Why Was Joe Bonanno Kidnapped by His Own Cousin?
Mobsters DailyJoe Bonanno was kidnapped on October 20, 1964, because the Mafia Commission believed he had plotted to murder rival bosses Carlo Gambino and Tommy Lucchese; the abduction was carried out by men working for his own cousin, Buffalo boss Stefano Magaddino, and Bonanno resurfaced 19 months later claiming he had been held, then released. The vanishing triggered the 'Banana War' inside his own family.
The plot against the Commission
By 1964 Bonanno allegedly conspired with Joseph Magliocco to kill Gambino and Lucchese. Magliocco confessed and was forced into retirement; Bonanno refused a Commission summons. The standoff, rooted in the old alliances of the Castellammarese War generation, left the other bosses determined to remove him before he struck first.
A boss kidnapped by his own cousin over a murder plot against the Commission — Bonanno's 1964 is the most operatic year in mob history. Modern fans keep their family drama theatrical but safe, which is the entire spirit of the Tony Soprano Ugly Christmas Sweater : Soprano-family chaos, printed on a Christmas sweatshirt.
Nineteen months gone
Gunmen seized Bonanno on Park Avenue the night before he was to appear before a grand jury. He reappeared in El Paso, Texas in May 1966, saying he had been held at a ranch and released after promising to retire. Many investigators suspected a staged disappearance — echoing the scepticism in accounts of Bonanno's rise — but the Commission installed Paul Sciacca over his family in his absence.
The Banana War
Bonanno loyalists, led by his son Bill, fought the Commission's faction through the late 1960s in the conflict journalists dubbed the Banana War. It ended only when Bonanno, after a 1968 heart attack, formally retired to Tucson. The kidnapping remains unique: the only case of a boss abducted by his peers and living to write about it.
Frequently asked questions
When was Bonanno kidnapped? On October 20, 1964, outside his lawyer's office on Park Avenue, New York.
Who ordered the kidnapping? The Commission acted through Stefano Magaddino, Bonanno's cousin and the Buffalo boss.
How long was Bonanno missing? About 19 months; he resurfaced in El Paso, Texas, in May 1966.
Keep reading: Luciano invents the modern Mafia · The Five Families, explained · Who Was Bill Bonanno? The Son Who Became The Godfather's Consultant
From the shop: Shadows of the Underworld — real mafia history, the bosses, betrayals and wars behind the legends, in one gripping read.
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