Search - Mob Hitmen on DVD

The Hunchback, The Crow, Little Nicky and other organized cr

Annie Van Auken | Planet Earth | 05/17/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"MOB HITMEN is from the Bill Kurtis hosted hour-length TV show, American Justice. It examines two gang wars that occurred in Philadelphia between 1980 and '95. When the dust had finally settled, 29 of 50 "made" mobsters were either dead or in prison.

A main interviewee is Nicky 'the Crow' Caramandi, triggerman for Nicodemo 'Little Nicky' Scarfo. The Crow details his hits and some that went awry. He was deeply involved in Scarfo's battle against an older Don named Harry 'the Hunchback' Riccobene, who miraculously survived two attempts on his life. Harry quit and turned over all territories to Little Nicky when his younger brother Bobby was rubbed out on 12/6/83. At the time of this 1996 broadcast, Harry the Hunchback (who agreed to be interviewed) was serving a life sentence.

By 1984, Nick Scarfo had grown increasingly paranoid. This resulted in a contract on his own Capo, Salvatore 'Salvy' Testa. Refusing to believe his boss had targeted him for death, the street-smart Testa still watched for any signs of danger. More than a dozen attempts on his life failed or were aborted, until Scarfo enlisted the aid of Salvy's best friend, who on 9/4/84 lured him to a candy store where four hit teams lay in wait. Like many before him, Sal Testa died in a hail of gunfire.

For reasons only he knew, Don Scarfo's next target was the ever-loyal 'button man' Nick the Crow. Unwilling to risk a hit, Caramandi turned himself in to the FBI and, following Scarfo's 1987 arrest, he testified in court against his former boss. Nicodemo Scarfo was found guilty of extortion and murder and received a life sentence.

His incarceration left a leadership vacuum in So. Philly's crime syndicate. This ignited a second even bloodier war, all of which is detailed (with the inclusion of other participant survivors) in the second half of this most interesting American Justice chapter."