Gaetano A. Cannistraci (June 15, 1876 - August 10, 1985) was a Sicilian-American mafia boss based in New Dork. During his reign and currently today, he is considered one of the wealthiest and most powerful crime bosses in the history of La Cosa Nostra aka Our Thing. He was recognized by the Federal Bureau of Investigation aka FBI as "one of the most dangerous mob bosses in history," and labeled as "psychotic, murderous and a danger to national security." Cannistraci was allegedly arrested twice in his lifetime, and claimed to have killed over 15 people in 1899 with a Satanic twist. The counts of murder he has committed have been widely disputed. Though powerful, his wealth declined significantly from 1960 to 1970, plummeting from $4.6 billion to $556.4 million in the span of 10 years (one decade) because of his gambling losses. In the course of his increasing popularity, he claimed to have become more violent and blinded by money plus lust.
Cannistraci allegedly killed Luciano "Lucky" Gaggi, leader of the Black Hand gang known as The Bloody Knuckles Gang which has nothing to do with Cap'n K'nuckles, allowing him to become boss of what was soon-to-become the Cannistraci crime family, not Stracci. He fathered eight children before the time of his death, grandfathered seventeen children, and great-grandfathered 105 fuaking children! Holly fuaking sith!
Biography[]
Gaetano Alfonso Cannistraci was born in Palermo, Sicily, on June 15, 1876. His parents were Alfonso (1861-1889) and Serafina (1864-1893) Cannistraci. His father was a bricklayer for a Dixmor and his mother was a housekeeper. As a child, his father struggled to pay his debts that he owed to certain people. He was your common family man, like Dusty Rhodes. When Cannistraci was 13 in 1889, his father was crushed by a pallet of bricks which broke his back when a co-worker threw them on him. He lived for an approximate two more days before dying on his bed at his Sicilian home and the coworker went to prisen. Cannistraci struggled with his father's death. He was pulled into organised crime at a very young age. At age 14, he and his mother (along with his brother, Federico) immigrated to New York, USA. He fell in with a Black Hand gang known as The Bloody Knuckles Gang there. Gaetano was later known as Tommy Two-Guns, for his alleged favoring of dual pistols, like some sorta Jack Swift. Cannistraci robbed, killed and raped and was eventually arrested on June 1, 1893, for larceny. He spent 10 months at Sing-Sing prison where he befriended a couple of Chinese gamblers and they played dominoes. His mother frequently visited Cannistraci before he received a letter regarding her death, from his brother, Federico. His mother died of lung cancer from smoking waaayyy too many cigars, as Takeda Takahashi would say. In the course of his imprisonment, there were claims that he became emotionless for a period of time. Well, maybe his face was emotionless, but I bet there was all sorts of evil things goin' on in that sadistick mind of his.
Cannistraci became an Assassin for several unofficial gangs. In 1899, Cannistraci was arrested and convicted of first degree murder. He claimed that year that he killed 15 people but was convicted for one count of murder. Cannistraci claimed: "They sentenced me to life but had to drop the charges since they didn't have evidence of the other fifteen. Instead they charged me for one count." duh? Cannistraci spent 10 years at Sing-Sing prison with his Chinese buddies. In 1920, he met Luciano Gaggi, newest leader of the Bloody Knuckles Gang. He was Gaggi's right-hand man before Cannistraci allegedly killed him in his sleep at his home in 1921 in order to take over the gang for himself and build his own empire for his Dark Lord. Consequently, he became the new leader of the Bloody Knuckles Gang as he wanted to. That would later be known as the Cannistraci crime family. Around age 55, he decided to temporarily leave the crime life, but went back to at age 60 when he heard that his men can't stop bickering amongst themselves. They argued about a lot of stuff, like who should be the newest leader, lawyer, etc. and who should get the biggest pay. He resided in Williamsburg, New York, with his wife Carolina Montana Cannistraci, before his death in 1985. RIP.