Joseph Pinzolo

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Bonaventura "Joseph" Pinzolo (1887 – September 5, 1930) was the head of the Lucchese crime family in New York City for a brief period during 1930.

Following the murder of capo Tom Reina, mob boss Joe Masseria tried to take control of the family by backing Pinzolo, a close supporter of his, as Reina's replacement. It has been suggested that Pinzolo may have been responsible for Reina's killing though the most widely-suspected culprit for that crime remains Vito Genovese.

Pinzolo took charge of Masseria's ice distribution business ahead of the likes of Tommy Gagliano and Tommy Lucchese, who felt the new man had been unfairly promoted. Pinzolo certainly did not help his own cause by being a most disagreeable man - the majority of his subordinates apparently took very little time to grow to hate him. Charles "Lucky" Luciano once said of Pinzolo:

"As big a shit as Masseria was, he didn't hold a candle to Pinzolo. That guy was fatter, uglier and dirtier than Masseria was on the worst day when the old bastard didn't take a bath, which was most of the time."

Joe Bonanno later revealed that Gagliano and Lucchese formed a splinter group within the family along with a several other key members, including Dominick "the Gap" Petrilli, a friend of Joe Valachi. Their festering resentment and personal distaste along with the general lawlessness unleashed by the Castellammarese War ultimately led to Pinzolo's murder. In September 1930, Pinzolo was lured to an office rented by Lucchese in the Brokaw Building on Broadway in New York City where he was shot five times. The killer is reputed to have been Petrilli, Girolamo "Bobby Doyle" Santucci or possibly Lucchese himself. Lucchese was indicted for the crime but the charges were dropped due to a lack of evidence. Masseria apparently attributed the killing to rival boss Salvatore Maranzano.

After Pinzolo's murder the Gagliano-led faction aligned themselves with Maranzano's forces.

[edit] Further reading

Bonanno, Joseph. A Man of Honor: The Autobiography of Joseph Bonanno. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2003. ISBN 0-312-97923-1
Capeci, Jerry. The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Mafia. Indianapolis: Alpha Books, 2002. ISBN 0-02-864225-2
Peterson, Robert W. Crime & the American Response. New York: Facts on File, 1973. ISBN 0-87196-227-6
United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Governmental Affairs. Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Organized Crime: 25 Years After Valachi: Hearings Before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. 1988. [1]
United States. Congress. Senate. Government Operations Committee. Organized Crime and Illicit Traffic in Narcotics. 1964. [2]