Since the holiday is here, I thought about posting few short and "scary" stories from the past so we can speed up the blood flow lol

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During the infamous "Castellammarese War", Felice DeLucia aka Paul Ricca had to do more important jobs within the Capone organization, by being Al Capone's number two guy and also by acting as messenger to the East Coast crime families. The bosses in New York had a nickname for Ricca which was "il Comparello" and during his visits, he was often advised by the old Mafiosi that he should always play a waiting game, stay out of the headlines, and build support quietly, which was all opposite of his boss Capone. Slowly but surely Ricca gained respect and made his presence to be known. For example, there’s a story that once Ricca had an argument in New York with an unknown individual from some of the crime families, and that same individual continuously insulted Ricca by calling him “waiter.” This crazy individual would taunt Ricca by laughingly ordering him to pour him some more wine, and continued calling him “waiter man.” The joke probably came from Ricca’s nickname which was the “Waiter” because of his previous work at the Bella Napoli Café back in Chicago. But soon that same disrespectful individual learned that nobody called Ricca like that in his presence and shortly after, the cops found a nude torso of a body in a suitcase, which was dumped near a train station in NY. The head, arms and legs had been cut off from the torso with a very sharp tool, probably a knife, which was Ricca’s favourite weapon. As additional info, the murder was never pinned on Ricca or any other gangster from the New York area.

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Filippo (Philip) Nicoletti and Grazia (Grace) Nicoletti (born Alessi) were natives of Santa Caterina Villarmosa, Sicily and one day they decided to leave their homeland and hard conditions and head to the new land of opportunities, the United States of America. The Nicolettis arrived in Chicago in 1907 and settled in an apartment at 737 Campbell Avenue on Near West Side. While in Chicago, they brought two children to this world. The first one was Philip Jr., born in 1914 and two years later, they brought another child Charles, who was born on December 3, 1916. Charles or Chuckie as he was known, grew in a hard conditions because he lived in impoverished and dysfunctional family. His father, who worked as a teamster, was a heavy drinker and very abusive man. When little Chuckie started attending public school, after classes he was forced to stay on the streets because Philip Sr. abused his family on daily basis. In other words, Chuckie was forced to run away from home because he couldn’t stand the bloody sight of his mother and brother getting beaten on the floor and the daily threats and punches that he received from his own father.

Sadly, in his own little mind, Chuckie Nicoletti saw the daily act of domestic violence and also criminal activities on the streets around him as a "natural thing", and mixed with the old Sicilian mentality, he decided to defend his own honor. Chuckie started hanging around with the local young hoodlums from his neighborhood and learned the way of the streets. When Philip Sr. was at work or getting drunk at some of the local bars, Chuckie was playing target practice with his father’s gun. The young boy allegedly stood in front of a mirror with the gun and imagined himself as the local gangsters that he saw on daily basis. it is quite possible that Chuckie realized that if one day all hell broke loose, he can stop the daily terror with that “beautiful” gun.

On February 25, 1929 at 7:30 pm Philip Sr. came home very drunk and with many abusive thoughts on his mind towards his own family. He started beating his own wife Grace like never before. The poor woman’s screams were heard all around the neighborhood. Young Chuckie came to the kitchen and started punching his father and begged him to stop. That enraged Philip Sr. so much that he took a knife, pointed to his son and threatened to kill him. Chuckie, pursued by his drunken father, ran into the bedroom and took the gun which was in a bureau drawer and pointed it in Philip’s direction. Even with that, Philip Sr. didn’t stop so Chuckie was forced to close his eyes, squeezed the trigger and the gun went off. When he opened his eyes, his father laid on the floor, chocking in his own blood and in matter of seconds he ran away in the corner and stopped moving.

After the shooting someone called the cops from the 23rd precinct and they arrived just to see the 39 year old Philip Sr. lying dead on the floor with his wife crying beside him and Chuckie with the gun in his hand standing in the corner of the room. The cops calmly approached the kid and took the gun from his hand. It was obvious who took the shot so Chuckie was taken to the police office for questioning. Only two days later on February 27, the Cook County Coroner’s Office cleared Charles Nicoletti of his father’s death. Chuckie was exonerated and also commended for protecting his family because he was threatened by his drunk and knife-wielding father who caused Chuckie to do the intentional homicide. From that point on, every youngster in the hood was scared of little Nicoletti because he managed to kill his own blood. After his father’s death, two years later in 1931, Nicoletti dropped out of school in the 8th grade and at the age of 14 went for the "street life" and later played major role in eliminating many "obstacles" for the criminal organization he belonged to, and also became known for his brutal force and also became destined for underworld "royalty".

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Born in 1894, Gus Greenbaum worked as an associate of New York gangster Meyer Lansky and then moved to Al Capone’s Chicago during Prohibition, and later also owned a bookie wire service in Phoenix, which was originally established in 1941 by the Chicago Outfit. Greenbaum was a Phoenix socialite seen at all the society balls, usually in the company of Barry Goldwaters, Harry Rosenzweigs and Kemper Marley, Phoenix millionaire rancher and wholesale liquor dealer. In 1946, according to police sources, Marley took up another line of business, one that brought him into contact with organized crime.

Greenbaum was a wild man who was addicted to heroin, always drunk and when he wasn't high he was running around with women half his age who stole from him, and was deeply in debt from gambling at the tables, losing up to $20,000 a week. Kemper Marley and his associates were previously instructed by the Chicago mob to move Greenbaum out of the Phoenix wire service, and they did so. Sources say that Greenbaum refused at first, but after the murder of his sister-in-law, he changed his mind. Greenbaum was asked by the leaders of the Outfit to take care of their interests in Las Vegas, Nevada; and at first he refused, but after the murder of his sister, Greenbaum instantly agreed.

When Greenbaum entered Las Vegas during the late 1940’s, he was skimming from the split between the New York crime families and Chicago. After realizing about the steal, the Outfit's number two guy Sam Giancana on the orders of his mentor Paul Ricca, allegedly sent for Marshall Caifano, a bloodthirsty and ruthless enforcer. On December 3, 1958, the police found Greenbaum dead in his bed, with his throat cut almost completely which made his head almost falling off. Down the hall, in a different bedroom, they found Greenbaum's wife on the couch with her hand tied behind the back, severe head trauma and also he throat was cut as well. She had been knocked out with a heavy bottle which caved in the right side of her eye. Local lore has it, the hitman or hitmen then ate the steaks that the Greenbaums previously cooked, while looking at their dead bodies.

Cheers