Al Indelicato

{{Short description|American mobster (1931–1981)}} {{for|the jazz saxophonist|Sonny Red}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}} {{Infobox criminal | name = Al Indelicato | image = AlIndelicato.jpg | caption = | birth_name = Alphonse Indelicato | birth_date = {{birth date|1931|2|25|mf=y}} | birth_place = New York City, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1981|5|5|1931|2|25|mf=y}} | death_place = New York City, U.S. | disappeared_date = {{disappeared date and age|1981|5|5|1931|2|25}} | body_discovered = May 28, 1981<br />New York City, U.S. | children = Anthony "Bruno" Indelicato | death_cause = Gunshots | allegiance = Bonanno crime family | occupation = Mobster | other_names = Sonny Red }}

'''Alphonse''' "'''Al'''" '''Indelicato''' (February 25, 1931 – May 5, 1981), also known as '''Sonny Red''', was an American mobster and caporegime in the Bonanno crime family who was murdered with Dominick Trinchera and Philip Giaccone for planning to overthrow Bonanno boss Philip Rastelli.

==Early life== Alphonse Indelicato was born in New York City. Indelicato's family came from Sciacca, Sicily, Italy, landed and became a naturalized citizen when living in Utica, New York. Indelicato was the father-in-law of Bonanno associate Salvatore Valenti and ex-son-in-law of Bonanno capo, bookmaker Charles Ruvolo. Indelicato was particularly fond of a pair of custom-made red leather cowboy boots, which may have been the source of his nickname "Sonny Red".{{citation needed|date=December 2019}}

Indelicato is a nephew to Salvatore Falcone, a heroin trafficker. Indelicato was married first to Charles Ruvolo's unidentified daughter, with whom he fathered a son, Anthony "Bruno" Indelicato. Indelicato later married Margaret Elizabeth McFhadden, but the two later became estranged.

Indelicato was indicted in 1972 for the inquiry into the murder of Joe Gallo, but was released on $15,000 bail.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/12/14/archives/killer-of-gallo-identified-as-4-are-indicted-after-inquiry-on.html|title=Killer of Gallo Identified as 4 Are Indicted After Inquiry on Slaying|work=The New York Times|date=December 14, 1972}}</ref>

===Planning a coup=== Joseph Massino began jockeying for power with Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano, another Philip Rastelli loyalist capo, after the 1979 murder of Carmine Galante. Both men were themselves threatened by another faction seeking to depose the absentee boss led by capos Indelicato, Dominick "Big Trin" Trincera and Philip Giaccone.<ref name="king99">DeStefano 2007, pp. 99, 101–103</ref> The Commission initially tried to maintain neutrality, but in 1981, Massino got word from his informants that the three capos were stocking up on automatic weapons and planning to kill the Rastelli loyalists within the Bonanno family to take complete control. Massino turned to Colombo crime family boss Carmine Persico and Gambino crime family boss Paul Castellano for advice; they told him to act immediately.<ref name="king99"/>

==The three capos murder== On May 5, 1981, Massino loyalists shot and killed Indelicato, Trinchera, and Giaccone, in a Brooklyn night club. On the pretext of working out a peace agreement, Massino had invited them to meet with him at the 20/20 Night Club in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn. However, Massino's real plan was to assassinate the capos. The ambush was set in the club store room, with Salvatore Vitale and three other gunmen wearing ski masks hiding in a closet. One of the gunmen was mobster Vito Rizzuto, who came from Montreal with another Canadian mobster to help Massino.<ref>[http://gangstersinc.tripod.com/BonannoAftermath.html "Aftermath of a Hit"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100201202912/http://gangstersinc.tripod.com/BonannoAftermath.html |date=February 1, 2010 }} by David Amoruso Gangsters Inc. May 8, 2007</ref> Massino told the men to avoid shooting wildly so that bullets wouldn't spray around the room. Massino also brought drop cloths and ropes for disposing of the bodies afterwards.

When the capos arrived at the 20/20, Massino and Bonanno mobster Gerlando Sciascia and Frank Lino escorted them to the store room. As the men entered the room,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5nAt6N8iQnYC&q=lino|title=Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|date=May 13, 2014|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=9781429907989|language=en}}</ref> Sciascia brushed his hand through his hair, giving the prearranged signal. Vitale and gunmen rushed out of the closet, with Rizzuto yelling "it's a hold up". Massino immediately punched Giaccone, knocking him to the floor, and also stopping Indelicato from escaping.<ref name="nomerta">{{cite news |title= Nomerta! Mafia boss a squealer|author= Mitchel Maddux|author2= Jeremy Olshan|url= https://nypost.com/2011/04/13/nomerta-mafia-boss-a-squealer/|newspaper= New York Post|date= April 13, 2011|access-date=January 3, 2014}}</ref> Giaccone got up and tried to run out of the room, but was blocked up against a wall with Trinchera. The gunmen killed Giaccone with a volley of submachine gun fire. They then turned their weapons on Indelicato and Trinchera. The three capos were unarmed, as was the rule when attending a peace meeting.

After the killings, the Bonanno gunmen transported the three bodies to a lot in Lindenwood, Queens, in an area known as The Hole.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/new-yorks-darkest-secret-the-hole-is-a-mafia-graveyard-that-few-people-venture-into-10454678.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150814024437/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/new-yorks-darkest-secret-the-hole-is-a-mafia-graveyard-that-few-people-venture-into-10454678.html |archive-date=August 14, 2015 |url-access=limited |url-status=live|title=New York's darkest secret: The Hole is a Mafia graveyard that few people venture into|work=The Independent|author=Alexander Nazaryan|date=August 14, 2015}}</ref>

The lot was a Gambino mob graveyard; Gambino capo John Gotti arranged for his men to bury the bodies there as a favor to Massino.<ref>[http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/2004/06/30/2004-06-30_bloody_b_klyn_rubout__says_m.html "Bloody B'klyn Rubout: Says Massino OKd '81 mob hit"]{{dead link|date=March 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} by John Marzulli, ''New York Daily News'' June 30, 2004</ref><ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/09/nyregion/09mob.html "In Court, Evidence Suggests Gotti Associates Buried Victims in Lot"] by William K. Rashbaum ''New York Times'' October 9, 2004</ref> A few weeks later, on May 28, authorities discovered Indelicato's body and removed it from the lot.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/08/05/An-FBI-agent-who-infiltrated-the-Bonanno-crime-family/5470397368000/|title=An FBI agent who infiltrated the Bonanno crime family...|publisher=upi.com|date=August 5, 1982}}</ref>

In October 2004, after some children reported finding a body in the Lindenwood lot, FBI agents excavated the property and discovered the bodies of Trinchera and Giaccone. Among the personal items they unearthed was a Piaget watch that had belonged to Giaccone's wife.<ref>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B04E7DB1E3BF930A25753C1A9629C8B63 "Skeletal Remains Are Believed To Be Those of Mob Captains"] by William K. Rashbaum ''New York Times'' October 13, 2004</ref> In December 2004, the bodies were positively identified as Giaccone and Trinchera.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/21/nyregion/21mbrf.html "Metro Briefing"] ''New York Times'' December 21, 2004</ref>

On June 23, 2005, Massino, then a government witness to avoid the death penalty, pleaded guilty to several murders including those of Giaccone, Trinchera, and Indelicato. He received two life sentences in prison.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/nyregion/24massino.html Bonanno crime boss is sentenced to two life terms"] by Robert F. Worth ''New York Times'' June 24, 2005</ref> On May 4, 2007, after being extradited to the United States, Rizzuto pleaded guilty in a Brooklyn court to reduced charges in the murder of three capos and was sentenced to ten years in state prison.<ref>[http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=36724a60-bad7-474d-be4e-919696901149&k=66386 Rizzuto pleads guilty to racketeering charge] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070507160828/http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=36724a60-bad7-474d-be4e-919696901149&k=66386 |date=May 7, 2007 }}, ''National Post'', May 5, 2007</ref><ref name=holdup>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090218154909/http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=29f977cc-7a07-41a7-bab6-97ed5ce871a4&k=43978 Mob boss admits role in massacre], ''National Post'', May 5, 2007</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090218150330/http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/story.html?id=15152d10-4b25-423a-877b-5f537be30bb1 Timeline: Vito Rizzuto's run-ins with the law] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071021020755/http://canada.com/montrealgazette/story.html?id=15152d10-4b25-423a-877b-5f537be30bb1 |date=October 21, 2007 }}, ''The Montreal Gazette'', May 4, 2007</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://torontosun.com/2013/12/23/mob-boss-vito-rizzuto-dies-in-hospital/wcm/9551b9c1-5a5d-46af-81df-2c95998ef2f3|title=Former mob boss Vito Rizzuto dies in hospital|publisher=torontosun.com|date=December 23, 2013}}</ref>

After his father's murder, Indelicato's son, Anthony, went into hiding in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Massino wanted to kill him also, but he had missed the meeting. His father brought Lino instead, who was the sole survivor of the massacre. Lino, who had escaped, was quickly won over to Massino's side.<ref>Raab, p. 615</ref> Napolitano assigned associate Donnie Brasco, who he hoped to make a made man, to kill Indelicato.<ref name="king112">DeStefano 2007, pp. 112, 117</ref> "Brasco", however, was in fact an undercover FBI agent named Joseph Pistone; shortly after the hit was ordered, Pistone's assignment was ended and Napolitano was informed of their infiltration.<ref name="King 118">DeStefano 2007, pp. 118–120</ref>

==In popular culture== * In the 1997 film ''Donnie Brasco'', Al Indelicato was portrayed by Robert Miano. * In the 2017 Canadian TV series ''Bad Blood'', in a flashback, Sonny Red is portrayed by Joe Di Mambro.

==References== {{reflist}}

==Further reading== *Pistone, Joseph, ''Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia''. Random House Value Publishing (February 1990) {{ISBN|5-552-53129-9}} *Crittle, Simon, ''The Last Godfather: The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino'' Berkley (March 7, 2006) {{ISBN|0-425-20939-3}} *Pistone, Joseph D.; & Brandt, Charles (2007). ''Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business'', Running Press. {{ISBN|0-7624-2707-8}}. *DeStefano, Anthony. ''The Last Godfather: Joey Massino & the Fall of the Bonanno Crime Family''. California: Citadel, 2006. *Raab, Selwyn. ''Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires''. New York: St. Martin Press, 2005. {{ISBN|0-312-30094-8}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Indelicato, Al}} Category:1931 births Category:1980s missing person cases Category:1981 deaths Category:Bonanno crime family Category:Deaths by firearm in Brooklyn Category:Formerly missing American people Category:Missing person cases in New York City Category:Murdered American gangsters of Italian descent Category:Murdered Bonanno crime family members Category:People murdered by the Bonanno crime family Category:People murdered in New York City Category:1981 murders in the United States