Girolamo (Bobby Doyle) Santuccio: Founding Member of Cosa Nostra

A known killer, Girolamo (Bobby Doyle) Santuccio was a Genovese Family soldier who was also an original founding member of Cosa Nostra. He supposedly even sponsored songbird Joe Valachi into the Family!

Girolamo (Bobby Doyle) Santuccio - aka James Santucci - was born in 1900 in Floridia, Sicily. He immigrated to America in 1908, settling with his parents into a tenement on the very “Sicilian-oriented” Elizabeth Street in the Little Italy section of Manhattan.

Girolamo (Bobby Doyle) Santuccio

By the early 1920s, they had relocated up to the Hartford, CT., area, but as a young man, he chose to live in the NYC area where most of the action was. By the early-1950s, he moved back to Hartford residing in a second-floor apartment at 800 New Britain Avenue.

He had a brother Giuseppe (Joseph) who was also in the rackets and was murdered in 1921 by another hood named Louie Lamole. This would start a blood feud between the two with several assaults and shootings until Bobby finally killed Lamole in 1932.

FBI # 486843, NYCPD # B-59749

Santuccio’s criminal record reflected arrests in both NYC and Conn., including:

1916 - felonious assault

1926 - possession of a revolver

1931 - homicide

1932 - homicide by gunshot

1940 - alien registration

1960 - contempt of court

1965 - bribery

1976 - perjury

Santuccio had a strong reputation as a killer and hired torpedo early in his career. It was said that he was a premier gunman during the infamous “Castellammarese War” of 1929 to 1931. So, he was afforded a lot of respect as having been an “original” who was there at the very beginning of Cosa Nostra.

As a founding member of Cosa Nostra, and who was there with a gun in his hand fighting for the cause, Santuccio knew all the players including Lucky Luciano, Vito Genovese, Ciro Terranova, Anthony Strollo, and hosts of other important mafiosi.

Joseph (Joe Cago) Valachi had originally named him during his FBI debriefing and subsequent Senate testimony as the gunman who shot and killed several major opponents in the conflict.

He was said to have been the shooter of Joe Pinzolo in 1930. Pinzolo was a trusted minion and bodyguard of would-be boss of bosses Salvatore Maranzano.

Valachi claimed that Santuccio was present the day Maranzano was assassinated in his Midtown Manhattan office in 1931 and that Santuccio was attending to a slaughtered Maranzano at the murder scene as police arrived. Valachi said he was sponsored into Cosa Nostra by Dominick (The Gap) Petrilli and Santuccio.

For a time early on in their careers, Bobby Doyle and Joe Cago were partners in a slot machine and numbers business before each going his own way.

Bobby Doyle was said to oversee a large loanshark ring operating in the Hartford area after relocating back there in partnership with the younger Andrew (Andy) Pradella, a key operative of Frankie (Skyball) Scibelli.

They also worked in tandem controlling various bookmaking, numbers, and dice and card games in that area, ensuring that they and their Genovese faction (the Cufari-Scibelli crew) got a slice of every gambling operation they could “push-in” on.

His activities included strong-arm enforcer, policy, shylocking, and extortion. He was said to have a small crew of “associates” under his auspices who were active in various rackets around Connecticut.

Among others, the following close associates were named:

• Anthony David Volpe of 157 W. Main St., West Hartford - He was the alleged co-leader of this group, top aide, and partner of Scibelli. • George (Georgie Polo) Polashian - A close Santuccio aide known to chauffeur him around. • Anthony Delmonico and Frank Congelosi - Both considered shylocks and strong-arm collectors under Santuccio and Volpe.

Volpe was said to have organized a large loanshark network, loaning money out around Hartford provided him by Big Nose Sam Cufari and Frankie Skyball.

Santuccio helped oversee these collections, allowing Volpe to use his name to instill any needed fear, utilizing the above-named hoodlums as collectors and strong arms. Volpe was also alleged to use his sister (Carol Volpe Jensen) to maintain all the “books” and records for his loan business.

La Scala Restaurant and Giovanni’s Restaurant were said by authorities to have been the two favorite outposts for this gang. They also used several private social clubs as their base. In addition, they worked out of the Greek-American Club at 5 Capitol Avenue.

Girolamo (Bobby Doyle) Santuccio died at the comfortable age of 83 in 1983.

Until next time..."The Other Guy!"

Girolamo (Bobby Doyle) Santuccio: Founding Member of Cosa Nostra

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Girolamo (Bobby Doyle) Santuccio: Founding Member of Cosa Nostra

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