To Kill the Irishman by Rick Porrello

Author:Rick Porrello [Porrello, Rick]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Non Fiction, True Crime
ISBN: 9781439171745
Amazon: 1439171742
Publisher: Pocket Star
Published: 2011-02-14T11:00:00+00:00

BEFORE FERRITTO COULD ACCEPT THE CONTRACT to kill Greene and Nardi, Butchie Cisternino and convicted bank robber Allie Calabrese would attempt to kill Nardi at the behest of Jack Licavoli.

It was September 10, 1976, and Nardi was saying goodbye to friends and relatives at the Italian-American Brotherhood Club in Cleveland’s Little Italy. On Tuesdays, the exclusive club featured elaborate dinners attended by judges, politicians, and prominent businessmen and presided over by Tony Milano, now ninety years old. It was just past 10:00 p.m., but the area was well lit by street lights. A hundred yards down Mayfield Road—past the popular Italian restaurants, bakeries, bars, and the Holy Rosary Church—Cisternino, Calabrese, and an associate acting as a sniper were concealed on a railroad bridge overlooking the neighborhood. They watched the front of the Italian-American Brotherhood Club. As John Nardi reached to unlock the door of his brand-new Buick, the gunman squeezed off his first round. The sharp report sliced through the traffic noise from nearby Euclid Avenue, but the sniper’s aim was off slightly.

Nardi ducked behind the car as several more shots followed. One smashed through the driver’s door. Two more shattered the windshield. After a few moments of wary silence, keeping his head down, Nardi crawled through the passenger door and over the crumbled glass, put the key in the ignition, and sped off.

Another attempt was made a few days later when a shotgun blast was fired at Nardi from a moving car. When reporters received tips about the shootings, they sought out Nardi for comment. He denied a rumor he was feuding with Licavoli.

“I’m not feuding with anybody,” Nardi said with a laugh in a Cleveland Press interview. “That’s ridiculous. Why would I feud with Jack White? The man is a friend of mine. I’ve known him all my life. Besides, what would we feud about? I could see if there was a million dollars in this town, but there isn’t. What are you going to take over? Headaches?”

Nardi also denied that Danny Greene worked for him.

“We’re just friends. I’m friends with everybody.” Nardi was asked about friends and associates reputed to be in the Mafia. “The newspapers say they’re in the Mafia. I don’t know that. I never ask anybody their business.”3

In the meantime, Nardi’s word on the street was quite different from the story he gave the reporter. There was indeed something to feud about. Whoever succeeded in taking over the Cleveland Cosa Nostra throne would inherit control of the billion-dollar Teamsters pension fund and thousands monthly from the Las Vegas skim and local gambling operations.

“Five of them guys are gonna go,” he told an associate. “And you’re going to be reading about it in the newspaper.”4

After learning of the murder attempts on Nardi, Ray Ferritto phoned Ronnie Carabbia to find out what was happening with the plans they had made. Another meeting was set up and again Ferritto drove to Warren. Tony Delsanter, Ronnie Crab, and Butchie Cisternino were there, along with a new face, John Calandra, a close friend of Licavoli’s.

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