Colombo capo details various killings with his mob family
Carmine "The Gorilla" Gargano Jr. wouldn’t stay down even after his Colombo family mob buddy put a bullet in his body and another in his eye.
Joseph "Joey Caves" Competiello eventually had to slam the 6-feet-2, 230-pound Gargano in the head with sledgehammer to kill him, mob turncoat Dino "Big Dino" Calabro testified Monday in Brooklyn Federal Court.
The 1994 slaying at a Brooklyn auto body shop was among a lengthy list of murders Calabro detailed as the government’s star witness against Colombo crime boss Thomas "Tommy Shots" Gioeli.
The Sicilian-born Calabro, 45, spoke matter-of-factly of grisly killings during the height of the Colombo civil war, but his testimony prompted sobs from a woman seated at the back of the courtroom — Gargano’s mother.
“I hope these people die burning in hell,” Rosa Gargano told the Daily News after hearing Calabro describe her son’s death. “They pierced my soul.”
The one answer Calabro didn’t have is why her son was whacked.
Calabro said that question was on his mind when he first learned of Gargano’s murder from Comtetiello.
"I don’t know. I just felt like it. I was upset," Calabro said Comtetiello told him.
Calabro said he told Comtetiello, “I don’t care what you do with him, throw him out of a car, bury him where he sits.”
He said that as usual, he kept Gioeli, his mob mentor, abreast of the murder and what was done with the body.
Gargano’s corpse, which has never been found, was first buried outside the McDonald Ave. auto body shop where he was killed in a lot used to park ice cream trucks, Calabro said.
He said the body of the mobster — who got his nickname when he hoisted 90 pounds of masonry with one hand on a construction job — was dug up and moved to a Long Island mob dumping ground when the victim’s family started “snoopin’ around” asking questions about Gargano’s whereabouts.
“We dug a pretty deep hole and threw Carmine in there,” Calabro testified, explaining how he helped Comtetiello, another mob rat set to testify against Gioeli, transplant the body to an industrial park near Farmingdale.
He said they covered the remains with a bag of lime to “deter the smell.”
Rosa Gargano said she nearly bolted from the courtroom as Calabro described disposing of her son as if he were a piece of garbage.
“I’m trying to be strong,” said the tearful woman, who has attended every day of the trial since it began March 19. “One side of me wanted to hear this. But for me, this is not closure. I don’t understand the reason why they did this."
Earlier, Calabro, who has pleaded guilty to eight mob murders in exchange for his testimony, pointed out his old boss out, describing Gioeli as the man seated at the defense table “wearing the Argyle sweater.”
The former Colombo capo squealed that Tommy Shots taught him how to kill and turned him on to the glitz of a gangster’s life.
“I wanted what (Gioeli) had,” Calabro told Assistant U.S. Attorney James Gatta. “He had the power to get me in the family.”
Prosecutors contend Gioeli advanced his mob career supervising a lethal crew of killers that included Calabro and co-defendant Dino "Little Dino" Saracino.
Saracino, who is Calabro’s cousin, shook his head when Calabro entered the courtroom.
Recounting his first murder — of Bonanno associate Frank "Chestnut" Marasa in 1991 — Calabro said Gioeli gave him explicit advice.
“Tommy always said, ‘Shoot him in the body first. Then walk up and cap him,” he said.
The two men committed numerous crimes together, including six murders.
Calabro recalled killing Colombo mob associate Joe Miccio when Gioeli ordered him whacked for stealing a Mercedes-Benz from a customer of the famed Marco Polo Restaurant in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, which was owned by a Gambino soldier.
“Gioeli informed (the Gambinos) that he took care of the problem and no cars would ever be stolen out of that garage,” Calabro said.
Joseph "Joey Caves" Competiello eventually had to slam the 6-feet-2, 230-pound Gargano in the head with sledgehammer to kill him, mob turncoat Dino "Big Dino" Calabro testified Monday in Brooklyn Federal Court.
The 1994 slaying at a Brooklyn auto body shop was among a lengthy list of murders Calabro detailed as the government’s star witness against Colombo crime boss Thomas "Tommy Shots" Gioeli.
The Sicilian-born Calabro, 45, spoke matter-of-factly of grisly killings during the height of the Colombo civil war, but his testimony prompted sobs from a woman seated at the back of the courtroom — Gargano’s mother.
“I hope these people die burning in hell,” Rosa Gargano told the Daily News after hearing Calabro describe her son’s death. “They pierced my soul.”
The one answer Calabro didn’t have is why her son was whacked.
Calabro said that question was on his mind when he first learned of Gargano’s murder from Comtetiello.
"I don’t know. I just felt like it. I was upset," Calabro said Comtetiello told him.
Calabro said he told Comtetiello, “I don’t care what you do with him, throw him out of a car, bury him where he sits.”
He said that as usual, he kept Gioeli, his mob mentor, abreast of the murder and what was done with the body.
Gargano’s corpse, which has never been found, was first buried outside the McDonald Ave. auto body shop where he was killed in a lot used to park ice cream trucks, Calabro said.
He said the body of the mobster — who got his nickname when he hoisted 90 pounds of masonry with one hand on a construction job — was dug up and moved to a Long Island mob dumping ground when the victim’s family started “snoopin’ around” asking questions about Gargano’s whereabouts.
“We dug a pretty deep hole and threw Carmine in there,” Calabro testified, explaining how he helped Comtetiello, another mob rat set to testify against Gioeli, transplant the body to an industrial park near Farmingdale.
He said they covered the remains with a bag of lime to “deter the smell.”
Rosa Gargano said she nearly bolted from the courtroom as Calabro described disposing of her son as if he were a piece of garbage.
“I’m trying to be strong,” said the tearful woman, who has attended every day of the trial since it began March 19. “One side of me wanted to hear this. But for me, this is not closure. I don’t understand the reason why they did this."
Earlier, Calabro, who has pleaded guilty to eight mob murders in exchange for his testimony, pointed out his old boss out, describing Gioeli as the man seated at the defense table “wearing the Argyle sweater.”
The former Colombo capo squealed that Tommy Shots taught him how to kill and turned him on to the glitz of a gangster’s life.
“I wanted what (Gioeli) had,” Calabro told Assistant U.S. Attorney James Gatta. “He had the power to get me in the family.”
Prosecutors contend Gioeli advanced his mob career supervising a lethal crew of killers that included Calabro and co-defendant Dino "Little Dino" Saracino.
Saracino, who is Calabro’s cousin, shook his head when Calabro entered the courtroom.
Recounting his first murder — of Bonanno associate Frank "Chestnut" Marasa in 1991 — Calabro said Gioeli gave him explicit advice.
“Tommy always said, ‘Shoot him in the body first. Then walk up and cap him,” he said.
The two men committed numerous crimes together, including six murders.
Calabro recalled killing Colombo mob associate Joe Miccio when Gioeli ordered him whacked for stealing a Mercedes-Benz from a customer of the famed Marco Polo Restaurant in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, which was owned by a Gambino soldier.
“Gioeli informed (the Gambinos) that he took care of the problem and no cars would ever be stolen out of that garage,” Calabro said.
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