PROFESSIONAL KILLERS (True Crime) by Gordon Kerr Page A

Brasco to become a made man in the Family ahead of Salvatore Vitale, Joey’s brother-in-law. Vitale, Joey said, had been involved in killings for years, whereas Brasco had not been around for more than a few years and had not been part of any hits for the Family. Unfortunately for Napolitano, Brasco turned out to be Joe Pistone, an undercover FBI agent, a fact confirmed when he disappeared from view. Sonny Black Napolitano also disappeared from view in August of that year. He was taken to a meeting at the house of a Family associate. Frank Coppa, a Bonanno capo, greeted him and threw him down a flight of stairs into the basement of the house. He was shot dead and when Frank Lino handed Sonny’s car keys over to a group of men in a waiting car, he noted that one of them was Joey Massino.
    Another victim of the Donnie Brasco embarrassment in February of the following year was the widely feared street soldier Tony Mirra. Mirra had been the one who had introduced Brasco to the Family. Massino handed the contract for the killing to Mirra’s cousin, Richard Cantarello. Mirra was lured to a parking garage in Lower Manhattan where another cousin, Joseph D’Amico, climbed into his burgundy Mercedes beside him and shot him in the temple. When the police found Mirra hours later, he had been shot twice behind his ear and once in the face.
    When a number of the Bonanno hierarchy were arrested, Massino became a fugitive, indicted by a Federal Grand Jury in Manhattan along with five other men on a charge of conspiracy to murder Indelicato, Giaccone and Trinchera. On the run, his associates kept him in funds and many of his colleagues, including John Gotti, made the trip to visit him.
    Massino was now running the Family and, even though Rusty Rastelli had been released from a spell in prison, it was Joe calling the shots.
    His next hit was Cesare Bonventre who had been Carmine Galante’s – unsuccessful – bodyguard on the day he had been killed. Bonventre was invited to a meeting with Rastelli in Queens, but was picked up by Salvatore Vitale and Louie Attanasio and never made it to the meeting. They drove into a garage where Attanasio shot him twice in the head. Bonventre was a strong guy and he struggled, despite his wounds. They had to pull into a car park where Bonventre crawled out of the car. Attanasio jumped out and pumped another two bullets into him. Gabriel Infante was given the job of getting rid of the body, but it was found shortly after, in April 1984, cut in two and stuffed into 55 gallon oil drums in a warehouse. It was the last mistake Infante made.
    Things were becoming a little hot and Massino decided that the best thing would be to turn himself over to the police. He was given bail and released. In 1985, he was indicted for labour racketeering along with Rastelli, Carmine Rastelli, Nicky Marnagello and 13 others. Then in October of the next year he was found guilty of violations of RICO Law, the Hobbs Act (robbery or extortion) and the Taft-Hartley Act (labour racketeering). In January 1987, he was sentenced to ten years.
    As if that were not enough, April 1987 saw him in court again, on hijacking and murder charges. Joe Pistone/Donnie Brasco testified against him, tried to implicate him in a triple murder as well as the conspiracies to kill Pastore and Indelicato. He was acquitted of the hijacking charges due to a legal problem, but went to prison until 1993.
    Rastelli had died in 1991, and when Massino came out of prison, he seemed to be the only man who could fill his shoes. He made Salvatore Vitale his underboss and Anthony Spero consigliere . He gained a reputation for living according to the old rules, keeping Cosa Nostra and membership of it secret. He accused the government of being biased towards Italian-Americans. He was doing a good job. The Bonanno Family regained its seat on the Crime Commission and business was looking up. It did not last long, however. Spero was given life for racketeering and murder