Aniello Dellacroce, the longtime underboss of the Gambino crime family who shaped the modern Mafia in New York, died of cancer on December 2, 1985, at age 71. His death set off a chain of events that ended with the murder of his successor, Paul Castellano, just two weeks later. Born March 15, 1914, in New York City to Italian immigrant parents, Dellacroce worked as a butcher’s assistant before turning to crime in the late 1930s. He joined the Mangano crime family, the forerunner of the Gambino organization, and became involved with underboss Albert Anastasia.
When Anastasia became boss after Vincent Mangano’s disappearance, he promoted Dellacroce to capo. Dellacroce reportedly once carried out a killing while dressed as a priest, pretending to be Father Timothy O’Mel. After Anastasia’s assassination in 1957, Carlo Gambino took over the family and appointed Dellacroce as underboss. Dellacroce became the family’s street enforcer, keeping capos and soldiers in line.
Organized crime detective Ralph Salerno said only two Mafiosi had an intimidating gaze that chilled spines: Carmine Galante and Dellacroce. Gambino members called Dellacroce “the Bull” because of his rough, square face and Slavic peasant appearance, though no one dared say it in his presence. Little Italy served as his home base, with the Ravenite Social Club on Mulberry Street as his headquarters. The windowless building, reinforced with red brick, had previously been a gathering spot for Charles “Lucky” Luciano.
Dellacroce sometimes used a doppelganger in public to confuse adversaries on both sides of the law. On September 22, 1966, he was present at a meeting in Queens later dubbed “Little Apalachin” alongside Joe Colombo, Carlo Gambino, and Carlos Marcello. The gathering, apparently about leadership succession in the Lucchese crime family, was disrupted by an NYPD raid, and Dellacroce was among those arrested. In 1971, he was charged with contempt for refusing to answer grand jury inquiries about organized crime and received a one-year prison sentence.
On May 2, 1972, he was accused of federal tax evasion in connection with a scheme involving Yankee Plastics Company, which paid him 22,500 stock shares worth $112,500 in exchange for labor peace. He was found guilty in March 1973 and sentenced to five years plus a $15,000 fine. When Carlo Gambino died of natural causes on October 15, 1976, he chose his brother-in-law Paul Castellano to succeed him instead of Dellacroce. Gambino believed Castellano’s focus on white-collar industries would benefit the organization.
Dellacroce could not challenge the succession because he was incarcerated at the time. At Castellano’s confirmation hearing on November 24, 1976, held at the home of Gambino capo Anthony Gaggi in Bensonhurst, Castellano offered Dellacroce reassurance: “Nobody knows the streets like you. Nobody can do your job of holding things together. So here’s what I’m suggesting: anything you had with Carlo, you keep.
Anything more you want, we talk. ”
Dellacroce accepted the proposal, but the arrangement was an armed truce. The deal split the family into two factions: Castellano controlled white-collar crimes such as bid rigging, union corruption, and financial fraud, while Dellacroce kept traditional rackets like loan sharking, gambling, and hijacking. Castellano still demanded his cut from Dellacroce’s crews, which included future boss John Gotti.
Dellacroce’s stories about Albert Anastasia influenced Gotti, who adopted Anastasia as his role model. Gotti believed Dellacroce should have assumed the throne after Carlo Gambino. In 1979, Dellacroce was arrested with Anthony Plate for the 1974 murder of Charles Kelis, a bookmaker and informant. Plate vanished during trial, resulting in a mistrial.
That same year, video surveillance captured Dellacroce hugging Bruno Indelicato at the Ravenite club just after Carmine Galante was killed. On May 5, 1981, Dellacroce was apparently clued in on a plan involving the execution of three capos—Alphonse Indelicato, Philip Giaccone, and Dominic Trinchera—and authorized John Gotti’s crew to take part. In November 1981, based on informer assertions about Dellacroce’s nephew Angelo Ruggiero’s alleged criminal acts, a court order authorized phone taps at Ruggiero’s home in Howard Beach, where John Gotti also lived. Ruggiero’s loose talk compromised Paul Castellano.
Every other Sunday, Ruggiero visited Castellano’s Staten Island mansion, then called Gotti afterward, ranting about Mafia disputes that needed settling. His constant babbling gave the FBI probable cause to bug Castellano’s house and provided sufficient evidence against Dellacroce to bug his home on February 25, 1985. On March 28, 1985, Dellacroce was indicted along with his son Armand and eight others on federal racketeering charges involving homicides, loan sharking, gambling, and hijackings. He had earlier been indicted on February 25, 1985, along with leaders of the other New York Five Families as part of the Mafia Commission trial.
While awaiting his own legal proceedings, Castellano expressed anger at Gene Gotti and Angelo Ruggiero for drug-related arrest allegations, evidence that both soldiers had disobeyed his order against narcotics trafficking. Ruggiero’s recorded conversations were key evidence, and Castellano was furious that Ruggiero had mentioned him. Castellano demanded the tapes and transcripts for personal inspection. Ruggiero refused to surrender the tapes and urged his uncle Dellacroce to intervene.
Ruggiero claimed he was merely trying to straighten out his dead brother’s financial affairs and was uninvolved in drugs. It was an unconvincing excuse, and Castellano kept pressing Dellacroce for the tapes. Around that time, Dellacroce began his battle with cancer. While undergoing chemotherapy, he was confined to his home in Staten Island.
On June 8, 1985, FBI agents overheard Dellacroce discussing the issue with Gotti and Ruggiero through a bug planted in his bedroom—ironically made possible by Ruggiero’s own recorded conversations. An irate Dellacroce admitted he had delayed a confrontation over the tapes for months, hoping Castellano would cool off. He told Ruggiero: “I’ve been trying to make you get away with these tapes, but Jesus Christ Almighty, I can’t stop the guy from always bringing it up. ” Dellacroce warned that Ruggiero’s continued disregard for Castellano’s instructions could spark a deadly clash between the Gambino factions.
The tapes never reached Castellano. In 1985, Dellacroce faced charges of racketeering, tax evasion, and participation in the ruling Commission of organized crime. His lawyer entered a plea of not guilty. Dellacroce died of cancer at Mary Immaculate Hospital in Queens.
His death, and Castellano’s failure to appear at Dellacroce’s wake, triggered a chain of events that led to the murder of Paul Castellano and his underboss Tommy Bilotti just two weeks later, orchestrated by Dellacroce’s protégé, John Gotti.