1 00:00:02,920 --> 00:00:06,520 Speaker 1: You're listening to Law and Order Criminal Justice System, a 2 00:00:06,600 --> 00:00:10,520 Speaker 1: production of Wolf Entertainment and iHeart podcasts. 3 00:00:13,800 --> 00:00:18,000 Speaker 2: In the criminal justice system, landmark trials transcend the courtroom 4 00:00:18,040 --> 00:00:21,440 Speaker 2: to reshape the law. The brave many women who investigate 5 00:00:21,480 --> 00:00:24,319 Speaker 2: and prosecute these cases are part of a select group 6 00:00:24,400 --> 00:00:27,840 Speaker 2: that is to find American history. These are their stories. 7 00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:37,600 Speaker 2: July twelfth, nineteen seventy nine, Bushwick, Brooklyn. 8 00:00:39,800 --> 00:00:43,000 Speaker 1: It was early afternoon on a hot summer day. The 9 00:00:43,080 --> 00:00:48,280 Speaker 1: residential neighborhood was usually quiet, but today was different. Something 10 00:00:48,360 --> 00:00:51,080 Speaker 1: was about to happen that would shatter the peace, a 11 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:53,760 Speaker 1: scene never expected at the restaurant that sat in the 12 00:00:53,760 --> 00:00:54,440 Speaker 1: middle of the block. 13 00:00:55,520 --> 00:00:59,160 Speaker 3: It was called Joe and Mary's in Brooklyn, which is 14 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:00,960 Speaker 3: predominantly a neighborhood. 15 00:01:01,680 --> 00:01:04,040 Speaker 1: The lunch crowd had left and the restaurant was empty 16 00:01:04,560 --> 00:01:07,759 Speaker 1: except for a group that sat outside. A stocky man 17 00:01:07,800 --> 00:01:09,840 Speaker 1: with glasses was at a table in the center of 18 00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:13,640 Speaker 1: the back patio, chomping on an unlit cigar. He was 19 00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:14,840 Speaker 1: joined by two men. 20 00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:19,959 Speaker 4: The individuals that he's meeting with are recognizing him as 21 00:01:20,360 --> 00:01:23,640 Speaker 4: a very powerful, formidable figure. 22 00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:28,160 Speaker 1: Sitting apart from the conversation were two other men. They 23 00:01:28,200 --> 00:01:31,959 Speaker 1: both wore leather jackets despite the brutal heat. They were 24 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:35,959 Speaker 1: the bodyguards, and then chaos erupted. 25 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:41,959 Speaker 3: Three men wearing ski masks carrying shotguns and handguns walk 26 00:01:42,080 --> 00:01:45,560 Speaker 3: through the restaurant, then walk out the back door to 27 00:01:45,720 --> 00:01:48,080 Speaker 3: the patio and immediately started firing. 28 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:53,160 Speaker 1: The shooters pumped round after round into the three men 29 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:56,960 Speaker 1: at the table. The bodyguards did nothing to protect their boss. 30 00:01:57,720 --> 00:02:01,520 Speaker 3: He's blasted with shotgun as well as hand gunfire. 31 00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:04,080 Speaker 4: And then he falls back in his chair. Probably was 32 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:04,840 Speaker 4: dead before. 33 00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:08,000 Speaker 1: He hit the ground, a shotgun hol to his left eye, 34 00:02:08,280 --> 00:02:10,919 Speaker 1: his cigar still clutched between his teeth. 35 00:02:11,520 --> 00:02:14,480 Speaker 4: There is a very famous fixture of him laid out 36 00:02:14,680 --> 00:02:19,000 Speaker 4: in the courtyard, clearly dead, with the cigar hanging from 37 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:19,520 Speaker 4: his mouth. 38 00:02:20,680 --> 00:02:23,880 Speaker 1: His name was Carmin Galante and he was the de 39 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:28,080 Speaker 1: facto boss of the Banano crime family. It was a 40 00:02:28,160 --> 00:02:30,400 Speaker 1: murder that would capture the attention of the nation. 41 00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:34,639 Speaker 5: Police today stepped up their search for two men who 42 00:02:34,680 --> 00:02:38,560 Speaker 5: were having lunch with my boss, Carmen Galante Thursday when gunman. 43 00:02:38,280 --> 00:02:39,399 Speaker 6: Burst into the court order. 44 00:02:39,520 --> 00:02:42,240 Speaker 1: The murder would send shockwaves through the city and its 45 00:02:42,320 --> 00:02:43,600 Speaker 1: vast criminal underworld. 46 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:47,320 Speaker 6: All of that set the scene new York Five families 47 00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:49,960 Speaker 6: were in chaos, and their leader was weak. 48 00:02:51,040 --> 00:02:55,160 Speaker 7: He honestly believed nobody would have the post. 49 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:59,440 Speaker 1: Killing nobody and unwittingly became part of one of the 50 00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:03,080 Speaker 1: most common sequential criminal cases in the history of New 51 00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:03,760 Speaker 1: York City. 52 00:03:04,680 --> 00:03:07,519 Speaker 3: Well, it's a huge shot in the arm. It sent 53 00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:12,320 Speaker 3: the message to them that we can prosecute these people. 54 00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:15,760 Speaker 4: These bosses on the Commission had no idea what was 55 00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:29,320 Speaker 4: coming their way from the federal government. You're not with 56 00:03:29,440 --> 00:03:31,120 Speaker 4: the mob because you want to be. 57 00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:34,280 Speaker 3: It's the gangster that decides whether you're his associated with. 58 00:03:34,639 --> 00:03:38,240 Speaker 1: If you like your life, you will vote to acquit. 59 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:43,680 Speaker 1: From Wolf Entertainment and iHeart Podcasts, my father should have 60 00:03:43,720 --> 00:03:47,560 Speaker 1: been a dead man. This is Law and Order criminal 61 00:03:47,720 --> 00:03:59,200 Speaker 1: justice system. I'm Aniseeka Nicolazzi, a former New York City 62 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:02,720 Speaker 1: homicide pross secutor who spent decades in the justice system. 63 00:04:03,200 --> 00:04:05,680 Speaker 1: My career was built in the courtroom, where the stakes 64 00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:09,960 Speaker 1: are high and the stories are real. Law and Order 65 00:04:10,080 --> 00:04:13,640 Speaker 1: was always my favorite TV series as a young prosecutor. 66 00:04:13,680 --> 00:04:16,640 Speaker 1: It became a reflection of the work I did every day. 67 00:04:17,360 --> 00:04:20,239 Speaker 1: Now I'm teaming up with the minds behind the iconic 68 00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:23,960 Speaker 1: TV show to bring you something brand new. This isn't 69 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:26,599 Speaker 1: a scripted drama. These are the true stories that have 70 00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:30,320 Speaker 1: shaped the modern criminal justice system, told by those who 71 00:04:30,360 --> 00:04:33,880 Speaker 1: have lived it. For much of New York's history, crime 72 00:04:33,960 --> 00:04:37,839 Speaker 1: was synonymous with the mafia. The organization dominated the city 73 00:04:38,160 --> 00:04:42,640 Speaker 1: and their power baffled the federal government. So how did 74 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:46,359 Speaker 1: one seemingly random murder of a mafia boss create a 75 00:04:46,360 --> 00:04:49,120 Speaker 1: defining moment in our legal system that led to the 76 00:04:49,160 --> 00:04:54,919 Speaker 1: downfall of the mob. For anyone growing up in New 77 00:04:55,040 --> 00:04:58,760 Speaker 1: York in the nineteen seventies, the infamy of organized crime 78 00:04:58,880 --> 00:04:59,720 Speaker 1: was hard to ignore. 79 00:05:00,640 --> 00:05:04,560 Speaker 4: Crime was everywhere, and crime was very big business. It 80 00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:10,000 Speaker 4: involved violence, it involved murders, and it involved destroying a 81 00:05:10,040 --> 00:05:14,680 Speaker 4: lot of people's lives. My name is James Leonard Junior. 82 00:05:15,400 --> 00:05:19,600 Speaker 4: I've been practicing primarily as a criminal defense attorney for 83 00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:24,200 Speaker 4: the last twenty three years. I've worked extensively with organized 84 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:24,960 Speaker 4: crime figures. 85 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:29,960 Speaker 1: James understands organized crime better than most. He's been studying 86 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:32,880 Speaker 1: at the majority of his career and it's always been 87 00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:33,960 Speaker 1: a part of his life. 88 00:05:34,480 --> 00:05:38,279 Speaker 4: So growing up in New Jersey as a teenager, I 89 00:05:38,320 --> 00:05:41,479 Speaker 4: would routinely buy the New York Daily News and the 90 00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:46,840 Speaker 4: New York Post. If you were following the tabloid newspapers, 91 00:05:47,440 --> 00:05:51,560 Speaker 4: tracking what was happening in organized crime was no different 92 00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:54,880 Speaker 4: than following a football team or a baseball team. You 93 00:05:54,880 --> 00:05:58,800 Speaker 4: would read about who was being charged, who had been murdered, 94 00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:03,000 Speaker 4: who the rumor next boss was going to be. Quite frankly, 95 00:06:03,040 --> 00:06:06,560 Speaker 4: I consumed all of it. I was fascinated in it, 96 00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:08,600 Speaker 4: just like I was interested in what was going on 97 00:06:09,080 --> 00:06:11,240 Speaker 4: with the Yankees of the Philadelphia Eagles. 98 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:14,599 Speaker 1: It's easy to understand how a young kid like James 99 00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:18,280 Speaker 1: could develop an interesting crime because crime was everywhere. 100 00:06:18,800 --> 00:06:21,039 Speaker 5: It's been ten days since at least one of four 101 00:06:21,080 --> 00:06:23,479 Speaker 5: youths asked for five dollars from the passenger on the 102 00:06:23,480 --> 00:06:26,520 Speaker 5: Irt subway, and eyewitness quoted the man as saying, I 103 00:06:26,560 --> 00:06:28,839 Speaker 5: have five dollars for each of you. He then pulled 104 00:06:28,839 --> 00:06:31,159 Speaker 5: a silver revolver from his belt and shot all four 105 00:06:31,200 --> 00:06:31,520 Speaker 5: of them. 106 00:06:32,200 --> 00:06:36,200 Speaker 4: Another Teamster official was gunned down last week. As John 107 00:06:36,200 --> 00:06:38,680 Speaker 4: Miller tells us, it's just one in a series of 108 00:06:38,760 --> 00:06:45,440 Speaker 4: gangland style murderers. This was a very violent, turbulent period 109 00:06:45,440 --> 00:06:45,880 Speaker 4: of time. 110 00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:52,160 Speaker 3: There were preximently five murders a day in New York 111 00:06:52,240 --> 00:06:56,320 Speaker 3: City through most of the eighties, just general lawlessness. So 112 00:06:56,400 --> 00:06:58,880 Speaker 3: it was a very very crazy place. 113 00:06:59,800 --> 00:07:03,520 Speaker 1: That's Gil Childers, who was a young prosecutor in Brooklyn 114 00:07:03,600 --> 00:07:04,679 Speaker 1: in the nineteen eighties. 115 00:07:05,680 --> 00:07:08,359 Speaker 3: Just to give you a sense of things. When I started, 116 00:07:08,360 --> 00:07:10,840 Speaker 3: the head of the Criminal Courts Bureau told us a 117 00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:14,320 Speaker 3: couple things. He said, a few rules in self preservation. 118 00:07:15,080 --> 00:07:18,239 Speaker 3: Don't use the stairways in the courthouse. If you do, 119 00:07:18,240 --> 00:07:21,560 Speaker 3: don't use them alone young women. When you leave the courtroom, 120 00:07:21,600 --> 00:07:23,640 Speaker 3: if you have brought a purse or a handbag with 121 00:07:23,680 --> 00:07:26,200 Speaker 3: you and you go up to the sidebar to the court, 122 00:07:26,600 --> 00:07:29,760 Speaker 3: take your handbag with you. He said, I thought all possible. 123 00:07:29,800 --> 00:07:32,040 Speaker 3: Don't use the bathrooms in the courthouse. Wait till you're 124 00:07:32,080 --> 00:07:32,880 Speaker 3: back in the office. 125 00:07:34,120 --> 00:07:36,760 Speaker 1: Gil remembers what it was like leaving his apartment late 126 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:39,280 Speaker 1: at night. He had to be careful about even what 127 00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:39,800 Speaker 1: he wore. 128 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:44,560 Speaker 3: My first assignment was the midnight shift at the complaint 129 00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:47,520 Speaker 3: room at the eight four Precinct in Brooklyn. I had 130 00:07:47,520 --> 00:07:49,880 Speaker 3: an apartment in Brooklyn Heights at the time, so I 131 00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:52,800 Speaker 3: was going to walk to the eight flour and they said, 132 00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:55,240 Speaker 3: you know, you haven't seen it yet, but do not 133 00:07:55,360 --> 00:07:57,760 Speaker 3: wear a tie and jacket to it because where you're 134 00:07:57,760 --> 00:08:02,240 Speaker 3: going to be is probably hostile to that type of dress. 135 00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:06,200 Speaker 3: And so I dressed sort of in jeans, put a dress, 136 00:08:06,240 --> 00:08:08,920 Speaker 3: shirt and sneakers, some stuff. And I remember as I'm 137 00:08:08,920 --> 00:08:11,080 Speaker 3: walking out the door, I looked in the mirror and 138 00:08:11,120 --> 00:08:13,760 Speaker 3: I said, I went to law school for three years. 139 00:08:13,800 --> 00:08:15,160 Speaker 3: I thought it was going to be working, you know, 140 00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:18,120 Speaker 3: in a three piece suit. Here I go my first 141 00:08:18,120 --> 00:08:21,000 Speaker 3: official act as a lawyer. I'm in jeans and I'm 142 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:23,240 Speaker 3: walking out of a house at eleven thirty at night. 143 00:08:24,360 --> 00:08:27,360 Speaker 1: New York was on the verge of bankruptcy, muggings and 144 00:08:27,600 --> 00:08:28,960 Speaker 1: murder were on the rise. 145 00:08:29,840 --> 00:08:31,960 Speaker 5: Well, how bad is crime on the subways today? 146 00:08:32,040 --> 00:08:34,640 Speaker 4: Police said the robbers were getting robbed. Police said that 147 00:08:34,679 --> 00:08:37,000 Speaker 4: Garnell Thompson stole almost thirteen. 148 00:08:36,640 --> 00:08:39,760 Speaker 1: Hun Just to give you a little context. In nineteen 149 00:08:39,920 --> 00:08:43,520 Speaker 1: seventy nine, there were over two hundred and fifty felonies 150 00:08:43,640 --> 00:08:48,280 Speaker 1: and nine murders per week on the trains. The Lexington 151 00:08:48,280 --> 00:08:55,880 Speaker 1: Avenue subway line earned the nickname Muggers Express. The New 152 00:08:55,960 --> 00:08:58,679 Speaker 1: York City at the time of Carma Galanti's murder was 153 00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:02,320 Speaker 1: a city under siege by crime, but the mafia or 154 00:09:02,400 --> 00:09:05,520 Speaker 1: Kosa Nostra as they often termed themselves was in a 155 00:09:05,600 --> 00:09:08,200 Speaker 1: leak of their own, and to understand them at all, 156 00:09:08,360 --> 00:09:11,800 Speaker 1: you have to start with their basic structure. The city's 157 00:09:11,920 --> 00:09:14,920 Speaker 1: organized crime was divided into five different families. 158 00:09:15,640 --> 00:09:19,080 Speaker 3: Five families by names that we knew them were the 159 00:09:19,120 --> 00:09:24,600 Speaker 3: Gambido family, the Genovese family, the Lackesi family, the Colombo family, 160 00:09:24,760 --> 00:09:25,920 Speaker 3: and the Banano family. 161 00:09:27,240 --> 00:09:30,199 Speaker 1: The infamous five families of the New York City mafia 162 00:09:30,240 --> 00:09:33,640 Speaker 1: had been around for one hundred years. With roots in Sicily, 163 00:09:33,800 --> 00:09:38,480 Speaker 1: these families established businesses throughout the early twentieth century. Most 164 00:09:38,559 --> 00:09:42,720 Speaker 1: eventually became criminal in nature. By the time Carmine Galante 165 00:09:42,880 --> 00:09:45,760 Speaker 1: was murdered, the mafia had a stranglehold on the city. 166 00:09:46,559 --> 00:09:50,240 Speaker 1: Families like the Bananos used violence to coerce payment from 167 00:09:50,360 --> 00:09:56,439 Speaker 1: legitimate businesses, a practice called extortion. Bars neighborhood grocers, manufacturers, 168 00:09:56,440 --> 00:09:59,760 Speaker 1: and warehousers. They all fell victim to the mob, exchanging 169 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:03,440 Speaker 1: percentages of their hard earned profits for protection from violence. 170 00:10:04,280 --> 00:10:07,920 Speaker 3: Where the street time came in was in the enforcement 171 00:10:08,040 --> 00:10:13,559 Speaker 3: of loan sharking and gambling debts. The mob ran the numbers. 172 00:10:14,200 --> 00:10:17,240 Speaker 1: According to Gil It's also what kept the mafia ever 173 00:10:17,360 --> 00:10:19,920 Speaker 1: present in the lives of everyday New Yorkers. 174 00:10:20,800 --> 00:10:23,000 Speaker 3: It was the day in, day out money that they 175 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:27,480 Speaker 3: could always count on, and some people would say somewhat harmless, 176 00:10:27,760 --> 00:10:30,280 Speaker 3: until of course you got in over your head, and 177 00:10:30,320 --> 00:10:33,680 Speaker 3: then when they had to collect things became a less 178 00:10:34,080 --> 00:10:35,719 Speaker 3: harmless and more harmful. 179 00:10:36,679 --> 00:10:39,720 Speaker 1: But as the mafia families got stronger and more profitable, 180 00:10:40,080 --> 00:10:44,199 Speaker 1: their largest profits came from their infiltration of major industries 181 00:10:44,320 --> 00:10:49,160 Speaker 1: throughout the city, from trucking to garbage removal to garment manufacturing. 182 00:10:49,520 --> 00:10:53,520 Speaker 1: It seemed like nothing got built, shipped, or sold without 183 00:10:53,559 --> 00:10:56,400 Speaker 1: an invisible tax being taken by the mob. 184 00:10:57,480 --> 00:11:01,720 Speaker 3: They controlled the carting industry, so every store owner was 185 00:11:01,760 --> 00:11:04,839 Speaker 3: paying extra money because they had a monopoly on it. 186 00:11:05,400 --> 00:11:10,240 Speaker 3: They controlled the garment industry, so the clothes that you bought, 187 00:11:10,480 --> 00:11:14,960 Speaker 3: there was a mob tax on that. From a citizen's perspective, 188 00:11:15,040 --> 00:11:19,440 Speaker 3: it was what has been called the mob tax on many, 189 00:11:19,520 --> 00:11:22,120 Speaker 3: many aspects of everyone's everyday life. 190 00:11:25,440 --> 00:11:28,320 Speaker 1: And of course they enforced their grip on the city 191 00:11:28,360 --> 00:11:31,520 Speaker 1: with the constant threat of extreme violence. 192 00:11:32,120 --> 00:11:36,000 Speaker 8: The indictment alleges that the Genevies organization infiltrated Teamster locals 193 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:38,760 Speaker 8: in the New York area and extorted money from legitimate 194 00:11:38,800 --> 00:11:44,440 Speaker 8: businesses by threatening them with labor problems, bribery, labor racketeering, gambling, extortion, murder, 195 00:11:44,559 --> 00:11:47,280 Speaker 8: control of the election of the president of one of 196 00:11:47,320 --> 00:11:50,880 Speaker 8: the largest unions in America, and control over its affairs. 197 00:11:51,520 --> 00:11:54,840 Speaker 1: So you might be asking where was law enforcement? Why 198 00:11:54,840 --> 00:11:59,559 Speaker 1: were these criminal organizations able to operate so successfully without 199 00:11:59,640 --> 00:12:03,679 Speaker 1: fear of arrest or a reprisal. According to defense attorney 200 00:12:03,720 --> 00:12:08,319 Speaker 1: James Leonard, it came down to intimidation and money. 201 00:12:08,480 --> 00:12:10,679 Speaker 4: One of the other things that they were good at 202 00:12:10,800 --> 00:12:15,120 Speaker 4: was evading justice because they were corrupting the system, local 203 00:12:15,160 --> 00:12:19,720 Speaker 4: police departments, local courts. Corruption is one of the reasons 204 00:12:19,760 --> 00:12:22,480 Speaker 4: that they were able to stay in power as long 205 00:12:22,520 --> 00:12:23,160 Speaker 4: as they did. 206 00:12:24,280 --> 00:12:27,080 Speaker 1: Not only that, but the dirty work was always carried 207 00:12:27,080 --> 00:12:30,280 Speaker 1: out by low level soldiers who not only were willing 208 00:12:30,320 --> 00:12:32,960 Speaker 1: to take the fall if they got caught, but swore 209 00:12:33,080 --> 00:12:36,080 Speaker 1: an oath to never talk or rat out, as some 210 00:12:36,240 --> 00:12:40,000 Speaker 1: might say, anyone else in the family. In that way, 211 00:12:40,320 --> 00:12:44,280 Speaker 1: the bosses kept their hands clean, safe from both cooperators 212 00:12:44,360 --> 00:12:45,360 Speaker 1: and law enforcement. 213 00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:50,720 Speaker 4: They were untouchable, and with the reputation for violence, people 214 00:12:50,760 --> 00:12:53,160 Speaker 4: were deathly afraid of them. You didn't want to cross them. 215 00:12:53,760 --> 00:12:57,080 Speaker 1: But with the murder of Carmine Galante that was all 216 00:12:57,160 --> 00:12:58,280 Speaker 1: about to change. 217 00:13:00,160 --> 00:13:00,360 Speaker 3: Men. 218 00:13:00,480 --> 00:13:03,160 Speaker 6: Welcome to Joe and Mary's luncheonette in Brooklyn today and 219 00:13:03,240 --> 00:13:06,400 Speaker 6: gunned down Carman Galine, a man believed to be the 220 00:13:06,400 --> 00:13:08,439 Speaker 6: most powerful market chieftain in the country. 221 00:13:09,320 --> 00:13:13,760 Speaker 1: Carmine Gallanti, the infamous boss of the Banano crime family. 222 00:13:14,280 --> 00:13:16,320 Speaker 1: He'd been cut down in a hell of bullets. 223 00:13:17,040 --> 00:13:20,200 Speaker 6: The motives for his murder are varied. His involvement in 224 00:13:20,280 --> 00:13:24,560 Speaker 6: drugs and possible double crosses with Dominican cocaine sources put 225 00:13:24,600 --> 00:13:25,839 Speaker 6: him in some disfavor. 226 00:13:26,720 --> 00:13:29,280 Speaker 1: By the end of the nineteen seventies, New York City 227 00:13:29,360 --> 00:13:32,680 Speaker 1: had seen its fair share of violent crime, but clearly 228 00:13:33,040 --> 00:13:36,359 Speaker 1: this was no robbery or the result of a random dispute. 229 00:13:36,920 --> 00:13:40,360 Speaker 1: The triple murder had all the markings of a deliberate, 230 00:13:40,640 --> 00:13:46,000 Speaker 1: well planned execution. So as Brooklyn homicide detectives descended on 231 00:13:46,080 --> 00:13:49,920 Speaker 1: the crime scene, they became certain of one thing. Before 232 00:13:50,000 --> 00:13:53,120 Speaker 1: they could identify any suspects in his killing, they would 233 00:13:53,200 --> 00:13:55,360 Speaker 1: have to know more about the man who was killed. 234 00:13:56,160 --> 00:13:59,160 Speaker 1: Here's a person who knows some of those answers better 235 00:13:59,200 --> 00:14:00,160 Speaker 1: than anyone. 236 00:14:01,080 --> 00:14:04,400 Speaker 7: My name is Angela to Sari, and my father is 237 00:14:04,480 --> 00:14:13,040 Speaker 7: Karmide Galante. 238 00:14:16,320 --> 00:14:19,360 Speaker 1: As a little girl, Angela had no idea that her 239 00:14:19,360 --> 00:14:22,240 Speaker 1: father was a major player in the Banano crime family. 240 00:14:23,160 --> 00:14:25,840 Speaker 7: Never in a million years did I even know about 241 00:14:25,840 --> 00:14:28,720 Speaker 7: the mafia when I was young. You know, nobody talked 242 00:14:28,760 --> 00:14:32,320 Speaker 7: about it in English, so I could understand it. 243 00:14:33,200 --> 00:14:35,400 Speaker 1: When she thinks back to her dad, this is the 244 00:14:35,480 --> 00:14:36,640 Speaker 1: image that she sees. 245 00:14:37,480 --> 00:14:40,760 Speaker 7: He was always slocky, but hot as a rock, and 246 00:14:41,120 --> 00:14:48,160 Speaker 7: he would dress very unassumingly. He wear jeans, sneaker's, floppy hat, whatever. 247 00:14:48,920 --> 00:14:50,400 Speaker 7: He always had a cigar in his mouth. 248 00:14:51,360 --> 00:14:55,400 Speaker 1: The cigar was his signature, so much so that Galante's 249 00:14:55,480 --> 00:14:59,200 Speaker 1: nickname was simply the Cigar. There was a gravity about 250 00:14:59,240 --> 00:15:02,160 Speaker 1: him that two people in. He could be generous. To 251 00:15:02,240 --> 00:15:03,280 Speaker 1: those he called friends. 252 00:15:04,440 --> 00:15:08,880 Speaker 7: He would basically do anything for anybody. He would give 253 00:15:08,880 --> 00:15:10,240 Speaker 7: you the shirt off his back. 254 00:15:11,120 --> 00:15:14,600 Speaker 1: But around his family his personality could be very different. 255 00:15:15,720 --> 00:15:19,680 Speaker 7: My father wasn't always good when he came home. Then 256 00:15:19,760 --> 00:15:21,280 Speaker 7: he would you know, fight with my mother and it 257 00:15:21,320 --> 00:15:24,000 Speaker 7: would get into a brawl, and then I would be crying. 258 00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:28,200 Speaker 7: Being the youngest, so I'm thinking, well, everybody must do this, 259 00:15:29,400 --> 00:15:32,200 Speaker 7: So I really I didn't get it. I was pretty naive. 260 00:15:33,080 --> 00:15:36,880 Speaker 7: That's how I grew up knowing him. 261 00:15:37,280 --> 00:15:40,360 Speaker 1: Carmine Galanti was born in nineteen ten in what was 262 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:44,160 Speaker 1: then the Italian Harlem section of Upper Manhattan. His parents 263 00:15:44,200 --> 00:15:47,680 Speaker 1: had immigrated from a small town in Sicily called Coste 264 00:15:47,760 --> 00:15:52,040 Speaker 1: la Mauri del Golfo, a centuries old fishing village overlooking 265 00:15:52,080 --> 00:15:55,880 Speaker 1: the deep blue of the Mediterranean Sea. It also happened 266 00:15:55,880 --> 00:15:59,440 Speaker 1: to be the birthplace of several of the most notorious 267 00:15:59,480 --> 00:16:04,000 Speaker 1: gangsters in American history, including a man named Joe Banano. 268 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:09,800 Speaker 4: Old school Sicilian guy brought a lot of values from 269 00:16:09,880 --> 00:16:12,880 Speaker 4: what was happening in organized crime in Sicily to the 270 00:16:12,960 --> 00:16:13,720 Speaker 4: United States. 271 00:16:14,640 --> 00:16:18,320 Speaker 1: Throughout Galante's youth, he was surrounded by Joe Banano's crime family. 272 00:16:18,720 --> 00:16:21,720 Speaker 1: They were his role models. The boss took a special 273 00:16:21,800 --> 00:16:25,560 Speaker 1: interest in the younger Galante, and the affection was mutual. 274 00:16:26,600 --> 00:16:31,040 Speaker 7: My father. He was brought up in Paul Eastall and 275 00:16:31,120 --> 00:16:34,040 Speaker 7: his father tried to sell him once. It was like, 276 00:16:34,880 --> 00:16:38,040 Speaker 7: you're going to have to go and find someone who 277 00:16:38,160 --> 00:16:41,440 Speaker 7: will show you some loving and head. That's when he 278 00:16:41,480 --> 00:16:42,560 Speaker 7: started getting into. 279 00:16:42,360 --> 00:16:50,200 Speaker 1: Crime, bootlegging, robbery, gambling, prostitution. Italian and Sicilian gangs ran 280 00:16:50,400 --> 00:16:53,760 Speaker 1: rough shot over the rapidly expanding New York city throughout 281 00:16:53,800 --> 00:16:57,800 Speaker 1: the first half of the twentieth century, and during that time, 282 00:16:58,120 --> 00:17:02,520 Speaker 1: Gallanti rose through the ranks from collections thug to enforcerr 283 00:17:02,760 --> 00:17:06,720 Speaker 1: to a bona fide lieutenant within the Banana organization, where 284 00:17:06,760 --> 00:17:11,760 Speaker 1: he earned a reputation for both his loyalty and his ruthlessness. 285 00:17:12,480 --> 00:17:14,840 Speaker 7: I mean, if you were his friend, he would do 286 00:17:14,920 --> 00:17:18,560 Speaker 7: anything for you until you crust him. Don't forget about it. 287 00:17:19,320 --> 00:17:22,240 Speaker 4: And I think he had a reputation in New York 288 00:17:22,840 --> 00:17:27,119 Speaker 4: as being somebody that was very capable of murder and 289 00:17:27,440 --> 00:17:29,280 Speaker 4: wouldn't hesitate to kill people. 290 00:17:31,160 --> 00:17:34,680 Speaker 1: But despite being a suspect or an accomplice in more 291 00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:38,960 Speaker 1: than eighty murders, he had eluded indictment on all of them. 292 00:17:39,320 --> 00:17:41,399 Speaker 1: None of the charges against him would ever stick. 293 00:17:42,359 --> 00:17:45,960 Speaker 7: My father was a very bad man, but he was 294 00:17:46,200 --> 00:17:49,800 Speaker 7: very smart. They really couldn't catch him. 295 00:17:50,119 --> 00:17:54,280 Speaker 1: Galante had made a fortune dealing heroin, historically a taboo 296 00:17:54,320 --> 00:17:57,600 Speaker 1: tray in the mafia. It was really that abject fear 297 00:17:57,680 --> 00:18:00,720 Speaker 1: that Galanti inspired that made everyone look the other way. 298 00:18:01,240 --> 00:18:03,840 Speaker 1: And in a sense, it was that reputation, which is 299 00:18:03,880 --> 00:18:05,600 Speaker 1: exactly what Galanti was after. 300 00:18:06,400 --> 00:18:09,359 Speaker 7: He liked people to fear him. People would play cards 301 00:18:09,359 --> 00:18:13,080 Speaker 7: with him, they would never win. They were afraid to win. 302 00:18:14,320 --> 00:18:16,439 Speaker 7: But the power I think was more important to him 303 00:18:16,640 --> 00:18:20,240 Speaker 7: than the money. The power, I think was his thing. 304 00:18:21,080 --> 00:18:23,320 Speaker 1: And that is always so interesting to me as a 305 00:18:23,359 --> 00:18:26,919 Speaker 1: common threat among people who have both extreme wealth and power, 306 00:18:27,359 --> 00:18:30,439 Speaker 1: that it's the power that is often more intoxicating than 307 00:18:30,440 --> 00:18:34,520 Speaker 1: the money itself. And according to Angela, his presence as 308 00:18:34,520 --> 00:18:36,680 Speaker 1: a father could be equally terrifying. 309 00:18:38,160 --> 00:18:41,320 Speaker 7: My father was never around. When he was around, what 310 00:18:41,480 --> 00:18:43,640 Speaker 7: we had to do as soon as he came into 311 00:18:43,680 --> 00:18:47,360 Speaker 7: a room is get up and kiss him. And it's 312 00:18:47,400 --> 00:18:49,920 Speaker 7: not always that easy, you know. There was one time 313 00:18:49,960 --> 00:18:52,639 Speaker 7: he came home and I got up. I was going 314 00:18:52,680 --> 00:18:55,320 Speaker 7: to go kiss him, and he went down the basement 315 00:18:55,359 --> 00:18:58,520 Speaker 7: with my aunt and I followed him and followed him 316 00:18:58,560 --> 00:19:00,520 Speaker 7: and followed. I couldn't get to him, and we were 317 00:19:00,560 --> 00:19:02,840 Speaker 7: sitting down to dinner and smack me across the face, 318 00:19:04,040 --> 00:19:05,920 Speaker 7: and he said, you know what that's for, right, And 319 00:19:06,760 --> 00:19:08,840 Speaker 7: I said, yeah, I know. It was because I didn't 320 00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:09,520 Speaker 7: kiss him. 321 00:19:10,400 --> 00:19:14,040 Speaker 1: On the street. Galant's violence spoke to his ruthless ambition, 322 00:19:14,720 --> 00:19:17,680 Speaker 1: but the physical and emotional abuse he inflicted on his 323 00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:21,600 Speaker 1: own family seems to speak to a deeper cruelty. 324 00:19:22,600 --> 00:19:25,159 Speaker 7: He would just show up. He would just show up. 325 00:19:25,200 --> 00:19:28,560 Speaker 7: Sometimes he would come with friends, and you know, then 326 00:19:28,880 --> 00:19:32,119 Speaker 7: my mother had a cook. I don't remember him treating 327 00:19:32,119 --> 00:19:34,760 Speaker 7: my mother badly when there was company, but when he 328 00:19:34,800 --> 00:19:37,919 Speaker 7: came home alone, forget about it. There was always an argument, 329 00:19:38,240 --> 00:19:39,640 Speaker 7: and it always trying physical. 330 00:19:40,680 --> 00:19:43,040 Speaker 1: Galant's kids didn't fare much better. 331 00:19:43,920 --> 00:19:46,960 Speaker 7: My brother got up to try to stop my father once, 332 00:19:47,320 --> 00:19:49,679 Speaker 7: and my father just looked at him and said, go 333 00:19:49,760 --> 00:19:51,520 Speaker 7: sit down, or you're next. 334 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:52,880 Speaker 9: He was a kid. 335 00:19:53,440 --> 00:19:56,800 Speaker 7: He sat down me. I was the youngest. I just 336 00:19:56,880 --> 00:19:59,080 Speaker 7: cried and cried and cried and cried. 337 00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:03,600 Speaker 1: In nineteen fifty nine, Galante's luck with the law would 338 00:20:03,640 --> 00:20:06,359 Speaker 1: finally run out when he was arrested as part of 339 00:20:06,480 --> 00:20:10,600 Speaker 1: two major heroin conspiracies in New York. His first legal 340 00:20:10,600 --> 00:20:15,040 Speaker 1: proceeding ended in a mistrial after a jury foreman mysteriously 341 00:20:15,080 --> 00:20:18,240 Speaker 1: fell down a flight of stairs in an abandoned building 342 00:20:18,760 --> 00:20:21,840 Speaker 1: in the middle of the night, but after three years 343 00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:25,760 Speaker 1: in court, Galante was convicted and sentenced to twenty years. 344 00:20:26,640 --> 00:20:29,640 Speaker 1: His then six year old daughter, Angela, still had no 345 00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:34,359 Speaker 1: idea about her dad's business, so she created her own scenario. 346 00:20:35,600 --> 00:20:37,840 Speaker 7: I don't think I ever was told. I think I 347 00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:41,480 Speaker 7: just assumed that he was on like a major case, 348 00:20:42,640 --> 00:20:45,919 Speaker 7: because I thought he was in the FBI an the 349 00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:48,280 Speaker 7: jails that you have to pick up the phone through 350 00:20:48,280 --> 00:20:50,920 Speaker 7: the glass. I went to see him in that jail, 351 00:20:51,800 --> 00:20:55,080 Speaker 7: and I thought that that was the office of the FBI. 352 00:20:56,280 --> 00:20:59,240 Speaker 1: Her father, after all, was far too important in her 353 00:20:59,320 --> 00:21:03,160 Speaker 1: eyes to sin be locked up. But years later, Angela 354 00:21:03,240 --> 00:21:06,080 Speaker 1: would be faced with the truth that she couldn't ignore. 355 00:21:07,040 --> 00:21:09,280 Speaker 1: About a year after Galante got out of prison, he 356 00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:11,760 Speaker 1: went on a business trip to Florida, and he took 357 00:21:11,800 --> 00:21:14,600 Speaker 1: Angela with him, who was excited for what she believed 358 00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:15,720 Speaker 1: was a family vacation. 359 00:21:16,600 --> 00:21:20,880 Speaker 7: Until we're in the hotel the middle of the night, 360 00:21:21,480 --> 00:21:26,840 Speaker 7: all of these cops, FBI agents, everybody like, surrounded us 361 00:21:27,080 --> 00:21:29,960 Speaker 7: in his room. I never saw my father hold the gun. 362 00:21:30,560 --> 00:21:33,800 Speaker 7: I know he has, but I never saw him because 363 00:21:33,800 --> 00:21:36,679 Speaker 7: at that point I wasn't thinking of him as the 364 00:21:36,720 --> 00:21:41,120 Speaker 7: mafia at I was thinking of an old man with sneakers. Yeah. 365 00:21:43,040 --> 00:21:45,399 Speaker 1: Galante was arrested after he had failed to check in 366 00:21:45,440 --> 00:21:48,920 Speaker 1: for parole as was required upon leaving New York State. 367 00:21:49,560 --> 00:21:52,119 Speaker 1: It was a wake up call For's daughter. It was 368 00:21:52,240 --> 00:21:55,199 Speaker 1: time for her to confront her father about who he 369 00:21:55,280 --> 00:21:59,359 Speaker 1: really was, and so Angela began to dig. She turned 370 00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:02,080 Speaker 1: back to the trial that had led to his prison sentence. 371 00:22:03,080 --> 00:22:05,560 Speaker 7: The way that I found out what he did was 372 00:22:05,600 --> 00:22:09,440 Speaker 7: by reading the transcripts of his trial. I remember them 373 00:22:09,480 --> 00:22:12,280 Speaker 7: saying about him that he walked up to this guy 374 00:22:12,960 --> 00:22:14,640 Speaker 7: and he shot him in the back of his head, 375 00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:19,320 Speaker 7: just like that. And I could picture him doing that. 376 00:22:20,760 --> 00:22:24,840 Speaker 1: The wedge between Angela and her father deepened, fueled by 377 00:22:24,880 --> 00:22:28,720 Speaker 1: all the secrets and by Galante's mistreatment of his family. 378 00:22:29,480 --> 00:22:33,440 Speaker 1: She was angry and she didn't understand why her mother wasn't. 379 00:22:34,280 --> 00:22:37,720 Speaker 7: I mean, I could understand when she met him, how 380 00:22:37,760 --> 00:22:40,479 Speaker 7: she was enamored by him. No, I could see that 381 00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:44,000 Speaker 7: my father was very charismatic, and he had money, and 382 00:22:44,119 --> 00:22:47,160 Speaker 7: she came from a poor family. I could see that. 383 00:22:47,280 --> 00:22:50,760 Speaker 7: I could see why she was enthralled. But later on 384 00:22:51,359 --> 00:22:54,600 Speaker 7: it's like, MO, give it up. You know, I just 385 00:22:54,720 --> 00:22:58,879 Speaker 7: couldn't understand it. Why do you love him? You know, 386 00:22:58,960 --> 00:23:01,879 Speaker 7: asked the old things that he's done to you, and 387 00:23:01,960 --> 00:23:02,600 Speaker 7: she just did. 388 00:23:04,520 --> 00:23:09,200 Speaker 1: For Angela, Galante's indiscretions at home felt much worse than 389 00:23:09,240 --> 00:23:10,040 Speaker 1: his lawlessness. 390 00:23:11,280 --> 00:23:15,800 Speaker 7: It didn't tear me apart what he did, what taught 391 00:23:15,800 --> 00:23:18,959 Speaker 7: me a part. Really and this is like, may sound silly. 392 00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:22,240 Speaker 7: Was the way he treated my mother. I hated him 393 00:23:22,240 --> 00:23:25,359 Speaker 7: the way he treated my mother. What he did, I 394 00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:27,919 Speaker 7: look at it this way, and it may sound weird. 395 00:23:28,680 --> 00:23:31,080 Speaker 7: That's his business. That's what he did for a living. 396 00:23:32,280 --> 00:23:35,399 Speaker 1: For Angela. To this day, he remains a paradox. 397 00:23:36,560 --> 00:23:40,359 Speaker 7: You know, he was very cold, but yet in other 398 00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:44,080 Speaker 7: ways he was so warm. I mean, if you were 399 00:23:44,119 --> 00:23:48,560 Speaker 7: his friend, he would do anything for you. I got 400 00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:51,560 Speaker 7: beat up once soon in the North End. You were 401 00:23:51,560 --> 00:23:55,280 Speaker 7: like three four of them. I went home and he 402 00:23:55,359 --> 00:23:59,679 Speaker 7: called me in mildite and he knew, he knew I 403 00:23:59,720 --> 00:24:02,080 Speaker 7: was being yeah, and I don't know how, but he 404 00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:04,840 Speaker 7: knew so much. Told him I worked in a bar 405 00:24:04,880 --> 00:24:07,879 Speaker 7: at the time, Brando's. It was sort of like a 406 00:24:07,920 --> 00:24:11,960 Speaker 7: mafia hangout, and my cousin Jimmy came up broke to 407 00:24:12,040 --> 00:24:17,040 Speaker 7: some people. Then he left, and then later on I 408 00:24:17,160 --> 00:24:21,040 Speaker 7: find that these kids never be seen again. 409 00:24:24,960 --> 00:24:28,280 Speaker 1: By the mid nineteen seventies, the Banano crime family was 410 00:24:28,320 --> 00:24:31,760 Speaker 1: in disarray, and Galante took advantage of that. 411 00:24:32,800 --> 00:24:36,399 Speaker 4: The recognized boss of the Banano crime family was a 412 00:24:36,440 --> 00:24:41,760 Speaker 4: gentlemanber the name of Philip Rusty Rostelli and mister Rostelli 413 00:24:42,280 --> 00:24:46,440 Speaker 4: was in jail, Carmine Galante was on the street, and 414 00:24:46,440 --> 00:24:49,639 Speaker 4: Carmine Galante wanted to make money. I don't think he 415 00:24:49,760 --> 00:24:52,000 Speaker 4: respected the rules. 416 00:24:52,359 --> 00:24:55,640 Speaker 1: As Galanti returned to the streets from his own prison sentence, 417 00:24:56,000 --> 00:24:58,520 Speaker 1: the rank and file soon began to look to him 418 00:24:58,720 --> 00:24:59,639 Speaker 1: as their new leader. 419 00:25:00,359 --> 00:25:06,000 Speaker 4: Galanti seized power within the Banano family, thumbing his nose 420 00:25:06,200 --> 00:25:08,920 Speaker 4: at the jailed boss Russy Rostelli. 421 00:25:09,840 --> 00:25:13,280 Speaker 1: Galante swallowed up the heroin trade in an attempt to 422 00:25:13,280 --> 00:25:16,320 Speaker 1: snuff out rivals. He allegedly ordered hits on at least 423 00:25:16,400 --> 00:25:20,680 Speaker 1: eight members of the Gampino family. He also openly vied 424 00:25:20,720 --> 00:25:26,120 Speaker 1: for the ultimate mob position, boss of all bosses. Rostelli 425 00:25:26,280 --> 00:25:29,680 Speaker 1: had had enough. He decided to take his case directly 426 00:25:29,720 --> 00:25:33,160 Speaker 1: to the other families, whose business and power were as 427 00:25:33,280 --> 00:25:34,840 Speaker 1: much at stake as his own. 428 00:25:35,720 --> 00:25:40,280 Speaker 4: Rusty Rostelli reached out from prison through an emissary. I 429 00:25:40,320 --> 00:25:43,600 Speaker 4: believe that emissary was Joe Messina. 430 00:25:43,760 --> 00:25:47,040 Speaker 1: And with the approval of the bosses of the five families, 431 00:25:47,400 --> 00:25:52,480 Speaker 1: Messino gave the order to kill Carma Galanti. Remember the 432 00:25:52,600 --> 00:25:55,720 Speaker 1: name Joe Messino because we'll be hearing much more about 433 00:25:55,760 --> 00:25:59,119 Speaker 1: him later in the podcast, but for now, it's enough 434 00:25:59,119 --> 00:26:02,960 Speaker 1: to say that he helped organized this monumental hit, which 435 00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:07,199 Speaker 1: brings us back to July twelfth, nineteen seventy nine, Carma 436 00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:09,200 Speaker 1: Galante's last day on earth. 437 00:26:10,200 --> 00:26:14,199 Speaker 7: He was always greedy. You can't be that greedy in 438 00:26:14,240 --> 00:26:16,720 Speaker 7: the mafia. You've got to share, you've got to play 439 00:26:16,720 --> 00:26:20,200 Speaker 7: well with others. And he just wanted everything. He honestly 440 00:26:20,320 --> 00:26:23,719 Speaker 7: believed nobody would have the bulls to kill him. 441 00:26:24,280 --> 00:26:37,480 Speaker 9: Nobody. 442 00:26:37,640 --> 00:26:40,040 Speaker 1: If I remember, you told me that your mom had 443 00:26:40,040 --> 00:26:41,800 Speaker 1: called you and given you the news. 444 00:26:42,280 --> 00:26:46,479 Speaker 7: Oh, it was horrible. I was home in Boston. I 445 00:26:46,520 --> 00:26:50,240 Speaker 7: had no idea. She called me up, she goes, they 446 00:26:50,359 --> 00:26:54,919 Speaker 7: killed him. They killed him, and I'm like oooh, not 447 00:26:55,000 --> 00:26:57,440 Speaker 7: thinking that it would be my father, because he was 448 00:26:57,480 --> 00:27:00,520 Speaker 7: always under the impression no one could ever killed him. 449 00:27:00,720 --> 00:27:03,800 Speaker 7: And then she told me, she said, they killed daddy. 450 00:27:03,960 --> 00:27:05,080 Speaker 7: They killed Daddy. 451 00:27:08,040 --> 00:27:12,600 Speaker 1: July twelfth, nineteen seventy nine, temperatures were creeping towards one 452 00:27:12,720 --> 00:27:16,439 Speaker 1: hundred degrees. Locals spent the day hiding in the shade, 453 00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:19,919 Speaker 1: and kids played in the water of open fire hydrants. 454 00:27:20,560 --> 00:27:24,120 Speaker 1: At two forty five pm, the stillness of that hot 455 00:27:24,160 --> 00:27:30,200 Speaker 1: afternoon was shattered by the deafening sound of gunfire. Minutes later, 456 00:27:30,400 --> 00:27:34,560 Speaker 1: police car swarmed the area. Joe and Mary's was a 457 00:27:34,600 --> 00:27:38,639 Speaker 1: classic Italian restaurant in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn, the 458 00:27:38,720 --> 00:27:40,520 Speaker 1: type of place I fell in love with when I 459 00:27:40,600 --> 00:27:44,240 Speaker 1: first moved to New York City, checkered tablecloths, photos of 460 00:27:44,240 --> 00:27:47,840 Speaker 1: Frank Sinatra on the wall. But on that day, when 461 00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:51,720 Speaker 1: NYPD police officers stepped through the front door, they were 462 00:27:51,760 --> 00:27:54,320 Speaker 1: met with a scene not from New York dreams, but 463 00:27:54,440 --> 00:27:58,439 Speaker 1: from its nightmares. On the floor laya young boy no 464 00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:03,480 Speaker 1: older than seventeen with an apparent gunshot wound to the back. Incredibly, 465 00:28:03,560 --> 00:28:07,040 Speaker 1: he was still clinging to life and a surviving witness 466 00:28:07,080 --> 00:28:11,640 Speaker 1: to the carnage that had just occurred. On the back patio, 467 00:28:11,720 --> 00:28:15,160 Speaker 1: they discovered the three dead men, sixty nine year old 468 00:28:15,160 --> 00:28:18,879 Speaker 1: Carmen Galanti toppled over in his chair, along with his 469 00:28:18,960 --> 00:28:23,800 Speaker 1: two lunch companions. Restaurant owner and Galanti's cousin, Giuseppe Trano 470 00:28:24,200 --> 00:28:29,400 Speaker 1: and an associate, Leonardo Coppola, each had been shot multiple times, 471 00:28:30,119 --> 00:28:33,200 Speaker 1: and the seventeen year old shot in the back. Giuseppe 472 00:28:33,320 --> 00:28:36,680 Speaker 1: Trano was his father. Toronto had been murdered in front 473 00:28:36,680 --> 00:28:43,160 Speaker 1: of his entire family. According to witnesses it was not 474 00:28:43,360 --> 00:28:47,040 Speaker 1: unusual to see Galante holding court at Joe and Mary's restaurant. 475 00:28:47,640 --> 00:28:50,600 Speaker 1: Police soon learned that two other men were present at 476 00:28:50,600 --> 00:28:54,000 Speaker 1: the time of the shooting, but now were conspicuously absent 477 00:28:54,040 --> 00:28:58,960 Speaker 1: from the crime scene, Caesar Bonaventry and Baldo Amato. They 478 00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:02,280 Speaker 1: were known to be Golant his bodyguards, hands selected to 479 00:29:02,320 --> 00:29:06,160 Speaker 1: service protection and to do his bidding at a moment's notice, 480 00:29:06,520 --> 00:29:09,640 Speaker 1: or so Glante thought, here's James Leonard. 481 00:29:10,560 --> 00:29:13,800 Speaker 4: I think it's fairly certain that they were involved with it. 482 00:29:14,120 --> 00:29:16,400 Speaker 4: If they were not involved with it, it would have 483 00:29:16,400 --> 00:29:17,120 Speaker 4: been a shootout. 484 00:29:17,760 --> 00:29:21,000 Speaker 5: Witnesses said it was a gangland style killing. Heavily armed 485 00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:23,960 Speaker 5: men wearing ski masks opened fire with automatic weapons. 486 00:29:24,600 --> 00:29:27,920 Speaker 4: It probably happened in a split second where he didn't 487 00:29:27,960 --> 00:29:30,000 Speaker 4: even have the opportunity to formulate a thought. 488 00:29:31,160 --> 00:29:34,520 Speaker 1: Meanwhile, they soon learned from witnesses that the bodyguards made 489 00:29:34,560 --> 00:29:37,880 Speaker 1: no moves to stop the attackers. People on the street 490 00:29:37,960 --> 00:29:40,840 Speaker 1: said that the masked shooters casually walked out of the 491 00:29:40,920 --> 00:29:45,120 Speaker 1: restaurant and slipped back into their car. Galante's bodyguards, Bono 492 00:29:45,200 --> 00:29:48,440 Speaker 1: Ventri and to Moatto, were also believed to be shooters. 493 00:29:48,960 --> 00:29:51,840 Speaker 1: The pair left and briskly walked in the other direction. 494 00:29:52,840 --> 00:29:56,840 Speaker 1: A de facto mob boss had been hit in broad daylight. 495 00:29:57,560 --> 00:29:59,480 Speaker 1: The story dominated the news. 496 00:30:00,360 --> 00:30:04,240 Speaker 6: So why was he hit? Federal sources and underworld sources agreed, 497 00:30:04,680 --> 00:30:07,320 Speaker 6: no one trusted him to say down. If the big 498 00:30:07,400 --> 00:30:11,120 Speaker 6: chance came around again. For the neighborhood, the passing of 499 00:30:11,160 --> 00:30:14,120 Speaker 6: Carmine Galent, he meant a lot of excitement. Hundreds of 500 00:30:14,160 --> 00:30:17,120 Speaker 6: people took to the streets of this Brooklyn block trying 501 00:30:17,120 --> 00:30:20,280 Speaker 6: to catch a glimpse for organized crime. It means the 502 00:30:20,320 --> 00:30:23,360 Speaker 6: beginning of something new, a new struggle for control at 503 00:30:23,360 --> 00:30:25,320 Speaker 6: the top of New York's Five Families. 504 00:30:29,000 --> 00:30:33,760 Speaker 7: It was horrible. It was horrible in the newspapers, front 505 00:30:33,800 --> 00:30:37,160 Speaker 7: page wherever they wrote about my father. That picture was 506 00:30:37,200 --> 00:30:42,440 Speaker 7: there on TV. That picture. I remember his body all twisted, 507 00:30:42,840 --> 00:30:46,640 Speaker 7: which got to me. They shot him so many times, 508 00:30:46,640 --> 00:30:49,520 Speaker 7: it was like stupid. They could have shot him once. 509 00:30:51,760 --> 00:30:56,200 Speaker 1: A complicated and difficult relationship, to be sure, but mobster 510 00:30:56,360 --> 00:30:59,360 Speaker 1: or not, Galante was still Angela's. 511 00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:02,760 Speaker 7: Dad, and I loved him, you know, I was brought 512 00:31:02,800 --> 00:31:03,960 Speaker 7: up to love him. He's my father. 513 00:31:05,440 --> 00:31:09,120 Speaker 1: Soon after, Carmen Gallanti was laid to rest, but his 514 00:31:09,160 --> 00:31:11,320 Speaker 1: funeral became a side show for many. 515 00:31:12,520 --> 00:31:15,640 Speaker 7: He wasn't allowed to have a funeral mass, which was 516 00:31:15,720 --> 00:31:19,160 Speaker 7: ridiculous because he didn't even have a gun on him. 517 00:31:19,320 --> 00:31:22,520 Speaker 7: He was murdered. You know, it's funny because there were 518 00:31:22,560 --> 00:31:27,120 Speaker 7: other mob bosses who died and they got funeral masses, 519 00:31:27,640 --> 00:31:30,760 Speaker 7: but they said it was because of his past, which 520 00:31:30,800 --> 00:31:34,680 Speaker 7: is you know. I mean, I laughed because some people say, oh, 521 00:31:34,760 --> 00:31:37,560 Speaker 7: do you think your father is in heaven? And I 522 00:31:37,640 --> 00:31:41,280 Speaker 7: laugh and I said, you know, I mean, I'm a Christian. 523 00:31:41,360 --> 00:31:45,720 Speaker 7: I believe in God, and I don't think my father 524 00:31:45,840 --> 00:31:50,360 Speaker 7: had time to confess to God his sins and be forgiven. 525 00:31:51,280 --> 00:31:53,960 Speaker 7: So no, I don't think he's in heaven. You know, 526 00:31:54,000 --> 00:31:56,320 Speaker 7: I would say, oh, when I die, I'm go to heaven. 527 00:31:56,320 --> 00:32:01,000 Speaker 7: I'll see my mother, and I don't think I'll run 528 00:32:01,040 --> 00:32:04,440 Speaker 7: into my father. I think he's in love neighborhood. 529 00:32:10,120 --> 00:32:13,000 Speaker 1: The murder of Gallante quickly caught the attention of the 530 00:32:13,080 --> 00:32:15,360 Speaker 1: FBI immediately. 531 00:32:15,720 --> 00:32:18,960 Speaker 3: Obviously, people were interested in trying to ascertain who the 532 00:32:19,000 --> 00:32:23,280 Speaker 3: three masked gunmen were. The police department and the FBI 533 00:32:23,440 --> 00:32:27,400 Speaker 3: in the Brooklyn DIA's office knew that Caesar Bonventry and 534 00:32:27,440 --> 00:32:30,120 Speaker 3: Baldohomado were certainly suspects. 535 00:32:30,800 --> 00:32:35,200 Speaker 1: As former Prosecutor Gilt Childer's recalls, Galante's bodyguards were soon 536 00:32:35,280 --> 00:32:37,160 Speaker 1: tracked down and taken him for questioning. 537 00:32:38,040 --> 00:32:42,360 Speaker 3: Statements weren't much. Basically, they just said, we had some lunches, 538 00:32:42,400 --> 00:32:45,680 Speaker 3: guys came in, We jumped back from the table, and 539 00:32:46,000 --> 00:32:48,760 Speaker 3: it all happened so fast, and thank god we didn't 540 00:32:48,760 --> 00:32:49,960 Speaker 3: get hit. And that's it. 541 00:32:50,960 --> 00:32:54,200 Speaker 1: Both men had lengthy criminal records and rumor ties to 542 00:32:54,360 --> 00:32:57,640 Speaker 1: organized crime, but they denied having anything to do with 543 00:32:57,680 --> 00:33:02,040 Speaker 1: Galant's murder. Besides a catastrope failure at doing their jobs. 544 00:33:02,680 --> 00:33:05,600 Speaker 1: Their polygraph exams told a different story. 545 00:33:06,840 --> 00:33:10,360 Speaker 3: When I spoke to the Bligrifer, who was a detective 546 00:33:10,400 --> 00:33:15,520 Speaker 3: in the Brooklyn DIA's office, he said a motto was 547 00:33:15,640 --> 00:33:18,960 Speaker 3: like a little kid who stole cookies from the cookie jar, 548 00:33:19,080 --> 00:33:22,160 Speaker 3: and clearly he was lying every word out of his mouth. 549 00:33:22,960 --> 00:33:25,680 Speaker 3: He said, Von Ventry. It was like a flat line 550 00:33:25,720 --> 00:33:28,600 Speaker 3: when your heart stopped in a hospital scene. You could 551 00:33:28,640 --> 00:33:31,640 Speaker 3: ask the guy anything and there was absolutely no reaction 552 00:33:32,040 --> 00:33:34,680 Speaker 3: from any question that they asked him. Again. It was 553 00:33:34,800 --> 00:33:37,240 Speaker 3: just completely stone cold. 554 00:33:38,040 --> 00:33:41,040 Speaker 1: But without evidence to tie either of them to the crime. 555 00:33:41,520 --> 00:33:47,040 Speaker 1: Both men were eventually released, which left investigators with just 556 00:33:47,240 --> 00:33:50,560 Speaker 1: one other lead. A woman who lived across from Joe 557 00:33:50,600 --> 00:33:52,240 Speaker 1: and Mary's had heard the gunshots. 558 00:33:53,280 --> 00:33:55,960 Speaker 3: She came to her window to look out to see 559 00:33:55,960 --> 00:33:59,600 Speaker 3: what the commotion was and she saw men jump into 560 00:33:59,640 --> 00:34:04,120 Speaker 3: a blue Ford or sedan and drive off. And she 561 00:34:04,800 --> 00:34:08,359 Speaker 3: noticed the license plate and she wrote it down, So 562 00:34:08,600 --> 00:34:10,880 Speaker 3: that was significant evidence. 563 00:34:10,920 --> 00:34:15,200 Speaker 1: Obviously, the witness provided police with a partial license plate 564 00:34:15,280 --> 00:34:18,520 Speaker 1: number as well as a description of the getaway car. 565 00:34:18,960 --> 00:34:21,600 Speaker 3: I think it was about the next day that the 566 00:34:21,640 --> 00:34:25,200 Speaker 3: car was found that matched the description of a blue 567 00:34:25,239 --> 00:34:29,959 Speaker 3: four door sedan and the partial plate match. The car 568 00:34:30,000 --> 00:34:35,400 Speaker 3: obviously was combed by the crime scene unit people very carefully. 569 00:34:36,400 --> 00:34:39,920 Speaker 1: This was nineteen seventy nine, and while forensic science was 570 00:34:39,960 --> 00:34:43,720 Speaker 1: still miles from where it is today, investigators were able 571 00:34:43,760 --> 00:34:46,000 Speaker 1: to recover a significant piece of evidence. 572 00:34:46,920 --> 00:34:51,839 Speaker 3: On the driver's side rear door handle. There was a 573 00:34:52,280 --> 00:34:55,280 Speaker 3: print that was a clean print. 574 00:34:55,600 --> 00:35:00,319 Speaker 1: They were able to get off a fingerprint. Would it 575 00:35:00,360 --> 00:35:03,080 Speaker 1: be that easy and lead to one of the killers? 576 00:35:03,680 --> 00:35:08,560 Speaker 3: That one print was compared to every known organized crime 577 00:35:08,960 --> 00:35:13,520 Speaker 3: member and associate that the police or the FBI had 578 00:35:13,760 --> 00:35:14,600 Speaker 3: fingerprints on. 579 00:35:15,800 --> 00:35:19,200 Speaker 1: No match. No easy solve was. 580 00:35:19,160 --> 00:35:24,040 Speaker 3: Certainly preserved because you never know. Sometimes evidence doesn't fall 581 00:35:24,040 --> 00:35:28,440 Speaker 3: into place until something else drops, but it was at 582 00:35:28,440 --> 00:35:30,600 Speaker 3: the time a dead end. 583 00:35:32,920 --> 00:35:37,200 Speaker 1: The complicated motives for killing Golante were still unknown, but 584 00:35:37,360 --> 00:35:40,279 Speaker 1: one thing investigators did know was that the hit of 585 00:35:40,360 --> 00:35:44,480 Speaker 1: someone as powerful as Carmen Galante could only have happened 586 00:35:44,480 --> 00:35:47,000 Speaker 1: with the blessing of the leaders of the Five Families, 587 00:35:47,719 --> 00:35:50,960 Speaker 1: which means Golante's murder was not only a hit, but 588 00:35:51,239 --> 00:35:55,520 Speaker 1: maybe proof of a larger criminal conspiracy sanctioned by a 589 00:35:55,560 --> 00:35:59,759 Speaker 1: part of the mafia known as the Commission. The Commission 590 00:35:59,800 --> 00:36:02,880 Speaker 1: was the governing body of organized crime, made up of 591 00:36:02,920 --> 00:36:07,200 Speaker 1: the bosses of the mafia families, and their authority was absolute, 592 00:36:07,800 --> 00:36:11,200 Speaker 1: including when it came to the elimination of mob leadership, 593 00:36:11,800 --> 00:36:15,120 Speaker 1: and this idea of a conspiracy just might be the key. 594 00:36:16,120 --> 00:36:20,200 Speaker 1: For decades, law enforcement had gone after the mafia, one 595 00:36:20,239 --> 00:36:23,359 Speaker 1: soldier at a time, hardly putting a dent in an 596 00:36:23,520 --> 00:36:27,680 Speaker 1: organization that was willing to sacrifice its underlings to protect 597 00:36:27,719 --> 00:36:32,080 Speaker 1: the bosses. But proof of a criminal conspiracy among the 598 00:36:32,120 --> 00:36:36,200 Speaker 1: families among members of the Commission could make them all 599 00:36:36,280 --> 00:36:41,960 Speaker 1: complicit for Gallant's murder, and more, the killing needed to 600 00:36:41,960 --> 00:36:46,160 Speaker 1: be solved for his family and for society. But beyond 601 00:36:46,200 --> 00:36:49,000 Speaker 1: the crime itself, could it be one of the pieces 602 00:36:49,080 --> 00:36:52,200 Speaker 1: needed to help prove that the families work together, that 603 00:36:52,320 --> 00:36:56,319 Speaker 1: there was a commission, and, if so, that they were 604 00:36:56,440 --> 00:37:00,200 Speaker 1: all responsible for the murder and the many other crime 605 00:37:00,360 --> 00:37:03,560 Speaker 1: being committed against New Yorkers on a daily basis. 606 00:37:04,239 --> 00:37:08,960 Speaker 4: And in essence, with that hit, the Commission restored order 607 00:37:09,000 --> 00:37:13,040 Speaker 4: within the Banano crime family, and the Commission eliminated a 608 00:37:13,160 --> 00:37:17,160 Speaker 4: problem born in their side. These bosses on the Commission 609 00:37:17,200 --> 00:37:20,640 Speaker 4: had no idea what was coming their way from the 610 00:37:20,680 --> 00:37:21,880 Speaker 4: federal government. 611 00:37:22,640 --> 00:37:26,120 Speaker 1: With Galant's murder. The Commission may have thought that they 612 00:37:26,160 --> 00:37:30,120 Speaker 1: had re established order and a tenuous peace among families, 613 00:37:30,680 --> 00:37:33,759 Speaker 1: but the mob was in for a big surprise. They 614 00:37:33,880 --> 00:37:36,840 Speaker 1: had no idea that this one hit of a boss 615 00:37:37,160 --> 00:37:45,880 Speaker 1: would culminate in their demise. As a young, up and 616 00:37:45,880 --> 00:37:49,400 Speaker 1: coming prosecutor, Gill was assigned to General Crimes in Brooklyn, 617 00:37:49,960 --> 00:37:53,560 Speaker 1: but shortly after Galant's murder, he was tapped to take 618 00:37:53,600 --> 00:37:56,719 Speaker 1: part in this new case he didn't see coming, a 619 00:37:56,840 --> 00:37:59,920 Speaker 1: case that would alter the course of his professional life forever. 620 00:38:01,160 --> 00:38:04,400 Speaker 3: There was a guy named Mark Feldman who was a 621 00:38:04,480 --> 00:38:08,360 Speaker 3: deputy chief of the Homicide Bureau. Mark approached me first 622 00:38:08,360 --> 00:38:11,120 Speaker 3: and said they're putting together a case over in Manhattan. 623 00:38:11,560 --> 00:38:14,520 Speaker 3: Didn't tell me the exact parameters of the case. He 624 00:38:14,560 --> 00:38:16,560 Speaker 3: said it's going to be a big organized crime case. 625 00:38:17,560 --> 00:38:20,719 Speaker 1: Childrens agreed to sign on. By his own admission, he 626 00:38:20,840 --> 00:38:23,600 Speaker 1: had no idea what he was getting into. 627 00:38:24,320 --> 00:38:27,520 Speaker 3: Other than maybe two guys doing a fair beat in 628 00:38:27,520 --> 00:38:31,680 Speaker 3: the subway. I mean, that's the extent of the organization 629 00:38:32,480 --> 00:38:35,560 Speaker 3: of crime that I had been associated with. Really, but 630 00:38:35,760 --> 00:38:38,440 Speaker 3: I had not done any anything in the way of 631 00:38:38,520 --> 00:38:41,640 Speaker 3: formal prosecution of organized crime at that time. 632 00:38:42,560 --> 00:38:46,200 Speaker 1: They would call it the commission case. Nothing like this 633 00:38:46,320 --> 00:38:47,760 Speaker 1: had ever been done before. 634 00:38:48,840 --> 00:38:51,239 Speaker 3: Well, it was a huge shot in the arm. We 635 00:38:51,320 --> 00:38:55,560 Speaker 3: certainly weren't the first organized crime prosecution, but we were 636 00:38:55,600 --> 00:38:59,719 Speaker 3: the first time that something this big had been attempted, 637 00:39:00,200 --> 00:39:05,880 Speaker 3: and to succeed. It sent the message to them, the mafia, 638 00:39:06,360 --> 00:39:10,920 Speaker 3: but to society generally that we can prosecute these people. 639 00:39:13,719 --> 00:39:16,640 Speaker 10: Mob boss Carmine Galente was gunned down back in nineteen 640 00:39:16,680 --> 00:39:19,560 Speaker 10: seventy nine. Since then, the men who ordered his gangland 641 00:39:19,680 --> 00:39:23,279 Speaker 10: execution have gone unnamed. Tonight, for the first time, there's 642 00:39:23,320 --> 00:39:25,719 Speaker 10: been a major breakthrough in that case, one that could 643 00:39:25,719 --> 00:39:28,320 Speaker 10: blow the lid off one of the underworld's best kept secrets. 644 00:39:35,239 --> 00:39:39,000 Speaker 2: Next time on Law and Order Criminal Justice System. 645 00:39:39,160 --> 00:39:42,000 Speaker 4: All of a sudden, the Mob is in every living 646 00:39:42,080 --> 00:39:43,160 Speaker 4: room in the country. 647 00:39:43,600 --> 00:39:45,880 Speaker 5: Every week you would see something in the paper, a 648 00:39:45,960 --> 00:39:48,040 Speaker 5: shooting of between mob guys. 649 00:39:48,360 --> 00:39:51,840 Speaker 6: The position of boss of all bosses was problematic. 650 00:39:52,040 --> 00:39:53,280 Speaker 2: You just created enemies. 651 00:39:53,800 --> 00:39:57,480 Speaker 3: She stops dead right in front of us and says, 652 00:39:57,800 --> 00:40:01,160 Speaker 3: I know you. You're the f You come top of 653 00:40:01,200 --> 00:40:05,080 Speaker 3: the phones and they all fled like cockroaches when you 654 00:40:05,160 --> 00:40:08,000 Speaker 3: turn the light on in a New York City apartment. 655 00:40:11,440 --> 00:40:14,799 Speaker 2: Law and Order Criminal Justice System is a production of 656 00:40:14,800 --> 00:40:20,160 Speaker 2: Wolf Entertainment and iHeart podcasts. Our host is Anna Sega Nicolazzi. 657 00:40:20,960 --> 00:40:24,799 Speaker 2: This episode was written by Trevor Young, Mike Catanella, and 658 00:40:24,840 --> 00:40:29,920 Speaker 2: Anna Sega Nicolazzi. Executive produced by Dick Wolf, Elliott Wolf, 659 00:40:30,200 --> 00:40:35,560 Speaker 2: and Stephen Michael at Wolf Entertainment on behalf of iHeartRadio. 660 00:40:35,840 --> 00:40:40,719 Speaker 2: Executive produced by Alex Williams and Matt Frederick, with supervising 661 00:40:40,760 --> 00:40:45,400 Speaker 2: producers Trevor Young and Chandler Mays and producers Jesse Funk, 662 00:40:45,840 --> 00:40:50,440 Speaker 2: Noames Griffin, and Rima El Kali. This season is executive 663 00:40:50,480 --> 00:40:56,719 Speaker 2: produced by Anna Seagan Nicolazi, Story producer Walker Lamond. Our 664 00:40:56,760 --> 00:41:01,280 Speaker 2: researchers are Carolyn Talmadge and Luke Stents. Editing and sound 665 00:41:01,320 --> 00:41:05,600 Speaker 2: design by Rima O Kali, original music by John O'Hara, 666 00:41:06,360 --> 00:41:11,520 Speaker 2: original theme by Mike Post, additional music by Steve Moore, 667 00:41:12,160 --> 00:41:17,000 Speaker 2: and additional voice over by me Steve Zernkelton. Special thanks 668 00:41:17,040 --> 00:41:20,719 Speaker 2: to Fox five in New York, A B C and 669 00:41:20,880 --> 00:41:24,480 Speaker 2: C B S for providing archival material for the show. 670 00:41:25,400 --> 00:41:29,520 Speaker 2: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio and Wolf Entertainment, visit the 671 00:41:29,600 --> 00:41:33,719 Speaker 2: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 672 00:41:33,719 --> 00:41:35,880 Speaker 2: favorite shows. Thanks for listening.