Tuesday, January 11, 2005
In Today’s column: Why Salvatore 'Charlie Lucky' Luciano Is Not Resting In Peace!, Wiseguys are subject to being poisoned, too, Elements of The Mob's Beef With Charlie Lucky, Still a "Lucania" and Still In "The Life", Neighbors For Eternity, DR. MICHELE NAVARRA, SICILIAN MAFIA CAPOCOSCA WHO ATTENDED COLLEGE, SICILIAN MAFIA HIT BAN: HIATUS OR FINALE?
Maybe Salvatore "Charlie Lucky" Luciano (1897-1962) was whacked. Charlie Lucky was an important underworld figure who may have outlived his usefulness to his American Mafia confederates.
Charlie Lucky may have been the victim of the type of assassination that is unknown – i.e., the administration of some kind of toxin or poison.
When we compare possible poisoning techniques to those of the increasingly subtle doping methods used in sport, the existence a totally undetectable poison is conceivable. We are thereby reminded that the mob is familiar with the use of poison.
Did American gangsters poison the mighty Australian racehorse Phar Lap? Such was the rumor in the wake of Phar Lap's sudden death at a California ranch in 1932. Having won an astonishing 36 of his 50 starts, when his owners shipped him to America for a lucrative racing tour, Phar Lap was a Australia national hero.
In his first race on March 20th, Phar Lap beat America's finest to a purse of $50,000 at the Agua Caliente racetrack in Mexico. Two weeks later he was dead, sickening suddenly one morning and collapsing before sundown. An autopsy showed and inflamed stomach and intestines, a condition which quickly grew into rumors of poisoned feed.
Was it the work of shady racing insider's who feared such a staunch competitor? Nothing ever was proved, by Phar Lap's "poisoning" became part of racing lore. A 2001 book by Geoff Armstrong and Peter Thompson offered a new theory that Phar Lap was actually the victim of Duodenitis-Proximal jejunitis, an infection which sometimes afflicts horses who have traveled long distances.
Peter LaTempa, Victim, Genovese Poisoning
In one private card game, Vito Genovese and one of his lieutenants, Mike Miranda, bilked a gullible merchant out of $160,0000, in part by getting signals from a spy in the room above as to what cards the merchant had in his hand.
Following this scam, Genovese and Miranda promised another mobster, Ferdinand "the Shadow" Boccia, $35,000 to set up the victim. Instead they hired two hoodlums, William Gallo and Ernest "the Hawk" Rupulo, to assassinate Boccia. They hired Rupulo to dispatch Gallo. What became of Rupulo?
Vito Genovese fled New York to Italy in 1937 to avoid prosecution for the murder of Ferdinand Boccia. The case against Genovese was based primarily on the evidence of Ernest "the Hawk" Rupulo, who was doing a 9-to-20-year sentence for attempted murder in a job assigned him by Genovese. To earn his release, Rupulo revealed details of the Boccia kill. Rupulo's word was not enough by itself to convict Genovese, and there was no supporting circumstantial evidence. There was, however, another witness to the murder, a hoodlum named Peter LaTempa. Pressure was put on LaTempa to talk, and, by the time Genovese had fled the country, LaTempa did, feeling his squealing no violation of omerta because Genovese would never be prosecuted anyway.
Later, near the end of World War II, Genovese was taken into custody by the U.S. Army and was returned from Italy on January 8, 1945. Like a shot from a cannon, LaTempa turned up at the Brooklyn district attorney's office, demanding to be put in protective custody. He was lodged in the Raymond Street jail. On January 15, one week after Genovese's return and long before the court case against him could get started, LaTempa died behind bars. He had taken his regular medication for gallstones and gone to sleep. He never woke up. An autopsy showed Peter LaTempa had taken enough poison "to kill eight horses."
The Sicilian Mafia may have clipped Charlie Lucky because its leaders felt he knew too much about corrupt Italian politicians and officials.
Michele Sindona, Criminal Financier, Criminal Investment Banker
At one point, Michele Sindona (1920-1986) served as a financial adviser to the Vatican. Italian government officials hailed him as the "Savior of the lire." However, in time it became clear that Sindona worked in tandem with both the American and the Italian Mafia.
Indeed, Sindona's criminal alliances allowed him to escape fraud charges in the United States as well as fraud and later murder conspiracy charges in Italy. A murder plot in the United States proved to be Sindona's undoing.
Michele Sindona tried to hire Luigi Ronsisvalle, a hit man, to murder a United States prosecutor. Ronsisvalle, a Sicilian, balked. He knew that this is the United States, not Sicily.
Finally, one of Sindona's intermediaries in the murder plot carelessly mentioned his name in regard to the murder conspiracy during a telephone conversation. Sindona was convinced the telephone line had been tapped. Sindona was convicted for his American crimes and sentenced to 25 years.
United States authorities then shipped Michele Sindona back to Italy where he was convicted on charges there and sentenced to life imprisonment.
By this time, Michele Sindona was 65-years-of-age. Serving his Italian sentence, after drinking a cup of cyanide laced coffee in his prison cell, Michele Sindona died.
When suspicions arose that the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat had been poisoned, a French military spokesman, General Christian Estripeau, said there undoubtedly are poisons that require refined analysis to detect.
During his Italian exile, Charlie Lucky had been active in international heroin trafficking. He was the American Mafia's narcotics liaison to the Sicilian Mafia. Charlie Lucky died just before his indictment and arrest for conspiracy to traffic heroin.
The animosity between Charlie Lucky and Vito Genovese, his former underboss and contemporary mob rival, was great. Vito Genovese correctly perceived Charlie Lucky to be in complicity with the trap into which Genovese had allowed himself to fall.
Indeed, Charlie Lucky had joined Sam "Mooney" Giancana, Frank Costello, Carlo Gambino, Carlos Marcellos and Santos Trafficante, in the plot to implicate Vito Genovese in an illegal drug deal. The plotters were successful in achieving Don Vitone's conviction in 1959 and; he was subsequently imprisoned. Vito Genovese died in 1969 while still serving his sentence.
Charlie Lucky’s rap sheet extended as far back as 1907 when he was arrested for shop lifting. He was 10-years-old at the time. The day he died, Charlie Lucky was 65-years-old and ailing.
Charlie Lucky had a record for narcotics sales. In 1916, “Salvatore Lucania” was convicted of peddling heroin and morphine. Salvatore “Charlie” Lucania escaped a narcotics prosecution in 1922 by snitching to the authorities.
If he had lived, great pressure would have accrued upon Charlie Lucky to turn state's evidence. The day he died, there was already mounting pressure on him.
Charlie Lucky had sought permission from the Mafia Commission to allow a script to be used in the production of a motion picture based on his life. The Mafia Commission denied his request. The mob could not afford to allow Charlie Lucky the option of flipping.
Charlie Lucky regularly administered medications to himself for his heart disease. His heart was weak and he suffered several heart attacks.
On January 26, 1962, Charlie Lucky was scheduled to meet a scriptwriter at the Naples International Airport who no longer planned to write a screen play about his life, but who was to do a story about him instead. This story was published years later as a memoir. Upon greeting the scriptwriter, Charlie Lucky clutched his chest, his face contorted. He keeled over and died.
The official cause of Charlie Lucky's death is listed as "massive heart attack." But, someone may have tampered with his prescription medicine. Rather than his prescribed medicine, Charlie Lucky may have been given or, may have inadvertently taken, a substance that caused his final heart attack.
Because he may have been a victim of poisoning, Charlie Lucky must be disinterred to undergo forensic examination. Among the obstacles that hinder Charlie Lucky's disinterrment and forensic examination are the two categories of "family."
The effort to exhume Charley Lucky must contend with two categories of "family," the constellation of Cosa Nostra Families and the Lucania's, Charlie Lucky's consanguineous family.
The Luciano Cosa Nostra Family of Charlie Lucky's day is now known as the Genovese Cosa Nostra Family of New York. Vincent "The Chin" Gigante is the sitting boss of the Genovese Cosa Nostra Family of New York. If he lives, The Chin will remain in prison until the year 2010. The Chin's older brother, Mario, is the Genovese Family of New York's acting boss.
Neither of the Gigante brothers nor the Mafia Commission are likely to be in favor of Charlie Lucky's exhumation. Neither are in favor of enlightening the general public about facts concerning Charlie Lucky's death. The Mafia Commission probably speaks as well for Charlie Lucky's consanguineous family, both those who are still in the Life and those who are merely citizens.
We know that there is at least one member of Charlie Lucky's consanguineous family who is still living and, even, engaged in “The Life.”
Anthony "Tony L" Lucania, 82-years-of-age, of the Genovese Cosa Nostra Family, is a Charley Lucky nephew. Tony L's rap sheet dates back to 1939 when he was collared for robbery. Other busts include gambling (1973) and bribery (1974).
On Monday, December 20, 2004, Tony L saw his own luck run out when he pleaded guilty to a gun trafficking rap. Tony L admitted purchasing 16 handguns for $11, 500 in Florida last April.
"As far as I know, I was buying them for somebody. I never touched them," Tony L insisted to Brooklyn Magistrate Judge Steven Gold.
But Tony L later admitted the guns were supposed to be resold on the streets of New York and that he would get a cut of the profits.
Tony L was snared in an FBI sting starring a city sanitation employee working as an undercover informant for the feds.
According to prosecutor Taryn Merkl, Anthony Lucania is a made member of organized crime. Tony L faces up to two years in prison when he is sentenced March 1.
Tony L, free on $300,000 bond, declined to comment. "Have your fun," he growled at photographers outside Brooklyn Federal Court.
In 1936, special prosecutor Thomas E. Dewey convicted Charlie Lucky Luciano on compulsory prostitution charges. Charlie Lucky got 30-to-50 years on the prostitution charges, far tougher than any other such sentence in legal history. Nevertheless, he continued to maintain active leadership of the syndicate from behind bars. In 1946 Charlie Lucky was paroled for what was described by New York governor Thomas E. Dewey as his wartime services to the country.
When he was released in 1946, Charlie Lucky was deported to Italy. Charlie Lucky always sought to return to the United States. He sneaked back to Cuba later during the year of 1946 to run the American syndicate from that off-shore island. But, government agents soon discovered Luciano's presence in Cuba, and he was forced to return to Italy where he continued to issue orders to the states and got his monthly cut of the syndicates revenues delivered by special couriers.
Charlie Lucky was finally allowed to return home to the United States---in a body bag---pending his burial at the St. John's Cemetery in New York City.
Charlie Lucky's Saint John's Cemetery cohorts, American Mafia reference group co-members and associates, are listed in alphabetical orfer below. The list contains names of Charlie Lucky's criminal predecessors, contemporaries and successors across the range of status dispartiy to parity. Charlie Lucky would have had to refer to some, like Wilfred "Willy Boy" Johnson, as "a friend of mine." Others, like Carlo Gambino, Charlie Lucky would have had to refer to as "a friend of mine."
The list continues to grow.
Abbundando, Frank b. 1910 d. February 19, 1942
Organized Crime Figure. Known as "The Dasher", he was a member of a murder-for-hire gang made up of Jewish and Italian street gangsters working out of Brooklyn, New York during the 1930s. This gang, who came to be known in the news media as "Murder Inc.", carried out gangland murders in the New York City area under the direction of Lepke Buchalter and Albert Anastasia. Frank Abbundando died in the electric chair at Sing-Sing Prison at age 31. (bio by B. Heneage)
Saint Johns Cemetery, Middle Village, Queens County, New York, USA
Plot: Section 12, Plot P, Grave 75
Biondo, Joseph 'Joe Bandy’ b. July 6, 1900 d. July 1, 1973
Organized Crime Figure. Carlo Gambino made him the Underboss of the Gambino Organized Crime Family when Gambino took control of the Family after the murder of Albert Anastasia on October 25,1957. Joseph Biondo remained the Underboss until the early 1960s when he was replaced by Aniello Dellacroce. He died of natural causes in 1973. (Bio by: Bill Heneage)
Saint Johns Cemetery, Middle Village, Queens County, New York, USA
Plot: Cloisters
Colombo, Joe (Joseph) b. 1923 d. May 22, 1978
Mafia Boss. Joe Colombo was the head of the Colombo Family (named after him) from 1963 until he was shot in the head and critically wounded at a rally for the Italian American Civil Rights League (which he started) at Columbus Circle in New York City on June 29,1971. Colombo's shooting was ordered by Carlo Gambino. Colombo never came out of the coma caused by the shooting and died on May 22,1978.
Cause of death: Died after being in a coma from a shot in the head
Saint Johns Cemetery, Middle Village, Queens County, New York, USA
Plot: Section: 36, Range F, Plot 2, Grave 1
D'Aquila, Salvatore b. 1878 d. October 10, 1928
Organized Crime Figure. He was the first Boss of what is now called the Gambino Organized Crime Family. He was shot and killed on October 10,1928 at the corner of Avenue A and 13th Street in Manhattan, New York City. (Bio by: Bill Heneage)
Saint Johns Cemetery, Middle Village, Queens County, New York, USA
Plot: Section 10, Plot CC, Grave 97
Dellacroce, Neill (Aniello) 'The Hat' b. 1914 d. December 2, 1985
Neill Dellacroce was the Underboss of the Gambino Crime Family during the reigns of Carlo Gambino and Paul Castellano. Dellacroce died of natural causes on December 2, 1985. His death created a vacuum in the Family that lead to the murders of Gambino Family boss Paul Castellano and Underboss Thomas Bilotti on Dec. 16,1985. Their murders were ordered by John Gotti. John Gotti then ceased power of the Gambino Family with Frank DeCicco as his new Underboss. (DeCicco was killed by a bomb that was...[Read More]
Cause of death: Natural causes
Saint Johns Cemetery, Middle Village, Queens County, New York, USA
DeMeo, Roy Albert b. 1941 d. January 10, 1983
Organized Crime Figure. A member of the Gambino crime family, he was a loanshark, car thief, and killer who operated out of the Gemini Lounge in Flatlands, Brooklyn. Beginning in the mid 1970s, he started dealing drugs and retagging stolen automobiles, accompanied by several neighborhood youths. He then became perhaps the most feared man in the New York underworld, creating an an "assembly line" for murder. The potential victim was lured to the Gemini Lounge clubhouse, where he was shot...[Read More] (Bio by: Big D)
Saint Johns Cemetery, Middle Village, Queens County, New York, USA
Dioguardi, John 'Johnny Dio' b. April 29, 1914 d. January 12, 1979
Organized Crime Figure. He was a Captain in the Luchese Organized Crime Family. He was a powerful labor racketeer and union boss. Dio was indicted for hiring a small-time hood named Abe Telvi to throw acid in the face of labor columnist Victor Riesel in 1956. Riesel was blinded by the acid attack. The charges against Dio were later dropped when Telvi was murdered and the witnesses against him refused to testify at his trial.
He died of natural causes while serving a federal prison term in...[Read More] (Bio by: Bill Heneage)
Saint Johns Cemetery, Middle Village, Queens County, New York, USA
Plot: Section 37, Range N, Grave 16
Fatico, Carmine 'Charley Wagons' b. January 19, 1910 d. August 1, 1991
Organized Crime Figure. A Captain in the Gambino Organized Crime Family. His crew was headquartered in a social club in Ozone Park, Queens, New York called The Bergin Hunt and Fish Club. A young John Gotti joined the Fatico crew in the 1960s. Gotti took control of Fatico's crew and the Bergin club after he retired in the mid-1970s. Gotti later moved his headquarters to the Ravenite Club on Mulberry Street in Little Italy, Manhattan. Fatico died of natural causes in 1991. (Bio by: Bill Heneage)
Saint Johns Cemetery, Middle Village, Queens County, New York, USA
Galante, Carmine 'Lilo' b. 1910 d. July 12, 1979
Mafia boss of the Bonanno family. Also known as "The Cigar," he and Luciano and Montreal crime boss frank Petrula organized the infamous French Connection, (heroin pipeline). He was murdered at Joe and Mary's' restaurant in Brooklyn, New York.
Cause of death: murdered
Saint Johns Cemetery, Middle Village, Queens County, New York, USA
Gambino, Carlo b. August 24, 1902 d. October 15, 1976
Boss of the Gambino Mafia Family from 1957 (when he took over after the murder of Albert Anastasia) until he died of natural causes on Oct.15,1976.
Cause of death: Natural causes
Saint Johns Cemetery, Middle Village, Queens County, New York, USA
Plot: Cloisters
Genovese, Vito b. November 27, 1897 d. February 14, 1969
Mobster - 'Boss of all Bosses.' He died in prison.
Saint Johns Cemetery, Middle Village, Queens County, New York, USA
Gotti, John b. October 27, 1940 d. June 10, 2002
John Gotti, a former truck hijacker from Queens, burst on the scene after his Mafia boss was blown away in midtown Manhattan during the height of the evening rush hour. A few days later, when Gotti showed up dressed to the nines for a previously scheduled court appearance and reporters asked if he was now the boss of the Gambino family, Gotti smiled and said, "I'm the boss of my family - my wife and kids at home." Like a skilled politician on the stump, Gotti pushed his way through a gaggle of...[Read More] (Bio by: Joseph)
Cause of death: Cancer
Saint Johns Cemetery, Middle Village, Queens County, New York, USA
Higgins, Vannie d. June 19, 1932
Famous Prohibition Era rum runner from Brooklyn,N.Y. He was shot by men of "Murder Inc" on June 18,1932 on a Brooklyn Street and died the next day.
Saint Johns Cemetery, Middle Village, Queens County, New York, USA
Plot: Near grave of Carmine Galante
Johnson, Wilfred b. September 29, 1935 d. August 29, 1988
Organized Crime Figure. Johnson was an associate in the Gambino Family and close friend of John Gotti. He was also a "Top Echelon" informant for the FBI from 1966 until 1985. He provided the FBI information on John Gotti and other Gambino Family members (his code name was "Wahoo" because he was part American-Indian). The FBI revealed the fact that Johnson was an informant in a 1985 hearing but he refused to enter the Witness Protection Program. On August 29,1988, Willie Boy was shot to death in...[Read More]
Saint Johns Cemetery, Middle Village, Queens County, New York, USA
Lombardozzi, Carmine 'The Doctor' b. February 8, 1913 d. May 9, 1992
Organized Crime Figure. He was a made-member of the Gambino Organized Crime Family in New York City. Lombardozzi was a top money maker for the family. He was involved in loan sharking and racketeering. In November 1957, Lombardozzi attended the infamous Commission meeting in Apalachin, NY. Where he was arrested along with some of top Mobsters from accross the country, when it was raided by the police. He died of natural causes at the age of 79. (Bio by: Bill Heneage)
Saint Johns Cemetery, Middle Village, Queens County, New York, USA
Plot: New Cloisters, Second Floor
Lucania, Salvatore 'Lucky Luciano' b. November 24, 1897 d. January 26, 1962
Mafia Figure. Died of a heart attack at the Naples, Italy airport.
Cause of death: heart attack
Saint Johns Cemetery, Middle Village, Queens County, New York, USA
Maione, Harry 'Happy' b. 1908 d. 1942
Gangster. He was part of the Murder Incorporated a group of professional killers who worked solely for the National Crime Syndicate in the 1930s. The killers received assignments and payments to murder total strangers in the New York area or anywhere in the country, murdering anyone selected by the syndicate board. Murder, Inc. was destroyed when Reles turned informant in 1940.
Cause of death: Executed by electric chair.
Saint Johns Cemetery, Middle Village, Queens County, New York, USA
Plot: Section 37, Range L, Grave 1
Maranzano, Salvatore d. September 10, 1931
Gangster. His grave is only yards from the graves of the men who ordered his murder: Vito Genovese and Lucky Luciano.
Cause of death: He was murdered in his office in Manhattan by Meyer Lansky's men on orders of Lucky Luciano
Saint Johns Cemetery, Middle Village, Queens County, New York, USA
Plot: Section 25
Napoli, James 'Jimmy Nap' b. 1911 d. December 29, 1992
Napoli was a Capo in the Genovese Organized Crime Family. He controlled one of the largest gambling operations in the United States from the 1950s though the 1980s.
Cause of death: natural causes
Saint Johns Cemetery, Middle Village, Queens County, New York, USA
Plot: Section 39
Parrino, Rosario 'Sasa' b. 1890 d. May 31, 1930
Organized Crime Figure. He was a Made-Member of the Schiro Organized Crime Family in Brooklyn (the Family is now called the Bonanno Family). Parrino moved to Detroit in the 1920s and joined the Mafia Family of Gaspare Milazzo. During the Castellammarese War, Milazzo and his Family were allied with Salvatore Maranzano in his fight against Joseph (Joe the Boss) Masseria. On May 31,1930, during the early part of the war, Milazzo and Parrino were shot to death in a Detroit fish market. Rosario's...[Read More] (Bio by: Bill Heneage)
Saint Johns Cemetery, Middle Village, Queens County, New York, USA
Plot: Sec.2, Range H, Plot 15, Grave 2
Profaci, Joseph b. 1898 d. June 6, 1962
Mafia Boss. After his death the Profaci Family became the Colombo Family.
Saint Johns Cemetery, Middle Village, Queens County, New York, USA
Rastelli, Philip 'Rusty' b. 1918 d. June 24, 1991
Philip (Rusty) Rastelli took control of the Bonanno Family after the murder of Carmine Galante in 1979. He was sentenced to twelve years in a federal prison in 1986. Rastelli was released shortly before his death for humanitarian reasons and died of cancer in a Queens,N.Y. hospital on June 24,1991 at the age of 73. (Bio by: Bill Heneage)
Cause of death: cancer
Saint Johns Cemetery, Middle Village, Queens County, New York, USA
Plot: The Cloisters
Tieri, Frank 'Funzi' b. 1904 d. 1981
Tieri was appointed the front boss of New York City's Genovese family by the real boss, Philip (Benny Squint) Lombardo, after the previous front boss Thomas Eboli was murdered in 1972 for refusing to pay back Carlo Gambino's (d. 1976) $4,000,000 loan. (Eboli also has a grave at findagrave.com, and his bio contains erroneous information too.) Tieri remained the front for the organization until 1981, when he was convicted of racketeering and sentenced to ten years in prison. Lombardo died in 1981...[Read More]
Cause of death: natural causes
Saint Johns Cemetery, Middle Village, Queens County, New York, USA
Vario, Paul 'Paulie' b. July 9, 1914 d. May 3, 1988
Organized Crime Figure. A Captain in the Lucchese Organized Crime Family. His crew operated in Brooklyn, New York, and was one of the toughest and most violent crews in organized crime. He was portrayed by Paul Sorvino in the movie "Goodfellas." He died in Fort Worth Federal Prison while serving a ten year sentence for extorting payoffs from air-frieght companies at Kennedy International Airport in New York City.
Saint Johns Cemetery, Middle Village, Queens County, New York, USA
It is ironic that Salvatore Maranzano's grave is located at Saint John's Cemetery, only yards from the graves of the men who ordered his murder: Vito Genovese and Charlie Lucky Luciano. Maranzano was murdered in his office in Manhattan by Meyer Lansky's men on orders of Charlie Lucky Luciano.
The Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations (R.I.C.O.) Act makes it illegal to be a member of the American Mafia. For this reason, the undertaking of an exhumation and forensic examination of any one of the above men is a virtual exhumation and forensic examination of the American Mafia as a whole.
In anticipation of an investigation armed with both the authority and the intention to exhume Charlie Lucky for forensic examination, the Mafia Commission would probably order the his casket be vacated. This is a likely consequence even in the event that it is the Lucania consanguineous family that is giving authorities permission. For this reason investigators would have to exercise a DNA analysis inorder to verify the identity of the occupant of the Salvatore Lucania grave.
What Charlie Lucky Would Say
If we could communicate with him about what he thinks about his potential disinterring, and forensic examination, what would Charlie Lucky say?
"Do not exhume my grave! Do not conduct a forensic examination of me!"
Charlie Lucky understood the dichotomy of positive publicity and negative publicity. All publicity of any kind is unwelcome to the underworld. The underworld realizes that publicity is unavoidable. In lieu of the ideal reality, its complete elimination, the mob tries to influence publicity in an effort to have more control over its impact. It's a kind of "if you can't beat em, join em" strategy.
To the underworld, negative publicity is more unwelcome than positive publicity. Negative publicity is any publicity that the mob has little or no control over. For example, the publicity that emerges from a mobster's indictment. An example of positive publicity is mob perpetrated disinformation.
Suppose Charlie Lucky died from poisoning. But, the forensic examination nevertheless comes up "negative." The word is out that Charlie Lucky was not victimized by poisoning. Here we find an example of mob perpetrated disinformation, the kind of publicity the mob wants to be propagated.
If he is exhumed and subjected to forensic examination, Charlie Lucky will be the first mob boss to publicly undergo that process. On January 21, 1947, Capone suffered a stroke. He began to recover but died three days later from pneumonia. Al Capone was buried in Mt. Olivet Cemetery. Later, he was moved in secret to Mt. Carmel Cemetery, Hillside, on Chicago's West Side, next to the graves of his father and brother, where he remains today. There was no forensic examination.
If Salvatore “Charlie Lucky” Luciano was, indeed, murdered by poisoning, we may be sure the Mafia Commission is cognizant of the true cause of his death.
Cosche specialized in the most promising rackets in their territory. The Corleone cosca specialized in agriculture and, in the 1930s, Michele Navarra became a capocosca of the Corleonesi.
Although there were no mafioso among his forebears, Michele Navarra was related by marriage to the Riela family whose members were part of the Corleone cosca.
Michele established a Sicily-wide trucking company managed by one of his brothers.
The Navarra were a bourgeois family from before Michele's birth. Michele's father, a teacher and small landowner, fraternized with the social and political elite in the town of Corleone.
Michele became a physician. He gained complete control over medicine in Corleone by replacing the previous hospital administrator, Dr. Nicolosi, who was murdered by persons unknown. Placido Rizzoto, a leader of a peasant movement for agrarian reform, was a threat to Mafia interests. He disappeared.
One night a shepherd boy outside of town witnessed a shotgun murder by two men. He was extremely agitated when he reported to the police who subsequently took him to the Corleone hospital. Then, the boy was sedated by Dr. Navarra. Shortly thereafter, the boy died.
The authorities suspected Navarra and Luciano Leggio, his lieutenant. Liggio became a fugitive. Navarra was arrested and sent into external exile, but soon bought his way out.
The numerous illegal activities of Navarra's cosca continued. His cosca controlled the hiring of workers, the protection rackets, and crimes of all varieties, provided they resulted in profit and/or intimidation.
Luciano Leggio's influence in the cosca increased strategically as he brought picciotti over to his side. He and Navarra had a falling out. Navarra's attempt to liquidate Leggio failed. Leggio's effort to liquidate Navarra, however, was successful. On August 2, 1958, Michele Navarra was murdered.
Will the Pietro Grasso murder mark a hiatus in the Sicilian Mafia’s Mob Hit Ban or its finale?
Bernardo Provenzano, the current boss of the Sicilian Mafia, is credited with having ordered the Sicilian Mafia's Hit Ban. Provenzano thereby ensured the survival of the Sicilian Mafia. Despite Provenzano’s renunciation of homicide, the Sicilian Mafia was able to recover much of its wealth and influence.
A turncoat is working with the Italian police to help them capture the absconding Provenzano who has been on the lam for forty years. An anonymous source has revealed that Provenzano knows who is cooperating for his capture. The anonymous source says Provenzano plans to capture Rome Deputy Attorney Luca Tescaroli and the turncoat alive and to kill them later on. Since it is too hard to capture Palermo Attorney General Pietro Grasso alive, says the anonymous source, Bernardo Provenzano plans to rub him out in a method similar to those used in 1992 on prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino.