Nicolo “Nick” Terranova
Morello Family
Killed on 9/7/1916
He was known as “Nick Morello” because he was the half brother of Giuseppe “Clutch Hand” Morello. Clutch Hand was the first real mafia boss in New York. In 1910 he was put in prison and he made the most able of his three Terranova brothers the new boss.
Nick took over the family at a time of uncertainty, having replaced their hierarchy in the midst of a war with the Camorra, a rival outfit to the mafia. Terranova made many attempts at peace but that only emboldened the Camorra. They set up a supposed peace meeting with Terranova, who showed up to be killed.
James “Big Jim” Colosimo
The Outfit
Killed on 5/11/1920
“Big Jim” was the first boss of what would later become known as the Chicago Outfit. He had come from Calabria, Italy at age 17 and by his mid twenties, he was the boss. He wore fancy white suits and always had the diamond chains and pinky rings on display.
What got Big Jim killed was his refusal in 1920 to let the family take part in a new massively lucrative racket, bootlegging liquor. Colosimo’s second in command Johnny “The Fox” Torrio set him up to be killed, then took over the Outfit. Torrio called in one of his proteges, New York hitman Frankie Yale to do the job.
Frankie Yale
Killed on 7/1/1928
Eight years after he killed Big Jim Colosimo, it was Frankie Yale’s turn for mob justice. Yale had become the most powerful and feared mobster in Brooklyn during that time. He dominated in bootlegging with the help of his historic young crew. Al Capone, Joe Adonis and Albert Anastasia among many others.
Yale and Capone had a falling out after Capone discovered Yale was hijacking some of his booze trucks. As ruthless as Yale was, he was doomed facing a vicious killer like Capone who had an army behind him. Yale was killed seven months before the infamous St. Valentine’s Day Massacre in Chicago.
Salvatore “Toto” D’Aquila
D’Aquila Family (Gambino Family)
Killed on 10/10/1928
Toto was the boss in the bootlegging era, a few decades before it became the Gambino Family. D’Aquila broke off from under the Morello Family in the early 2010s and formed his own powerful family. This was the most violent era in mafia history. Toto found himself in a struggle for power with one of the most dangerous men in New York, Joe “The Boss” Masseria.
D’Aquila was double crossed by his underboss Manfredi Mineo, who switched sides to Masseria. Toto was killed in October 1928 as gunmen ambushed him outside of his car. Mineo played a part in the setup and cashed in by taking over the Q’Aquila Family and changing to the Mineo Family.
Gaetano Reina
Reina Family (Lucchese Family)
Killed on 2/26/1930
Gaetano “Tommy” Reina rose up through the ranks of the Morello Family. He would become the top mobster in the Bronx and the boss of his own family, which would later come to be known as the Lucchese Family. He was closely aligned with Masseria but switched sides to Maranzano.
Reina became a hot target and Masseria instructed his hit team to get Reina. After months of trying to kill the swift moving Reina, he was found on a cold winter day in February 1930. As Reina was leaving a relative’s house after dinner, a young Vito Genovese took him out with a shotgun blast to the head.
Giuseppe "Clutch Hand" Morello
Morello Family
Killed on 8/15/1930
Giuseppe Morello was the first mafia boss in American history. He was able to achieve this by banding together several Italian gangs in Brooklyn and Manhattan. He was known as “Clutch Hand” because he only had one claw-like finger on his right hand.
Morello went to prison in 1910 and the family would move on with him coming back a decade later in a lower position. His former captain Salvatore “Toto” D’Aquila who was now boss decided Morello was a threat, but he was killed before he could act. What got Morello killed was being a top target in the Castellammarese War in 1930.
Joseph Pinzolo aka “Fat Joe”
Reina Family (Lucchese Family)
Killed on 9/5/1930
”Fat Joe” Pinzolo was for a brief time the boss of what would soon become the Lucchese Family. He would take over after Tommy Reina was killed. Masseria had Pinzolo put into the position, and Pinzolo is also suspected of being involved in the plot to kill Reina.
Former Reina loyalists Gaetano “Tommy” Lucchese decided to act against the very unpopular Pizolo. Lucchese lured Pinzolo to a meeting at his office. When he arrived, a group of gunmen suddenly appeared and shot him five times. It is suspected that Lucchese himself may have been one of the shooters.
Manfredi Mineo
Mineo Family
Killed on 11/5/1930
After the killing of Toto D’Aquila, Manfredi Mineo would last two years before being killed. In 1930, the Castellammarese War broke out between Masseria’s allies and the army of Sicilians loyal to Salvatore Maranzano, who was competing for supremacy.
Maranzano’s men were ruthless and resourceful. While on a 24/7 stakeout for Masseria, they spotted Mineo and his lieutenant Steve Ferrigno, and killed both men. Joe Valachi would later claim that Joe Profaci, himself and a notorious hitman known as “Buster From Chicago” were the ones responsible.
Joe Masseria aka “Joe the Boss”
Masseria Family (Genovese Family)
Killed on 4/15/1931
The killing of Joe “The Boss” Masseria was the beginning of Lucky Luciano’s New York takeover. Masseria was Lucky’s boss but his insistence on being an old Mustache Pete style boss bothered Luciano. Lucky saw a future for the mafia in America that men like Joe “The Boss” was preventing.
Luciano invited Masseria to one of his favorite restaurants for dinner and some cards. After a hearty meal Luciano excused himself to use the restroom. At that moment, a legendary hit team burst through the door and killed Masseria. The killers included a young Albert Anastasia, Vito Genovese and Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel.
Salvatore Maranzano
Maranzano Family (Bonanno Family)
Killed on 9/10/1931
The murder of Salvatore Maranzano was the second and final act in the Luciano takeover. Maranzano was Masseria’s enemy in the Castellammarese War. Lucky decided to switch sides to Maranzano, or so Maranzano thought after the Masseria killing.
Luciano found Maranzano to be even more of a Mustache Pete than Joe The Boss. Lucky had visions of several mafia families taking over New York and he knew that could never be accomplished with Maranzano in the way. He sent some Jewsish hitmen posing as IRS agents to Maranzano’s office and they killed him right there.
John Avena aka “Big Nose”
Philadelphia Family
Killed on 8/17/1936
The Philadelphia mafia family saw its own shakeup during this time because of the Castellammarese War. Philly Boss and Maranzano loyalist Salvatore Sabella was forced to step down after Maranzano died. John Avena was put into his spot with the ok of the New York bosses.
Avena’s family found themselves at war with the mostly Jewish 69th Street Mob. The two mobs were once on the same team. This was a powerful enemy that had a lot of influence and the guts to take on the Italians. The 69th Street Mob caught up with Avena one day, killing him and an associate in a drive by.
Vincent Mangano aka “The Executioner”
Mangano Family (Gambino Family)
Killed on 4/19/1951
When the Five Families were formed in 1931, Vincent Mangano was one of the original bosses crowned. He took over the Mineo Family and held control for twenty long years as a top member of the commission. Mangano was a fierce individual, and nicknamed “The Executioner”.
What happened to Mangano was that his incredibly dangerous and influential underboss Albert Anastasia outgrew his position. The men worked together for twenty years, sometimes nearly coming to punches after explosive arguments. Then in April 1951, Mangano disappeared forever and his lieutenant brother was murdered.
Frank Scalise
Mineo Family (Gambino Family)
Killed on 6/17/1957
“Don Ciccio” had a brief run as boss of the future Gambino Family after the death of Manfredi Mineo back in 1930. Scalise was a top ally of Salvatore Maranzano, but he ran into problems when Maranzano died. Lucky Luciano did not like Scalise and forced him to resign as family boss.
Scalise earned his way back to underboss under Anastasia two decades later after Mangano was killed. Shortly before his own death, Anastasia decided to have his underboss killed. One story was that Scalise was selling memberships into the family, another was that he was eliminated to make way for a much more talented Carlo Gambino to take his spot.
Albert Anastasia aka “The Lord High Executioner”
Anastasia Family (Gambino Family)
Killed on 10/25/1957
If anyone knew about killing, it was Albert Anastasia. “The Lord High Executioner was the boss of the hit team known as Murder Inc. and what would later become the Gambino Family. He killed his boss Vincent Mangano in 1951 and Masseria way back in 1931, at the request of Luciano.
The rest of the commission realized Anastasia was a threat. His underboss Carlo Gambino conspired with Vito Genovese and Meyer Lansky to have Anastasia killed. Albert was enjoying a shave at the Park Sheraton barber shop in Midtown Manhattan when “Crazy Joe” Gallo and a young Carmine “The Snake” Persico bursted in and shot him to death.
Sam Giancana
The Outfit (Chicago)
Killed on 6/18/1975
Giancana was named the boss of the Chicago Outfit in 1957. He was one of the most powerful mobsters ever when it came to political influence. It is widely believed that he had a hand in getting John F. Kennedy elected in 1960. He was later recruited by the CIA to kill Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro.
Things got hot and Giancana left for Mexico, but was deported back in 1975. He got some very unwanted attention at the Church Committee hearings that were investigating the CIA/mafia connection. Giancana would be shot dead inside his home while making sausage and peppers. His murder has never been solved.
Carmine Galante ake “Lilo” or “The Cigar”
Bonanno Family
Killed on 7/12/1979
Galante was the boss of the Bonanno Family and a major heroin importer. It’s ironic that one of Carmine Galate’s nicknames was “The Cigar”. After he was gunned down outside of Joe & Mary’s restaurant, he was found with a cigar clenched firmly in his mouth.
The reason Galate looked so comfortable during death was because he had his bodyguards, imported Sicilian “zips” on site. When the three shooters burst in, the zips calmly walked out unharmed. It was a commission sanctioned hit, Galante had been making too many power plays and the other bosses approved of his murder.
Angelo Bruno
Bruno Family (Philadelphia Family)
Killed on 3/21/1980
The killing of “The Gentle Don” was the end of a mainly peaceful era in the Philadelphia mafia. Angelo Bruno believed in diplomacy over violence more than any other boss. What got Bruno killed was denying his family the right to partake in the very lucrative narcotics trade.
Philadelphia consigliere Tony “Bananas” Caponigro would be killed by the New York families within a month for the unsanctioned killing. The New York bosses weren’t necessarily upset about Bruno’s death and they used the incident as an opportunity to put as new boss Phil “Chicken Man” Testa, their choice.
Philip “Chicken Man” Testa
Bruno Family (Philadelphia Family)
Killed on 3/15/1981
The reign of Phil “The Chicken Man” Testa as Philadelphia godfather was less than a year and came to a brutal ending. When Testa opened his front door on March 5, 1981, a nail bomb planted under his porch went off. Parts of Testa’s porch and Testa himself were found over a block away.
Testa’s death set off a war for control of the Philly mafia. It was his underboss Peter Casella and capo Frank Narducci who were behind the killing. Narducci was killed and Casella would be run out of town. The man who would eventually take control of the family was “Little Nicky” Scarfo, one of the most violent mafia bosses in history.
Paul Castellano
Gambino Family
Killed on 12/16/1985
Paul Castellano liked to think of himself as a white collar mafia boss. A man separated from the drug dealing, murder, extortion and other crimes that he took in millions every year from. He took a larger share from his captains than any Gambino boss before or after him, and he always wanted more.
Many of the young up and comers in the Gambino Family like John Gotti hated Paul. They wanted to take him out. By 1985, the biggest obstacle to killing Paul was underboss Neil Dellacroce, Gotti’s mentor. Neil was no fan of Paul, but firmly believed for better or worse, “the boss is the boss”.
But on December 2, 1985, Dellacroce passed away after a battle with cancer. Before he even passed, a plan had been put in place. Castellano was now vulnerable and his days were shortly numbered. Just two weeks later, a mafia hit for the ages would shock New York and the entire country.
The murder of Castellano and his driver/underboss Tommy Bilotti is the most famous mob hit of all time. It was orchestrated by Gotti and Sammy “The Bull” Gravano. They watched the hit from a parked car across the street from Sparks Steak House. They were the backups to the eight shooters assigned to the hit.
Gotti would take over the Gambino Family with Sammy becoming his underboss. Everyone knew they were responsible for the murders but the truth would come out when Sammy testified against Gotti seven years later. As for Castellano, he is remembered as a greedy boss with little street credibility.
Frank Cali
Gambino Family - Acting Boss
Killed on 3/13/2019
This was the first mafia boss murder in over three decades in New York, although Cali was only an acting boss at the time. With that said, Cali was doing more in the drug business than the mafia had seen in a long time.
Cali was strongly connected to Sicilian mobsters and used them to import heroin and other drugs into the country. This was a traditional stronghold for the Gambinos, but had slowly dissolved over the years until guys like Cali brought it back. Cali was actively elevating the Gambinos, who had suffered decades of a constant decline.
Then on March 13, 2019, a man approached Cali outside his home and shot him on the spot. It looked like a classic mob rubout. At first, it was thought that the recently released Gene Gotti may have played a role inFrank Cali being gunned down. Headlines suggested that the Gottis may be back in power.
In reality, the killing was the result of a dispute Cali was having with a mentally disturbed young man named Anthony Comello. The cause of Cali’s murder likely had nothing to do with mafia business at all. Comello was experiencing massive delusion and may have fixated it on Cali. Comello was found unfit to stand trial for the murder.