Mobster was losing grip, say police

Press, 19 December 1985, Page 8

Mobster was losing grip, say police

NZPA-Reuter New York Paul Castellano, head of the American Mafia, was killed because fellow mobsters believed he was losing control of the most powerful crime family in the United States, law enforcement officials believe.

“He was just not functioning,” said John Hogan, head of the F.8.1.’s New York office. “He was just not strong enough to handle the day-to-day business of his group.”

Castellano, aged 73, and his right-hand man, Thomas Bilotti, aged 47, were shot dead on Tuesday as they got out of the Mafia chiefs limousine in' mid-town Manhattan. The killers were three men in trench coats who pulled out semi-automatic pistols and shot each man, six times killing both instantly. For the last two months, Castellano, head of the Gambino crime family, had been on trial on charges of running an international car-theft ring. He had also been indicted in two related racketeering cases in what authorities called a big strike against organised crime.

Mr Hogan said that Castellano had become “a liability due to his legal problems and his being in court every day”.

James Harmon, head of Ronald Reagan’s Organised Crime Commission, said that Castellano and Bilotti had also angered mob chieftains by talking too much on

Federal wiretaps. “They provided much information to law enforcement when their conversations were bugged by the F. 8.1.,” he said. One of those wiretaps was in Castellano’s own mansion — built to resemble the White House — on Staten Island.

Crime experts believe that the stage was set for Castellano’s killing when Aniello Dellacroce, the underboss of the Gambino family, died of cancer on December 2. Dellacroce and Castellano had their own factions in the crime family, but the underboss managed to keep everyone in line. When Dellacroce died, his protege, John Gotti, wanted to become the second-in-command. But Castellano wanted Bilotti to have the. post, thus creating a conflict, officials said. Despite the factions in the Gambino family, said Castellano’s lawyer, James Laßossa, the Mafia chief had never spoken of having enemies or expressed fear of being killed. “He never expressed any concern like that,” Mr Laßossa said.

During the car-theft trial, he said, “we would walk to lunch every day. We would walk down the street together.” Castellano did not carry a gun or wear a bullet-proof vest, he said. “He was a 70-year-old man who was starting to show signs of age.”