On a sweltering summer afternoon in Brooklyn, the convivial atmosphere of a celebratory lunch was shattered by a brutal act of violence that left three men dead, including the owner of the establishment, Giuseppe Turano. It was July 12, 1979, at Joe and Mary's Italian-American Restaurant, a cozy eatery owned by Turano, who was 48 years old. He was hosting a meal on the back patio, shaded by grapevines, for a gathering that included the powerful and feared Mafia boss, Carmine 'The Cigar'
Galante. The occasion was ostensibly to wish Turano well on his upcoming vacation to his native Sicily.
The festive scene turned into a bloodbath when five ski-masked assailants stormed the patio, unleashing a barrage of gunfire from shotguns and semi-automatic rifles. The sudden and overwhelming assault left no chance for escape. Turano, Galante, and Galante's bodyguard, Leonardo Coppola, were killed instantly amidst the chaos of overturned plates of pasta and spilled red wine. Turano's 17-year-old son, John, was also wounded in the attack as he tried to flee the carnage. Giuseppe Turano, who was also a cousin of Galante, was struck by a point-blank shotgun blast to the head and shoulder.
The brazen assassination was not a random act of violence but a meticulously planned mob execution targeting Galante, the de facto boss of the Bonanno crime family. His aggressive and unilateral moves to dominate the city's lucrative heroin trafficking rackets had alienated the other powerful Mafia families, who sanctioned the hit to eliminate a perceived threat to their collective interests. The gunmen were reportedly able to carry out the attack with inside help. Two of Galante's own bodyguards, Caesar Bonventre and Baldassare Amato, who were present at the lunch, were unharmed and mysteriously disappeared immediately after the shooting, leading law enforcement to speculate they were complicit in setting up their boss.
In the aftermath of the gruesome slayings, a sweeping investigation was launched. While several individuals were identified as being involved in the planning and execution of the hit, securing convictions proved challenging. Information from FBI informants suggested the hit team included Dominick 'Sonny Black' Napolitano, Anthony 'Bruno' Indelicato, and Dominick 'Big Trin' Trinchera. Ultimately, of the principal conspirators, only Anthony Indelicato was brought to justice for the murders of Galante, Turano, and Coppola. He was convicted as part of the landmark Mafia Commission Trial and, in 1987, was sentenced to 40 years in prison for his role in the infamous triple homicide. One of the suspected traitors, Caesar Bonventre, was himself found murdered in a New Jersey warehouse in 1984, a move believed to be intended to permanently silence him about the events of that bloody July afternoon.
