Gilmore and Facciolo Murders
By the mid 1980s, Daidone had become a top aide to Amuso and Casso. During this period, Amuso became increasingly concerned about potential rivals and government informants within the family. He soon started a bloody purge of possible suspects, using Daidone to help him.
In February 1989, Amuso and Casso ordered Daidone to murder Lucchese soldier Thomas Gilmore, a car thief working for the Lucchese family. They had received information from New York Police Department (NYPD) detectives Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa, who were both being bribed by Casso, that Gilmore was a government informant. Daidone and two associates hid inside Gilmore's Richmond Hill, Queens apartment to await his return. Under Daidone's supervision, the two associates ambushed Gilmore as he returned to his apartment and shot him three times in the head. There is no proof that Gilmore was ever working for a government agency.
In 1990, both Amuso and Casso became fugitives to avoid federal indictment for racketeering. During this period, they communicated orders to the Lucchese family using messengers. In August 1990, Amuso and Casso ordered Daidone to murder Lucchese mobster Bruno Facciolo. Eppolito and Caracappa had told Amuso that Facciolo was helping California authorities in an investigation of a Lucchese-linked homicide. Daidone asked Facciolo to formally introduce him to a member of another crime family at a garage in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn.
When Daidone and Facciolo arrived at the garage, Facciolo saw the men waiting for him and tried to run away. Daidone dragged Facciolo back to the garage, then held him down while the other mobsters stabbed and shot him in both eyes. One week later, Facciolo's body was recovered from the trunk of his car. The police found a dead canary in his mouth, the Cosa Nostra sign of an informant. In 1991, Amuso was finally captured and later that year convicted of racketeering charges and in 1992, was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Read more about this topic: Louis Daidone
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