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Tuesday, May 9, 2006

In Today's column: "What Is A 'Mafia Wife?';" "Hell Has No Fury Like A Woman Scorned;" "The Disaffected Mafia Wife;" "Who Was Vito Genovese?," "A Sinner Saved By Grace;" and "Postscript: Betty Tocco's Current Mob Status."

What Is A 'Mafia Wife?'

Anthony Bruno, the author, in his "Married to the Mob: Mafia Wives and Mistresses," discusses many of the salient characteristics of the woman who is known to the world as the 'Mafia Wife:"

"A mob wife’s operating principle is simple: As long as her husband can bring in enough income to support his family and maintain a respectable lifestyle, the wife doesn’t care to know where it all came from. And if she’s smart, she won’t ask.

Most mafia wives exist in a unique state of denial. To the outside world, these women swear that their husbands are not thieves and killers. They’re businessmen and independent contractors harassed by law enforcement because they happen to be of Italian descent and are therefore unfairly tarred with the Mafia brush. But among themselves, Mafia wives exhibit a different kind of denial. Generally they all know what their husbands do for a living, even if they aren’t always privy to the specific scams. But even with each other, these women rarely acknowledge the obvious. They might socialize together, shop together, discuss their kids and share their personal problems, but they rarely discuss mob business.

Like their husbands who must abide by the rules of omerta, the Mafia code of silence, in order to survive and prosper, Mafia wives follow their own code of silence. Large houses, luxury cars, expensive clothes, lavish restaurant meals and generous amounts of spending money ensure that their lips remain sealed. As long as the goodies keep coming, the wives don’t ask and they don’t tell" (pp. 1-2).

William Congreve, 1670-1729. said, 'Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned.' See: http://www.theatrehistory.com/british/congreve001.html

Is Betty Tocco a woman scorned?' We don't know for sure. But, we know that Betty Tocco has exhibited great 'fury' against her spouse.

"Hell Has No Fury Like A Woman Scorned"

Betty Tocco is an exception to the typical mafia wife who is content to simply practice her meatballs. Betty is the widow of mob boss, Albert 'Caesar' Tocco and has divulged confidential secrets allegedly learned in her position as the late mob boss's wife.

According to "Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia:"

"His wife, Betty, testified that in 1986, she had driven her husband from an Indiana cornfield after he had told her that he had just buried Anthony Spilotro (the mob's man in Las Vegas for two decades), who was known as the "Ant," and his brother Michael. The Spilotro case was portrayed in the Martin Scorsese film, "Casino," which was released in 1995. In early 2005, several FBI interviews and newly released information by a turncoat, named Nick Calabrese, seemed to contradict this account as he admitted being involved in the killings, and gave a very different story to authorities that did not at all involve Tocco. This information was run in a series of articles in the Chicago Tribune and Star newspapers.

In an interview published in the Chicago Sun-Times just after Tocco was sentenced in 1990, Betty called her husband a ruthless thug who abused his family, broke the mob's code of ethics, and even cheated his daughter at tic-tac-toe. Though this article incorrectly attributes such testimony to Betty, it was actually the testimony of FBI agents who had worked on the case for several years, and demonstratively showed extreme prejudice in trying to characterize Tocco in a negative light, given their failed attempts during previous years to attribute crimes to him. Such testimony caused a public debate about the positives and negatives of both Betty and Tocco — littering the Chicago media with public letters and call-ins.

Betty was believed to be the first wife of an organized crime leader to testify against her spouse, and she reportedly entered the federal witness protection program with Tocco's only offspring, their son Michael Tocco" (p. 1).

Who Was Albert 'Caesar' Tocco?

Albert 'Caesar' Tocco was an American mafioso with a legendary criminal career.

"Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia" gives biographical information about Albert 'Caesar' Tocco:

"Albert Caesar Tocco (August 9, 1929 - September 21, 2005), nicknamed 'Caesar' (though this was actually his baptismal name), was an American organized crime leader who was sentenced to 200 years' imprisonment in an Indiana prison in 1990 for racketeering, conspiracy, extortion, and tax fraud. He is believed to be the first organized crime leader whom a spouse has testified against.

Tocco allegedly oversaw organized crime operations in many of Chicago's southern suburbs. He was arrested in Greece in 1989, and brought back to Chicago, where he was convicted in the federal court..."

"...Tocco died on September 21, 2005 after suffering a stroke. Michael Tocco appeared at his father's funeral after being away for sixteen years; he was pictured on the front of most Chicago media that covered the event, and listed him as a 'spitting image of his father.' The funeral was attended by hundreds of family and friends who remembered Tocco as a 'loving, family man'" (p. 1).

Please see, 'Albert “Caesar” Tocco' in Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo: the dead correspondent and his major public/private sphere, the Tuesday, 27 September 2005 edition of the Sho' nuff Mob Study, p. 4 at http://gangstersinc.tripod.com/ShoSep2705.html

The Disaffected Mafia Wife

The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines "disaffect" as "to alienate the affection or loyalty of" and “disaffected” as "discontented and resentful especially against authority."

Here are the cases of two mafiosi, Tobia Basile and Michael 'Trigger Mike' Coppola, who killed their wives.

Tobia Basile was a Camorrista who became disaffected with his wife. In the words of Carl Sifakis (June 30, 2005) in The Mafia Encyclopedia: From Accardo to Zwillman, Checkmark Books; 3rd edition, ISBN: 0816056943, p. 34:

"BASILE, Tobia (c. 1809-?): Camorra's grand old man The grand old man of the Camorra, the Neapolitan criminal society, Tobia Basile trained many erstwhile Camorrista's who ended up as important members of the American underworld. A seasoned criminal when he first entered prison in Italy in 1860, Basile was to remain behind bars for the next 30 years, there to become Italy's greatest crime teacher, instructing numerous eager inmates in the ways and deeds of the Camorra.

The Italian sociologist G. Alongi, a 19th-century expert on the Camorra, made a detailed study of Basile. He wrote:

His numerous pupils used to go to his lessons regularly to listen to his advice, to learn from him the science of 'prudence in crime' for he was a walking encyclopedia on the art of the mala vita. His long stay in the penitentiary, his cold and reflective temperament, his cleverness, and his venerable age made him a much-heeded master. For a few cents he would teach the art of stealing from a puppet entirely covered with numberless tiny bells that would jingle at the slightest touch; he taught the tradition of the Honorable Society and the chief rules to be observed in order to conform to its spirit, the art of dealing a straight or a treacherous blow, the way of slipping along the floor without making any noise, the secrets of the Camorristic jargon, a quantity of methods successful in diverting the attention of the police, the way of behaving in the courts, and the numberless swindles committed against the emigrant who, coming from the provinces, stops a few days in Naples on his way to America. The extraordinary man was in possession of a complex outfit of false keys, files, and picklocks, and thought the aspirants all that was necessary to know before being initiated into the Honorable Society.

When Basile was released from prison he was a shrunken old man well over 80 and he was, he felt, an old warhorse ready to be set out to graze. He wanted only to contemplate the world, to be consulted from time to time by other Camorristas, but above all to be free of cares. Unfortunately he had a wife who talked endlessly and nagged. It was not right that an honored Camorrista could not enjoy a peaceful retirement. Basile suffered 10 years of torment and then, suddenly, his wife disappeared in May 1900. Newspaper reporters made a big thing of it, wondering if some of Basile's old enemies exacting vengeance. Not so, Basile insisted. His wife he said had been abducted "for ransom which a poor man like me doesn't have.

Basile grew more senile with the passing years, walking about Naples mumbling of honor and respect and the art of murder. One day Basile was seen packing his belongings onto a cart and then he was gone, never to be seen again.

Then in 1910 the Basile house was torn down by a new owner so that he could build anew. In the Basile bedroom, workers found a shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, whom Camorristas regarded as their special patron. It was removed to reveal a false wall. There behind the wall was the skeleton on Tobia Basile's wife. From the condition of the sealed compartment it was obvious that the woman had been walled up alive and had for many days screamed and tried to claw her way out of her brick and plaster tomb. The position of the bed indicated Basile had lain there with his head no more than two feet from the wall.

It had been the last crime of an honored member of the Camorra asserting his right to the respect of others."

Carl Sifakis (June 30, 2005) goes on to give us insight into the marital life of Trigger Mike Coppola.

COPPOLA, Michael 'Trigger Mike' (1904-1966) Syndicate capo

Trigger Mike Coppola earned notoriety in Mafia and popular folklore. A raging sadist and brutal triggerman, his violent nature carried over to his personal life. Allegedly, he arranged to have his first wife murdered in the hospital where she had given birth. Fear of Coppola and his mob's vengeance drove his second wife to suicide..." (p. 120).

"...Coppola was always ready to kill almost anybody to advance his fortunes or protect himself. His first wife, according to the subsequent testimony of his second wife, Ann, happened to be around when her husband and another hood discussed plans for the murder of a New York Republican political worker, Joseph Scottoriggio. The first Mrs. Coppola had been called to testify against her husband in the case, but her appearance was postponed because of her pregnancy. She gave birth to a baby daughter and then conveniently expired in her hospital bed. Coppola's second wife, Ann, later charged that Trigger Mike had bragged about killing Wife No, 1 to keep her from talking.

Ann Coppola was to learn that marriage to Trigger Mike was a living hell and that his first wife was probably better off dead. At their honeymoon party Coppola entertained the guests by taking a shot at Ann. When she became pregnant, Coppola called in a mob doctor to perform an abortion on the kitchen table with Trigger Mike helping out. He was to help out on three more abortions; Ann realized he got kicks out of it. In 1960 Ann discovered her husband was supplying drugs to her teenaged daughter by a previous marriage. She filed for divorce and testified in an income tax case against Coppola, who sent strongarm men to kidnap her and administer a harsh Mafia beating. Found severely mauled on an isolated beach, she recovered and prepared again to testify against him...

...Meanwhile, Ann had squirreled away something like a quarter million dollars in underworld money and secretly fled to Europe to escape the mob's hit men. In 1962, in Rome, she would run no more. She wrote a final letter to Internal Revenue, addressing certain portions of it to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. Then she wrote a farewell to Trigger Mike, saying: 'Mike Coppola, someday, somehow, a person or God or the law shall catch up with you, you yellow-bellied bastard. You are the lowest and biggest coward I have had the misfortune to meet.' Then she wrote in lipstick on the wall over her hotel bed: 'I have always suffered, I am going to kill myself. She took a dozen sleeping pills lapsed quietly into death.

Trigger Mike got out of prison in 1963 and he spent his remaining years in disgrace with the mob, both for letting his wife learn his secrets and for being unable to keep her mouth shut. Trigger Mike whiled away his time growing orchids. He might well have been disturbed in even that pursuit had Ann Coppola's last request been honored. She wanted to be cremated and her ashes dropped over his house' (pp. 121-122).

Anna Petillo Vernotico Genovese

Sometimes the mob will not whack a mafia wife even those she is guilty of the commision of an unpardonable infraction of underworld rules. Hubby Vito Genovese had a lot to do with Anna Genovese's undiminished longevity.

Selwyn Raab (August 25, 2005) in the Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America’s Most Powerful Mafia Empires, Thomas Dunne Books, ISBN: 0312300948, discusses the relationship Vito Genovese had with Anna, his wife:

"To spotlight Genovese's bulging wealth, the chief counsel for the McCellan Committee, young Robert F. Kenneday, presented evidence from a separation suit by Genovese's wife. As part of a property settlement, Mrs. Genovese gave details of Don Vito's illegal income from gambling, racetracks, nightclubs, union shakedowns, extortions, and other rackets. By her calculations he netted more than $40,000 a week and had secret caches in numerous safe-deposit boxes in America and Europe. Kennedy's exposure of the separation settlement notified every mafiosi in the country that Anna Genovese had left the Mob boss. Genovese's murderous temperament was feared in the Mafia, and his wife's departure and financial revelations were inordinate insults to the godfather's prestige. Don Vito, who had wed Anna after arranging her first husband's slaying, had a soft spot for his "bride in murder" and never made a move to harm her" (p. 123).

The American Mafia is not proud to admit it has had to place a contract to end the life of a former mafia wife, especially the wife of a legendary mafioso. To do so is perceived to be an admission of weakness.

A Sinner Saved By Grace

Betty Tocco is setting a bad example for the consaguineous families of mob members and associates.

Albert Tocco was the long-time boss of Chicago's south suburbs. He was convicted in 1989, partly on the testimony of his estranged wife, Betty, of extortion, racketeering, and tax evasion and sentenced to prison for 200 years.

Betty Tocco split with her husband and became a fount of information about Mob activities, including the 1986 murders of Tony “The Ant” Spilotro and his brother Michael. Tony Spilotro had long been the Mob’s man in Las Vegas and his brother ran a Chicago restaurant before they were killed.

After Tony Spilotro fell out of favor with his Mob bosses over a notorious skimming trial, in which Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo was convicted and sentenced, the Spilotros were murdered.

Betty Tocco maintains the Spilotros were killed by her husband Albert, Laborers’ officials Nick Guzzino and Dominick Palermo and a fourth Mob guy, Albert “Chickie” Roviere. The Spilotros were brutally beaten nearly to death with baseball bats, then thrown into a shallow grave off Route 41 in Northwest Indiana, where they died as their assailants buried them. Then, Betty Tocco says, the killers split up, leaving Albert Tocco without a getaway car.

Her husband called her from a phone booth about a mile from the farm field where the Spilotros were buried. Then, almost before Tocco could ditch the dirty blue work clothes that he wore for the killings and burial, the farmer who owned the field found the grave and alerted police.

Although the Betty Tocco version of the Spilotro murders has become fairly well known in law enforcement circles, no charges have ever been filed in connection with the deaths of the Spilotro brothers.

Please see. "Information, Misinformation, Disinformation, Part V; The Hyperbolic You Wish Mob Boss, Part II, in the Tuesday, 16 August 2005 edition of the Sho ‘nuff Mob Study, p. 1” at http://gangstersinc.tripod.com/ShoAug0205.html

As Jerry Capeci (April 13, 2006, p. 1) writes in his "This Week In GANG LAND: The Online Column" article, "It's Not Easy Being Boss:"

"Oh, the headaches of being boss.

According to a corrupt Bronx lawyer who served as a mob errand boy for top officials of the Bonanno family, even the wives of wannabe wiseguys were a sore spot for the crime family's imprisoned godfather, Joseph Massino.

The wife of one proposed mobster would often show up "yelling and screaming" at her husband of a mob social club, actions that caused Massino (right) to question the candidate's credentials, according to the testimony of turncoat mob lawyer Thomas Lee at the federal murder trial of acting boss Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano.

Massino grumbled that "a guy who couldn't control his wife couldn't be a member," Lee testified."

Postscript: Betty Tocco's Current Mob Status

Publicity is an anathema to the American Mafia. In regard to the Caesar and Betty Tocco affair, the most serious harm has already been done. From the standpoint of underworld ethos, Betty Tocco is a "sinner." She has testified against her husband publicly discussing matters she is not suppposed to discuss. But, Betty Tocco is a sinner saved by mob grace.

The hypothetical murder of Betty Tocco would be an elaboration on the bad example Betty Tocco is setting, i.e. it would be a big mistake. Rather than murdering her, the mob will be wise to allow Betty Tocco and her revelations to dissolve quietly into anonymity.