Anthony "Tony" Capo (1959/60 – January 23, 2012)
was an American hitman in the
DeCavalcante crime family
The DeCavalcante crime family, also known as the North Jersey Mafia, is an Italian-American Mafia organized crime family that operates mainly in northern New Jersey, particularly in Elizabeth, Newark, West New York, and various other North Jersey ...
who later became a
government witness
In law, a witness is someone who has knowledge about a matter, whether they have sensed it or are testifying on another witnesses' behalf. In law a witness is someone who, either voluntarily or under compulsion, provides testimonial evidence, e ...
and entered the
Witness Protection Program
Witness protection is security provided to a threatened person providing testimonial evidence to the justice system, including defendants and other clients, before, during, and after a trial, usually by police. While a witness may only require p ...
. His aliases included Marshall Beach, Mathew Beach and Wade Beach.
Early life
A resident of
South Beach, Staten Island
South Beach is a neighborhood on the East Shore of Staten Island, New York City, situated directly south of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. South Beach is bounded by New York Bay on the southeast, Seaview Avenue on the southwest, Laconia Avenue ...
, Capo became an associate of the
DeCavalcante crime family
The DeCavalcante crime family, also known as the North Jersey Mafia, is an Italian-American Mafia organized crime family that operates mainly in northern New Jersey, particularly in Elizabeth, Newark, West New York, and various other North Jersey ...
during the early 1980s under powerful
faction leader
Giovanni Riggi
Giovanni "John the Eagle" Riggi (February 1, 1925 – August 3, 2015) was a New Jersey mobster and member of the DeCavalcante crime family since the 1940s, before the family had acquired its name. Riggi was the leader of the "Elizabeth crew" in t ...
. Capo was involved in
extortion
Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...
and
loansharking
A loan shark is a person who offers loans at extremely high interest rates, has strict terms of collection upon failure, and generally operates outside the law.
Description
Because loan sharks operate mostly illegally, they cannot reasonably ...
activities. He was married with three children.
["Made men: the true rise-and-fall story of a New Jersey mob family"](_blank)
By Greg B. Smith (Google Books) page 160
In the 1980s, Capo attended school to become a certified
Asbestos abatement worker. However, Capo later testified that he slept during class and allowed the school's operator to take the test for him. When questioned by a federal prosecutor about his knowledge of
asbestos
Asbestos () is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fibre being composed of many microscopic "fibrils" that can be released into the atmosphere b ...
removal, Capo replied, "I wouldn't know asbestos if I was sitting on it."
[Mob Boss 'Hit' Over Gay Encounters](_blank)
by Jaime Holguin CBS News February 11, 2009 Sometime in the late 1980s, law enforcement listed Capo as a soldier in the DeCavalcante family.
Weiss murder
In 1989, Capo participated in the murder of Fred Weiss, a
Staten Island, New York
Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull and ...
developer and
newspaper publisher
Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...
. Weiss was under federal investigation for illegal dumping of
medical waste and Gambino boss
John Gotti was afraid that Weiss might become a government witness. As a favor to Gotti, the DeCavalcantes agreed to murder Weiss.
On September 11, 1989, Capo drove DeCavalcante mobsters
Vincent Palermo
Vincent "Vinny Ocean" Palermo (born June 4, 1944) is an Italian American former mobster who was ''de facto'' boss of the New Jersey DeCavalcante crime family before becoming a government witness in 1999. Fictional mob boss Tony Soprano, the protago ...
and James Gallo to Weiss' apartment. Palermo and Gallo shot Weiss in the face as he was entering his car.
["Hit man's confessions Mob turncoat tells court of his blood-soaked life"](_blank)
by Greg B. Smith, ''New York Daily News'', July 26, 2002 Palermo and Gallo then re-entered Capo's car, and Capo drove them away from the murder scene.
Criminal activities
By 1990, Capo was working for
John D'Amato
John "Johnny Boy" D'Amato (died January 1992) was a New Jersey mobster and former acting boss of the DeCavalcante crime family. After being recruited by Gambino crime family boss John Gotti to take over the family, he was suspected of engaging ...
and reputed capo
Anthony Rotondo
Anthony Rotondo (born 1957) is a former capo in the DeCavalcante family of New Jersey and police informant.
Early life
Anthony Rotondo lived with his father Vincent "Jimmy the Gent" Rotondo, and his father expressed wishes for his son to beco ...
of the New York faction in labor racketeering,
illegal gambling
Gaming law is the set of rules and regulations that apply to the gaming or gambling industry. Gaming law is not a branch of law in the traditional sense but rather is a collection of several areas of law that include criminal law, regulatory law, ...
, extortion and loansharking activities.
["Mobster Killed For Being Gay"](_blank)
BY GREG B. SMITH New York Daily News June 15, 2001 Capo also ran a DeCavalcante crew in New York City. Between 1986 and 1994. Capo also worked with reputed
Gambino crime family mobster
Joseph Watts
Joseph Watts (born 1942) also known as "The German" is an associate of the Gambino crime family. He was a close confidant of former boss John Gotti and participated in the infamous 1985 assassination of Paul Castellano, Paul "Big Paul" Castellano. ...
in a loansharking racket that allegedly grossed more than $12 million.
After Riggi was indicted in 1990 for labor
racketeering and
extortion
Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...
, he appointed
Gaetano "Corky" Vastola as the new acting boss. Later in 1990, Riggi was convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison. However, that same year, Vastola went to federal prison on a 20-year sentence on extortion charges. Riggi replaced Vastola with D'Amato as acting boss.
D'Amato murder
In January 1992, Capo participated in the murder of acting boss D'Amato. Earlier in 1991, D'Amato's girlfriend, retaliating against D'Amato over an argument, told Rotondo that D'Amato was an active
bisexual
Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...
. She described
swinging encounters that D'Amato had in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
sex clubs with both women and men. Rotondo shared this information with underboss
Giacomo Amari
Gioacchino "Jake" Amari (March 14, 1945 – June 14, 1997) was an Italian-American mobster who served as acting underboss and later acting boss of the DeCavalcante crime family of New Jersey.
Criminal career
According to the testimony provid ...
, and
consigliere
Consigliere ( , ; plural ) is a position within the leadership structure of the Sicilian, Calabrian, and Italian-American Mafia. The word was popularized in English by the novel '' The Godfather'' (1969) and its film adaptation. In the novel, a ...
Stefano Vitabile. As Capo himself described it in court testimony in 2003,
"Nobody's going to respect us if we have a gay homosexual boss sitting down discussing La Cosa Nostra business."
In addition, many family members believed that D'Amato was controlled by Gambino boss
John Gotti. The three men ordered D'Amato's execution and gave the job to Capo, Vincent Palermo, and James Gallo. In contravention of
Cosa Nostra
The Sicilian Mafia, also simply known as the Mafia and frequently referred to as Cosa nostra (, ; "our thing") by its members, is an Italian Mafia-terrorist-type organized crime syndicate and criminal society originating in the region of Sicily ...
rules on the killing of a family boss, the plotters did not ask permission to kill D'Amato from the
Mafia Commission in New York.
On the day of the attack, D'Amato, Capo and the other two hitmen entered D'Amato's car to drive to lunch. Sitting in the back seat, Capo shot D'Amato four times, killing him.
Capo and Rotundo left the body at a safe house, where other mobsters disposed of it. D'Amato's body was never recovered. Informed in prison of D'Amato's execution, Riggi appointed Amari as the new acting boss.
Majuri murder conspiracy
After Amari's death in 1997, Riggi and Vitabile established a "Ruling Panel" to run the family. This panel included
capos Vincent Palermo, Girolamo Palermo (no relation) and
Newark
Newark most commonly refers to:
* Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States
* Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area
Newark may also refer to:
Places Canada
* Niagara-on-the ...
faction leader
Charles Majuri. However, Majuri wanted to control the family himself, and he asked Gallo to murder Vincent Palermo. Instead, Gallo told Vincent about the plot. Vincent now decided to murder Majuri and enlisted Capo and Gallo in the plot. On the day of the attack, Capo, Gallo, and DeCavalcante mobster
Joseph Masella
Joseph "Joey O" Masella (1948 in Brooklyn, New York– October 10, 1998, in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn) was a mob associate in New Jersey's DeCavalcante crime family and a friend of known mobster Vincent "Vinny Ocean" Palermo.
Biography
Commonly ...
went to Majuri's house to ambush him. However, Majuri did not return home. After several hours, the hitmen drove away. After the failed murder attempt, Vincent Palermo decided to cancel the murder contract.
During the mid-1990s, Capo stabbed a Gambino associate named Remy in the eye at a Staten Island bar. Capo was flirting with a girl there when Remy interrupted their conversation. Capo objected and Remy cursed at him. Capo then stabbed Remy in the eye and the face. When describing this incident in court in 2003, Capo said he thought Remy had a gun and described him as a "violent individual".
Indictments
In December 1999, Capo and the DeCavalcante leadership were indicted on charges of labor racketeering, extortion, loansharking, murder, and conspiracy to commit murder. Prosecutors charged Capo with the 1989 Weiss murder, the 1992 D'Amato murder, and involvement in two other murders.
To avoid a life sentence for murder, Capo became a government witness. He later testified against the DeCavalcante family,
Colombo crime family
The Colombo crime family (, ) is an Italian American Mafia crime family and is the youngest of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City within the criminal organization known as the American Mafia. It was du ...
boss
Joel Cacace
Joel Cacace Sr. (born April 9, 1941), also known as Joe Waverly, is an American mobster and former consigliere of the Colombo crime family in New York City. He was convicted of murder in 2004 and was released from prison in 2020.
Early life
Cacace ...
, and
Genovese crime family
The Genovese crime family, () also sometimes referred to as the Westside, is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City and New Jersey as part of the American M ...
capo
Federico Giovanelli. Capo also warned prosecutors that a
stenographer working in the Manhattan office of the U.S. Attorney was passing sensitive information, including lists of suspects, to Giovanelli.
"Stenographer Investigated in Leaks to the Mob"
by Kevin Flynn, ''New York Times'', June 26, 2001
Death
Anthony Capo died after a heart attack on January 23, 2012, aged 52. He and his family were in the federal Witness Protection Program
Witness protection is security provided to a threatened person providing testimonial evidence to the justice system, including defendants and other clients, before, during, and after a trial, usually by police. While a witness may only require p ...
.
References
External links
The Star-Ledger: Mob Story - How a crime family turned dysfunctional
by Robert Rudolph
{{DEFAULTSORT:Capo, Anthony
2012 deaths
American gangsters of Italian descent
DeCavalcante crime family
Mafia hitmen
People who entered the United States Federal Witness Protection Program
Criminals from Staten Island
Place of death missing
Year of birth uncertain
Federal Bureau of Investigation informants