Cesare Bonventre

Cesare Bonventre
Born	January 1, 1951(1951-01-01) Sicily, Italy
Died	April 16, 1984(1984-04-16) (aged 33) Garfield, New Jersey, U.S.

Cesare "The Tall Guy" Bonventre (January 1, 1951 – April 16, 1984) was a Sicilian mobster and caporegime for the New York Bonanno crime family.

Biography

Early life

Born in Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, Bonventre was a member of the Sicilian Mafia and the Bonanno family operating out of Brooklyn, New York. Brought to the United States by Bonanno boss Carmine Galante, Bonventre was appointed underboss of the "Zips." Zips was a derogatory term for the young Sicilian men who were born and raised in Italy and brought over to the U.S. by the New York crime families. Galante was using Bonventre as his bodyguard. Bonventre's uncle was John Bonventre, a former underboss of the Bonanno family. Bonventre was a relative of former Bonanno boss Joseph Bonanno and also the cousin of Baldassare "Baldo" Amato.

Bonventre's moniker was "The Tall Guy" because he stood close to six feet nine tall. Bonventre was lean and stylish and hung out mostly at The Toyland Social Club and the Knickerbocker Avenue area, with the other Zips. In the book King of the Godfathers, Anthony M. Destefano writes that there was something about Bonventre that made him stand out from the other ethnic Italians. His stylish clothing, aviator sunglasses and European man's purse embodied Italian couture.^[1]

Galante assassination

On July 12, 1979, Galante was dropped off for lunch at Joe & Mary's; an Italian restaurant in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn. After a short while, bodyguards Bonventre and Baldo Amato joined Galante. Suddenly three men in ski masks appeared and opened fire on Galante. Two innocent bystanders were killed (Joe Turano of Joe & Mary's and a friend). Bonventre and Amato allegedly joined in the attack, then disappeared from the scene after the three hitmen. Galante died at the scene.

Although it was a hot summer day, Bonventre and Amato were both wearing leather jackets; presumably to protect themselves from stray bullets and debris. Bonventre was arrested by federal agents a week later, then released. The hit on Galante required Philip "Rusty" Rastelli to get approval from the Zips, Big Paul Castellano and the other Commission bosses. It was later rumored that the Mafia Commission, which oversees all the crime families, had sanctioned Galante's murder and arranged for Bonventre and Baldo to betray him. Galante was "whacked" for not sharing his drug trafficking profits with the family.

Philip "Rusty" Rastelli succeeded Galante as boss of the family, even though he was incarcerated at the time and Joseph Massino became underboss. Although some believed Massino was the real power in the family. After Galante's death, Bonventre was upped from soldier to capo and joined Salvatore Catalano's Brooklyn crew. At 28, Bonventre became the youngest capo in Bonanno family history at that point. Bonventre became involved in the importation and drug trafficking of heroin from Sicily into New York pizza parlors, known as the "Pizza Connection".

Bonventre had been on the side of the three capos' Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato, Phillip Giaccone and Dominick Trinchera; a family faction who were planning a coup to take over the family. However, Bonventre switched sides, joining Philip "Rusty" Rastelli's faction. If not for Bonventre and the Zips changing sides, it is probable that "Sonny Red" would have taken over the Bonanno family.

Death

The ascension of Rastelli as boss triggered a period of discontent and rivalry in the Bonanno family. As a result, Rastelli and Massino started purging their opponents in the family. In 1984, Massino decided that Bonventre was a threat to the Bonanno leadership and should be eliminated. Bonventre's pedigree, increasing wealth and fearsome reputation had made him into a threat. The Zips were a powerful and dangerous crew who were known as the meanest killers in the business. Bonventre himself was prone to outbursts of sadistic violence and was suspected of over 20 murders.^[2]

Massino warned, "He's a very sharp guy. You have to be careful." In April 1984, Bonanno mobsters Salvatore Vitale and Louis Attanasio picked up Bonventre to bring him to a meeting with Rastelli. As Vitale drove, Attanasio shot Bonventre twice in the head. Surprisingly, Bonventre still struggled; grabbing the steering wheel and trying to crash the car, forcing the two hitmen to fight him off. As Vitale steered into the garage, Bonventre crawled out of the car before Attanasio finished him off with two more shots. Bonventre's body was hacked to pieces and dumped into three 55-gallon glue drums in a Garfield, New Jersey warehouse.

After the body was recovered, it took forensic technicians three months to identify it. One month later, federal agents broke up the Pizza Connection with a series of arrests. Cesare Bonventre was one of the people indicted in the Pizza Connection Trial, but was murdered a year before the trial began. Bonventre is buried at Saint Charles Cemetery. Bonventre was married and his wife gave birth to their first son after he was murdered.^[3]

Aftermath

A government informant later claimed that one of Bonventre's killers was mobster Cosimo Aiello. It is unknown what involvement Aiello had in the murder, because he himself was shot to death in the parking lot of a Clifton, New Jersey restaurant, six months after the discovery of Bonventre's body.

In January 2004, nearly 20 years after the murder, federal authorities arrested Louis Attanasio, Peter Calabrese and Louis's brother Robert Attanasio. Vitale cooperated with authorities. In 2006, Louis Attanasio and Calabrese were sentenced to 15 years imprisonment. Robert Attanasio, who cleaned up the car in which Bonventre had been shot, was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.

References

1. ^ "Murder on the Lam". King of the Godfathers. pp. 139. 
2. ^ "A Cautionary Tale". Time. October 15, 1984. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,923698-1,00.html. 
3. ^ "A Cautionary Tale". Time. October 15, 1984. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,923698-2,00.html. 

Additional reading

• Raab, Selwyn. Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires. New York: St. Martin's Press 2005. ISBN 0-312-30094-8
• Sifakis, Carl. The Mafia Encyclopedia. New York: Da Capo Press, 2005. ISBN 0-8160-5694-3
• Crittle, Simon. The Last Godfather: The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino. Berkley 2007. ISBN 0-4252-0939-3
• Pistone, Joseph D.; & Brandt, Charles (2007). Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business, Running Press. ISBN 0-7624-2707-8.
• Pistone, Joseph D.; & Woodley, Richard (1999) Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia, Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 0-340-66637-4.
• DeStefano, Anthony. The Last Godfather: Joey Massino & the Fall of the Bonanno Crime Family. California: Citadel, 2006.
• Rudolph, Robert. "3 charged in case of dead man in a drum," The (Newark, N.J.) Star-Ledger, January 22, 2004 (retrieved on March 10, 2010).
• Marzulli, John. "15-Yr. Sentences for 1984 Rubout," New York Daily News, September 21, 2006 (retrieved on March 10, 2010).

External links

• Cesare Bonventre at Find-A-Grave

Persondata
Name	Bonventre, Cesare
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	January 1, 1951
Place of birth	Sicily, Italy
Date of death	April 16, 1984
Place of death	Garfield, New Jersey, U.S.