The Unsanctioned Hit
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| Map of Sparks Steakhouse in Midtown Manhattan |
December 16, 1985 Manhattan New York, Sparks
Steakhouse. Gambino boss Paul Castellano
was sitting in the back of a Lincoln Sedan with tinted windows. The car was driven by underboss Thomas Bilotti. The two were headed to a
meeting with Gambino family Capo Frank DeCicco inside Sparks Steak House. Castellano was one to never pass up on a
steak. The Lincoln pulls up in front of
Sparks Steak House. Four assassins
dressed in white trench coats and Russian style hats began to shoot at Paul
Castellano. Bilotti was sitting in the
driver seat when the bullets started flying.
Bilotti rushed to get out of the car to defend his boss, when an unknown
assassin approached him from behind and put a bullet in the back of his head. The boss of the Gambino family was assassinated
during rush hour on a buys Manhattan street.
The assassins had shot Castellano six times and Bilotti four times. The hit team consisted of mobsters Vincent Artuso, SalvatoreScala, Edward Lino, and John Carneglia. Gotti crew soldier
Angelo Ruggiero was nearby as part of the backup crew. Why was Castellano
killed?
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Paul Castellano
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Castellano’s Young Years
Paul Castellano was born on June 26, 1915 in Brooklyn, New
York. His father Giuseppe Castellano was
a member of the Mangano family. Castellano’s
parents came from Sicily and this would eventually help him in his later years
as a mobster.
When Paul Castellano was a young teenager he dropped out of
school. Castellano started to follow in
the footsteps of his mob connected father. After Castellano quit school, he
started running numbers for his dad and he found a job as a butcher in his
father’s shop. In 1926 Catherine
Castellano married their first cousin, Carlo Gambino.
In the 1930s Castellano was arrested for robbery, he refused
to identify other individuals involved in the robbery. Castellano was sentenced to three months, and
his refusal to rat made his credibility in the mob rise.
In the late 30s and 40s Casteallano would make money by
gambling, and bootlegging. In the 1940s,
Paul Castellano followed in his father’s footsteps and became a member of the
Mangano family. Eventually Castellano
would become a Capo under Albert Anastasia who succeeded Mangano.
In 1957 Castellano attended the mob meeting in Apalachin NewYork, where he was one of the 60 mobsters arrested.
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| Castellano, Gambino and Frank Sinatra |
Paul and Carlo
When Carlo Gambino was boss of the family there was a strict
order against dealing narcotics.
Gambino’s’ rule against narcotics were “Deal and Die”. When Gambino took over the family in the late
50s he wanted to get the attention away from them. Gambino instituted a new rule that dealing
narcotics was against family policy because it attracted to much attention from
the feds. When Castellano took over the
family he kept the policy in place. The
only problem with this was that many Gambino family members from Manhattan
were dealing drugs. There was a lot of
money to be made in narcotics. One crew
that was notorious for dealing drugs belonged to John Gotti. Gotti preferred the leadership of Gambino
Family Underboss Aniello Dellacroce.
Dellacroce ran his crew out of the Ravenite Social Club in Manhattan’s
Little Italy.
Carlo Gambino died on October 15, 1976, from a heart
attack. One of the final decisions that
Carlo Gambino made as boss before his death was choosing his successor. Gambino chose his Brother-in-law Paul
Castellano over the family’s underboss Aniello Dellacroce. Dellacroce was an old school gangster who
lived by the rules, he was disappointed but supported Gambino’s decision. Castellano subsequently kept Dellacroce in
that position because it was vital to the health and peace of the family. The Capos and Soldiers out of Manhattan were
not happy with this decision, they felt that Dellacroce should have been named
boss of the family.
Greed takes over
Paul Castellano had made millions and millions of dollars
while running legitimate businesses. The
mobster wanted to keep making more money.
Shortly after Castellano took over the family new directives were given
out to the Gambino family. Castellano referred to himself as more of a
businessman than a mobster. Castellano
decided that he would run the family from his mansion in Staten Island, it was
dubbed the White House by the soldiers in the family.
A few years after Castellano was named the boss of the family, he raised his kickback percentage to 15 percent from 10 percent. This decision enraged the mobsters under him,
because federal investigation kept profits low.
Many Mafiosi turned to drugs because the profits were astronomical versus
other rackets that took time to make money.
John Gotti’s crew was heavily involved in the heroin business.
Castellano’s Downfall
Castellano rarely left his home. The FBI knew that he was conducting business
out of his house because of all the constant traffic of mobsters coming in and
out. They needed to bug the house but
the house was never alone. March 1983,
FBI agents obtain a warrant to install listening devices in Castellano’s
home. The FBI waited for Castellano to
head to Florida on a vacation, they drugged his dogs and disabled Castellano’s
home security system. The agents
installed the listening devices in the dining room and the kitchen. March 17, 1983 FBI agents install the bugs, but the house was occupied by Castellano’s wife. At around 5pm the wife leaves the premises
the agents in disguise as utility workers made their move. One team of agents posing as gardeners
drugged the guard dogs by giving them tainted meat to knock them out. Another team posing as sanitation worker
parked a sanitation truck in front of the residence and there orders where to
prevent Castellano’s wife from entering the property if she returned. The Last team deactivated the security
system, picked the locks and entered the home.
Once inside the home they placed a device inside the lamp that was
located near the kitchen. The agents
placed the bugs and exited the home with no issues. Now they just had to wait until Castellano
came home to find out if the bugs worked.
The bug lasted for 4.5 months.
The Tapes Speak
In the tapes a conversation was picked up that detailed the
civil war going on in the Gambino family.
The two factions were Billotti’s which also included Thomas Gambino,
Carlo Gambino’s son. Gambino controlled
the garment district in Manhattan. The other faction included Dellacroce and
his favorite son future boss John Gotti.
Angelo Ruggiero was a soldier in John Gotti’s crew. Ruggiero was arrested for selling
Heroin. As a result, Castellano summoned
Gotti to the White House and informed him that Gotti had to prove that he was
not involved. Castellano tore into Gotti
at that meeting. After the meeting Gotti
knew that it was a death sentence for him and Ruggiero if he was
convicted. Castellano learned from his
attorneys that Ruggiero was picked up on wiretaps talking about drug
deals. Castellano then summoned Gotti
again and this time demanded the tapes, Gotti was put on notice that if the
tapes were not produced that both men would be punished.
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| Paul Castellano arrest |
The Arrest and Assassination
Paul Castellano was arrested on March 30, 1984 and he was
facing life in prison. On that fateful
day the bosses of the other families were arrested also. Gambino family underboss Aniello Dellacroce
was also arrested and charged.
December 2, 1985, Queens, New York, Mary Immaculate Hospital
Aniello Dellacroce passes away from brain cancer. Dellacroce was the only thing stopping Gotti
from taking Castellano out. Castellano
did not attend Dellacroce’s funeral and this angered Gotti and many of the
Manhattan faction members of the Gambino Crime family. Shortly after Dellacroce death John Gotti had
found out that Gambino family Underboss would take over the family once
Castellano was convicted and sentenced.
The detailed planning of the hit was worked out between Gotti and future
underboss Sammy “The Bull” Gravano. Two
weeks later the hit on Castellano was carried out and successfully executed.
Gambino boss Paul Castellano was assassinated for various
reasons. The three clues that led me to
believe why he was assassinated where trust, greed, and favoritism. Shortly
before Carlo Gambino passed away he named Castellano as his successor. This decision did not sit well with many of
the Gambino family lower ranking members.
Early on in Castellano’s reign he demanded a higher kickback of 15 percent
from his underlings. Castellano had
refused to spend time with the Gambino family members in the social clubs because
he considered himself a businessman instead of a mobster, and this enraged them
even more, especially future boss John Gotti.
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