Colombo War: A Father-Son Story (Part III)

Less than three days after Bill Sr disappeared, the FBI reached out to Bill Jr.  One of the first things the agent said to Bill was that he was reaching out to give his condolences about the death of his father.  Bill Jr was caught off guard, and said “My father’s been gone less than three days, how do you know he’s dead?”  The agent responded saying anytime a man of his father’s rank in the family disappears, its the last time they are seen alive.  The agent continued on to ask Bill Jr if he would like to help the FBI investigate his father’s disappearance.  Bill Jr agreed on the condition that he didn’t have to wear a wire.  Within two weeks he had changed his mind and was ready to wear a recording device.  

A number of devices were used, ranging from hidden devices sewn into Bill Jr’s clothing to a cell phone that was wired.  One of the first people Bill Jr recorded was Jackie DeRoss.  Jackie was soon caught up in an FBI sting.  The FBI had set up a fake Manhattan businessman who was supposedly making a lot of money in shady businesses.  Jackie sent Downtown Ronnie to go with Bill Jr to shake down this “shady businessman” who was in reality an FBI agent.  That pretty much sealed Jackie’s fate as far as extortion, but left Bill Jr no closer to the whereabouts of his father.  Billy continued to go to his father’s club and hang with the rest of his father’s crew members.  He recorded a number of them speaking candidly about the family.  

When you wear a wire for the FBI you always have to be recording, its always on, friend or foe.  Anytime you talk on the phone, its recorded.  Sometimes you end up catching friends, or those you wish no harm to, on these recordings, which has repercussions for them down the road.  

A few days after Bill Sr had disappeared, Jackie DeRoss upgraded his ride to a leather topped Cadillac, which he drove to Bill Sr’s club, where he spoke to Billy, calling him “Buff” and pretending that nothing was wrong.  He did not even acknowledge the ongoing search for Billy’s father.  This proved to be very hard for Billy Jr but he had to play along because another one of the FBI’s unbreakable rules is “absolutely no violence at all.”  

Meanwhile, the Persicos, along with DeRoss, were busy trying to locate and steal any money that Bill Sr had anywhere, his businesses, his stashes, etc.  Billy Jr was now having a hard time making ends meet, so the FBI began paying him for his expenses and time.  After months of not knowing who killed his father, the FBI would charge Ally Boy Persico and Jackie DeRoss with the murder of Bill Sr. They used Billy Jr’s tapes and testimony from others to convict them.  Still no body.  There were a lot of rumors that he was dumped at sea, that he was incinerated, that he was compacted in a junk yard, that would go on until a young man named Joey Compantello was arrested with the Colombo underboss and others for some murders.  Joey Compatello aka Joey Caves, saw the writing on the wall and decided to flip.  He gave up the location of Bill Sr’s body.  The FBI began digging and soon found Bill Sr’s body in a Long Island grave.  This ended 8 years of anguish for the Cutolo family.

The Colombo family decided to get rid of Joe Campy partly because of what he said to Billy Jr on the tapes.  One day, Joe Campy was in Coney Island at the beach.  He noticed a blue van following him throughout the day.  He didn’t think much of it, because the FBI had raided him recently, and they had driven a similar blue van.  He just figured this van was the FBI agents.  After his day at the beach, Joe was stowing his beach chair in the trunk of his Mercedes when the van pulled up, the door slid open, and someone yelled, “Hey Joe Campy!” and they began firing shots at him.  He was hit but he continued to zigzag and run.  The van took off and he laid down on the ground.  An off-duty cop happened to be on the scene, and rushed over.  He told Joe to stay down because he’d been shot in the foot and the arm.  Joe was rushed to the hospital where he soon recovered.  He kept his mouth shut even though he knew who had shot him.  The Persicos soon started taking everything of Joe’s on the street.  They even tried to take his Harley Davidsons.  That was the final straw for Joe and he too began cooperating.   

This story of the lust for greed and power will show you what the mafia is like today.  There is no honor, there is no loyalty.  If you work your way up as an earner you will get killed by the greedy ones on top.