The Vincenzo Troia murder

[bronx]

sicilian dialect it means whore, from what i am told..any truth to that?

[cavita]

sicilian dialect it means whore, from what i am told..any truth to that?

Which word?

[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

Just got home from Los Angeles and wiped out, so no time to get too deep into it, but Vincenzo and Giuseppe Troia are repeatedly referred to as "capi maffia" in San Giuseppe Iato during the period 1918-1925. Another brother, Gaetano Troia, sounds like he may have been a member there as well. Vincenzo is specifically referred to individually as "capo maffia latitante" for the same period, which would translate to "absconding mafia boss". Seems clear to me that Vincenzo Troia was the boss of San Giuseppe Iato when he absconded to the US (for reasons that may relate to what was posted earlier in this topic, i.e. murder)... or since both he and his brother Giuseppe are referred to as "capi maffia", maybe one of them (Vincenzo) was a capomandamento while the other was boss of the city SGI.

Since we don't know his exact position in the US, it seems possible to me that he was still the boss of San Giuseppe Iato at least during his initial years in the US. At that point in time the US mafia was still directly tired to the Sicilians and if his brothers or some other power base still had San Giuseppe Iato locked down, he may have kept his title as boss while a fugitive in the US. This could explain why he was able to go from city to city with a certain status despite not necessarily having the boss title in that particular city. Once he was more settled he may have become boss of a place like Springfield, but his exact status in the US is hard to know still. Seems clear to me that his real status came from his position in Sicily, much like Maranzano who had immense power and respect as a soldier... though that would be another question.. did Maranzano step down as boss of Trapani or was he otherwise deposed? His immigration to the US seems more voluntary (i.e. not fleeing a murder charge), so that would be one difference between him and Troia.

Interesting observation... perhaps Troia had a hand in picking or recommending the first bosses in Madison (Benedetto DiSalvo), Rockford (Tony Musso) and Springfield (Frank Zito) in 1930. What I find curious is that the house he was rooming with Tony Riela in August 1930 was shot up by supporters of Paul Giovingo. Paul's brother Joe was murdered and the Giovingo faction suspected Troia was responsible. Troia had fled the city soon after the murder. I'm not sure if one as powerfully connected as Troia would have done the actual shooting regarding the murder of Joe Giovingo, but obviously those supporting the Giovingo group thought so.
I don't know where Benedetto DiSalvo hailed from but as said before, Musso was from Partinco. The Zito family was also from San Giuseppe Iato and because of that connection it is easy to see why Frank Zito was made boss then. His brother, Joe Zito, and their brother-in-law Gaspare Calo, who were established in Springfield by 1930 were probably members there, but by the time they moved to Rockford around 1932 they became consigliere and underboss, respectively. These early connections bear more research and as Antiliar stated before, the key is most likely the familial and LCN connections from Sicily.

I just found that Benedetto DiSalvo, first boss of Madison, Wisconsin was from Bagheria, Sicily which is in the province of Palermo and only about 16 miles from San Giuseppe Iato.

[B.]

To bring it back to Jersey, Villabate could be included in the same ballpark. Would be curious if Troia had relationships with the Villabate guys in Newark before moving out there, or if D'Amico and his people were tapped into that same network Troia traveled with in the midwest. Profaci was close with the Detroit guys who were dominated by guys Terrasini, Cinisi, Partinico, etc. but not sure how far back you can trace those friendships or if there is any overlap with the cities in between.

[Antiliar]

There might be something in these sources:
https://books.google.com/books?id=MSSnN ... ia&f=false

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

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

http://www.elevamentealcubo.it/operaomn ... ttutto.pdf

[bronx]

Cavita..troia

[cavita]

Ha! I'm sure he'd been called that many times! On another note, I read one source (can't remember where) that stated Troia was Tony Riela's uncle. Can anyone confirm or debunk this?

[B.]

Ha! I'm sure he'd been called that many times! On another note, I read one source (can't remember where) that stated Troia was Tony Riela's uncle. Can anyone confirm or debunk this?

I do think I'd read that but it might have been from a comment on the old Real Deal, not a concrete source.

Rick, I'll check out those links later, thanks.

In 1909, Giuseppe Morello sent a letter to Vincenzo Moreci of New Orleans (originally from Termini) where he discusses the NO family and sends his regards to members named Zito and Sunsseri, among others. Does anyone know which "Zito" and "Sunsseri" he is referring to? I don't think the known Springfield Zitos were in the US yet but I am wondering if it may be a relative. "Sunsseri" too brings to mind the Sunsaro killed with Troia, with Sunseri being a name I mentoned earlier having ties to Termini.

Side note, but also mentioned in this letter was Vito DiGiorgio, who spent most of his time in the US in New Orleans then moved to Los Angeles in the early 1920s and within a very short amount of time was the boss of the LA family. Shows that a guy like Troia could very well have become boss of Springfield or another city despite living there only a short time.

[Antiliar]

The Zito and Sunseri (correct spelling) in the letter are all members of the New Orleans Family. Without first names I have to guess they were Vincent Zito and Felippo Sunseri, both were connected to Moreci.

[cavita]

Ha! I'm sure he'd been called that many times! On another note, I read one source (can't remember where) that stated Troia was Tony Riela's uncle. Can anyone confirm or debunk this?

I do think I'd read that but it might have been from a comment on the old Real Deal, not a concrete source.

Rick, I'll check out those links later, thanks.

In 1909, Giuseppe Morello sent a letter to Vincenzo Moreci of New Orleans (originally from Termini) where he discusses the NO family and sends his regards to members named Zito and Sunsseri, among others. Does anyone know which "Zito" and "Sunsseri" he is referring to? I don't think the known Springfield Zitos were in the US yet but I am wondering if it may be a relative. "Sunsseri" too brings to mind the Sunsaro killed with Troia, with Sunseri being a name I mentoned earlier having ties to Termini.

Side note, but also mentioned in this letter was Vito DiGiorgio, who spent most of his time in the US in New Orleans then moved to Los Angeles in the early 1920s and within a very short amount of time was the boss of the LA family. Shows that a guy like Troia could very well have become boss of Springfield or another city despite living there only a short time.

Yet another interesting parallel as I remember Antiliar saying that Vincenzo Piro, who was an early New Orleans mafia member, had relocated to Los Angeles and worked under Vito DiGiorgio. Tony Musso was the son-in-law of Vincenzo Piro and Musso was arrested in LA on July 21, 1930 on a warrant to violate the liquor laws relating to a huge bootlegging conspiracy in Rockford. Perhaps somewhere between Troia, Coppola and Piro came the recommendation for Musso to become boss. Also is the connection that Musso's sister was married to Tony Lombardo, close associate to Al Capone, before he was murdered in 1928.

[Antiliar]

Since our discussion I tried to find out more about Vincent Zito and Filippo Sunseri. Zito seems to have disappeared after a 1913 shooting attempt, so couldn't find a lot of records on him. Sunseri was born in Trabia in 1868 and died of natural causes in 1914. He married a Lucia Condi and had brothers and sisters who lived in Pittsburgh and Los Angeles.

[cavita]

In the same vein, does anyone have any good early info on Tony Riela? I'm talking about 1930s and early 1940s....this seems to be a gap in his life I'd like to know more on.

[HairyKnuckles]

Ha! I'm sure he'd been called that many times! On another note, I read one source (can't remember where) that stated Troia was Tony Riela's uncle. Can anyone confirm or debunk this?

In 1957, an informant talked about the Troia murder and mentioned Riela as Troia´s nephew. The informant also said that Troia had approximately 300,000.00 us dollars stashed in a safe deposit box in a bank in Newark. After the Troia murder, Riela was instructed to take all the money out and hand it over to the Mafia. (This is the informant´s exact words.) If the informant was correct, then yes, Riela was Troia´s nephew.

[B.]

Ha! I'm sure he'd been called that many times! On another note, I read one source (can't remember where) that stated Troia was Tony Riela's uncle. Can anyone confirm or debunk this?

In 1957, an informant talked about the Troia murder and mentioned Riela as Troia´s nephew. The informant also said that Troia had approximately 300,000.00 us dollars stashed in a safe deposit box in a bank in Newark. After the Troia murder, Riela was instructed to take all the money out and hand it over to the Mafia. (This is the informant´s exact words.) If the informant was correct, then yes, Riela was Troia´s nephew.

Great info. Dr. Allegra mentioned Troia's safe deposit boxes as well, but that they had already been cleared out when someone (can't remember if he specifies) went to check them. Would seem Riela got to them first if this is true. If he wasn't involved in the actual murder, seems Riela saved himself by assisting Troia's enemies after the murder.

Despite angering his friend Maranzano by taking a neutral stance in war negotiations, I wonder how Troia's relationship was with other members of the future Bonanno family after Maranzano's death and how this may have factored into Riela ending up a Bonanno member.

Riela was also supposedly related to Francesco Polizzi of the DeCavalcantes (they're seated together at the Bono wedding), who in turn was related to the Bruscas, as Toto has shared before. Seems like the more prominent international figures from SGI over the years are tied pretty closely together despite being affiliated with different families.

[cavita]

If indeed, Riela was Troia's nephew, I wonder where the exact relation lies. As for Francesco Polizzi, I believe I read somewhere it was stated that he was Riela's illegitimate son but I don't know how much truth there is to this. If memory serves me I think the maiden name of Riela's mother was Polizzi.