Joseph Ullo
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Joseph Spencer Ullo (b. 1929) was a New York mobster and suspected as one of the ".22 caliber hitters" hitmen during the 1970s.
Born in New York, Ullo was suspected by NYPD detectives in connection to two unsolved homicides before moving to California in the early 1960's. Operating as a loanshark until his arrest in September 1977 on loansharking charges, prosecutors attempted to charge Ullo with the gangland slaying of gambler and pornography distributor Jack Molinas and Vincent Calderazzo, a New York mobster and government informant. Both men had been shot with a .22 caliber pistol (the same type of gun used in a series of gangland slayings) and, as Molinas had reportedly owed Ullo money, police suspected Ullo's involvement. Police also attempted to connect the murder of a Los Angeles massage parlor owner Michael Ariola, another victim of the ".22 caliber hitters", who resisted mobsters’ attempts to take over his business. Despite the testimony of car thief Eugene Connor, who claimed he had driven the getaway car during one of the murders, Ullo was acquitted.
According to the testimony of Frank Tieri in 1980, several New York mafia leaders ordered Ullo's death in September 1976 after refusing to pay a loan. Ullo avoided these attempts on his life however; he was eventually sentenced to imprisonment for six years after making false statements during a federal investigation and released on January 21, 1983.
[edit] Further reading
- Rosen, Charley (2003). The Wizard of Odds: How Jack Molinas Almost Destroyed the Game of Basketball. New York: Seven Stories Press. ISBN 1583225625.
