In the late 1970s, Bonanno crime family captain Alphonse “Sonny Red” Indelicato led a crew of made men whose identities have been pieced together through research and court records. Indelicato, famously depicted in the film *Donnie Brasco*, was one of three Bonanno captains murdered in May 1981 in what became known as the three captains hit, alongside Dominic “Big Trin” Trinchera and Philip “Phil Lucky” Giaccone. The three had rebelled against imprisoned family boss Philip “Rusty” Rastelli. Indelicato was inducted into the Bonanno family in early 1976, shortly after Mafia membership books reopened in January of that year.
Within roughly two years, he had risen to captain. Among the soldiers who served in his crew during this period was William “Cappy” Capparelli. Capparelli had a violent history before his induction. In 1967, at age 32, he surrendered to authorities six months after being indicted for the murder of a bouncer.
According to contemporary newspaper reports, the bouncer, Stephen Setford, had slapped a barmaid during an argument at an Astoria bar. The woman made a phone call, and four men, including Capparelli, arrived shortly afterward. Six shots were fired, two striking Setford in the chest. His body was later found outside the bar.
Capparelli was inducted into the Bonanno family around March 1976, reportedly serving in Indelicato’s crew during the late 1970s. When Indelicato was murdered in 1981, Capparelli avoided the ensuing internal power struggle because he was incarcerated on narcotics charges. He was later moved to the crew of captain Frank Lino, under whom he served by 1985. In 1993, Capparelli pled guilty to grand larceny and extortion for shaking down contractors and forcing them to launder money.
According to court papers, he had trouble convincing his victims he was genuinely connected. He reportedly gave contractors Shawn and Peter McCormack a videotape of *Honor Thy Father*, a made-for-TV film about the Bonanno family, telling them he was in it and that it depicted his family. In 2004, it was revealed that a hit had been ordered on Capparelli for allegedly extorting a relative of Bobby Lino Sr. Frank Lino interceded and got the hit called off, arguing that it was not right to kill a man over such a dispute.
Capparelli died of natural causes around 2012. Another member of Sonny Red’s crew was Joseph “Joe Beans” Campanella. He came from a Mafia family: his father, John “Johnny Beans” Campanella Sr. , was a Genovese soldier in the crew of powerful captain Peter DeFeo, and his brother, John Campanella Jr.
, was listed in 1979 as a Genovese associate linked to the same crew. Joe Beans was born in 1938 and was inducted into the Bonanno family in the late 1970s at age 40. He died in 2007. Russell Mauro also served in Indelicato’s crew, joining the Bonanno family around 1978 at age 40.
Mauro is most noted for his role in the 1979 murder of feared mobster Carmine Galante, with many reports stating that Mauro personally fired the fatal shot. Following Indelicato’s murder in 1981, Mauro reported to Frank Lino and later to Salvatore Vitale’s crew. Some reports also place Mauro as an acting captain at a later point. In 1991, Mauro was murdered at the Black Eagle Social Club.
Sources differ on the motive: some state he was killed because Joe Massino viewed him as a threat, while Massino, after becoming an informant, claimed Mauro was probably killed because of his drug use and wild behavior, including shooting up a Gambino family bar. Dominic “Big Trin” Trinchera also served as a soldier in Sonny Red’s crew in the late 1970s, although some sources place him in Armand Palestrino’s crew. Trinchera was inducted into the Bonanno family in 1977 at age 40. He was also part of the Galante hit team, handling crowd control during the murder and shooting and wounding the son of restaurant owner and mobster Joseph Turano, who had gone to warn his father and Galante about the gunmen.
In 1980, Indelicato allegedly backed Trinchera to become captain of Palestrino’s crew after Palestrino was stepped down. Trinchera was also an early mentor of future acting boss Vincent “Vinny Gorgeous” Basciano. Trinchera was murdered in the three captains hit in 1981. Sonny Red’s brother, Joseph “JB” Indelicato, also served in the crew.
JB was a longtime Bonanno soldier, inducted in 1977 at age 46. By 2002, he was listed as a soldier in Richard Cantarella’s crew and later served under Dominick Cicale, who said of him, “JB, we left alone. He had carte blanche, he could do whatever he wants on my family alone. He owned it.
”
Another figure believed to have been in Sonny Red’s crew was Anthony “Blackie” Calabro. Calabro was allegedly involved with the Indelicato brothers in the 1970 murder of Joseph “Wagon Wheels” Viscovi, a hit that reportedly also involved Colombo crime family members, including Joseph “Joe Yak” Yacovelli. Calabro was inducted into the Bonanno family in the spring of 1978 at age 50 and died in 1977, with some accounts noting the apparent discrepancy in dates.