Silas Jayne

popular name: Michael Rizzitello

date_of_death: October 26, 2005

age: 78

cause_of_death: Cancer

claim_to_fame: Crime and their Victims

best_know_for: Michael Rizzitello (aka "Mike Rizzi") was a capo (underboss) in the Milano crime family of Los Angeles. Rizzitello's criminal record stretched back to 1947 whe he worked for "Crazy Joe" Gallo in the 1950s who was a member of the Profaci crime family (later named the Colombo crime family). When Gallo attempted to take over the Profaci crime family, Rizzitello was one of his key gunmen who participated in the murder of mobster John Guariglia and Paul Ricci at the HiFi Lounge in Brooklyn on November 11, 1961, along with future LA mob soldier Tommy Ricciardi. Soon after in 1956, Mike Rizzitello moved to California. In California, Rizzitello first became affiliated with the Los Angeles crime family working as a debt collector and extortionist for Salvatore "Dago Louie" Piscopo along with a friend of his named Louie "Lefty" Castiglione. He was also mentored by Joseph Sica; an associate of Piscopo. During his time in Los Angeles he was responsible for conspiracy to commit murder, armed robbery, illegal gambling, racketeering, extortion, loan sharking, mail fraud, insurance fraud, and extortion. Rizzitello's activities were featured in several biography novels by mobsters-turned-informants Jimmy Fratianno (The Last Mafioso and Vengeance Is Mine), Anthony Fiato (The Animal in Hollywood), and Kenny Gallo (Breakshot).

popular name: Salvatore Testa

date_of_death: September 14, 1984

age: 28

cause_of_death: Murdered - mob hit

claim_to_fame: Crime and their Victims

best_know_for: Salvatore "Salvie" Testa, nicknamed "The Crowned Prince of the Philadelphia Mob", was an Italian-American mobster who served as a caporegime and later acting underboss for the Philadelphia crime family. Testa made his reputation as a hitman for the Philadelphia family during a period of internal gang conflict. The son of former boss Philip “The Chicken Man” Testa, Salvatore Testa was an emerging figure in the mob until he was killed on the orders of Philadelphia crime family mob boss Nicky Scarfo. Mobster-turned-informant Thomas DelGiorno said close friend and associate of Testa, Joseph Pungitore, reluctantly agreed to join the plot to kill Testa during the summer of 1984. Scarfo was worried that Testa was forming his own crew and began gaining too much power. Scarfo was also angry when Salvie broke his engagement with the daughter of a high-ranking mob official. Testa was lured to a sweet shop in South Philadelphia where Salvatore 'Wayne' Grande shot him twice in the head. Testa's body was dumped in a ditch in then rural southern New Jersey. As a result of the slaying Joseph Grande, Charles Iannece and Nicholas 'Nicky Crow' Caramandi were initiated into the mob. But don't let the "Prince" moniker - Salvie Testa was a violent psychopath who enjoyed killing, even once ordering the hit on a rival including the children in the family. It has been reported that he was directly responsible for the murder of, at a minimum, 15 people. Upon his death, he was interred at Holy Cross Cemetery, Yeadon, PA.

popular name: Lizzie Borden

date_of_death: June 1, 1927

age: 66

cause_of_death: Pneumonia

claim_to_fame: Crime and their Victims

best_know_for: Lizzie Borden is infamous for being the prime suspect in the double murder of their father and step-mother. She was tried and acquitted and no one else was charged in the murders. The murders and trial received widespread publicity throughout the United States and, along with Borden herself, they remain a topic in American popular culture to the present day. They have been depicted in numerous films, theatrical productions, literary works, and folk rhymes, and are still very well-known in the Fall River area.