Edward Grillo
Encyclopedia
Edward "Danny" Grillo (1934 - November 14, 1978) was a member of a Gambino crime family
crew headed by soldier Roy DeMeo
. After falling deeply into debt to DeMeo and other loansharks, Grillo was murdered by his own associates in the DeMeo Crew.
to Italian immigrants from Genoa
, Liguria
. In 1976, after completing a prison sentence for hijacking, Grillo was recruited by DeMeo into his crew. Grillo and DeMeo had known each other through work in the Mafia
-connected Canarsie junkyards. Grillo soon became involved in the hijacking of truck cargoes to and from John F. Kennedy International Airport
in Brooklyn
. Associate Dominick Montiglio
, who became a government witness in 1983, described how DeMeo once asked him to temporarily store 120 stolen Smith and Wesson handguns. Grillo and other DeMeo crew members had hijacked the guns, headed to law enforcement in Finland
as they were being transported to the airport. Montiglio stored the weapons for one day and then turned them over to Grillo and DeMeo.
, an Irish mobster who wanted to lead the Westies. After their release, both men stayed in contact. Coonan wanted to oust Westies leader Michael 'Mickey' Spillane
, but needed money to fund a rebellion. Grillo reported Coonan's predicament to DeMeo, who decided to help Coonan. The DeMeo crew and the Coonan faction were soon committing hijackings together and splitting the profits. DeMeo also loaned Coonan large sums of money to build a portfolio of loanshark customers. On May 13 of 1977, Spillane was shot to death outside of his apartment building, reportedly by Grillo and DeMeo.
With Spillane gone, Coonan then sought to eliminate Ruby Stein, a bigtime loanshark with ties to the Genovese Family
. Grillo and a number of Westies owed large amounts of money to Stein and were looking to escape these obligations. Grillo decided this was a good idea and proceeded to kill Stein without the permission or knowledge of his boss DeMeo, a serious violation of mob rules. Two days after Spillane's murder, Grillo shot Stein to death in a club owned by a Westie member. The corpse was then dismembered by the Coonan faction, packaged, and deposited into the ocean. This alliance between the Gambinos and the Westies would greatly benefit the Gambino family and ultimately lead to DeMeo becoming an official family member.
, that Grillo was weak and would fold under police pressure if arrested. Montiglio attempted to help Grillo, risking his own life to do it. On one occasion, Montiglio ripped up $50,000 worth of debt markers that Danny had acquired during a night of gambling at Gambino party. DeMeo confronted Montiglio about Danny's behavior, and made statements that implied Grillo did not have much time left.
On November 15, 1978 Montiglio visited the DeMeo crew's primary hangout, the Gemini Lounge in Brooklyn. Seeing crew members Chris Rosenberg
, Joseph Testa and Anthony Senter
outside the entrance, Montiglio asked if they had seen Grillo. Rosenberg allegedly smiled and replied, "No one will see Danny no more." Montiglio then approached DeMeo inside the Lounge, who confirmed Rosenberg's statement, claiming that "...if anybody wants to talk to (Danny) they'll have to talk to him at the Fountain Avenue dump."
Many of the DeMeo crew's victims had been dismembered and deposited at this dump. DeMeo went on to say that the crew had parked Grillo's car in the middle of the Manhattan Bridge
and left the driver side door open to make it look like a suicide. During a later meeting with the Westies, DeMeo learned from Coonan that Grillo had tried to use Coonan as a front to borrow even more money from DeMeo. According to Coonan's second-in-command Mickey Featherstone
, DeMeo allegedly remarked, "I wish you would've told me earlier, I would've cut him into littler pieces."
Grillo's wife later testified that on November 14, 1978, the day her husband disappeared, Grillo had received a call at home from DeMeo requesting he come to a meeting at the Gemini Lounge. Before leaving, Grillo took special care to tell his wife and children goodbye. After he was gone, his wife discovered that he had left his wallet and other personal possessions behind. A loyal crew member to the end, Grillo voluntarily went to a meeting that he knew would be his last.
Gambino crime family
The Gambino crime family is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia . The group is named after Carlo Gambino, boss of the family at the time of the McClellan hearings in 1963...
crew headed by soldier Roy DeMeo
Roy DeMeo
Roy Albert DeMeo was a soldier in the Gambino crime family. He is infamous for heading the DeMeo crew, a gang suspected by the FBI of murdering at least 70 people between 1973 and 1983. The vast majority were disposed of so thoroughly that they were never found...
. After falling deeply into debt to DeMeo and other loansharks, Grillo was murdered by his own associates in the DeMeo Crew.
Early life and induction into the DeMeo Crew
Grillo was born in Little Italy, ManhattanLittle Italy, Manhattan
Little Italy is a neighborhood in lower Manhattan, New York City, once known for its large population of Italians. Today the neighborhood of Little Italy consists of Italian stores and restaurants.-Historical area:...
to Italian immigrants from Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
, Liguria
Liguria
Liguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions. Its capital is Genoa. It is a popular region with tourists for its beautiful beaches, picturesque little towns, and good food.-Geography:...
. In 1976, after completing a prison sentence for hijacking, Grillo was recruited by DeMeo into his crew. Grillo and DeMeo had known each other through work in the Mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
-connected Canarsie junkyards. Grillo soon became involved in the hijacking of truck cargoes to and from John F. Kennedy International Airport
John F. Kennedy International Airport
John F. Kennedy International Airport is an international airport located in the borough of Queens in New York City, about southeast of Lower Manhattan. It is the busiest international air passenger gateway to the United States, handling more international traffic than any other airport in North...
in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
. Associate Dominick Montiglio
Dominick Montiglio
Dominick Montiglio is a former associate of the Gambino crime family. The nephew of Anthony 'Nino' Gaggi, who was a powerful and respected captain in the Gambino family, Dominick became a government witness in 1983 after being arrested for extortion and went on to testify in two Federal trials...
, who became a government witness in 1983, described how DeMeo once asked him to temporarily store 120 stolen Smith and Wesson handguns. Grillo and other DeMeo crew members had hijacked the guns, headed to law enforcement in Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
as they were being transported to the airport. Montiglio stored the weapons for one day and then turned them over to Grillo and DeMeo.
The Gambino-Westies alliance
Shortly after joining the DeMeo's crew, Grillo helped form an alliance with a group of Irish-American mobsters known as The Westies. While in prison during the early 1970s, Grillo had met James 'Jimmy' CoonanJames Coonan
James "Jimmy C" Coonan is an Irish-American mobster and racketeer from Manhattan, New York who is currently serving a 75-year prison term.-Biography:...
, an Irish mobster who wanted to lead the Westies. After their release, both men stayed in contact. Coonan wanted to oust Westies leader Michael 'Mickey' Spillane
Mickey Spillane (gangster)
Michael Spillane, much better known as Mickey Spillane , was an Irish-American mobster from Hell's Kitchen, New York City...
, but needed money to fund a rebellion. Grillo reported Coonan's predicament to DeMeo, who decided to help Coonan. The DeMeo crew and the Coonan faction were soon committing hijackings together and splitting the profits. DeMeo also loaned Coonan large sums of money to build a portfolio of loanshark customers. On May 13 of 1977, Spillane was shot to death outside of his apartment building, reportedly by Grillo and DeMeo.
With Spillane gone, Coonan then sought to eliminate Ruby Stein, a bigtime loanshark with ties to the Genovese Family
Genovese crime family
The Genovese crime family , is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia . The Genovese crime family has been nicknamed the "Ivy League" and "Rolls Royce" of organized crime...
. Grillo and a number of Westies owed large amounts of money to Stein and were looking to escape these obligations. Grillo decided this was a good idea and proceeded to kill Stein without the permission or knowledge of his boss DeMeo, a serious violation of mob rules. Two days after Spillane's murder, Grillo shot Stein to death in a club owned by a Westie member. The corpse was then dismembered by the Coonan faction, packaged, and deposited into the ocean. This alliance between the Gambinos and the Westies would greatly benefit the Gambino family and ultimately lead to DeMeo becoming an official family member.
Murder
By 1978, Grillo was in deep trouble with the Gambino family. Suffering from gambling and cocaine addictions, he found himself heavily in debt to DeMeo. To avoid missing his payments to DeMeo, he was constantly borrowing from other loansharks. The drugs and financial stress was apparently making Grillo act erratically. This behavior convinced DeMeo and his superior, Anthony GaggiAnthony Gaggi
Anthony "Antonino" "Nino" Frank Gaggi was a captain in the New York Gambino crime family who supervised the infamous DeMeo crew, headed by Roy DeMeo. It is estimated that the DeMeo crew murdered between 75 and 200 people....
, that Grillo was weak and would fold under police pressure if arrested. Montiglio attempted to help Grillo, risking his own life to do it. On one occasion, Montiglio ripped up $50,000 worth of debt markers that Danny had acquired during a night of gambling at Gambino party. DeMeo confronted Montiglio about Danny's behavior, and made statements that implied Grillo did not have much time left.
On November 15, 1978 Montiglio visited the DeMeo crew's primary hangout, the Gemini Lounge in Brooklyn. Seeing crew members Chris Rosenberg
Chris Rosenberg
Harvey "Chris" Rosenberg was a Jewish-American member of the DeMeo crew run by Gambino crime family soldier Roy DeMeo. The gang is suspected of between 75–200 murders in the mid 1970s to the early 1980s...
, Joseph Testa and Anthony Senter
Anthony Senter
Anthony Senter and Joseph Testa, better known the Gemini twins are two mobsters in the Lucchese crime family. Senter and Testa are former members of the DeMeo crew in the Gambino crime family...
outside the entrance, Montiglio asked if they had seen Grillo. Rosenberg allegedly smiled and replied, "No one will see Danny no more." Montiglio then approached DeMeo inside the Lounge, who confirmed Rosenberg's statement, claiming that "...if anybody wants to talk to (Danny) they'll have to talk to him at the Fountain Avenue dump."
Many of the DeMeo crew's victims had been dismembered and deposited at this dump. DeMeo went on to say that the crew had parked Grillo's car in the middle of the Manhattan Bridge
Manhattan Bridge
The Manhattan Bridge is a suspension bridge that crosses the East River in New York City, connecting Lower Manhattan with Brooklyn . It was the last of the three suspension bridges built across the lower East River, following the Brooklyn and the Williamsburg bridges...
and left the driver side door open to make it look like a suicide. During a later meeting with the Westies, DeMeo learned from Coonan that Grillo had tried to use Coonan as a front to borrow even more money from DeMeo. According to Coonan's second-in-command Mickey Featherstone
Mickey Featherstone
Francis T. "Mickey" Featherstone is a former Irish American mobster and member of the Westies, an organized crime syndicate from Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan in New York City, led by Jimmy Coonan. Featherstone committed several mob killings before he was convicted in 1986 of a murder he had not...
, DeMeo allegedly remarked, "I wish you would've told me earlier, I would've cut him into littler pieces."
Grillo's wife later testified that on November 14, 1978, the day her husband disappeared, Grillo had received a call at home from DeMeo requesting he come to a meeting at the Gemini Lounge. Before leaving, Grillo took special care to tell his wife and children goodbye. After he was gone, his wife discovered that he had left his wallet and other personal possessions behind. A loyal crew member to the end, Grillo voluntarily went to a meeting that he knew would be his last.
Sources
- Mustain, Gene, and Capeci, Jerry, Murder Machine 1993, ISBN 0-451-40387-8.
- Capeci, Jerry and Gene Mustain. Mob Star: The Story of John Gotti. New York: Penguin, 1988. ISBN 0-02-864416-6