James Squillante
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James "Jimmy Jerome" Squillante (c. 1918-September 30, 1960 ?), AKA Vincent Squillante, was a New York mobster who belonged to the Gambino crime family and was known as "king of the garbage collection racket". Squillante also worked as an assassin for mob boss Albert "Mad Hatter" Anastasia.
In 1957, Government informant Joe Valachi claimed that Squillante participated in the 1957 slaying of Anastasia underboss Frank "Don Cheech" Scalise. After the murder, Scalise's brother, Joe Scalise, publicly declared that he would avenge Frank's death. However, the Gambino family did not support Joe's declaration, possibly due to Anastasia's opposition. As a result, Joe was forced into hiding for several months until the family allegedly forgave him. On September 7, 1957, according to Valachi, Squillante invited Joe to his house. Once Joe arrived, Squillante and several others murdered him, cut his body into pieces, loaded the remains onto one of Squillante's garbage trucks, and dumped them somewhere.
In Fall 1960, Squillante was indicted on extortion charges. Reportedly, the Gambino family worried that Squillante could not handle the upcoming trial and probable prison sentence. So, to "put him out of his misery", the family ordered Squillante's murder. On September 23, 1960, [1] Squillante disappeared. According to some accounts, Squillante was shot in the head and loaded into a car trunk. The car allegedly went through an automobile crusher and the salvaged metal was melted down in a blast furnace. However, some newspaper accounts of that period claim that Squillante was actually seen on September 30th at 2 am driving around the Bronx neighborhood in his brother-in-law's car. In any case, Squillante's body was never found and no murder suspects were ever arrested.
[edit] Further reading
- Capeci, Jerry. The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Mafia. Indianapolis: Alpha Books, 2002. ISBN 978-0-02-864225-3
- Davis, John H. Mafia Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the Gambino Crime Family. New York: HarperCollins, 1993.
- 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, 2001. ISBN 978-0-8147-4247-1
- Raab, Selwyn. Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires. New York: St. Martin Press, 2005. ISBN 978-0-312-30094-4
- Reuter, Peter. Racketeering in Legitimate Industries: A Study in the Economics of Intimidation. 1987.
- United States. Congress. Senate. Select Committee on Inproper Activities in the Labor or Management Field. Investigation of Improper Activities in the Labor Or Management Field: Index to Hearings Before the Select Committee on Inproper Activities in the Labor or Management Field. 1959. [2]
- 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. [3]
- United States. Congress. Senate. Government Operations Committee. Organized Crime and Illicit Traffic in Narcotics: Hearings before the Government Operations Committee. 1964. [4]
- United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Governmental Affairs. Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Profile of Organized Crime, Mid-Atlantic Region: Hearings Before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. 1983. [5]
[edit] References
- Devito, Carlo. Encyclopedia of International Organized Crime. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2005. ISBN 978-0-8160-4848-9
- Fox, Stephen. Blood and Power: Organized Crime in Twentieth-Century America. New York: William Morrow and Company, 1989. ISBN 978-0-688-04350-6
- Kelly, Robert J. Encyclopedia of Organized Crime in the United States. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2000. ISBN 978-0-313-30653-2
- Sifakis, Carl. The Mafia Encyclopedia. New York: Da Capo Press, 2005. ISBN 978-0-8160-5694-1
- Sifakis, Carl. The Encyclopedia of American Crime. New York: Facts on File Inc., 2001. ISBN 978-0-8160-4040-7
