A photograph of four smiling men standing together would later be studied as one of the clearest illustrations of Mafia treachery. The image shows Philadelphia crime family figures Frank Narducci Sr. , Salvie Testa, Philip Testa, and Nicky Scarfo. Within a few years, three of those four men would be dead, and in two cases, the killers were men standing in that very photo.
In 1981, Philadelphia family boss Philip Testa was killed by a bomb planted at his home. One of the men behind that murder was Frank Narducci. Nicky Scarfo then took over as boss, and in January 1982, he ordered Narducci killed for his role in Testa’s assassination. The man who shot Narducci to death was none other than Philip Testa’s own son, Salvie Testa.
Two years later, in September 1984, Salvie Testa was himself murdered. It is believed that Scarfo, increasingly paranoid and violent, felt threatened by Testa’s popularity and his potential to challenge for the leadership. Testa was shot by his close friend, Salvatore Wayne Grande. Another photograph captures members of the infamous Gemini crew, including Anthony Senter and Joseph Testa, alongside Gambino family soldier Roy DeMeo.
DeMeo and his crew were notorious for committing numerous murders and dismembering victims in an apartment above the Gemini Lounge. By the early 1980s, DeMeo had become a liability to family boss Paul Castellano. He had carried out unsanctioned murders and faced legal issues from a car theft ring, problems that could also implicate the boss. In 1983, DeMeo was shot to death by members of his own crew, with many believing the shooters were Joey Testa and Anthony Senter.
Joey Testa’s brother, a Lucchese family mobster named Patty Testa, also appears in the photograph. He suffered a similar fate in 1992, murdered by members of his own crime family. A separate photo shows Roy DeMeo with his son Albert and crew member Chris Rosenberg. Rosenberg had created serious trouble for the Gambino family by carrying out unsanctioned murders linked to a Cuban drug trafficking group.
The Cubans learned who was responsible and pressed the family to have Rosenberg killed. In 1979, DeMeo and Anthony Senter shot Rosenberg dead, and crew members then dumped his body in a car and riddled it with machine gun fire so the killing would make the newspapers and satisfy the Cubans. Another image shows Genovese family mobster Thomas “Tommy Ryan” Eboli, his brother Pasquale “Patty Ryan” Eboli, and Vincent “Chin” Gigante. In the late 1950s, Gigante served as a soldier under Tommy Ryan, and later under his brother Patty in the 1960s.
In 1972, Tommy Ryan was assassinated amid an internal power struggle. Four years later, in 1976, Patty Ryan disappeared and was never seen again; his car was found abandoned at Kennedy Airport. It is believed that Gigante was part of a group that approved the hit on Patty Ryan. A group photo of Gambino family mobsters includes Tommy Gambino, Tommy Bilotti, Joe Butch Corrao, Joe Brewster Delmonico, Paul Castellano, Frank Dapolito, Frankie DeCicco, and James “Jimmy Brown” Fila.
In 1985, DeCicco was part of the conspiracy to murder boss Paul Castellano. He later became underboss under new boss John Gotti, who was also a co-conspirator. The assassination took the life of Castellano as well as his underboss Tommy Bilotti, who was also in the photograph. According to some sources, powerful Gambino associate Joe Watts was in the area near Sparks Steak House during the Castellano hit, positioned as a backup shooter.
A police lineup photo features two heavyweight Chicago Outfit figures: Anthony “Joe Batters” Accardo on the left and Sam “Mooney” Giancana on the right. Accardo became boss of the Chicago Outfit around 1947, taking over from his friend Paul Ricca, and stepped down in 1957. Giancana then became boss, though many sources state that Accardo and Ricca continued to pull the strings behind the scenes on important matters. In the mid-1960s, Giancana reportedly fell out of favor with his retired superiors Accardo and Ricca.
While facing legal trouble over a grand jury summons, he fled to Mexico and was replaced as boss. After being deported back to the United States in 1974, Giancana was murdered by his mob colleagues in 1975, a hit widely believed to have been ordered by Anthony Accardo. These cases illustrate a grim reality of organized crime: it is often a person’s closest friends who carry out the killing.