Alite had contract to kill Merlino??

[Cheech]

For the record I have no clue if this happened or not. My point is I stopped paying attention soon as he mentioned Gotti sending him to tell Gallo to retire.

[B.]

The Turra's had their own crew independent from the Philly family. Apparently there had been bad blood between Louie Turra and Joey Merlino going back to the 80s I think. I believe Louie Turra was even beaten up by Merlino's crew in the 90s. Like Chucky said the family was also leaning on the Turra Crew. In the mid 90s Turra was trying to kill Merlino. One of the plots involved bombing Merlino's house. After the Turra Crew was busted the plots against Merlino were revealed. Rocco Turra flipped and Louie hung himself in his cell. While awaiting trial in 1998 Anthony Turra was whacked (shot dead by Mikey "Penknife" Virgilio). According to Ralph Natale they ordered his murder after they learned about the Turra's plot to kill Merlino.


Pogo

The Turras ran into serious issues with the Philly family in the mid-80s. They were refusing to pay the street tax, so Louis Turra was severely beaten near Society Hill by Iannarella, Scafidi, and a bunch of the younger soldiers. I don't think Merlino had anything to do with that, though.

Seems possible to me that Alite had contact with the Turras. They were on a similar wavelength from what I know of them and hanging around the same areas.

[Pogo The Clown]

The second beating happened in the summer of 1995 at the Libations nightclub. Turra was beaten by Merlino's Crew with Joey looking on. To add insult to injury they also took his rolex and sold it to a bartender for 25 bucks. Eventually Raph Natale negotiated a peace between the two groups after a meeting with Anthony Turra. The Last Gangster goes into more details on the Merlino-Turra fued.


Pogo

[toto]

For the record I have no clue if this happened or not. My point is I stopped paying attention soon as he mentioned Gotti sending him to tell Gallo to retire.

I think it's possible. John Gotti sent Joe Watts to Philadelphia and Scarfo refused to sit with him according to Gravano. So it's possible Gotti did things outside the expected protocol.

[B.]

For the record I have no clue if this happened or not. My point is I stopped paying attention soon as he mentioned Gotti sending him to tell Gallo to retire.

I think it's possible. John Gotti sent Joe Watts to Philadelphia and Scarfo refused to sit with him according to Gravano. So it's possible Gotti did things outside the expected protocol.

Yeah, like killing a boss.

It wouldn't surprise me if Gotti sent associates as messengers as a way of asserting dominance. He seemed to follow the law of the jungle more than any law of omerta. He fucked another member's wife and daughter, killed his boss, killed a civilian, ran a crew of heroin dealers, and so on. Sending associates as a "fuck you" to talk to high-ranking members seems like par for the course.

[Rocco]

For the record I have no clue if this happened or not. My point is I stopped paying attention soon as he mentioned Gotti sending him to tell Gallo to retire.

I think it's possible. John Gotti sent Joe Watts to Philadelphia and Scarfo refused to sit with him according to Gravano. So it's possible Gotti did things outside the expected protocol.

Yeah, like killing a boss.

It wouldn't surprise me if Gotti sent associates as messengers as a way of asserting dominance. He seemed to follow the law of the jungle more than any law of omerta. He fucked another member's wife and daughter, killed his boss, killed a civilian, ran a crew of heroin dealers, and so on. Sending associates as a "fuck you" to talk to high-ranking members seems like par for the course.

You hit the nail on the head there. Gotti was the poster boy for the dissengration of LCN in America. The only thing he didn't do was become a host on Good morning America. Who has a bigger ego Gotti or Trump? A toss up there...

[Stroccos]

How does Alite make money off this book ? Don't they have some law you cant profit off your murder victims. Or is he hoping to maybe get a Movie deal or something

[Pogo The Clown]

How does Alite make money off this book ? Don't they have some law you cant profit off your murder victims. Or is he hoping to maybe get a Movie deal or something

The Son of Sam law. I think that only applies to those people still in prison. I could be wrong though.


Pogo

[willychichi]

How does Alite make money off this book ? Don't they have some law you cant profit off your murder victims. Or is he hoping to maybe get a Movie deal or something

Like Gravano and others my guess is that those who do cooperate would have that stipulation waived as part of their sweet deal with the feds.

[joeycigars]

The Turra's had their own crew independent from the Philly family. Apparently there had been bad blood between Louie Turra and Joey Merlino going back to the 80s I think. I believe Louie Turra was even beaten up by Merlino's crew in the 90s. Like Chucky said the family was also leaning on the Turra Crew. In the mid 90s Turra was trying to kill Merlino. One of the plots involved bombing Merlino's house. After the Turra Crew was busted the plots against Merlino were revealed. Rocco Turra flipped and Louie hung himself in his cell. While awaiting trial in 1998 Anthony Turra was whacked (shot dead by Mikey "Penknife" Virgilio). According to Ralph Natale they ordered his murder after they learned about the Turra's plot to kill Merlino.


Pogo

Turra had his guys try to ambush Merlino inside the Rock Lobster, a popular waterfront restaurant on the Delaware River in Center City, in July 1995,Merlino somehow was tipped off or just never showed up according to a federal grand jury indictment made public, Joseph ``Joey Apples'' Albanese was the hit man , that night ,According to the grand jury transcripts another hit man William Norman Blackwell tried few months before that hit to kill Merlino for the Turras, Also.. Turra's father, Anthony, another defendant, proposed: ``Dump two or three grenades in the f-----' house. F--- his girlfriend ( Deborah Wells now Merlinos wife) . . . she's a scumbag to live with him . . . she don't deserve living, either.'these guys wanted Merlino dead very bad ....So I would say Alites story is on solid footing ,


Brenda Colletti was in the long long list of people who plotted to kill Merlino so....... Alite is not hard to believe at all IMO

[AustraliaSteve]

How does Alite make money off this book ? Don't they have some law you cant profit off your murder victims. Or is he hoping to maybe get a Movie deal or something

The Son of Sam law. I think that only applies to those people still in prison. I could be wrong though.


Pogo

It's funny actually. I think in the case of Pileggi's Wiseguy the Supreme Court judged the law unconstitutional. IIRC, the original statute is only active in 40 or 45 of the States or something, and has been challenged numerous times. Various states have struck down and replaced the original statute.

Did Mikey Penknife ever get charged over the Turra hit?

I know it's easy for a wiseguy to capitalise but doesn't George Anastasia cover this in his new book with Alite? Not saying it's impossible he could be hoodwinked by a sociopath, but you'd think a guy with his rep would take all appropriate measures to at least try and confirm through his own sources? Of course, that may not even be possible in this situation.

[AustraliaSteve]

Reread the thread, guys have mentioned this being in the book already. Apologies. The Anastasia point still stands though.

[Pogo The Clown]

Did Mikey Penknife ever get charged over the Turra hit?

Nope. Now that he is dead (cancer) he never will. Joey Merlino, Steve Mazzone and George Borgesi were charged with the conspiracy to murder Turra but were of course acquited.


Pogo

[Rocco]

The Turra's had their own crew independent from the Philly family. Apparently there had been bad blood between Louie Turra and Joey Merlino going back to the 80s I think. I believe Louie Turra was even beaten up by Merlino's crew in the 90s. Like Chucky said the family was also leaning on the Turra Crew. In the mid 90s Turra was trying to kill Merlino. One of the plots involved bombing Merlino's house. After the Turra Crew was busted the plots against Merlino were revealed. Rocco Turra flipped and Louie hung himself in his cell. While awaiting trial in 1998 Anthony Turra was whacked (shot dead by Mikey "Penknife" Virgilio). According to Ralph Natale they ordered his murder after they learned about the Turra's plot to kill Merlino.


Pogo

Turra had his guys try to ambush Merlino inside the Rock Lobster, a popular waterfront restaurant on the Delaware River in Center City, in July 1995,Merlino somehow was tipped off or just never showed up according to a federal grand jury indictment made public, Joseph ``Joey Apples'' Albanese was the hit man , that night ,According to the grand jury transcripts another hit man William Norman Blackwell tried few months before that hit to kill Merlino for the Turras, Also.. Turra's father, Anthony, another defendant, proposed: ``Dump two or three grenades in the f-----' house. F--- his girlfriend ( Deborah Wells now Merlinos wife) . . . she's a scumbag to live with him . . . she don't deserve living, either.'these guys wanted Merlino dead very bad ....So I would say Alites story is on solid footing ,


Brenda Colletti was in the long long list of people who plotted to kill Merlino so....... Alite is not hard to believe at all IMO

Suffice to safe that Merlino is only alive today due to pure luck...including the Veasey hit that left him with a bullet in the ass. Could have easily hit him in chest back or head. Never mind all the other attempts on his life. Considering he was feuding with lowlife scumbags he is very lucky his family wasn't harm by drive by shooting into the home etc. Sure it took smarts to avoid being killed but more luck.

[Pogo The Clown]

"They can't kill me. I've got the devil in me." - Joey Merlino


Pogo