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

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mobster who was a leading member of the

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gang that would later become the Bonanno Crime Family. 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, 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 Sa ...

Early years

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

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 ga ...

Leader of "The Good Killers"

Bonventre was arrested on August 16, 1921, in New York City along with Stefano Magaddino, Francesco Puma, Giuseppe Lombardi, Mariano Galante, and Bartolomeo DiGregorio for the murder of Camillo Caiozzo in Neptune,

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 Delawa ...

, 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 Castellammare del Golfo 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

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: 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 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 Joe Masseria'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.

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, meaning "life-giver," as in San Vito or Saint Vitus, the patron saint of dogs and a heroic figure in southern ...

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