Tuesday, March 22, 2005
In Today’s column: INFORMATION, MISINFORMATION, DISINFORMATION, PART II, A MAD DOG IS UNLIKELY TO TURN STATE'S EVIDENCE, PART 1, BONANNO COSA NOSTRA FAMILY: IS IT "CURTAIN?", LOUIS EPPOLITO OR STEPHEN CARACAPPA: WHO WILL BE THE FIRST TO FLIP?
Information, Misinformation, Disinformation, Part II,
A "Mad Dog" Is Unlikely To Turn State's Evidence, Part I
Mad Dog Joe Sullivan, Underworld Folk Hero in the Making
Settlers who made their homes in the American wilderness first told tall tales. In those days, before cable television, the VCR, and the Internet, people depended on storytelling for entertainment. After a long days work, people gathered to tell each other funny tales.
Each category of laborers---loggers, cowboys, railroad and steel workers---had its own tall tale hero. Having a superhuman hero with the same job somehow made their lives easier. Perhaps it gave them strength or courage to do their difficult and dangerous work.
One thing that historians do is to mythify and/or demythify individuals. Sometimes one individual is both mythified and demythified.
William Hoffman and Lake Headley (January 1, 1992), in Contract Killer: The Explosive Story of the Mafia's Most Notorious Hitman Donald "Tony the Greek" Frankos, Thunder's Mouth Pr; 1st ed edition, ISBN: 1560250453, introduce us to "Mad Dog Joe Sullivan," the underworld folk hero in the making.
The recounting of the exploits of Mad Dog Joe Sullivan and Donald "Tony the Greek" Frankos makes life a little easier for contract killers and all malcontents who live on the edge. Since Hoffman and Headley, 1993 are the ghost writers for the Tony the Greek Frankos manuscript, there is a possibility that Tony the Greek himself is the initiator of the effort to make Mad Dog Joe Sullivan into an underworld folk hero.
We find that, by the tender age of twelve, Joe Sullivan has already embarked upon his life work.
"Joe grew up near John Gotti's neighborhood in Queens. He had a terrible childhood. His tough alcoholic Irish cop father frequently beat him, but the unceasing verbal abuse hurt worse. Detective Sullivan had Joe's life mapped out: his son would be a cop, no matter what the boy wanted. The more the father harangued, the harder the son resisted. Joe began pulling armed robberies at age twelve" (p. 95).
The "Mad Dog" Handle
In the American context, the phrase "mad dog" in a man’s name tells us that he is vicious, uncompromising, irrational. Generally speaking, with the exception of the mob patsy, upahts and/or sane, the mob executioner is a rational social actor.
As an American of Irish descent and a "Mad Dog," the name "Joe Sullivan" brings to mind the name "Vincent Coll." Vincent Coll was known in the New York underworld as the "Mad Mick" and later on the press began to refer to him as "Mad Dog" due to his alleged disregard for human life.
One reason “Mad Dog” is a unique handle is the fact that it is reassuring. It reassures contract killers and all malcontents who live on the edge that the individual in question is unlikely to turn state’s evidence. After all, a “mad dog” who is cooperating may have regained his sanity.
Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll (1909-1932), Mr. Testosterone
Vincent Coll was born into a law abiding family from County Kildare in Ireland in 1909. Vincent and Peter, the Coll boys, had been torpedoes in the Arthur "Dutch Schultz" Flegenheimer mob. The Dutchman was the "Beer Baron" of the Bronx and Harlem.
Had he not dedicated his life to the way of the gun, Vincent Coll might have been successful in Hollywood. He was dimple chinned, had curly blond hair and, was an athletic 5' 10". Vincent Coll announced that he wanted his own piece of action in regard to the beer business. Because the Dutchman answered "no!" Vincent Coll's career aspiration precipitated the Schultz-Coll War. Vincent Coll went on a rampage. Schultz trucks suddenly began to fall to hijackers. Schultz men began to die.
Vincent Coll had the testosterone of level oa a King Kong. In 1931, Salvatore "Don Turridru" Maranzano, the victor of the Castellammarese War, hired Vincent Coll to whack Salvatore "Charlie Lucky" Luciano and Vito Genovese. Don Turridru wanted the hit to be executed by a non-Italian so that he could feign non-involvement. Of course, the hit was not realized. Don Turridru fell victim to the guns and knives of four Murder Inc. assassins, instead. Vincent Coll had received a $25,000 advance, so he wound up getting to keep the money for doing absolutely nothing. He would have whacked Charlie Lucky and Vito Genovese without a second thought, if opportunity had knocked.
Vincent Coll needed money to finance his profitless war against the Dutchman. He decided to raise cash via the popular kidnapping trade. Vincent Coll did not have a mob. He had a collection of desperadoes. On the night of June 15, 1931, Coll piled some helpers into a sedan and drove over to the Club Argonaut on Seventh Avenue. There on the street he kidnapped George Jean "Big Frenchy" DeManage, the establishments large and prosperous owner.
Why was George Jean "Big Frenchy" DeManage a significant individual in New York's underworld? DeManage happened to be Owney "The Killer" Madden's partner in a string of Manhattan rackets from booze to extortion to protection to the sport of boxing. Vincent Coll went on Owney Madden's turf and just TOOK Big Frenchie into temporary custody. That necessitated the use of a lot of testosterone and a heaping helping of plain ole insanity, too.
Owney Madden came out of the slums of Liverpool to settle into the slum's of Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen. He made his mark in no time. Madden was only 17 when they started to call him "Owney The Killer," 18 when he took over the West Side's Gopher gang, 19 when he had two notches in his belt for committing homicide, 20 when the rival gang, the Hudson Dusters sent a small army and put five slugs in him, and 22 when, in 1914, he went up the river in the barroom slaying of Little Patsy Doyle. He was arrested 57 times in total. Owney Madden was a BIG MAN on Broadway, a man who was, at the very least, worthy of fear, if not respect. Vincent Coll challenged Owney Madden's authority on the Killer's own turf.
Vincent Coll called Owney Madden and demanded $100,000 by midnight. Failure to comply with this demand, he told the Killer, would result in Big Frenchy being fitted out with a pair of cement boots. Such a threat could not be taken lightly.
Later on, Vincent Coll went over to get his payment from the Killer himself. Big Frenchy was still being held. According to a file in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, Vincent Coll wound up receiving $37,500. That's all I can muster at such short notice, the Killer explained. Big Frenchy returned unharmed.
Mr. Testosterone, never fearing, was already saying the next time he was low on cash, he would kidnap Jack Marron, Owney Madden's brother-in-law. The word had been going around for months that there was a $50,000 bounty over Vincent Coll's head.
On July 28, 1931, a car carrying five gunmen drove into crowded East 107th Street in New York City's East Harlem. It slowed down in front of Joey Rao's Helmar Social Club, and the gunmen opened fire. They failed to hit their target. However, they managed to kill five-year-old Michael Vengalli, and, wound four other children, playing on the slum street. Vincent Coll had earned his moniker, "Mad Dog," and a nationwide alarm and dragnet went out.
The police concluded that the real target of the shooters was Mr. Rao himself. Mr. Rao was an ally of Dutch Schultz. The story was, in fact, that the shooting spree had nothing to do with Dutch Schultz. Rather, it marked a battle for control of the East Harlem rackets, including narcotics and policy.
Mad Dog grew a mustache, dyed his hair black, and managed to stay out of the dragnet for three months. When he was finally picked up, Frank Giordano and Pasquale DelGreco, alias Patsy Dugan, two of his principal lieutenants, were charged with him. However, their murder trial ended in acquittal.
Peter Coll, 24, was cut down on a Harlem street corner on May 30, 1931 in retribution for the Mad Dog's indiscretion. Mad Dog had violated one of the underworld's sacrosanct codes. The Dutchman had posted bail for Vincent Coll and, he had failed to show up for trial. Vincent Coll took the loss of his brother very hard.
On February 8, 1932, Vincent Coll, talking in a telephone booth in the London Chemists Drug Store, was blown away by a sub-machine gun. He was 24-years-of-age. The autopsy showed 15 steel-jacketed slugs still in VIncent Coll's body. There was no telling how many slugs went through him. Reportedly, Mad Dog had been engaged in a conversation with Owney Madden at the moment he died.
According to Police Commissioner Mulrooney, Vincent Coll had been "double-crossed, and put on the spot by his own bodyguard." What was that bodyguard's name? Fats McCarthy. The Fatman may have taken the contract from his ex-employer, Dutch Schultz.
There are overarching similarities between Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll and Mad Dog Joe Sullivan. Both Irish Americans active in the Italian American underworld. There are overarching dissimilarities between these men, too. The men are not contemporaries. Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll's criminal career is better known and better documented than Mad Dog Joe Sullivan. Vincent Coll is not remembered by John and Mary America as an unworld hero. Neither is Mad Dog Joe Sullivan but, Donald "Tony the Greek" Francos, is working on it.
Mad Dog Joe Sullivan and "Storytelling For Entertainment"
Paul Bunyan, Pecos Bill, Johnny Appleseed, John Henry and Tony Beaver are larger-than-life, or superhuman, main characters with a specific job. Mad Dog Joe Sullivan is a living human being. Why does Mad Dog Joe Sullivan play such a prominent role among characters in Contract Killer (January 1, 1993)? Because William Hoffman and Lake Headley find it is necessary to humanize killers, i.e. Donald "Tony the Greek" Frankos and all other hitmen. When the reader begins to view the hitman as a human being, the authors are beginning to achieve the ideal of universality in the art of writing.
"Joe would have whacked John Gotti if the mood had moved him, even though Gotti once gave him $75,000. He liked Mad Dog, but the gift also served to keep Sullivan around him, committing murders the future don deemed necessary. Joe would kill anybody, except his wife, Gail" (pp. 240-241).
The statement "Joe would have whacked John Gotti if the mood had moved him" is an exaggeration. They is no empirical evidence that the statement is true.
While you are reading Contract Killer: The Explosive Story of the Mafia's Most Notorious Hitman Donald "Tony the Greek" Frankos, William Hoffman and Lake Headley, (January 1, 1993), Thunder's Mouth Pr; 1st ed edition, ISBN: 1560250453, it becomes clear that a book devoted solely to the criminal career of Mad Dog Joe Sullivan is in order.
John William Tuohy and Ed Becker (June 5, 2000), in "Umberto’s Clam House Opens For Business, And Bullets, Again.," offer a rendition of the Crazy Joe Gallo Hit that is consonant to the Joseph Luparelli version.
Crazy Joe Gallo had spent the night partying at the Copa Cabana nightclub. Then, was time to leave. Gallo decided to go to Umberto's Clam House after hours.
"Umberto’s Clam House Opens For Business, And Bullets, Again," John William Tuohy and Ed Becker (June 5, 2000)
"At 4 A.M. the Gallo party is the last to leave the restaurant. The group consists of Robert Bongiovi AKA Bobby Darrow, one of Gallo's two bodyguards and a convicted rapist who was tossed out of the army, had meet a women and skipped out early. The remaining group, Gallo, his wife, Sina, a dental assistant he had married three weeks before, her ten year old daughter from a previous marriage, Lisa Essary, Joey's sister, Carmella Fiorello and Peter Diapoulos AKA Pete the Greek.
The Greek is married with four children at home, but is out for the evening with a lady friend, Edith Russo" (p. 1) As Joey Gallo and his friends climbed out of the car in front of Umberto's on that April night, they came across the Ianniello boys. The brothers are standing outside the restaurant, watching the cops pull apart a drunken couple.
Gallo and Pete the Greek spot Matty the Horse, and say hello. Pete the Greek worked at one of Matty the Horse's clubs a few years before Joey got out of the can. Not realizing Ianniello owns the place, Joey asked "How's the shrimp here?"
"Its all great" Matty says "Its good food, its a nice place" Gallo and company amble into the restaurant with its white tile floor and seashore decor, and look over the menu, which, in those days, offered inexpensive and simple sea food, most of it fried the way New York loves it.
There was another Made Guy out on the street that night, Joey Luparelli, an alleged fence and part time driver and bodyguard to acting boss of the Colombo family, Jospeh Yacovelli AKA, Joey Yaks.
Luparelli makes Gallo and hurriedly walks down Mulberry Street a few hundred feet. He's happy. This is going to put him in real good with the boss.
Luparelli finds two brothers he knows only as Cisco and Benny, and an old friend, Phil Gambino AKA Fat Foongey and Carmine DiBiase, an alleged hit man with the Gambino's who had once made the FBI's Ten Most wanted List.
Out of breath, Luparelli calls the men into a circle and whispers "I seen him, he's in Umberto's" "Seen who?" DiBiase asks. "Upahts" he answers using the Italian word for crazy. But they don't know the word. "Upahts, who?" Luparelli rolls his eyes in disgust "No, no, Joey Gallo, the crazy one, Upahts"
DiBiase understands immediately. He tells someone to get guns and meet him in front of Umberto's.
Inside the restaurant, the Gallo party is sitting at the last table, in a long row of tables, over looking the street. Joey is facing the wall, something he never does. But everything about tonight is different. Fate is in control.
There are five other patrons in the place, college kids mostly. Matty the Horse is sitting alone at a table near the grill, where a cook and the waiter are talking, he's going over the books. He always goes over the books.
Spread out across Gallo's table are plates filled with boiled shrimp and scungili, fresh salad, and warm Italian bread and a bowl filled with butter and ice. They eat communally and order a second helping of each.
There was a brief moment, just a passing second, of silence across the restaurant. Then Carmine DiBiase, Cisco and Benny kick in the front door, stand at the back of the room under the color drawing of Christopher Columbus and blast away, filling the place with twenty rounds of hot lead.
Pete the Greek stands to draw his weapon but dives to the floor and is shot in the left buttock. The bullet exits through his thigh. Matty the Horse dives into the kitchen and covers his head. Crazy Joe Gallo stands and gets hit with a slug from a .38. It enters his heart. He walks towards the killers. Another shot catches him in his arm. He staggers backwards and knocks over the table and then reels out the front door. He gets whacked three more times before he leaves the place. He staggers out to the street and falls to his knees, mumbles something, and falls flat on his face, busting his long thin nose on the road surface.
The gunmen run out the cheap metal door in the back, out into the alley where their car is waiting. Pete the Greek follows them, and, holding the door open with his left hand, fires seven rounds at the killers car, smashing the front and rear windows, but otherwise doing no damage to the killers inside.
Enraged, the Greek limps into the kitchen and points his gun at Matty the Horse's temple "Get up or I'll blow your head off" he says and Matty does as he's told.
"Did you set this up?"
"In here?...in my own place? No!" says Matty the Horse "On the eyes of my mother, no"
"I find out your lying" The Greek says "its gonna be too bad for you"
The Greek hobbles outside to the street where Joey Gallo is laying face down in a pool of his own blood. He's been shot in the back, the arm, the lung and the heart. He's hemorrhaging internally" (pp. 5-6). See: http://www.americanmafia.com/Feature_Articles_46.html
The Crazy Joe Gallo Hit: Contract Killer (January 1, 1992) Scenario
In the words of Tony the Greek Frankos, as recorded by Hoffman and Headley, 1992:
"Joey knew he flirted with death at Umberto's, but he went there to demonstrate that he still got respect. It was also a matter of machismo, to make it known that no one could tell him where to go. Indeed, when he entered the restaurant the staff gave him red-carpet treatment because they all knew Crazy Joe Gallo lived up to his name. I saw him fight guys eight or nine inches taller than himself---big blacks and Puerto Ricans who kicked the shit out of him or piped him---but he never backed down. Joey was always into something, playing mind games and pitting one person against another. A guy born to cause havoc who got caught up in the middle.
The word was out that Carlo Gambino, Fat Tony, and Junior Persico had issued contracts on Joey's life. In reality, these Mafia powerhouses feared the small army of blacks Gallo had gathered around him, though the reason they fabricated for the contracts was "revenge for Joe Columbo's shooting." They didn't care about Joe Columbo---in fact, they were happy he was out of the picture---but they would not admit their feared visions of organized blacks. "Kill Gallo where you find him" was the order" (p. 177).
In his discussion of the murder of Crazy Joey Gallo, Tony the Greek Frankos argues it was Carmine (Sonny Pinto) Di Biase who pumped the fatal bullets into Joe "Crazy Joey" Gallo" (p. 76)
The Crazy Joe Gallo Hit : ‘I Heard You Paint Houses’ (June 1, 2004) Scenario
Frank Sheeran says it was under orders from Russell Bufalino (1903-1994), Boss of the Pennsylvania-New York Cosa Nostra Family, that he whacked the "fresh kid." John "The Redhead" Francis was Sheeran's wheelman.
"I walked in the Mulberry Street door. I went straight inside toward the bar, and I kept my back to the Mulberry Street side of the room where Gallo was. I turned and ended up facing the table with the people. I was a bit startled to see a little girl with the people, but sometimes you saw that in the fighting overseas. A split second after I turned to face the table, Crazy Joey Gallo's driver got shot from behind. The women and the little girl dove under the table. Crazy Joey swung around out of his chair and headed down toward the corner door to the shooter's right. Could be he was trying to draw fight away from the table, or could be he was just trying to save himself, but most likely he was trying to do both. It was easy to cut him off by going straight down the bar to the door and getting right behind him. He made it through Umberto's corner door to the outside. Crazy Joey got shot about three times outside the restaurant not far from the corner door. Could be he had his piece in the car and was going for the car. He had no chance of making it. Crazy Joey Gallo went to Australia on his birthday on a bloody city sidewalk.
The stories that are out there say that there were three shooters, but I'm not saying that. Maybe the bodyguard added two shooters to make himself look better. Maybe there were a lot of stray shots being fired from the two guns that made it seem like there was more than one shooter. I'm not putting anybody else in the thing but me.
Later on, I heard some Italian guy took credit for the whack they put on Gallo. That's okay by me" (pp. 219-220).
If Frankos, Hoffman and Headley, (January 1, 1992) are indeed engaged in an attempt to elevate Mad Joe Dog Sullivan to the status of an underworld folk hero, that attempt may be better understood by means of comparative content analysis, i.e. how are the Crazy Joe Gallo Hit and the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa rendered in Contract Killer (Hoffman and Headley, January 1, 1992) as compared to "I Heard You Paint Houses" (Charles Brandt, June 1, 2004)?
The Jimmy Hoffa Hit: Contract Killer (January 1, 1992) Scenario
According to Tony the Greek Frankos (Hoffman & Headley, 1992), Fat Tony Salerno placed the contract over the head of Jimmy Hoffa. Frankos supposedly was ordered to join the Jimmy Hoffa Hit Squad by John Sullivan, a Salerno intermediary. Supposedly La Cosa Nostra preferred that Jimmy Hoffa be killed by non-Italians. Franks (Hoffman & Headley, 1992) says Jimmy Coonan, the leader of the Westies, was on the hit team.
"When Jimmy Hoffa walked into the house, turned left, and started to sit down, Coonan and I burst out of the kitchen, followed closely by John Sullivan. I pumped two slugs into Hoffa's forehead, the noise was like two whispers---Ssssst! Ssssst!---and the former union leader bucked backward. Then Coonan fired, and Hoffa slumped to the floor, settling sideways half-on, half-off an easy chair.
The Teamster boss died instantly. The deadly couple of seconds had to have been a blur to him. I don't think his brain had time even to register that he was under attack. Like most murder victims, his eyes remained open in death, and none of us moved to close them" (Ibid., p. 220).
Frank Sheeran says it was under orders from Russell Bufalino (1903-1994), Boss of the Pennsylvania-New York Cosa Nostra Family, that he whacked the "fresh kid." John "The Redhead" Francis was Sheeran's wheelman.
"I walked in the Mulberry Street door. I went straight inside toward the bar, and I kept my back to the Mulberry Street side of the room where Gallo was. I turned and ended up facing the table with the people. I was a bit startled to see a little girl with the people, but sometimes you saw that in the fighting overseas. A split second after I turned to face the table, Crazy Joey Gallo's driver got shot from behind. The women and the little girl dove under the table. Crazy Joey swung around out of his chair and headed down toward the corner door to the shooter's right. Could be he was trying to draw fight away from the table, or could be he was just trying to save himself, but most likely he was trying to do both. It was easy to cut him off by going straight down the bar to the door and getting right behind him. He made it through Umberto's corner door to the outside. Crazy Joey got shot about three times outside the restaurant not far from the corner door. Could be he had his piece in the car and was going for the car. He had no chance of making it. Crazy Joey Gallo went to Australia on his birthday on a bloody city sidewalk.
The stories that are out there say that there were three shooters, but I'm not saying that. Maybe the bodyguard added two shooters to make himself look better. Maybe there were a lot of stray shots being fired from the two guns that made it seem like there was more than one shooter. I'm not putting anybody else in the thing but me
Later on, I heard some Italian guy took credit for the whack they put on Gallo. That's okay by me" (pp. 219-220).
The Jimmy Hoffa Hit: ‘I Heard You Paint Houses’ (June 1, 2004) Scenaro
"Jimmy Hoffa always walked out front, way ahead of people he was walking with. He took short steps but he was fast. I caught up to him and got right behind him the way you get right behind a prisoner you're taking back behind the line, and when he opened the front door I was right behind him up the front stoop and into the small vestibule, shutting the door behind us.
Nobody was in the house but the Andretta brother and the one that was with him, and they were down the long hall in the kitchen. You couldn't see them from the vestibule. They were there as cleaners to pick up the linoleum they had put down in the vestibule and to do any clean-up that might be necessary and to remove any jewlery and take Jimmy's body in a bag to be cremated.
When Jimmy saw that the house was empty, that nobody came out of any of the rooms to greet him, he knew right away what it was. If Jimmy had taken his piece with him he would have gone for it. Jimmy was a fighter. He turned fast, still thinking we were together on the thing, that I was his backup. Jimmy bumped into me hard. If he saw the piece in my hand he had to think I had it out to protect him. He took a quick step to go around me and get to the door. He reached for the knob and Jimmy Hoffa got shot twice at a decent range --- not too close or the paint splatters back at you --- in the back of the head behind his right ear. My friend didn't suffer" (Brandt, 2994, p. 257).
An underworld folk hero in the making evidences neither information, misinformation, nor disinformation per se. The character, living or imaginary, is a composite of all three categories.
The Bonanno Cosa Nostra Family experienced tough times in the aftermath of Donnie Brasco (1976-1981). "Donnie had gathered a vast amount of information that was later used in the Pizza Connection trial and the Commission Case, and that helped put away more than one hundred mafiosi." See: Andris Kurins, Joseph F. O'Brien (June 15, 1991), Boss of Bosses: The Fall of the Godfather: The FBI and Paul Castellano (p. 22).
Some people predicted the ultimate end of the Bonanno Crime Family was drawing near. Instead of disappearing, however, a reconstituted Bonanno Cosa Nostra Family became one of the most powerful crime family's in the United States. Organized crime undergoes a constant process of evolution, true, but, it never totally disappears.
Because Joseph Bonanno (November 1, 1984) divulged some of the secrets of La Cosa Nostra in A Man of Honor: The Autobiography of Joseph Bonanno, Simon & Schuster, ISBN: 0671467476; Big Joey Massino prescribed that the name the "Bonanno Cosa Nostra Family" be changed to the
"Massino Cosa Nostra Family." When he tape recorded the self condemning words of Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano, his own underboss, Big Joey Massino became the biggest mob rat in the history of American organized crime. With the revelation of Massino's duplicity, what really died was the name, i.e. the "Massino Cosa Nostra Family."
On Wednesday, March 9, 2005, federal agents grabbed Louis Eppolito, 56, and Stephen Caracappa, 63, two retired detectives, at Piero's Italian restaurant in Las Vegas, Nevada. The men were charged with moonlighting as hit men for the mob - allegedly carrying out one gangland execution and aiding in at least seven others. Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa, were charged with taking part in 11 murders and attempted murders for the mob.
Louis Eppolito and/or Stephen Caracappa are referred to in the press as the "Mob Cops" and/or the "Hit Man Cops." The first of these two defendants, Eppolito and/or Caracappa, to flip is the one who will reap the greatest benefit.
Eppolito, a cop-turned-actor who retired in 1990, had bit parts in movies like "Goodfellas." A much-decorated detective, he was the subject of a 1992 book, Mafia Cop: The Story of an Honest Cop Whose Family Was the Mob, Simon & Schuster (Juv) (June 1, 1992), ISBN: 0671742213.
According to the indictment, Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso, the former Luchese Cosa Nostra Family underboss and elite mob rat, began paying the detectives $4,000 a month in 1986 for confidential information - including the identities of police informants, who were then whacked. Casso referred to the detectives as his "Crystal Ball."
When Casso became a turncoat in 1994, he told the feds that Eppolito and Caracappa accepted a $65,000 contract and murdered Gambino soldier Edward Lino on the Belt Parkway in Brooklyn, New York on November 6, 1992. He said Caracappa was the shooter.
Casso also blabbed that in September 1986 the pair had abducted James Hydell, another Gambino thug, who was behind a murder attempt on the underboss. Anthony Casso allegedly turned to his Detectives Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa to find a "Nicholas Guido" whom he wanted killed. But Detective Caracappa had called up the wrong Guido - a 26-year-old, law-abiding telephone installer. It was that Nicholas Guido was slain on Christmas Day in 1986 in a hail of gunfire as he sat in a car near his Brooklyn home.
But by 1998, Casso had a widely publicized falling-out with the feds after he was allegedly caught lying, bribing prison guards, and assaulting rival mobsters. Casso was deemed too unreliable and, with his allegations uncorroborated, Eppolito and Caracappa, then already retired, continued with their lives.
The files gathered dust at the U.S. attorney's office until NYPD Detective Thomas Dades developed new leads in late 2003, closely tying the rogue ex-cops to Hydell the day he was snatched in Dyker Park, Brooklyn. Dades was able to identify a paper trail of computer records which showed that Caracappa, who worked in a sensitive organized-crime homicide unit, had grossly abused his position.
Joseph Ponzi, the Brooklyn district attorney's chief investigator, flipped a key witness with knowledge of Anthony Casso's murderous plans as well as the detectives' assistance in locating victims, many of them law enforcement informants. They learned that Eppolito and Caracappa even accepted a contract to kill Salvatore "Sammy Bull" Gravano, John Gotti's underboss in 1986, but couldn't pull that one off.