Vito Bonventre (January 1, 1875 – July 15, 1930) was a

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

mobster who was a leading member of the

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

gang that would later become the

Bonanno Crime Family The Bonanno crime family (pronounced ) is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, and in the United States, as part of the criminal phenomenon known as the A ...

. He was arrested but then released in 1921 as the leader of a group known as the "Good Killers". Bonventre was murdered in 1930 at the start of a conflict between his gang and a rival gang led by

Joe Masseria Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria (; January 17, 1886April 15, 1931) was an early Italian-American Mafia boss in New York City. He was boss of what is now called the Genovese crime family, one of the New York City Mafia's Five Families, from 1922 t ...

, referred to as the

Castellammarese War The Castellammarese War () was a bloody power struggle for control of the Italian-American Mafia that took place in New York City, New York, from February 1930 until April 15, 1931, between partisans of Joe "The Boss" Masseria and those of Salv ...

Early years

Vito Bonventre was born on January 1, 1875, in the town of

Castellammare del Golfo Castellammare del Golfo (; scn, Casteddammari; la, Emporium Segestanorum or ) is a town and municipality in the Trapani Province of Sicily. The name can be translated as "Sea Fortress on the Gulf", stemming from the medieval fortress in the ha ...

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

. In Castellammare del Golfo, his family was a member of a mafia clan created by an alliance with the Magaddino family in opposition to a mafia clan led by the Buccellato family. He immigrated to the United States just after the beginning of the twentieth century and settled in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. He soon became a member of the local mafia gang led by

Nicolo Schiro Nicolo "Cola" Schiro (born Nicolò Schirò; ; September 2, 1872April 29, 1957) was an early Sicilian-born New York City mobster who, in 1912, became the boss of what later become known as the Bonanno crime family. Schiro's leadership of the gang ...

Leader of "The Good Killers"

Bonventre was arrested on August 16, 1921, in New York City along with

Stefano Magaddino Stefano "The Undertaker" Magaddino (; October 10, 1891 – July 19, 1974) was an Italian-born crime boss of the Buffalo crime family in western New York. His underworld influence stretched from Ohio to Southern Ontario and as far east as Montreal ...

, Francesco Puma, Giuseppe Lombardi, Mariano Galante, and Bartolomeo DiGregorio for the murder of Camillo Caiozzo in

Neptune Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun and the farthest known planet in the Solar System. It is the fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 times ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, a couple of weeks earlier. Bonventre and the others were arrested following the confession of Bartolo Fontana. Fontana identified the men as members of the "Good Killers", a group of mafioso from

with Bonventre as their leader. Fontana claimed they ordered him to kill Caiozzo in retaliation for the 1916 murder of Magaddino's brother, Pietro, in Sicily. He also said that the "Good Killers" were responsible for at least sixteen other murders. Some of the victims he named were connected to the rival Buccellato family in Castellammere del Golfo. These included three Buccellato brothers living in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

: Salvatore, Felice, and Joseph killed in 1917-19 and their cousin, Pietro Buccellato killed in 1917. The government's case against the "Good Killers" collapsed with only Fontana's testimony against them. Fontana went to prison for Caiozzo's murder and the others were released. Magaddino was unnerved by his close call and fled the city, eventually becoming the local

mafia boss A crime boss, also known as a crime lord, Don, gang lord, gang boss, mob boss, kingpin, godfather, crime mentor or criminal mastermind, is a person in charge of a criminal organization. Description A crime boss typically has absolute or nearl ...

in Buffalo. Bonventre remained in New York as a leading member of the Schiro gang. With the onset of Prohibition, Bonventre became involved in extensive bootlegging activities.

Death

During the early months of the

, Bonventre became a target as Castellammarese-born members of Schiro's gang began to threaten rival boss

's domination over mafia gangs. Masseria forced Schiro to pay him $10,000 and step down as boss of the gang. Afterwards on July 15, 1930, Bonventre was gunned down outside his garage. Bonventre is buried in Calvary Cemetery in

Woodside, Queens Woodside is a residential and commercial neighborhood in the western portion of the borough of Queens in New York City. It is bordered on the south by Maspeth, on the north by Astoria, on the west by Sunnyside, and on the east by Elmhurst, J ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bonventre, Vito 1875 births 1930 deaths

Vito Vito is an Italian name that is derived from the Latin word "''vita''", meaning "life". It is a modern form of the Latin name Vitus (disambiguation), Vitus, meaning "life-giver," as in San Vito or Saint Vitus, the patron saint of dogs and a her ...

People from Castellammare del Golfo Murdered American gangsters of Sicilian descent Gangsters killed during the Castellammarese War Prohibition-era gangsters Burials at Calvary Cemetery (Queens) Deaths by firearm in Brooklyn People murdered in New York City Male murder victims People from Williamsburg, Brooklyn