10 Infamous Mafia Bosses and Their Violent Demises

10 Infamous Mafia Bosses and Their Violent Demises

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’ll be discussing the most high-profile gangland killings of influential crime bosses.

Carmine Galante

This cigar-chomping mafioso may have only been an acting boss of the Bonanno crime family at the time of his death, but that doesn’t make the details of said demise any less gruesome. Galante was one in a long and unfortunate line of mafia bosses who got whacked while they were trying to enjoy dinner. Philip “Rusty” Rastelli was, by all accounts, the rightful head of the Bonanno family, but Galante committed an internal coup in 1976, while Rastelli was in prison. Galante quickly escalated tensions with the Gambino family during this time, via a series of alleged assassinations. The acting Bonanno boss was shot to death as a result of this power grab, shortly after finishing his lunch at an Italian restaurant on July 12, 1979.

Mickey Spillane

No, we’re not talking about the noted crime author of the same name. This Mickey Spillane was an Irish-American mob boss who butted heads with the Italian mafia over control of New York’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood. Spillane’s operations in Hell’s Kitchen held designs for activity that pushed into mafia-owned Manhattan territory, and a war between both factions would occur as a result. Spillane may have been known as a “Gentleman Gangster” during his tenure at the top, but the mafia eventually found a way to get Spillane via the ambitious Jimmy Coonan. This internal threat to Spillane’s empire combined forces with Brooklyn hitman Roy DeMeo, and fatal shots rang out against Hell’s Kitchen’s Gentleman Gangster outside his home on May 13, 1977.

Johnny Papalia

Canada may not be the first place the average person thinks of when it comes to organized crime, but those people are forgetting about former bosses like Johnny Papalia. Papalia was a major player in Hamilton, Ontario, a crime boss whose profile you may recognize from the infamous “French Connection” trafficking crimes of the 1960s. This was a boss who ruled through fear, a smart and cunning man at the top who was as callous as he was ruthless. Even the most prepared and cautious crime bosses tend to slip up eventually, however, and time eventually caught up to Johnny Papalia on May 31, 1997. This scourge of Hamilton was shot from behind by a hitman working for the rival Musitano crime family.

John D’Amato

John “Johnny Boy” D’Amato was another acting boss, this time for the DeCavalcante crime family from New Jersey. D’Amato was promoted to this position in absentia by proper boss Giovanni Riggi, who was incarcerated at this time. Johnny Boy wouldn’t enjoy this temporary position of power for very long, however, as D’Amato would be dead less than two years removed from his promotion. It’s said that his 1992 assassination was motivated by D’Amato’s alleged bisexuality, allegations that were further corroborated in courtroom testimony by DeCavalcante hitman Anthony Capo. John D’Amato was shot by Capo while the former was riding in the backseat of a car. The body was never found.

Angelo Bruno

Angelo Bruno was another mafia boss whose reputation tended to eschew the organization’s rough-and-tumble reputation for violence. However, this reputation didn’t save the “Gentle Don” from sustaining fatal shotgun wounds while sitting in his car on March 21, 1980. What’s even worse was that this act was carried out by one of Bruno’s own, an associate and advisor named Antonio Caponigro. This unapproved hit essentially meant Caponigro was a dead man, as the governing mafia Commission had this traitor assassinated for his insolence and ambition. Other associates who conspired with Caponigro also suffered violent ends for their trouble.

Frank Cali

The most recent demise covered in this video served as a wake-up call to anyone who surmised that the American mafia was finished airing their violently dirty laundry on city streets. Frank Cali was serving as another acting boss for the Gambino crime family when he was brazenly assassinated outside of his Staten Island home on the thirteenth of March, 2019. Cali’s death served as the first time a mafia boss had been cut down in this fashion since the mid-1980s. As a result, the violent lives (and deaths) of those involved with organized crime, once again were splattered on New York City headlines. Everything old was new again.

Sam Giancana

If the adage “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” holds any water, then perhaps it could explain why the CIA enlisted the help of mafia boss Sam Giancana when they were attempting to assassinate former Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Additionally, it was shortly before Giancana was due to speak before the U.S. Senate in 1975 on alleged agency overreach when the mob boss was gunned down in his home. The uncorroborated story alleges that Giancana was cooking sausage and peppers when he was shot by a hitman, but what IS known is that the boss’ body was found on the floor of his basement kitchen.

Albert Anastasia

This history of the modern American mafia can be traced back, in part, to ruthless individuals like Albert Anastasia. This “Mad Hatter” was a killer and a boss from the original Murder Inc. who would rise in power to head the Gambino crime family. It’s unclear today who was responsible for slaying Anastasia while he was sitting in a barber’s chair, nor has any one family taken full responsibility for the hit. Rumors abound, however. Was it ordered from the Patriarca family over in Rhode Island? Internal dissenters from the Gambinos? No one’s really sure, and dead men tell no tales.

Bugsy Siegel

The name “Bugsy Siegel” is one that’s recognized even by those without a passing interest in the history of organized crime. That’s because it was men like Siegel whose big dreams (and even bigger plans) helped turn the city of Las Vegas into the sinner’s paradise it is today. However, the mob isn’t exactly patient with failure, and Siegel’s initial attempts to turn a profit with the Flamingo Hotel were just that. The former Murder, Inc. man would be dead within a year after the disastrous Flamingo opening, the victim of an assassin’s bullet on June 20, 1947.

Paul Castellano

Remember how we mentioned that Frank Cali’s murder was the first NYC boss slaying since the eighties? Well, it was the murder of Paul Castellano that served as the infamous precursor to that modern fatality. Castellano’s death wasn’t approved by the mob Commission, but was instead the work of an upstart named John Gotti. This internal coup within the Gambino crime family was organized by Gotti, as the future “Teflon Don” would assemble a murderous crew to take down Castellano in broad daylight. The slaying occurred outside of the Sparks Steak House, as both Castellano and his bodyguard Thomas Bilotti were shot dead by a group of men, on orders from Gotti.