May 26 2007
Rizzuto friends spoke of killing informant: police
By Adrian Humphreys, National Post - New York • Close friends of Vito Rizzuto, the Montreal Mafia boss to be sentenced today for a gangland massacre 26 years ago, discussed the prospect of murdering the New York informant who was set to testify against him.
Two men who police say are well-placed members of the Rizzuto criminal organization - one based in Montreal and the other in Rome - spoke on the telephone many times over several months about the arrest of Rizzuto at his Montreal mansion in 2004, according to transcripts of calls secretly monitored by police.
“They have the miserable bastard who is talking [to police],” the man in Montreal said, according to a translation of documents written in Italian.
“Yes,” replied the man in Rome, “but they are going to get him.”
Such a move is tough, he admitted, because Salvatore “Good-Looking Sal” Vitale, the second-in-command of one of New York City’s powerful Mafia families who sent the underworld into turmoil when he became a government informant, was “protected by the police.”
“He should pray to the Lord that everything goes well for him,” the man in Rome said in a second conversation right afterward to another person, according to transcripts. It is a statement authorities took as a threat.
Vitale, who pleaded guilty to a string of mob murders and agreed to testify against his former crime colleagues, is often called “the guy who is against us,” by the men. Gangsters typically talk in code in case they are overheard or recorded. Rizzuto is usually referred to as “our friend.”
The man in Rome, a former Montrealer, then ominously compares the Vitale situation to another incident in which a protected person who had upset the Rizzuto organization had been found and shot.
The conversations raise questions about the level of co-operation and interaction between the Mafia members in Canada and the United States in recent years. While mobsters in Canada paid financial tribute to their American counterparts for decades, the organizations appeared to have been estranged lately. It is not known whether the conversations related to plans others were making or just wishful thinking by men concerned about their beloved boss.
The arrest, extradition battle and subsequent removal of Rizzuto from Canada to face trial in New York was a subject of great concern to the men, according to the transcripts, which have not been proven or tested in court.
The day after Rizzuto was arrested on the racketeering charge the man in Montreal phoned the man in Rome to inform him of the development, one of the regular updates that would come over the months. One says the U.S. authorities “won’t give up,” even after more than two decades of a crime being unsolved. The other offers encouragement, saying it is far from certain that Rizzuto will be convicted.
“He has lawyers. He has two great lawyers,” one says. “They have the money [to fund a legal battle].”
Three weeks ago, Rizzuto, 61, stood in the same courtroom he is scheduled to appear in today and told Judge Nicholas Garaufis of his personal role in the slayings that became a lurid part of underworld history after it was recreated by Hollywood in the movie Donnie Brasco.
“I was one of the guys who participated in this,” he said of the murders.
On May 5, 1981, Rizzuto burst out of a hiding place inside a closet in a Brooklyn social club and held three rival mobsters at gunpoint. “My job was to say it was a holdup, so everybody would stay still. Other guys came in and started shooting the other guys,” he said. “I was armed.”
Rizzuto admitted he was there to help murder Alphonse “Sonny Red” Indelicato, Philip “Philly Lucky” Giaconne and Dominick “Big Trinny” Trinchera.
However, his contention that he did not personally shoot any of the victims contradicts testimony in other cases from turncoat mobsters, especially that of Vitale, who was also armed and lying in wait inside the closet at the time of the slayings. Vitale said Rizzuto was with two other Montreal men, but no other Canadians have been charged.
Rizzuto’s guilty plea will bring Rizzuto a reduced sentence and avoided a damaging and embarrassing trial that would have seen a parade of Mafia turncoats point their finger at Rizzuto as the most powerful crime figure in Canada.
Rizzuto’s sentencing today, in which Judge Garaufis is expected to hand him 10 years in prison, also ends his charmed life as one of the untouchables, a man who repeatedly avoided charges and won unexpected acquittals during decades as a top police target.
By Adrian Humphreys, National Post - Thursday, May 24, 2007 - http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=d263c399-c28b-43fe-9fc3-e3f2dfe9a3a6&k=0
