Some times the mafia is using symbolic messages as a sign on their murders,usually to place their members in order or to put fear in their rivals.Heres some examples....

Machine gun Jack McGurn was gunned down, while bowling, by three men with machine guns. The identity of the hit men and motive is not known. However, two theories are widely accepted: 1) Revenge for McGurns’ supposed involvement in the Valentine’s Day massacre. 2) Silencing heavy drinker and braggart McGurn by the South Side gang. Curiously, a poem was found in his right hand and a nickel in his left.McGurn had been known to press nickels into his victim’s hands.

Antonio Caponigro (aka Tony Bananas) who ordered the killing of Angelo Bruno with out the approval of the mafia commision, was himself killed just a few weeks later in retaliation.Caponigro and his brother-in-law Alfred Salerno were taken to an isolated house in the mountains of upstate New York where they were tortured for days before finally being killed.300 dollar bills were found stuffed in his mouth and anus to symbolize greed. The Philadelphia Family went into decline after Bruno’s death.

Rocco Marinucci's body was found a year to the day after Phil Testa's death, with firecrackers stuffed into his mouth and throat. An informant later told police that Marinucci had killed Testa, and that Testa's son, Salvatore, had killed Marinucci in revenge, using the firecrackers to symbolize the bomb used on Testa.

Sonny Black Napolitano was also less lucky. Seventeen days after Joe Pistone came up with the news that hes an undercover fBI agent,Sonny disappeared.His bullet-ridden body was found in a bag on Staten Island, his hands cut off, the punishment for violating Mafia security.

Sam Giancana was shot once in the mouth and 5 times in the neck or under his chin as a message for silence.He was about to testify infront of the Senate Committee.Joey Aiuppa may have feared Giancana would reveal everything he knew about Chicago mob operations.

At one point during his “career,” Bruno Facciolo was a made man and a full member of the Lucchese crime family. He’s even been associated with the murder of Thomas “Two-Gun Tommy” DeSimone .In 1990, however, he was lured into a garage by two detectives moonlighting as hitmen, stabbed repeatedly, then shot to death. A dead canary was then stuffed in his mouth because it was believed he was an informant – which, as it turns out, he wasn’t.

Retired FBI agent John Connolly, is currently serving a 10 year prison sentence after being convicted on charges of racketeering and Obstruction of Justice in regards to his actions protecting FBI Informants/organized crime figures who were part of Boston’s "Winter Hill Gang" run by fugitive "Whitey" Bulger.In 2005, Connolly was charged with the First Degree murder of World Jai Alai President John Callahan, who in 1982 was found dead in the trunk of his car with a dime on his chest, a Mafia warning to it’s members not to "drop a dime" on associates by ‘snitching’ to law enforcement.

Joey Cantalupo in one of his interviews said that Joe Colombo's father Anthony Colombo,was a Cosa Nostra soldier who was found dead in car together with his mistress with his dick cut off and placed in his mouth.It was a sign that he was fooling around with another made guy's wife.

Also when a thief stole jewel-studded crown from a Brooklyn church,Joe Colombo found the thief and forced him to return it.The thief complied,but kept three diamonds from the crown. Soon afterwards,the body of the thief was found with a rosary wrapped around his neck as a message.

This is not a murder but Frank Abbandando J. gave a powerful capo in the Colombo crime family the middle finger and although his life was spared,his middle fingers were severed by a dull knife and sent to him preserved in vinegar.

If any1 has any other examples to add to this list,please feel free to contribute.Cheers