Rise To Power
The Commission promoted underboss Phil Testa to Boss of the Philadelphia crime family. Testa promoted Scarfo to consigliere and Peter Casella to underboss. Ironically, being banished to Atlantic City had been a blessing in disguise for Nicky Scarfo. Once a disgraced soldier, he was now a success and had risen to the rank of consigliere in the Philadelphia crime family.
Though being indicted for the murder of Falcone was a sobering event in the lives of Scarfo, Leonetti, and Merlino, the trio was acquitted of the murder.
Testa decided it was time to "open the books." Salvatore Testa, Leonetti, Salvatore "Wayne" Grande, Chuckie and Lawrence Merlino were all made official members of La Cosa Nostra.
The new administration began putting Caponigro's loyalists in line. Felix Bocchino was the first to defect along with Dominic DeVito. Joseph "Chickie" Ciancaglini defected after Testa and Scarfo interrogated him at gunpoint in a garage about his involvement with Caponigro.
Scarfo had plans to kill DeVito. Despite this, their mutual friend Nick Caramandi stood by DeVito and Scarfo wouldn't have DeVito killed out of respect to Caramandi. John Simone and Frank Sindone weren't as lucky. Both met grisly ends at the trigger fingers of hit men sent by Testa and Scarfo.
John McCullough, president of the Philadelphia Roofers Union, Local 30, began infringing on Scarfo's Atlantic City rackets and refused to stop his labor racketeering activities. McCullough was shot to death by a hit man posing as a deliveryman.
On March 15, 1981 Testa was killed by a nail bomb detonated beneath his porch. The murder was intended to look like retaliation by the Provisional Irish Republican Army, with which McCullough had close ties as well as the Roofer's Union as evidenced by usage of roofing nails. The truth was that the killing was in fact done by members of Scarfo's own crime family. Peter Casella had hoped to ascend to Boss by having Testa killed. Frank "Chickie" Narducci was in on the plot as well and Rocco Marinucci was the man who personally detonated the bomb by remote control. They also received backing from the New York families, as Testa had shared Bruno's opposition to opening up Atlantic City.
Read more about this topic: Nicodemo Scarfo
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