18 Facts About Cesare Bonventre

Cesare "The Tall Guy" Bonventre was a Sicilian gangster who served as a caporegime in the Bonanno crime family, operating out of Knickerbocker Avenue in Bushwick.

Cesare Bonventre soon became the unofficial underboss of the Bonanno family Sicilians.

Cesare Bonventre was a cousin of the first family boss Joseph Bonanno and Bonanno mobster Baldassare "Baldo" Amato.

Ralph Blumenthal wrote in Last Days of the Sicilians: The FBI's War Against the Mafia that Cesare Bonventre identified himself to law enforcement as "a pizza man from Brooklyn".

Cesare Bonventre was a regular habituate of his cousin Baldassare Amato's deli run by his family located at Second Avenue and Eighty-fourth Street in Yorkville, New York.

Lean and handsome, Cesare Bonventre frequented clubs such as The Toyland Social Club and the Knickerbocker Avenue area with other Sicilian mobsters.

Cesare Bonventre normally wore his shirt unbuttoned with a gold crucifix hanging from his neck.

On July 12,1979, Cesare Bonventre allegedly participated in the murders of Galante and two of his friends.

At 28, Cesare Bonventre became the youngest capo in Bonanno family history.

Cesare Bonventre became involved in the importation and drug trafficking of heroin from Sicily into New York pizza parlors, known as the "Pizza Connection".

Cesare Bonventre had been on the side of the three capos Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato, Philip Giaccone and Dominick Trinchera, a family faction who were planning a coup to take over the family; however, Cesare Bonventre switched sides, joining Rastelli's faction.

Cesare Bonventre's pedigree, increasing wealth and fearsome reputation had made him a threat to Massino's leadership.

Cesare Bonventre controlled the Sicilians, the most fearsome and reliable killers in the family.

Cesare Bonventre was prone to outbursts of sadistic violence and was suspected of over 20 murders.

Surprisingly, Cesare Bonventre still struggled; grabbing the steering wheel and trying to crash the car, forcing the two hitmen to fight him off.

Cesare Bonventre's body was hacked to pieces and dumped into three 55-gallon glue drums.

Cesare Bonventre is buried at Saint Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale, New York.

Cesare Bonventre's widow gave birth to their only son after the murder.