Bruno Plot - Gambinos and Stanfa

[Wiseguy]

That's not exactly what Leonetti says in his book. He says that Stanfa WAS involved with Caponigro and Sindone when they hit Ange. The evidence definitely suggests he was. Sindone went to the hospital the day after Bruno was killed and spoke with Stanfa in Italian. Stanfa was spotted in New York with Sindone several days afterwards. Stanfa was spotted meeting with Caponigro and Simone and Sindone six days after the killing. He was later convicted of perjury and did 6 years for lying to the grand jury about that meeting. Not only that but John Gotti and Gravano specifically asked Scarfo to give Stanfa a pass in order to return to Philly. That was in 1986, in Staten Island. They were still worried Scarfo was going to hit Stanfa for his role in the killing six years later.

Besides that, I just don't believe that Caponigro would take the chance that Bruno doesn't go home that night or the the driver jumps out and starts a shootout. If you're stepping out of the shadows with a shotgun to kill your boss only a fool leaves the circumstances to chance. You need to know your target will be there when you expect him to be present.

So Stanfa knowingly sat there in the driver's seat knowing Bruno was about to get blasted? If that's the case, he really wasn't that bright.

[Tasker]

This is just from memory so feel free to throw in any additions/corrections. Dack is a poster who has done his homework with this.

Great write up B. Thanks for the info. As much as I’ve researched this topic, some of this was new to me

[Tasker]

That's not exactly what Leonetti says in his book. He says that Stanfa WAS involved with Caponigro and Sindone when they hit Ange. The evidence definitely suggests he was. Sindone went to the hospital the day after Bruno was killed and spoke with Stanfa in Italian. Stanfa was spotted in New York with Sindone several days afterwards. Stanfa was spotted meeting with Caponigro and Simone and Sindone six days after the killing. He was later convicted of perjury and did 6 years for lying to the grand jury about that meeting. Not only that but John Gotti and Gravano specifically asked Scarfo to give Stanfa a pass in order to return to Philly. That was in 1986, in Staten Island. They were still worried Scarfo was going to hit Stanfa for his role in the killing six years later.

Besides that, I just don't believe that Caponigro would take the chance that Bruno doesn't go home that night or the the driver jumps out and starts a shootout. If you're stepping out of the shadows with a shotgun to kill your boss only a fool leaves the circumstances to chance. You need to know your target will be there when you expect him to be present.

This leads me back to one of my original questions in the thread. IF Stanfa was involved - why? What was he gaining from helping with the plot? And why wouldn’t he be concerned with betraying his Gambino allies?

[B.]

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention Bocchino supplying the shotgun. He was close to Caponigro and Ferrante was a Caponigro relative.

One thing with Sindone I forgot to mention is that Tommy DelGiorno said Sindone was killed for reasons similar to Simone, that he was vying for power against Testa. DelGiorno said Sindone actually had more "votes" from the captains to take over as boss but he also said New York believed Sindone had conspired with Caponigro in the Bruno hit.

Leonetti thinking Stanfa was involved is as good of a second- or third-hand source as we're going to have though the question still stands as to where the info came from confirming it. Caponigro looks to have admitted his own involvement but it's not clear who, if anyone, he linked to it along with himself and even the info about Caponigro and the Genovese Family is word of mouth though I think we're all confident it's generally accurate. I don't see Stanfa's meetings afterward as suspicious unto themselves since naturally the internal investigation would involve talking to him and in the hospital they were going to be secretive whether Stanfa was a participant or not.

Fresolone said that he and Patty Martirano did not believe Stanfa was involved with the plot but that the Gambino Family was considering using them to kill Stanfa along with Sindone. Fresolone pushed back on the idea that Stanfa lowered Bruno's window before the murder, saying Stanfa's car didn't have power windows and that Bruno often liked to drive with the window partially rolled down.

[Ivan]

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention Bocchino supplying the shotgun. He was close to Caponigro and Ferrante was a Caponigro relative.

This part of the story brings to mind an interesting point about Mafia Epistemology.

The Bocchino and Ferrante shotgun disposal thing to me is plausible, even though Natale the ridiculous liar said it, because it's so unglamorous and is not the sort of thing that liars hyping themselves up say. In other words, I buy it even though it came from the guy who claimed that he got made by Carlo Gambino in some special ceremony instead of the crummy made-by-Merlino one that actually went down, because it's just him reporting a banal fact. Nobody except for mob buffs and actual mobsters knows who Little Felix and Tony Meats are; they're not something you talk about when you want to sell a book. This raises the tricky issue of when to believe known liars, and in this particular case I personally believe the known liar is credible for the reason given, but I imagine that this approach is too unrigorous for many here.

Also if it is true, it raises the question of why those two weren't punished somehow (they actually got made by Scarfo not too long after the Bruno killing), same as with Martorano (who also got made by Scarfo not long after the hit) somehow evading punishment. Might have been a weird combination of the most flagrant rule violators getting taken out, but also general relief/gratitude by those that resented Bruno that he was out of the way, allowing the more peripherally-involved to skate? Who knows.

[dack2001]

I tend to give greater weight on subjects such as these to the feelings prevailing at the time on the street as opposed our view 20-30 years later. What I mean by that is the prevailing thought on the street was that Stanfa was involved. He was around Sindone, he bartended at Sindone's bar and likely was very close with him and with Bruno. No one is leaving it up to happenstance as to who will drive Bruno home when your standing on the street with a shotgun. Stanfa was very well connected to the Sicilians and Caponigro had a strong drug connection with certain members. It would make sense to use Stanfa to help support his move once Bruno was gone. There is no smoking gun here but when the Gambinos are seeking a pass years later, we know Scarfo believed Stanfa was involved and that's who matters. Then Stanfa comes out of nowhere with support for taking over? He's deeply connected.

Also, we can't be sure the plan was for Caponigro to shoot Bruno in the car. The plan may have been for Stanfa to drop Bruno off and Caponigro got tired of waiting. Or Stanfa could have the fucking balls of a Siclian bricklayer, and was willing to park the car. If he wasn't in on it, Caponigro would have killed him, not met with him several days afterwards.

As far as the shotgun goes, they gave that gun to Napoli, who then supplied it to Caponigro. Doubt anyone in that crew was told what the shotgun was going to be used for.

[Ivan]

Doubt anyone in that crew was told what the shotgun was going to be used for.

This never occurred to me but great point, thanks for noting that. Bananas just told them he needed a shotgun and they were probably like "aye aye captain" with no questions asked.

[B.]

With guys like Natale, along with weighing the motivation behind a claim (being secretly made by Bruno and Carlo Gambino = self-serving lie vs. lesser-known names who supplied the shotgun = doesn't serve him) you also have to look for corroboration and Leonetti did say he heard the Bocchino story as well. It also fits given Bocchino and Ferrara were in Caponigro's circle.

I am agnostic toward Stanfa's involvement and believe arguments can be made to both ends. Some people on the street believed he was a conspirator, while guys like Patty Martirano and Fresolone (in Caponigro's circle) didn't. Along with Stanfa's relationship to Sindone, another point that could add to the possibility is Long John Martorano, who was close to Stanfa's friends the Gambinos in Cherry Hill. The biggest factor to me is whether the various participants believed it was Commission / Genovese sanctioned as personal loyalties and motivations would be secondary at that point.

What's significant about the hit too is that even though FBI sources identified Testa/Scarfo as the anti-Bruno faction and both benefited from Bruno's murder, neither of them were involved.

It wouldn't shock me if Harry Riccobene was involved on some level. All we have are vague accounts of DeLuca being near the scene and Pedulla providing info about the hit, but he had misgivings toward Bruno for decades going back to his incarceration when Bruno was tasked with servicing Riccobene's interests/associates and essentially stole them away plus his complaints about Bruno on the DeNittis tapes. Nothing linking him directly to the conspiracy but it wouldn't be a shock.

[Tasker]

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention Bocchino supplying the shotgun. He was close to Caponigro and Ferrante was a Caponigro relative.

This part of the story brings to mind an interesting point about Mafia Epistemology.

The Bocchino and Ferrante shotgun disposal thing to me is plausible, even though Natale the ridiculous liar said it, because it's so unglamorous and is not the sort of thing that liars hyping themselves up say. In other words, I buy it even though it came from the guy who claimed that he got made by Carlo Gambino in some special ceremony instead of the crummy made-by-Merlino one that actually went down, because it's just him reporting a banal fact. Nobody except for mob buffs and actual mobsters knows who Little Felix and Tony Meats are; they're not something you talk about when you want to sell a book. This raises the tricky issue of when to believe known liars, and in this particular case I personally believe the known liar is credible for the reason given, but I imagine that this approach is too unrigorous for many here.

Liars can be capable of telling the truth at times. Can’t dismiss everything they say out of hand, but certainly dont take what they say at face value. The reverse of this is also true and I try to keep that in mind when im reading about these people.

[Tasker]

I tend to give greater weight on subjects such as these to the feelings prevailing at the time on the street as opposed our view 20-30 years later. What I mean by that is the prevailing thought on the street was that Stanfa was involved. He was around Sindone, he bartended at Sindone's bar and likely was very close with him and with Bruno. No one is leaving it up to happenstance as to who will drive Bruno home when your standing on the street with a shotgun. Stanfa was very well connected to the Sicilians and Caponigro had a strong drug connection with certain members. It would make sense to use Stanfa to help support his move once Bruno was gone. There is no smoking gun here but when the Gambinos are seeking a pass years later, we know Scarfo believed Stanfa was involved and that's who matters. Then Stanfa comes out of nowhere with support for taking over? He's deeply connected.

Also, we can't be sure the plan was for Caponigro to shoot Bruno in the car. The plan may have been for Stanfa to drop Bruno off and Caponigro got tired of waiting. Or Stanfa could have the fucking balls of a Siclian bricklayer, and was willing to park the car. If he wasn't in on it, Caponigro would have killed him, not met with him several days afterwards.

As far as the shotgun goes, they gave that gun to Napoli, who then supplied it to Caponigro. Doubt anyone in that crew was told what the shotgun was going to be used for.

I like the idea of placing more emphasis on what the prevailing story in the street was at that time. But just to play devils advocate, the passage of time means guys cooperating and new details emerging that might not have been available at that time. But I think you make a good argument.

If Stanfa was part of the conspiracy, that would indicate to me that others on the Gambino/Sicilian side were somewhat involved or at least aware in advance. I just can’t see Stanfa making a move like that with the plan to just smooth everything over after the fact.

[ShotgunTheRifle]

Could be unrelated but interesting that some 10 years later Stanfa makes Bocchino a captain.

[stubbs]

The biggest factor to me is whether the various participants believed it was Commission / Genovese sanctioned as personal loyalties and motivations would be secondary at that point.

That seems to be one of the most important questions that we haven’t really considered here. If Caponigro thought he had approval of the commission to kill Bruno, then he likely would’ve approached the other conspiritors from that perspective.

It’s possible Caponigro intentionally approached Mortorano and Stanfa to set up Bruno, as they were both Sicilian and could easily get close to Bruno. It’s your friends who betray you in that life.

And Long John wasn’t made at the time. Was Stanfa made yet? If he was, likely just a solider. Imagine if both of them got approached by Caponigro to kill Bruno, telling them it was approved by the commission. How are they going to tell the underboss of the family no? Especially if they thought they’d be going against the commission too.

I’m not saying they were invovled, but it’s not hard to see why they’d be willing to betray their boss.

[B.]

Stanfa was almost certainly made back in Caccamo when he was young as when he fled to Sicily for a time after the Bruno hit he was able to participate in a local induction ceremony and even served as sponsor for his niece's husband Nino Giuffre. A senate report also says he was first made in Sicily and though those reports are not infallible it complements the other info. His brothers and father were all members there and it seems Stanfa transferred membership to Philly which is plausible given Bruno had blood relatives in the Sicilian mafia and was happy to recognize Sicilian members and introduce them to members of his Family. Stanfa was an outsider but he fit in to some degree given the role Caccamo played in the Philly Family's history.

The thing is, if Stanfa was recruited for the hit under the premise that it was sanctioned you'd think he'd run it by his friends the Gambino brothers but he was also a dyed-in-the-wool Sicilian mafioso and may have held to the rule that you don't discuss a hit with anyone. Like I said, I'm agnostic about Stanfa's involvement. Dack made a good point about his relationship to Sindone and that the killers may not have wanted to leave it up to chance by having an uninvolved driver. I feel more strongly that Simone wasn't involved and I go back and forth on Stanfa.

Martorano was originally blackballed from membership by Harry Riccobene as far back as the 1960s and Bruno apparently stuck to this despite their friendship. Martorano likely saw the opportunity to rise in stature and probably had other resentment toward Bruno. We can see just a handful of years later he plotted against his then-boss Scarfo -- Caramandi said the reason he flipped was because Martorano convinced him Scarfo was going to kill him and Fresolone later said Martorano was slated to be killed for flipping Caramandi. His alleged plan was to take Scarfo off the streets so he could stage a powerplay and take over, and he was apparently trying to get support from New York which included getting his son inducted into an NYC Family. I'd be interested in knowing which Family.

These days I find Martorano one of the more interesting Philly figures. He had heritage in Belmonte Mezzagno like the dominant members of the old Sicilian faction and got his start around Riccobene but when Riccobene was in prison his associates were serviced by Angelo Bruno who essentially stole them away, a move that upset Riccobene. Since we have confirmation that Martorano was part of the Bruno hit via Sonny Riccobene, I see him as the lynchpin behind the plot.