Salvatore Testa - Tension With Scarfo

Tension With Scarfo

In April 1984, he was featured on the front page of the The Wall Street Journal in an article by journalist James Bovard that described him as the "fastest rising star" in the Scarfo organization. Scarfo was jealous and worried that Testa was becoming too powerful within the family. Additionally, Testa's breaking off of his engagement to Maria insulted Salvatore Merlino. After the end of internal conflict with Riccobene, Scarfo decided that he could afford to eliminate Testa. Thomas DelGiorno, Charles Iannece and Francis Ianarella went to Testa's ex-father-in-law, underboss Salvatore Merlino and Nicky Scarfo started to spread rumours that Testa was going to start his own gang and also that he was starting to take drugs.

During a benefit dinner for a local charity at Palumbo's Restaurant in South Philadelphia in April, around the same time the Wall Street Journal did their article on Testa's rising success. Nicky Scarfo took a table for himself and his top associates but when Testa arrived, he was told to sit elsewhere. Following the charity event, Testa was also not invited to a trip to Puerto Rico.

Nicholas Carramandi said, "Salvie was very cautious. He just felt bad vibes. Every time you shook his hand, he'd bring you in close with his right hand and just pat you down with his left hand from behind to see if you were carrying a gun… He was the type of guy who, if he knew for sure, would have sought retribution from Salvatore Merlino or Nicodermo Scarfo and try to kill them. This kid would have gone down in a blaze of glory." Nicholas Caramandi said that the only way Salvatore could have saved himself at that point was to take off and disappear. But that, apparently wasn't in the kid's makeup. Me and Charlie used to talk about it. We don't know why this fuckin' guy don't take off. We woulda loved to have told him, but we couldn't tell him... 'He was the type of guy who, if he knew for sure, woulda went after Chuckie (Salvatore C. Merlino) or Nicky (Nicky Scarfo Sr.) and tried to kill them. This kid woulda went down in a blaze of glory (Forced suicide). But he wasn't sure. He was aware. He was alert. But he wasn't sure."