoober 1981 article by Tony Scaduto ( The Mobs Bloody War for Atlantic City ). Investigators will never know whose idea it was , but it is clear that Phil Testa got Tony Bananas Caponigro to handle it, leaving Testa safely in the background. Some time after Christmas 1979, Tony Bananas went up to New York for a meeting with Funzi Tieri. At the meeting Caponigro told Tieri that a consensus had been reached within their family - Bruno was no longer fit to command and had to go. Would Tieri back them up ? Right after Brunos murder Frank Sindone was acting like a man wearing a detective's shield. Sindone was running around making a lot of noise and was almost uncontrollable , says LT. Frank Wallace , who commands the OC unit of the Philadelphia Police Department. "He (Sindone) started playing cop , conducting an investigation, and he really shook things up". The afternoon following Brunos murder Sindone was certain his Boss had been killed by traitors in the family and had a pretty good idea of their identity. He reported his suspicions to John "Johnny Keys" Simone, also a Captain , and demanded that Brunos killers be punished. Johnny Keys, 69, was Brunos cousin and was closer to the Don then any other family member. He (Simone) had also been looking into the murder, but he was more cautious then Sindone. He told Sindone to go slow, and suggested they question one vital suspect before further action. That suspect was John Stanfa. The next afternoon he was questioned by a ferocious Frank Sindone , with Johnny Keys looking on , gauging Stanfas reactions. At first Stanfa cried his denials. Soon though , he said enough to give the two Bruno loyalists that last bit of evidence they needed. They knew who had murdered their Boss. But they were not certain what they could do about it - and what they learned worried the hell out of them. Behind the family captains who had killed Angelo Bruno, they had learned , stood a force much stronger then the entire Philadelphia family. That force was Frank "Funzi" Tieri. The plot went forward. But Phil Testa was to cunning to put himself on the firing line. Knowing Bruno loyalists would seek revenge , Testa kept himself at a distance from the men who had propelled the plot to its conclusion. Many of the details of the machinations leading to the murder of Angelo Bruno were figured out by the Capo playing cop, Frank Sindone, and by Johnny Keys. Sindone and Johnny Keys now went to the Gambino family with their evidence , including the very grave suspicion that behind it all lay the cunning hand of Funzi Tieri. Sindone still so out of control , demanded that the Gambinos live up to their prior agreement to protect the Bruno family - by calling a sit down of the commission and asking for Tieris death for his illeagal, unauthorized killing of a fellow Don. It isn't believed that a commission meeting was ever called. Tieri learned of the assassination plot was unraveling , and did what every intelligent Mafia man does when fingers are pointed : he lied. Tieri told other mafia bosses that he had been ill - used by the power hungry Tony Bananas ; he had not approved the murder of Angelo Bruno he claimed , but had only said that he had no right or desire to interfere in a internal family affair. Tieri also said that because he had been conned by these dishonest men from Philadelphia, he would see to their demise. Phil Testa came up clean and looking powerful. He gathered together the two factions in the Bruno family and convinced them that he had nothing to do with Brunos death and that family members must close rankscc to save the family from the New Yorkers greed. He also convinced them to make him the new Don. But Test could never feel safe as long as Sindone and Johnny Keys were still around because he could not be sure how much they knew. He always had to worry about these two men , so loyal to Bruno , might deceide that Testa had been a traitor and should be killed. So Testa perhaps - acting on his own, or with the backing of Funzi Tieri , who may have been concerned about the information the two men acquired -passed the death sentence on them.

[baldo]

Interesting, unless I'm mistaken, I've never heard of Testa being a part of Bruno's murder. Has this ever been confirmed?

[Manhattan_]

Speculation not confirmed , finger was always pointed at Bananas , Keys and Sindone. Keys and Sindone were killed for being loyal to Bruno. Leonetti also said that Testa and Bruno were at odds in his book Mafia Prince. That Bruno went to AC to enlist Nicky Scarfo to join him against Testa.

[dack2001]

I'd take any article from 1981 (in Gallery Magazine?) with a gigantic grain of salt. A lot of accounts, some under oath, have come out since then.

[willychichi]

Interview from 1981 with the director of New Jersey’s Division of Gaming Enforcement. Interesting that it's reported that Canada is a player in AC.

https://people.com/archive/as-mob-warfa ... l-16-no-2/

[SonnyBlackstein]

Interview from 1981 with the director of New Jersey’s Division of Gaming Enforcement. Interesting that it's reported that Canada is a player in AC.

https://people.com/archive/as-mob-warfa ... l-16-no-2/

Good article. Thanks Willy

“and Nicodemo “Little Nicky” Scarfo, who is described by one police source as “a hood of the old school, the kind of guy who wishes they still had running boards on cars so he could stand there with a submachine gun and blast away.”





“But whoever emerges as Philadelphia’s man on the Boardwalk must get along with the Genovese and Gambino families in New York, authorities say, and Scarfo’s reputation for hotheadedness does not bode well for peace. “If I were Scarfo,” as Brown puts it, “I wouldn’t start reading any long novels.”



Great quotes, running boards and long novels. Gave yours a chuckle.

[richard_belding]

- Began spending much of his time at his home in Florida during the 1960s and onward due to LE pressure in NJ but remained capodecina of his crew.

According to MF docs he was actually quite active in Trenton and Lawrence Township in the early ‘60’s, but it doesn’t specify how long that lasted. Maybe he frequented back and forth. Spotted with Bruno, Pappy Ippolito, Mario Riccobene, Michael Cammarota, Nick Piccolo & others. It even mentions he traveled to Puerto Rico for business purposes. So if he was laying low due to LE pressure he sure wasn’t being discreet.

Here’s a young photo of Simone, I have not been able to put a date on it yet, though if someone can pull his rap sheet I’m sure we can come close.

319CAB94-C2A3-43CB-AF64-CD7D7AE4B872.jpeg

[B.]

Great photo. Simone was active in New Jersey and Pennsylvania until the end of his life -- he split his time between NJ and Florida, sometimes for extended periods in the latter, and looks to have used Pappy Ippolito and Charles Costello as go-betweens and according to some info even as acting captains when he was in Florida. Simone, Ippolito, and Costello, like Angelo Bruno, all had interests in gambling in Central America in the 1950s and into the 1960s.

[B.]

@B: Why are you unconvinced of Simone’s involvement in Bruno’s hit?

I assumed this was common/ly knowledge/accepted.

There is conflicting speculation on whether Simone (and Sindone for that matter, as mentioned in the above article) were involved in the Bruno murder vs. Bruno loyalists killed for trying to take over the family against NYC's wishes, among other things. Gravano, who handled the murder, claimed Simone was killed for trying to start a war to take over the family, which was by then in the hands of the NYC-approved Testa-Scarfo faction. The Gambino family pretended to support him in his war, even telling him they'd send shooters, in order to lull him into the murder. In contrast to the Caponigro murder, which was also handled by an NYC family, Simone was not tortured or given any punishment and according to Gravano they showed him respect in how they killed him. No torn dollar bills up the ass, to say the least.

The Simone murder was also handled by the Gambino Aurello crew as a favor to the Philly family, who killed Frank Stillitano as a favor to the Gambino Aurello crew. This also points away from the Bruno murder being a motivation for the Simone murder.

That said, I'm not convinced he wasn't involved, either. I just don't believe the loose circumstantial evidence or conflicting speculation points to Simone being a participant in the Bruno murder conspiracy, and we also don't know of any clear motivation he would have had. Sindone was at least recorded complaining about Bruno to Chuckie Merlino in the late 1970s, though many people casually complain about their boss.

I don't believe Stanfa was part of the conspiracy, either.

I do suspect that Long John Martorano was part of the conspiracy, though he is never mentioned as a suspect despite strong circumstantial evidence. Goes to show how tenuous most of the speculation is except for Caponigro.

There is no firsthand source to my knowledge who has ever been in a position to confirm any of the suspects in the Bruno murder. However, both Fresolone and Caramandi, both in Caponigro's circle, claimed Caponigro had made remarks leading up to the Bruno murder that there was going to be a change in leadership.