Joel Cacace aka Joe Waverly

Never kill a prosecutor or anyone in law enforcement. That is a pretty clear rule that mafia families have followed. Not because they care, but in self interest.  They know that all law enforcement, and even the public, will turn on them.   In New York there is one family that did not follow that rule, and that is the Colombo Family.

There have been a few other unintentional cases where law enforcement lost lives, but none of the other families directly targeted Law Enforcement.  Rudolph "Rudy" Santobello and his buddy where in the middle of a kidnapping when an off duty NYPD officer Alfred Loreto stumbled onto the scene and was murdered. Rudy initially received life, but he beat the case on appeal and went on to have a long run with the Genovese Family. 

Then you had Costabile "Gus" Farace who was the first man to murder a DEA Agent in New York.  Gus had a set up a deal with a DEA Agent named Everrett Hatcher who was undercover.  They arranged a meeting in a remote location on Staten Island but the surveillance team lost Everrett.  Gus drove by Everrett's car on the side of the road and opened fire from a van killing him. Law Enforcement turned up the pressure on the Mafia and they ended Gus's run in Bensonhurst.

Joel Cacace aka Joe Waverly

That brings us to Joel "Joe Waverly" Cacace, a real upstanding human who at 72 is locked up until at least 2020 and is now facing more time than he will ever be able to serve.

The Colombo Family has been led by Carmine "The Snake" Persico and the Persicos never follow the rules. Carmine had a brother named Alphonse or Allie Boy, who has since passed on to the big nothing.  Allie had been on the lam for 7 years until 1987 when he was caught and sentenced to 25 years in Federal Prison.  This is where the story gets murky, because William Aronwald was the head of the Southern District Organized Crime Strike Force, but he did not do much with Carmine.  He did help put Allie Boy away, but for some reason after Carmine was locked away forever in the commission case, he sent word to Joe Waverly that he wanted William Aronwald murdered because he disrespected the Colombo Family.  It is kind of strange if you look at Mr. Aronwald’s cases, he actually prosecuted Neil Dellacroce twice.  So it would seem that the Gambino's would be the ones with greater reason for the beef.

Joe Waverly is no ordinary mobster, back in the 1970's he had a florist shop in Sheepshead Bay and one day he was waylaid by 3 men trying to rob his shop.  He was shot in the chest but he wrestled the pistol away, killed the robber who shot him and shot at the others who ran away.  Joe then drove the dead robber to the local police precinct where he was quickly taken to the hospital for his wound.   

Joe survived that escapade and his legend continued to grow.  So when Carmine sent word that he wanted William Aronwald murdered, Joe took action.  He enlisted three Colombo Associates Vincent Carini, Eddie Carini and Frank Smith.  These guys were the real deal, shooters and good at hits.  He gave them a slip of paper with the name Aronwald and the address of the Brooklyn law firm he shared with his father George Aronwald.  They followed Aronwald from his Brooklyn Office and shot him in a laundromat near his home.  The only problem?  It was the elder George Aronwald, not the younger William Aronwald who was the former head of the Organized Strikeforce.  

The other four Mafia Families in New York were enraged that they killed the wrong man, and even more enraged that they had killed a judge.  They wanted those that took part in the murder gone.  So Joe had another set of killers grab the Carini brothers.  It was a brutal slaying because both brothers were found in cars but both had major defensive wounds on their hands and arms showing that they put up a fight.

I wonder why the Mafia Commission did not do more.  Why didn’t they make Carmine Persico step down?  Why did they do nothing to Joe Waverly who organized the hit?  Maybe there is more to this killing.  The Gambinos had more cause to act, but why bother?  Joe Waverly felt so bad for the Carini brothers that he married Eddie Carini's widow.  Joe also had the brothers killer’s killed in Brooklyn not long after the murder.

Joe's reputation soared after this and his crew was loyal to him.  He was close to Vic Arena and when Vic and Bill Cutolo revolted against the Persico rule, Joe joined them.  He saw Persico loyalist Capo Greg Scarpa driving down the street and he fired shots at him but missed.  Greg would catch up with Joe again in Brooklyn and they exchanged shots, this time with only Joe getting hit.  Joe drove himself to the hospital and was patched up.  Joe, being the good guy he is, later shifted sides back to the Persico side.  Joe would be upped to the Consigliare position in the family after the war.  

Joe's wife divorced him and soon she married a Police Officer named Ralph Dols, and they lived in Sheepshead Brooklyn.  Joe was insanely jealous. so he sent word that he wanted Ralph Dols dead.  The tale told by one of the shooters, Big Dino Calabro, is that Colombo Underboss Tommy "Shots" Gioli gave him the order, the address and slip of paper with Ralph Dols licence plate number on it.  They could not find Ralph Dols, so Joe called Dino in for a talk.  Dino then stepped up his efforts to get Ralph Dols.  They found out where he parked his car on the street, they had someone shoot out the street light with a BB Gun so it would be dark.  Ralph Dols came home from work, parked his car, got out of his car and was getting ready to shut his door when Big Dino Calabro, carrying a 44 Magnum, and his cousin, Little Dino Saracino, armed with a 45 Auto, walked toward him.  Ralph Dols asked what was up and they opened fire on him.  He fell on the hood of his car and they shot him a couple more times.  They took off, but Ralph Dols managed to get to his house before collapsing in his doorway.  

The hit squad had no idea Ralph Dols was NYPD and they had no idea it was a jealous lovers revenge, they thought it was dealing with Colombo Family business.  Today Joe Waverly aka Joel Cacace is on trial for the murder of Ralph Dols. Tommy Shots and Little Dino were found not guilty of the murder, but were found guilty of racketeering.  Maybe this time it will be the end of Joel Cacace aka Joe Waverly.

This is what the Mafia has become: honorless slayers of law enforcement, they are just like all other low level street gangs.