Its just been being reported now. Vincent Gigante, leader of the Genovese Family, died in prison. He was 77.

Well Don Pappo, I guess that answers your question : Does Vincent "The Chin" Gigante have eternal life?

Guess not.

I wonder if he was wearing his robe and pea cap.


Don Cardi

Vincent "The Chin" Gigante

Vincent Gigante was born in New York City on March 29, 1928. He grew up in Greenwich Village, which is part of Lower Manhattan. He started what looked to be a promising legitimate life, attending a specialized textile high school, but quit to work on a number of different jobs.

In 1946, Vincent began his short boxing career. Out of 24 fights, Vincent won 23, but he decided to quit anyways after a number of fights that didn't go so well. This was when he began a life of crime.

Vincent married a woman named Olympia Grippa in 1950 and fathered 5 children. On the side, he fathered 3 children with a mistress named Olympia Esposito.

Vincent was given his first big opportunity by Tommy Eboli to do a hit on the Genovese boss Frank Costello. Vincent really botched the hit badly, despite hours of target practice in his basement. Vincent found Costello in a hotel lobby and shot him in the head, but Costello's head was only grazed by the shot and survived. Despite survivng the hit, Costello stepped down from the position of Boss anyways.

Gigante never wanted his named mentioned by his associates during meetings or sitdowns, out of fear of it being picked up on wiretaps or tapes. So whenever his name had to be used by an associate, they would point to thier "chin" to symbolize that they were talking about Gigante.

By 1970 Vincent had reached status of capo and by 1980, he was serving as consiglieri to Tony Salerno. In 1981, the family boss, Salerno, had a stroke and was hospitalized. The family decided to appoint Vincent as the boss and Vincent proudly accepted the position.

Vincent employed an excellent strategy for escaping the law - acting insane. He did this by wandering through the streets in his bathrobe, mumbling to himself, grinning, and talking to thin air. His acting was so convincing that he evaded numerous charges. He beat a bribery charge by having psychiatrists tell the court that he was a paranoid schizophrenic and suffered from hallucinations. Eventually the charges were dropped altogether. To help the insanity act, he checked himself into St. Vincent's Psychiatric Hospital 22 times over 20 years.

The FBI was unable to convict Vincent until 1997 for 41 racketeering and conspiracy charges. He was put in jail until 2010 (a few years were added recently on charges of obstructing justice). Once in jail, he slowly dropped the act until it became known that it was all just feigned.

The Chin died on December 19, 2005


Don Cardi

Is there more known. On what he died? A link?

It is being reported that he died of Heart Disease.


Don Cardi

That came unexpected.
I thought he would have come out of prison alive.
Who will replace him as official boss?

I just heard this on the radio. I thought that it was absolutely hilarious that, because of his insanity act, the radio report referred to him as "The Oddfather".

Danm it!!! I thought he would be released in a few years!

God Bless you, Chin!

I dunno if God wants to bless him...

Yeah I saw this while I was at work I was shocked but then I saw that he was 77 so in a way it's to be expected.

There is speculation that either Mario Gigante, the Chin's brother, or Tino Fiumara, his capo, will take over the reigns of the family.


Don Cardi

Mario Gigante, Tino Fiumara, Dominick Cirillo, who is gonna be the official boss now? Do they want to decide in this moment? Is there a funeral for the Chin right now?

The Chin´s death is not fair! His mother died just a couple of years ago at 98 almost 100! Carlo Gambino died at 74 and he looked very older than he really was, The Chin looked(I said that many times)very much younger than he was, and very healthy, I could not believe he could die right now, was he poisoned? :rolleyes: Well, it was a joke(or not, you never know).Well, I expected him to be released and die in freedom.I wonder if he is making unfinished businesses with John Gotti and Frank Costello.

Well, SC, I guess you won´t receive a reply of the Chin about your 2 questions. How he could miss Costello and if he was really crazy or acting.
Today I was watching CNN but I never catched the news about it. I was shocked about it.

Well Willy, forget about the post of the eternal life
Where do the Gangsters go when they die?

No it's not. How can this happen to such a man who spent his whole life being fair to everyone else? :rolleyes:


Don Cardi

No it's not. How can this happen to such a man who spent his whole life being fair to everyone else? :rolleyes:


Don Cardi [/QB][/QUOTE]

Hehehehe Sure!

By the way, there is not very much info about his funeral...

Thanks to you.

You put the evil eye on him with your thread about him living forever.

This is a little tribute to The Chin.

"Gees, I´m sorry to hear that"

"Whatever was said if it was said I didn´t authorize it"

"God is my lawyer"

It's by invitation only. I told you to write him when he was in prison! If you had written him, then you probably would have gotten an invite to his funeral.


Don Cardi

Juventus , there are some interesting links for you.
http://www.wnbc.com/news/5577860/detail.html (this is the best, this has a video, I enjoyed it! You will!!!)

http://story.kansascitypost.com/p.x/ct/9/id/d02af839717e97f2/cid/3de26857846ae51 b (This has a video too, but the first one is the best!!!)

http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?s lug=chinobit20&date=20051220

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051220/od_nm/gigante_dc

http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/5792115.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10533911/from/RSS (this one has a not so famous picture)

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/12/19/ny_mob_don_vincent_chin_gi gante_dies_in_prison/

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/12/19/national/a111117S86.DTL

http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/12/20/news/obits.php

http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/13453971.htm

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20051220/ts_alt_afp/uscrimemafia_051220060636

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/12/19/obit.gigante.ap/?section=cnn_topstories (This has another picture which i don`t think you could see everytime)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10538047/from/RSS/

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/19/obituaries/19cnd-gigante.html

[url= http://news.monstersandcritics.com/northamerica/article_1070181.php/Vincent_%60T he_Chin%60_Gigante_dies_in_prison]http://news.monstersandcritics.com/northameric a/article_1070181.php/Vincent_%60T he_Chin%60_Gigante_dies_in_prison[/url]

http://www.mezomorf.com/ny/news-17277.html

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/OBIT_GIGANTE?SITE=MOSPL&SECTION=HOME&TEMP LATE=DEFAULT

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/breaking_news/story/376067p-319567c.html

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/gigante19.html


Ok, enjoy them, you have "a few" links to read, I hope you have enough time to do it!

One of them says the cause of his death is unknown, but they know he had a heart attack, may we be talking about that kind of poison which doesn`t develop in the..??? :rolleyes: (how do you say when you analize the corpses, the causes of death? in spanish I say autopsia).

http://gangstersinc.tripod.com/Gigante.html (Here, the son Vincent Esposito talks about prison official ignoring the health condition of Gigante worsening everyday. Conspiration? )


http://gangstersinc.tripod.com/Gigante.html

Get over it. He wasn't poisened. He was 77 years old, and had heart disease.

Isn't the world a better place without people like this? Isn't a murderer a murderer, whether he's in the mob or not?

Good riddance, "Chin".

He was in prison and didn't murder people anymore, so the world isn't actually become a better place.

He was in prison and didn't murder people anymore, so the world isn't actually become a better place. [/b][/quote]It did when he went to prison. And who knows if he made some decisions from inside. Yes xXx_Don, I agree, the world is a better place when these people are gone.


Except maybe a place like Las Vegas. j/k


Don Cardi

Probably, but that wasn't what we were saying.
Do you think he still had the power to order hits, command his family from inside the prisonwalls.

It wouldn't be the first time that a mob boss gave orders from the inside of a prison. So with that possibility, his death does make the world a better place.

Do you believe that he had the capabilities to give orders or make certain decisions regarding the family from inside the prison?


Don Cardi

In Pelliquin Bay (I don't know the proper spelling) Prison they have something called "the shoe." It is a cell block cut off from the rest of the prison where leaders of gangs are held. They are held there so that they can't order murders and the like. Well they still do of course. The Prison has a task force assigned just to that unit to check incoming and outgoing mail, visitors etc.. The thing I found interesting is that a gang leader sent a love letter to his wife or girlfriend. If you take every third (or maybe fourth) letter in the document it spells out the names of people who he wants killed.

There is not and never will be a doubt in my mind that mob bosses and gang leaders continue to run and make decisions for their crew in prison. All the prison does is make it HARDER for them to do it, but will never eliminate it.

Obviously someone will take his place though.

Another link for Juventus http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4544118.stm

By the way, I don`t agree a death of a Mafioso would make the world a better place to live, there are many reasons out of the Mafia that make the world a total chaos. I don`t think the Mafia are the cause of the problems around the world. Mafiosos alive or dead, the world is the same.

When Mobsters die, that prevents a few deaths.

I took this from another forum, from Mr. Gribbs.:

Modest sendoff for mob "Odd Father" Gigante

BY ANTHONY M. DESTEFANO
STAFF WRITER
December 24, 2005

After a funeral that was modest by Mafia standards, Vincent "Chin" Gigante, the Genovese crime boss whose crazy act earned him the moniker "The Odd Father," was cremated Friday at historic Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.

Between 75 to 100 family and friends attended a service at St. Anthony of Padua Church in Greenwich Village -- where he lived before going to prison -- for the 77-year-old Gigante, who died Monday of heart illness at a federal prison medical facility in Missouri.

Unlike the media spectacle which surrounded the 2002 death of Gambino boss John Gotti, whose hearse and accompanying flower cars made a final pass through his old haunts in Queens before burial in Middle Village, Gigante's rites were extremely low key. Police said no uniformed officers were assigned to the church.

Gigante's brother, the Rev. Louis Gigante, presided over the Mass and during the eulogy strongly criticized the way his brother's health deteriorated in federal prison, said family attorney, Flora Edwards.

"He died because they let him die," Louis Gigante said, according to Edwards.

After the hour-long funeral, Gigante's remains were taken to Green-Wood, where he was cremated, said a spokesman for the cemetery, who declined further comment.

In November, Edwards filed a lawsuit in a Missouri federal court to compel officials at the Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield to transfer an ailing Gigante to an acute care hospital. Gigante had been in custody since his conviction on federal racketeering charges in 1997.

Edwards said in court papers that Gigante, who had heart trouble, was suffering from oxygen deprivation and had bouts of unconsciousness. Gigante's breathing was labored and his lower body was swollen, she said.

Federal officials responded in court papers that are sealed. Cynthia Hyde, the assistant U.S. attorney representing prison officials, couldn't be reached for comment Friday.

On Nov. 14, Gigante was transferred to an outside hospital and rallied physically, Edwards said.

After returning to the federal prison hospital about 10 days later, Gigante's health continued to fail, she said.

Asked if Gigante's family intended to sue over his prison care, Edwards Friday responded with "You betcha."


Poisining Gigante? DPN, you came close

BTW Thanks for all the links..

Don`t bullshit, there will be deaths with or without gangsters.

Merry Christmas