Elena Semander

popular name: Cesare Bonventre

date_of_death: April 16, 1984

age: 33

cause_of_death: Mob hit - gunshot wounds

claim_to_fame: Crime and their Victims

best_know_for: As a member of the Sicilian faction of the Bonnano family, Cesare Bonventre worked as a bodyguard for the unofficial boss Carmine Galante. Several members of his family were involved with organized crime, including his uncle John Bonventre, a former Bonanno underboss and his cousins Baldassare “Baldo” Amato and the first family boss Joseph Bonanno. The lean and handsome Bonventre was known as “The Tall Guy” because he stood close to six feet seven inches tall. He was often seen with his shirt unbuttoned with a gold crucifix hanging from his neck. Bonventre was described by one author as having something about him that made him stand out from the other ethnic Italians. He wore stylish clothing, aviator sunglasses and carried European made man purses that embodied Italian couture and frequented clubs such as The Toyland Social Club and the Knickerbocker Avenue area with other Sicilia mobsters. While he may be best remembered for setting up his boss, Carmine "Cigar" Galante, along with associate Baldo Amato for one of the most infamous murders in American mafia, he eventually was murdered himself in a glue factory in New Jersey. Upon his death, he was buried at St. Charles / Resurrection Cemetery on Long Island, NY.

popular name: Joe Profaci

date_of_death: June 6, 1962

age: 64

cause_of_death: Liver cancer

claim_to_fame: Crime and their Victims

best_know_for: Giuseppe "Joe" Profaci was an Italian-born New York City La Cosa Nostra boss who was the founder of the Profaci crime family. Established in 1928, this was the last of the Five Families to be organized. He was the family's boss for over three decades. On December 5, 1928, after the murder of Brooklyn boss Salvatore D'Aquila in 1928, Profaci attended the infamous mob meeting in Cleveland, Ohio that would make him an organized crime boss in Brooklyn to maintain calm among the Brooklyn gangs. In addition to his illegal enterprises such as protection rackets and extortion, Profaci continued with his olive oil company making him a wealthy man both legally and illegally. When Profaci died from liver cancer in 1962, his second in command would take charge, Joe Magliocco. A year after taking control of the family Magliocco made plans with Joseph Bonanno to assassinate several rivals such as Tommy Lucchese, Carlo Gambino, and Stefano Magaddino in order to get control of the entire syndicate. Joe Columbo stepped up to The Commission and turned in Magliocco and Bonanno. Magliocco was forced out of the family and Joe Columbo took over the reins of the Profaci crime family and renamed it the Columbo Family.

popular name: Mary Surratt

date_of_death: July 7, 1865

age: 42

cause_of_death: Executed - Hanging

claim_to_fame: Crime and their Victims

best_know_for: Mary Surratt was American boarding house owner in Washington, D.C., in 1865 who was convicted of taking part in the conspiracy to assassinate U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. Sentenced to death, she was hanged and became the first woman executed by the US federal government. She maintained her innocence until her death, and the case against her was and is controversial.