Sam “Moe” Giancana
Posted on 01. Oct, 2011 by Joseph Fosco in History, Organized Crime
Author’s note:
My prerogative in authoring this article is to share my personal perspective about Moe, mainly because I do not want to repeat voluminous facts that have been stated countless times over the last 50-years in the public domain by informants, FBI agents, authors and various media personnel. If you are interested in this article, you probably already know a great deal about Sam “Moe” Giancana. If not, checkout Moe’s Wikipedia page before you read my article.
When I hear the word gangster, one man comes to mind before anyone else: Sam “Moe” Giancana.
Sam Giancana, also known as Momo, Mooney and The Cigar, was a larger than life figure. In my opinion, Moe could not be duplicated in the next millennium. He was a person that should be studied by students in school. Al Capone, Anthony “Joe B” Accardo and Joey Aiuppa (I leave out Paul Ricca, because he was in a league of his own, and Jackie Cerone, because he is not worth mentioning a whole lot) combined could not fill one of Moe’s shoes. Moe’s absence from organized crime, in my opinion, brought about the beginning of the downfall of the old Chicago Outfit.
No gangster in world history ever came close to matching the amazingly numerous elements of Giancana. His styles made being a gangster seem fashionable. Moe set the example for every ‘made’ member of the Chicago Outfit as far as attitude and mannerisms. His Hollywood-like fashions and constant supply of gorgeous women made him the envy of wise guys the country over. Of course, not every ‘made’ man could be exactly like Moe; rubbing elbows with celebrities and having love affairs with international divas was strictly Moe’s thing.
I was a young child when Moe was gunned down, so I did not know him. However, I knew some gangsters that did know him well. They often referred to him as Moe, a name that is not typically used by people who did not personally know Giancana. As usual, the traditional sources, like the FBI, missed out on what Moe’s friends really called him. In this article I use the name Moe not because he was my friend, but because it is the name I have always heard him called.
On a moral level, I wholeheartedly disagree with the assassination of Moe, but from an Outfit observer’s standpoint, I could understand why the murder was necessary to the then current Outfit leaders. In many ways, Moe was a huge threat to the heads of the Outfit’s then current executive board. At the time of Moe’s demise, he was no longer the boss of the Outfit. As former boss, Moe was required to respect and obey the current bosses.
This, however, was not the case.
Moe had less than an adequate amount of respect for the Aiuppa/Cerone faction. While Moe had long ties with Aiuppa, stemming from their early days under Lou “Lefty” Campagna, Sam made it clear that he was not about to jump every time Aiuppa ordered him to. Moe would not even acknowledge that Cerone was a human being, let alone underboss of the Outfit.
Above and beyond the lack of respect, Moe had exclusive control of various business enterprises throughout the country and other parts of the world that the Outfit desperately wanted for their own. Despite the fact that Moe had lost three of his most valuable contacts, Sam Battaglia, Fiore Buccieri and Willie Daddono, he still had a number of killers who were more loyal to him than the Outfit.
The Aiuppa/Cerone faction could obviously not allow a man with such power and a willingness to undermine their authority to exist. It has been widely speculated that the CIA knocked him down. The CIA might have been happy to see him go, perhaps silently endorsed his demise for their own reasons, but according to inside information that I have acquired via my numerous contacts with various ‘made’ gangsters spanning over most of my adult life, I know that the Aiuppa/Cerone Outfit faction murdered him.
Although Outfit boss Joey Aiuppa’s faction, lead by James “Turk” Torello, actually masterminded the entire assassination plot, Cerone had a few of his choice killers assigned to the job. The night Moe was slated to die a restless Jack Cerone was driving around the proximity of Moe’s house. He was trying to stay clear of where the FBI agents, men tasked to keep tabs on Moe, were often parked, while still making sure that his guys were in place. Among Cerone’s men would be Lee Magnafichi and Johnny DiFronzo.
The whole plan, however, hinged on one man: Dominic “Butch” Blasi. A long-time friend of Moe’s, The Aiuppa/Cerone faction was depending on him to get easy access to Moe’s home.
That friendship made the assassination of Moe possible. Joe B was highly instrumental in persuading Blasi to maintain his loyalty to the Outfit by working against his lifelong friend. Blasi’s loyalties to the Outfit were stronger than his loyalties to his close friend, which is how a gangster is supposed to serve the Outfit.
So when Blasi came knocking on the evening of June 19th, 1975, Moe let him in and sealed his fate.
Turk and DiFronzo waited alongside Moe’s house like a couple of rodents in the night, lurking in the shadows. As soon as the first opportunity presented itself, Blasi shot Moe in the back of the head with the infamous handgun that has been written about in hundreds of articles over the years. After firing one single shot, Moe was murdered. Blasi immediately left the home. Upon exiting the house, Turk and DiFronzo quickly greeted him. Turk took Blasi’s gun and all three re-entered the home to make sure the job was done. After approaching the body, Turk fired additional bullets into Moe’s face from the same gun that took Moe’s life a couple of minutes earlier. DiFronzo was simply there to serve Turk as backup and as a reporter to his boss, Cerone, who was eager to receive a detailed description of the fatal night.
Probably one of the many reasons I am not a gangster is because of my inability to betray a friend as Blasi did. If I were in Blasi’s shoes, I would have told my friend that he would be murdered. While some of my most dedicated readers might be thinking about my recent confession in the comment threads of American News Post about betraying Michael Magnafichi by prematurely publishing our interview without his permission. In my defense, I would point out the obvious; there is a huge difference between my leaking a conversation with Michael and Blasi’s brutal murder of his friend, Moe.
For those of you wondering what role the others (Magnafichi and the others in Turk’s crew) played in Moe’s demise, I am unclear as to what exactly each one did. I do know that someone was stationed near where the FBI car would be parked that served as the government’s surveillance mechanism on Moe’s home, keeping an eye on the status of it so the Outfit hit squad would be aware of the agents whereabouts during the crucial timeframe. Each group of men assigned to the assassination detail had two-way radios, in order to send coded warnings signals if anything odd had occurred. Unfortunately, I am unable to share details on the efforts of some of the others assigned on the hit, as it was my primary focus when investigating this story to learn who pulled the trigger and why. I do know that Magnafichi was very close to being selected as the secondary shooter (the role ultimately given to Turk), which would have made him the man who shot the final bullets in the face of the dead former overlord of the Chicago Outfit.
I will defer in sharing my information about Moe’s involvement with the JFK assassination and the State of Texas until the release of my book, which should be finished roughly one year from now. In the meantime, I invite my readers to hold discussions on Moe in the comment thread below. I look forward to the good conversation that I predict will be a perfect complement to the rather modest article above. Thank you.
-
Black Angelo
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
HF
-
The Don
-
Black Angelo
-
The Don
-
The Don
-
HF
-
HF
-
HF
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
Dom
-
The Don
-
HF
-
The Don
-
The Don
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
The Don
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
Letemrde
-
The Don
-
Dom
-
The Don
-
The Don
-
HF
-
HF
-
HF
-
The Don
-
The Don
-
Black Angelo
-
The Don
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
Black Angelo
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
The Don
-
Black Angelo
-
The Don
-
The Don
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
The Don
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
The Don
-
HF
-
HF
-
HF
-
HF
-
The Don
-
Black Angelo
-
Logic
-
Father Guido
-
Special Quest Explorer
-
Father Guido
-
HF
-
The Don
-
Dom
-
Black Angelo
-
Dom
-
Dom
-
Letemrde
-
Letemrde
-
Black Angelo
-
The Don
-
HF
-
HF
-
HF
-
HF
-
The Don
-
HF
-
HF
-
Dom
-
HF
-
HF
-
Dom
-
The Don
-
The Don
-
Black Angelo
-
Dom
-
HF
-
Thje Don
-
HF
-
Black Angelo
-
HF
-
The Don
-
Special Quest Explorer
-
HF
-
Special Quest Explorer
-
Horsey F@rt
-
Horsey F@rt
-
Black Angelo
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
Black Angelo
-
Horsey F@rt
-
The Don
-
The Don
-
Special Quest Explorer
-
The Don
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
Special Quest Explorer
-
The Don
-
The Don
-
Black Angelo
-
The Don
-
The Don
-
Black Angelo
-
The Don
-
Logic
-
Logic
-
Horsey F@rt
-
Horsey F@rt
-
Father Guido
-
Teets
-
The Don
-
Black Angelo
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
Black Angelo
-
Logic
-
Logic
-
The Don
-
The Don
-
The Don
-
Chitowndago
-
Dom
-
HF
-
The Don
-
Chitowndago
-
Chitowndago
-
The Don
-
The Don
-
Black Angelo
-
The Don
-
The Don
-
Chitowndago
-
Chitowndago
-
Letemrde
-
Letemrde
-
Anonymous
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
The Don
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
The Don
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
The Don
-
Anonymous
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
Chitowndago
-
Chitowndago
-
Chitowndago
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
Chitowndago
-
Chitowndago
-
Chitowndago
-
Chitowndago
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
The Don
-
The Don
-
Special Quest Explorer
-
HF
-
Anonymous
-
Teets
-
The Don
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
Special Quest Explorer
-
Tony
-
Kkanz
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
Kkanz
-
The Don
-
Special Quest Explorer
-
Special Quest Explorer
-
Special Quest Explorer
-
Horsey F@rt
-
The Don
-
Letemrde
-
Father Guido
-
Horsey F@rt
-
Horsey F@rt
-
Black Angelo
-
The Don
-
The Don
-
The Don
-
Black Angelo
-
The Don
-
Black Angelo
-
The Don
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
Horsey F@rt
-
Horsey F@rt
-
Horsey F@rt
-
Black Angelo
-
Black Angelo
-
Anonymous
-
Anonymous
-
Horsey F@rt
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
Special Quest Forum
-
Special Quest Forum
-
Special Quest Forum
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
The Don
-
The Don
-
Special Quest Forum
-
The Don
-
The Don
-
The Don
-
The Don
-
Special Quest Forum
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
The Don
-
The Don
-
The Don
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
Anonymous
-
Horsey F@rt
-
Anonymous
-
Dom
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
Black Angelo
-
Horsey F@rt
-
Black Angelo
-
The Don
-
The Don
-
Anonymous
-
Anonymous
-
The Don
-
Black Angelo
-
Horsey F@rt
-
Horsey F@rt
-
Horsey F@rt
-
The Don
-
The Don
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
Special Quest Explorer
-
The Don
-
Special Quest Explorer
-
Special Quest Explorer
-
Special Quest Explorer
-
Horsey F@rt
-
Special Quest Explorer
-
Special Quest Explorer
-
Thread Police
-
Special Quest Explorer
-
The Don
-
The Don
-
Special Quest Explorer
-
Kkanz
-
The Don
-
Special Quest Explorer
-
Chitowndago
-
Special Quest Explorer
-
Special Quest Explorer
-
Chitowndago
-
Chitowndago
-
Special Quest Explorer
-
Special Quest Explorer
-
Special Quest Explorer
-
Special Quest Explorer
-
Special Quest Explorer
-
Black Angelo
-
The Don
-
The Don
-
Special Quest Explorer
-
Special Quest Explorer
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
The Don
-
Kkanz
-
Father Guido
-
Special Quest Forum
-
Black Angelo
-
Black Angelo
-
Black Angelo
-
The Don
-
Macho
-
The Don
-
Father Guido
-
Father Guido
-
Thread Police
-
The Don
-
Horsey F@rt
-
Horsey F@rt
-
Black Angelo
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
Kkanz
-
The Don
-
The Don
-
The Don
-
Black Angelo
-
The Don
-
The Don
-
Black Angelo
-
Black Angelo
-
The Don
-
The Don
-
Black Angelo
-
The Don
-
Horsey F@rt
-
Horsey F@rt
-
Horsey F@rt
-
Special Quest Explorer
-
Special Quest Explorer
-
Special Quest Explorer
-
Special Quest Explorer
-
Black Angelo
-
Father Guido
-
The Barzone
-
Black Angelo
-
Horsey F@rt
-
Horsey F@rt
-
Kkanz
-
The Barzone
-
Black Angelo
-
Black Angelo
-
The barzone
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
The Barzone
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
Tony
-
The Don
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
The Don
-
H.F.
-
H.F.
-
The Don
-
The Don
-
H.F.
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
H.F.
-
H.F.
-
H.F.
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
H.F.
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
H.F.
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
The Don
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
Black Angelo
-
Black Angelo
-
Black Angelo
-
The Don
-
The Don
-
The Don
-
Logic
-
Black Angelo
-
The Don
-
Chitowndago
-
The Don
-
Black Angelo
-
H.F.
-
H.F.
-
H.F.
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
The Don
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
The Don
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
The Don
-
The Don
-
Black Angelo
-
The Don
-
H.F.
-
H.F.
-
H.F.
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
H.F.
-
Logic
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
The Don
-
Don Quichotte
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
Father Guido
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
The Don
-
H.F.
-
H.F.
-
H.F.
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
Rick
-
Chitowndago
-
chitowndago
-
ugotz472
-
Horsey F@rt
-
Father Guido
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
The Don
-
The Don
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
Yesterdaylv
-
The Don
-
The Don
-
Black Angelo
-
H.F.
-
H.F.
-
Black Angelo
-
Chitowndago
-
Guest
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
H.F.
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
H.F.
-
Black Angelo
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
The Don
-
The Don
-
The Don
-
The Don
-
Black Angelo
-
Black Angelo
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
Black Angelo
-
The Don
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
Black Angelo
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
The Don
-
The Don
-
Black Angelo
-
Black Angelo
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
the Don
-
The Don
-
The Don
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
Black Angelo
-
Black Angelo
-
The Don
-
The Don
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
The Don
-
The Don
-
Don Quichotte
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
The Don
-
Don Quichotte
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
Black Angelo
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
The Don
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
Dom
-
The Don
-
Black Angelo
-
The Don
-
Black Angelo
-
The Don
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
tsz
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
The Don
-
The Don
-
Ringwalk
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
The Don
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
The Don
-
Black Angelo
-
Black Angelo
-
The Don
-
Black Angelo
-
Chitowndago
-
chitowndago
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
chitowndago
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
chitowndago
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
Black Angelo
-
Chitowndago
-
Black Angelo
-
Chitowndago
-
Black Angelo
-
Black Angelo
-
Chitowndago
-
Chitowndago
-
Chitowndago
-
Chitowndago
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
Black Angelo
-
The Don
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
Chitowndago
-
chitowndago
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
Black Angelo
-
The Don
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
The Don
-
The Don
-
The Don
-
Horsey F@rt
-
Horsey F@rt
-
Horsey F@rt
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
Horsey F@rt
-
Ringwalk
-
Father Guido
-
Horsey F@rt
-
Chitowndago
-
Chitowndago
-
Don Quichotte
-
Black Angelo
-
Black Angelo
-
Ringwalk
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
The Don
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
Chitowndago
-
Chitowndago
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
Chitowndago
-
The Don
-
Don Quichotte
-
Letemrde
-
Ringwalk
-
The Don
-
Black Angelo
-
Ringwalk
-
The Don
-
Don Quichotte
-
The Don
-
Don Quichotte
-
The Don
-
http://www.americannewspost.com Joseph Fosco
-
Chitowndago
-
Horsey F@rt
-
Ron James Tortorella


Stumble Upon
Del.icio.us
Buzz
