Silas Jayne

popular name: José Menéndez

date_of_death: August 20, 1989

age: 45

cause_of_death: Homicide - gunshot wounds

claim_to_fame: Crime and their Victims

best_know_for: José Menéndez was an entertainment executive and was married to Kitty Menendez, a former beauty queen, school teacher and mid-level Beverly Hills socialite. Sadly Kitty and Jose will always be remembered as the murder victims of their two sons - Erik and Lyle. In August of 1989 the couple’s two sons, Lyle and Erik, drove a small white hatchback up to the house, got their weapons from the trunk and entered the house via the French doors. The first shot from a .12 gauge shotgun hit José in the back of the head and killed him instantly. They continued with two more shots, tearing open both arms. Kitty was not so lucky as they pumped 10 shots as she tried to crawl away with the final shotgun blast to the face. Lyle dialed the fake 911 call and told police they had arrived home after a movie to the grisly discovery as smoke from the gunshots still loomed in the air. But as the months passed after the execution-style deaths, police were struck by the sons’ lavish spending sprees: buying Rolex watches, private tennis lessons, expensive clothing, jewelry, a Porsche, and even a chicken wings restaurant. After two hung juries, a third trial found them guilty of murder and sentenced the two sons to life without parole.

popular name: Joseph Giunta

date_of_death: May 7, 1929

age: 42

cause_of_death: Homicide - gunshot wounds

claim_to_fame: Crime and their Victims

best_know_for: Joseph Giunta was an Italian-American mobster, President of Unione Siciliana and confidant of Al Capone's rival Joe Aiello. He was a lead conspirator in an attempt to overthrow Al Capone’s criminal empire. When Frank Rio (Capone's bodyguard) got wind of the plot, according to legend Giunta and his associates Albert Anselmi and John Scalise were beaten and shot to death by Capone at a party. Their bodies were found the next day in Hammond, Indiana.

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.