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Overview of the events of 1969 in organized crime
Events
Sicily –
Giuseppe "Pippo" Calo becomes head of the Porta Nuova, Palermo Clan.
Sicilian mafioso and Corleonesi boss
Luciano Leggio tried for his role in a mafia war, sparked by the murder of former boss
Michele Navarra on Leggio's orders. Leggio is acquitted, probably due to witness intimidation.
New York mobster
Wilfred "Willy Boy" Johnson , and childhood friend of
John Gotti , agrees to become an informant for the
FBI after the
Gambino crime family refused to support his wife while in prison.
Fujinomiya, Shizuoka ,
Japan –
Tadamasa Goto formed the
Goto-gumi , a
yakuza organization which later grew to be one of the most powerful affiliates of the
Yamaguchi-gumi .
February 5 –
Thomas Zummo , a lieutenant in the DiGregorio faction of the
Bonanno crime family , is killed.
[1] He is the last victim of the "
Bananas War " of the 1960s.
February 14 –
Vito Genovese dies of a heart attack in a
Springfield, Missouri prison hospital, while serving a 15-year sentence for drug trafficking. Following the death of Genovese, the leadership of the
Genovese crime family falls to
Thomas Eboli (previously run by the "Committee"
Thomas "Tommy Ryan" Eboli ,
Gerardo "Jerry" Catena ,
Michele "Mr. Big" Miranda ,
Philip "Benny Squint" Lombardo ), however it is suspected Eboli may have been placed as a "Front Boss" to draw attention away from another high-ranking member – Philip Lombardo.
July 17 -
Boston
Consigliere and policy racketeer,
Joseph "Big Joe L" Lombardo , dies of natural causes (not to be confused with the
Chicago Outfit 's
Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo ).
[2]
December 10 –
Michele Cavataio and three of his men are killed in the Viale Lazio in
Palermo by a Mafia hit squad including
Bernardo Provenzano ,
Calogero Bagarella (an elder brother of
Leoluca Bagarella the brother-in-law of
Totò Riina ),
Emanuele D’Agostino of
Stefano Bontade ’s Santa Maria di Gesù Family and
Damiano Caruso a soldier of
Giuseppe Di Cristina , the Mafia boss of
Riesi . Cavataio was able to shoot and kill Calogero Bagarella and wounding one of Di Cristina’s men before Provenzano killed him. Provenzano saved the situation with his submachine gun and earned himself a reputation as a Mafia killer with the attack. The
Viale Lazio massacre marked the end of a ‘pax mafiosa’ that had reigned since the
Ciaculli massacre until the end of the
Trial of the 114 .
Arts and literature
Births
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(July 2010 )
Deaths
References
^ "Grab 5, Smash a Mafia Hijack Ring in Queens," by Peter McLaughlin, Sunday (Daily) News , February 23, 1969.
^ "Joseph Lombardo, 72; Named in Senate Probe," Boston Evening Globe , July 17, 1969.
^ "Ex-Gang Lawyer Told of Theft, Dies," Los Angeles Times , December 31, 1969.