by Nick Christophers
It was a beautiful day as the sun creeped behind the fading clouds. Bill Cutolo Sr just exited the OUR LADY OF CHRISTIANS CHURCH in Brooklyn after an excellent sermon from Father Roselle. William Cutolo, better known to some as Wild Bill, approached the pastor.
“That was a great sermon Father.”
“Thank you and I ask that God bless you and yours,” said the Father Roselle as he placed a hand on Bill Sr’s shoulder.
“We all do whatever we can. I do not need to be thanked. I ask only forgiveness from God for any sins that I may have committed, or I may commit by accident on this earth,” Bill Sr said with a smirk.
Bill Sr hugs the priest and moves on with Bill Jr in tow. They are all soon back in their home in the Gravesend section of Brooklyn. Bill Sr also had a mansion he built in Princess Bay Staten Island where he stayed at off and on. Later that day he was at his office at the Union Local 400 Production Workers on Broadway in Manhattan. While he was there his secretary Kitty, forwarded a call to him. After the call he phoned his wife and headed back to Brooklyn. He was not happy since he hated when an appointment was changed on him. That call was meant for his enemies to catch him off guard and that is what they did.
When he returned to Brooklyn, he received a call while in the kitchen having coffee with his wife, Peggy. The call was an urgent one from, Alphonse Persico, better known as Ally, on behalf of the boss Carmine Persico, also known as the Snake, a nick-name that has fit him well dating back to the 60’s.
Persico asks Bill Sr. to meet some other members for a meeting concerning a dispute with the Gambino crime family. He was an invaluable source to the family a POWER PLAYER since his *induction in 1982 (Wild Bill was a FEARED gangster. A NO NONSENSE type of gangster). He was tough and ruled in the same fashion. He began his Mafia career as a hijacker, a leg breaker and an extremely high acumen in the Mafia Life but somehow has fallen out of favor. At the time of his demise Bill Sr was the acting underboss which was a ruse by Ally when he gave him that slot to make him believe all was kosher. Jackie who was my father’s best friend turned on him. I played along with Jackie after he was killed to make him think I was on his side. I banged him later just like he backdoored my father.
Bill Sr. agrees as it is standard protocol. Bill Sr’s mechanic dropped him off at Shore Road where he was to meet Ally. Ally does not show where he was to be picked up and driven to his appointment. He was to (SECRETLY) meet Ally and a few other Colombo guys. It is said that Cutolo was picked up by Thomas “Tommy Shots” Gioeli and Dino Calabro and driven to the appointment. The appointment he was told was to be held at the house of mob wannabe Dino Saracino. Wild Bill did not care for the guys from the “Long Island Faction” of the Colombo Family, we will delve into that more in the coming chapters. As it turned out that appointment is all they would need to erase Wild Bill from the streets. Colombo members Gioeli, Calabro and mob wannabe Saracino would be the last faces Wild Bill would see. At the home of Saracino’s mother Wild Bill was shot twice in the back of the head as Saracino emerged from the basement closet. (His last words I was told were, “Whoa,” as he fell backwards into the closet.)
As a footnote the following day after his father’s demise Gambino member Michael “Mickey Scars” DiLeonardo was supposed to meet Bill Sr. But instead Ally and Jackie show up. Scars asked, “Where is Billy?” and Jackie DeRoss answers, “Wild Bill ain’t around and he may not be around for a while….”Which basically in “the life” that means he is dead.
Back track to the initial call, Bill Jr. who is also a member of the Colombo family is not fond of the call but knows it is not rare that a boss calls for a meeting. He goes about his day as he normally does. Yet within his typical “club day” he would normally meet up with this father for certain errands and habitual things they always do. Bill Jr was running around with Brian, a buddy of his, making some collections based on the phone card business they had going. Brian was always the driver, and, on this day, they happened to finish their runs early and he dropped Bill Jr off at Bruno’s on 86th St and 19th avenue. They arrived there around 4:30 pm. Bill Sr. left at 2:30 pm.
At this point Bill Jr. beeped his father from a pay phone across the street from Bruno’s using the code 08. Yet as the day progressed his father had not shown up yet where he normally would. While Bill Jr. was there two other members came in Frankie and Joe Joe. Bill Jr. noticed how nervous Frankie was acting, especially towards him. He paged his father a few more times but still no answer. On the last page he punched in the code 911 followed by “08”. Typically, his father would answer quickly but no reply.
Bill Jr. waited another twenty minutes and tried him again from a beauty salon he was at. He already had gotten a haircut, a manicure, and a pedicure. Jr paged him with the same code 911. On club days Jr., his father and a “select” few would meet up at the salon then head to Alba’s pastry shop and bakery to bring the bread and desserts to the club for dinner. At this point obviously Bill Jr was getting nervous and bad thoughts began to formulate in his head. Thoughts he wished he can wash away. After visiting all the typical locations, he would go to with his father and learning he had not shown up those thoughts began to become all too real.
When he arrived at his father’s club “The Friendly Bocce Club” on 63rd Street and 11th avenue he entered the parking lot. In the lot was his father’s car the Ford Expedition a bit of calm arose in him. He entered the club and asked the cleaning boy Eugene if he had seen his father, but Gene simply shrugged his shoulders and said, “No Jr. His truck was here when I opened up.” Bill Jr went outside to look at the truck and noticed it was dirtier than usual. Something he knew was amiss since his father was anal about keeping his car immaculate all the time. Not only that but Jr. knew that if the mechanic were fixing the truck that day, they would not have given back Wild Bill his car dirty. All his adolescent years Jr. spent a lot of his time tending to his father’s vehicles, his homes, and gardens.
Billy then started his rounds looking for his father on 11th Ave. Before returning to the club, he ran across the street to “Secrets” a lounge that they owned on the corner of 11th and 62nd St. Billy
questioned the bartender Diane if she had seen Sr. Again, to Billy’s dismay she responded with a resounding, “No Billy. He hasn’t stopped in yet.”
He returned to the club as it was beginning to fill up but many of the guys kept their distance from him. That alone was odd. The only one that approached him was John “Jackie” DeRoss who was not only the best man at his father’s wedding but his closest friend. Jackie approached Bill Jr and asked the cryptic words that still burn in him till this day were said to him from DeRoss. ‘Didja speak ta’ ya’ old man today?” Bill Jr found that to be an odd question as he watched as Jackie went to sit in the very chair his father always sat at. At that very moment other men began approaching Jackie and whispering in his ear and shaking his hand. Mind you just a week prior Billy was posing the question to his old man. “Pop, what the fuck is going in with Jackie?”