Who Got Whacked Where? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Paul Castellano

"Big Paulie" and his driver/body guard, Tommy Belotti, were gunned downed in front of Sparks Steakhouse in downtown Manhattan on December 16, 1985. The gunmen was hired by John Gotti; the hit allowed Gotti to gain control of the Gambino family.

Answer: Dutch Shultz

Two gunmen from Murder Incorporated shot Dutch and three of his henchmen on October 23, 1935. Dutch had asked the other mob bosses to sanction a "hit" on special prosecutor Thomas Dewey. When the bosses, known as "the Commission", refused, Dutch said that he was going to kill Dewey with or without their permission. The Commission decided that would bring down too much heat on organized crime. Dutch was rubbed out.

Answer: Albert Anastasia

Known as the "Mad Hatter" and the "Lord High Executioner", Anastasia was murdered while sitting in a barbershop chair at the Park Sheraton Hotel in Manhattan. His murder was part of a plot by Vito Genovese to remove allies of Frank Costello so Vito could gain control of the Luciano family.

Answer: Benjamin "Bugsy" Seigel

Bugsy was way over budget after mismanaging the building of the Flamingo Casino in Las Vegas. The suspicion was that he was pocketing mob money that should have been sent to the mobsters who had financed the building of the casino. He was shot while reading a newspaper in his Virginia Hills living room.

Answer: Carmine Galante

Carmine Galante was behind a large narcotics importing operation. He also tried to move in on the heroin smuggling operations of the other families. Some of the other families asked for and got permission to take Carmine out of the picture. He was eating at Joe and Mary's when three masked gunmen entered the patio and started shooting. Galante and two of his associates were killed, but his bodyguards, who did nothing to protect him, were not harmed.

Answer: Sam Giancana

Sam was judged by the higher ups in the Chicago mob to be too flamboyant and too outspoken. He was about to be questioned by a government commission investigation about the mob's connection with the CIA in a plot to kill Fidel Castro. Someone with whom he was comfortable shot him in his basement kitchen while he cooked peppers and sausages. Whoever that was shot him several times and left.

Answer: Joey Gallo

Joey Gallo, also known as "Crazy Joey", was celebrating his birthday with family members when three men came in through the back door of the restaurant and opened fire. He was thought to have ordered the hit on Joe Colombo, and the Colombo family wanted revenge.

Answer: Dion O'Bannion

Dion O'Bannion owned a flower shop as a cover for his mob activities. His main competition in Chicago was "the outfit", run by Johnny Torrio and his protege, Alphonse Capone. O'Bannion sold his interest in a brewery to Torrio for a half a million dollars.

The brewery was raided and Torrio arrested. Torrio blamed O'Bannion for defrauding him of a half a million. Three men showed up at the flower shop ostensibly to buy flowers for a mob funeral. They shot O'Bannion.

Answer: Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll

Vincent Cole was a former member of Dutch Shultz's gang who decided he wanted to form his own gang. He made extra cash by kidnapping other gangsters and demanding ransom. He was reportedly in a phone booth trying to hustle gangster Owney Madden for some money by threatening to kidnap his brother-in-law.

While on the phone, a man entered the drug store, pulled a sub-machine gun from under his overcoat, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Answer: Salvatore Maranzano

After having removed his main competitor, Salvatore declared himself "boss of bosses". Some of the younger mobsters who had helped him gain power by assassinating his main rival decided that his rules about trusting only fellow Sicilians did not allow them to align themselves with other ethnic groups that could help them make more money. They sent a hit team to his office posing as IRS agents. The business model for the mob was changed with Maranzano's execution.

Answer: Giuseppe Masseria

Lucky Luciano invited his boss, Joe Masseria, to lunch at a Coney Island restaurant. They ate, drank wine, and played cards. Luciano excused himself to use the restroom. While he was gone, a hit crew walked in and shot Joe "the Boss" several times. It was all part of a plot by younger mobsters to end the war going on between two rival bosses.

The younger mobsters had decided that the war was bad for business and eventually got rid of both of the warring bosses.

Answer: Joseph Columbo

Joe Colombo formed the Italian American Civil Rights League, ostensibly to fight against the perceived discrimination of Italian Americans. It was Columbo's way of fighting the FBI. Many of the other bosses thought his publicity grabbing rallies were bringing too much heat on the other mob families.

There was also an on-going beef with Joey Gallo. Columbo was shot and paralyzed by a man with a camera wearing press credentials. He died several years later after slipping into a coma after the shooting.