Angelo Bruno was a Sicilian-American mobster, notable for being boss of the Philadelphia crime family for two decades until his assassination. Bruno gained the epithets "the Gentle Don" or "the Docile Don" posthumously due to his preference for conciliation over violence in stark contrast to his successors.
Early years
Born in Villalba, Province of Caltanissetta, Sicily, Bruno immigrated to the United States as a child and settled in Philadelphia with his brother Vito. The son of a foundry worker who after settling in South Philadelphia opened a small grocery store at 4341 North Sixth Street in Feltonville, Philadelphia. Angelo helped his father at the store until 1922, at the age of twelve when he first entered school but attended for only a few years before dropping out of South Philadelphia High School to open his own grocery store at Eighth and Annin Streets in Passyunk Square, Philadelphia. Bruno was a close associate of New York Gambino crime family boss Carlo Gambino. Living with Bruno was a cousin of mobster John Simone. Bruno dropped the name Annaloro and replaced it with his paternal grandmother's maiden name, Bruno. His sponsor into the Philadelphia mafia was Michael Maggio, the founder of M. Maggio Cheese Corp., since bought up by Crowley Foods, and a convicted murderer with a national reputation. Bruno was married to Sue Maranca, whom he had known since childhood. They had two children together, Michael and Jean. Bruno owned an extermination company in Trenton, New Jersey, an aluminum products company in Hialeah, Florida, and a share in the Plaza Hotel in Havana, Cuba. Bruno's first arrest was in 1928 for reckless driving. Subsequent arrests included firearms violations, operating an illicit alcohol still, illegal gambling, and receiving stolen property.
Family leader
In 1959, Bruno succeeded Joseph Ida as boss of the Philadelphia family. Over the next twenty years, Bruno successfully avoided the intense media and law enforcement scrutiny and outbursts of violence that plagued other crime families. Bruno himself avoided lengthy prison terms despite several arrests; his longest term was two years for refusing to testify before a grand jury. Bruno forbade family involvement in narcotics trafficking, preferring more traditional Cosa Nostra operations, such as bookmaking and loansharking. However, Bruno did permit other gangs to distribute heroin in Philadelphia for a share of the proceeds. This arrangement angered some family members who wanted a share of the drug-dealing profits. Bruno preferred to operate through bribery rather than murder. For example, he banished violent soldier Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo to the then-backwater of Atlantic City, New Jersey after he was charged with manslaughter. According to Sicilian MafiapentitoTommaso Buscetta, Enrico Mattei, the controversial president of the state oil companyEnte Nazionale Idrocarburi, was killed at the request of Bruno because his policies had damaged important American interests in the Middle East.
Rebellion and death
Several factions within the Philadelphia family began conspiring to betray the aging Bruno. On March 21, 1980, the 69-year-old Bruno was killed by a shotgun blast in the back of the head as he sat in his car in front of his home at the intersection of 10th Street and Snyder Avenue in South Philadelphia; his driver, John Stanfa, was wounded. It is believed that the killing was ordered by Antonio Caponigro, Bruno's consigliere. A few weeks later, Caponigro's lifeless body was found, battered and nude, in the trunk of a car in The Bronx. The Commission had reportedly ordered Caponigro's murder because he assassinated Bruno without their sanction. Other Philadelphia family members involved in Bruno's murder were tortured and killed. The murder of Bruno sparked a mob war in Philadelphia, which claimed over 20 lives over the next four years, including Caponigro, the succeeding boss Philip "Chicken Man" Testa, and his son Salvatore Testa. In February 2016, author and historian Celeste Morello began an effort to designate Bruno's home a historical landmark. In March 2016, a historical landmark advisory committee ruled against the request.
