Peter DeFeo

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Peter DeFeo was a New York mobster and member of the Genovese crime family.

Growing up in New York's Little Italy, DeFeo became a soldier in the Genovese crime family when the family was ran by namesake godfather Vito Genovese. DeFeo was a close associate of former family acting boss Thomas "Tommy Ryan" Eboli, who was shot to death in Brooklyn on July 16, 1972, likely on the orders of Frank Tieri and family official boss Philip "Benny Squint" Lombardo. There is also speculation that Eboli borrowed $2 million from Carlo Gambino to finance a new racket and could not come up with Don Carlo's money, leading Gambino to order his murder. Former Genovese crime family soldier Vincent Cafaro testified that both Eboli and Tieri were front bosses for Philip "Benny Squint" Lombardo. DeFeo was a member of Patty Ryan Eboli's crew, and would eventually become captain of the crew.

DeFeo's crew was involved in the N.Y.C. District Council of Carpenters from the 1970s until the 1980s, at which point rising captain in the Genovese family, Liborio Bellomo, and fellow captain Vincent DiNapoli removed most of DeFeo's influence. Vincent Cafaro, a.k.a. Mr. Fish, a former soldier in front boss Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno's East Harlem crew testified that DeFeo's interests in the Carpenters Union were represented by soldier Alexander "Black Alex" Morelli and associate Marcello Svedese, a union official with Local 17. In 1987, DeFeo and Bellomo got into a jurisdictional dispute as to who had control over Carpenters Local 17 in the Bronx. Genovese crime family consigliere Louis Manna decided that Bellomo had proper jurisdiction over the Bronx Local. DeFeo's influence within the family waned with the emergence of Vincent Gigante and the West Side faction's control of the family in 1981. DeFeo's crew was also involved in shaking down construction and construction related trucking companies, and in particular, DeFeo was receiving between $8,000 to $10,000 per year from P. Chimento Trucking from the 1980s up until 1990. In 1990, Chimento landed itself in trouble with the Lucchese crime family who controlled the freight industry at John F. Kennedy International Airport. Intervening for Chimento was Genovese acting consigliere James Ida who was unable to prevent the company from having to pay the Luccheses $110,000 to stop a union strike at the company warehouse.

Peter DeFeo found himself in the news after the Amityville horror murders on Long Island in 1974. Early in the investigation, authorities believed that DeFeo, Ronald DeFeo's grand-uncle, may have ordered the killings out of fear that he may provide information to the FBI about Peter DeFeo and his brother Rocco.

[edit] Further reading

  • Jacobs, James B., Coleen Friel and Robert Radick. Gotham Unbound: How New York City Was Liberated from the Grip of Organized Crime. New York: NYU Press, 1999. ISBN 0-8147-4247-5
  • Osuna, Ric. The Night The Defeos Died: Reinvestigating the Amityville Murders. Nevada: Noble Kai Media, 2003. ISBN 1-59109-586-7
  • United States. Congress. Senate. Select Committee on Improper Activities in the Labor or Management Field. Investigation of Improper Activities in the Labor Or Management Field. 1959. [1]
  • United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce. Waterfront Investigation: Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce. 1953. [2]
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