WARNING: EXPLICIT MATERIAL

Philip Testa

AKA:

Chicken Man

Birth Name:

Philip Charles Testa

Birth Date:

April 21, 1924

Birth Place:

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Death Date:

March 15, 1981

Place of Death:

2117 Porter Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Age:

Cause of Death:

Bomb blast

Cemetery Name:

Holy Cross Cemetery

Claim to Fame:

Crime and their Victims

Associates:

Salvatore Testa

Philip Testa aka "The Chicken Man" was an Italian-American mobster known for his brief leadership of the Philadelphia crime family of the Italian-American Mafia. He became boss of the Philadelphia crime family after the previous boss and his close friend, Angelo Bruno, was murdered by Bruno’s own consigliere, Antonio Caponigro, who, in turn, was ordered killed by The Commission for murdering a boss without permission. About a year after Bruno's death, Testa was killed by the blast of a nail bomb at his home in South Philadelphia. The assassination was ordered by Testa’s own underboss, Peter Casella, as part of the first Philadelphia Mafia War.

Not-S0 Fun Facts

Peter Casella was born in Philadelphia of Italian ancestry, being raised in the territory of the Bruno crime family. By 1981, he was the underboss of the Philadelphia family, along with Chickie Narducci. After the murder of mob boss Angelo Bruno, Casella and Narducci attempted to become the new head of Bruno’s criminal organization. Casella and Narducci killed the new don, Philip Testa, before fleeing to Florida. Narducci was murdered in Philadelphia in 1982. Casella lived in Florida with his daughter until his death in 1992 of natural causes.

On January 7, 1982 Frank “Chickie” Narducci exited his car in front of his home at 3200 South Broad street in Philadelphia, where Salvatore Testa (son of murdered mob boss Philip Testa) confronted him. Testa called his name, and he let Frank turn around long enough to look at his face, before proceeding to shoot him in the head with a pistol. So not even a year after the hit on Philip Testa, Frank “Chickie” Narducci was shot 10 times about 30 yards from his south Philadelphia home as he returned from federal court, where he was on trial with seven others on racketeering charges. Last rites were administered by Msgr. Edward McLaughlin of the Stella Maris church as the body lay on the ground.

Exactly one year to the day of the hit on Phillip Testa, his son Salvatore and his gang lured Rocco “Boom Boom” Marinucci to the Buckeye Club and beat and tortured Rocco for building, placing and detonating the bomb that took the life of Phillip Testa.

Cemetery Information:

Final Resting Place:

Holy Cross Cemetery

626 Baily Road

Yeadon, Pennsylvania, 19050

USA

North America

Map:

Map of Holy Cross Cemetery in Yeadon, Pennsylvania

Grave Location:

Section 21, Range 3, Grave 2

Grave Location Description

As you enter the cemetery from the 2nd entrance on Baily Avenue, drive straight ahead to the first roundabout and drive 3/4 around and park. Look to the right for the short-lived mob boss Philip Testa and his son Salvadore who are in exactly the center of Section 21. Look for the large DiGenova memorial on your right and on your left the huge, round Bartholomew mausoleum. Standing between these two memorials you will see the Testa headstone.