Mafia Betrayal at Its Finest

In the cold wee hours of the morning of Friday, October 3, 1980, NYPD officers responded to a phone call they received about gunshots and a shooting in a quiet residential area of Western Queens County.

When police arrived on the scene, they discovered the body of 56-year-old Vincent (Jamesy) Delio lying across the front stoop of a home at 1811 Starr Street in the Ridgewood section of the borough.

It was 4:30 am and Delio had reportedly just finished parking his car in front of his girlfriend’s home, walked up the front steps, and was opening the front door of her home when an assassin, hidden from view, quickly emerged and pumped five shots at him.

Scene of Delio's murder, 1811 Starr Street.

Delio was shot twice, once in the face and once in the chest, killing him instantly. He collapsed and was dead before he even hit the pavement. Police said he cracked the back of his head as he hit the ground.

They also say his girlfriend waited two hours before calling the police, but that the gunshots had awakened several neighbors and family members who immediately called the police. The cops arrived at the murder scene shortly thereafter.

Responding police officers found over $3,500 in cash in his pockets and thousands of dollars worth of jewelry on his body and quickly ruled out robbery as a motive for the killing. Homicide detectives of the 104th Precinct were brought in, but once they realized who the murder victim was, they called in specialists from the New York City Organized Crime Control Squad to take over the investigation.

It seems that the victim was Vincent (Jamesy) Delio, a documented “soldier” in the Genovese crime Family, who was also considered to be one of Queens County’s most active racketeers and hoodlums.

At the time of his slaying, organized crime investigators described Delio as a close associate of Frank (Funzi) Tieri, whom they identified as the head of the Vito Genovese crime Family. Authorities described Delio as a major figure in loansharking and extortion activities in Queens and Brooklyn, as well as Nassau and Suffolk Counties out on Long Island.

When later interviewed, Delio's family members told detectives that the victim was last seen alive by his two sons in Manhattan only hours earlier, at about 12:30 am. They had just left a movie theatre together after watching the Heavyweight Championship bout between Muhammad Ali and Larry Holmes on closed-circuit television.

One source said that Delio had recently been warned by other crime family leaders that he was overstepping his bounds by operating on Long Island. Similar to his uncle, “He was not a very likable fellow,” said one investigator. “I guess you could say he was overdue.”

Delio’s murder seemingly ended a bloody underworld saga started years earlier with a string of gangland slayings of several Delio relatives and close mob associates of the Pasquale Macchiarole regime of the Genovese Family.

Delio’s 30-year-old brother, Thomas (Red) Delio , also a known mob figure, had been rubbed out six years earlier, in 1974. Before his murder, Red was reputed to have been a truck hijacker, cigarette smuggler, and strong-arm man.

Macchiarole’s son, John, was slaughtered only weeks after his father was found dead in the trunk of his car in 1978. The Delios and Macchiaroles just happened to be cousins. It seems that John had started threatening people, swearing to kill whoever was responsible for his father’s murder. So, Family boss Frank Tieri ordered the kid’s death as well to make sure any potential threats were quelled.

The true motive for Delio’s murder has never been determined. But there is a theory that later emerged, supported by some in the underworld, that suggests Vincent Delio carried out the order to murder his own cousin, Paddy Macchiarole, to save his own skin. But, as a reward for Delio betraying his own blood, Frank Tieri later double-banked him and had Delio slaughtered as well.

In the next few installments of this series, we’ll examine some other underworld killings that were directly, or indirectly, tied into this “Paddy Mac Whack” mob mess.

Mafia Betrayal at Its Finest

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You May Also Enjoy

The “Happy” Hood

How the Wiseguys Used to Handle Rodent Problems

There’s Only So Much You Can Take

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