Carmine “Cigar” Galante was killed in the garden of Joe and Mary’s Italian-American Restaurant in Brooklyn, New York, on July 12, 1979. Shot by masked men at point-blank range, the Bonanno Family mob boss met his maker with his trusty cigar still in his mouth – and there are images to prove it. Coming at the tail end of a series of power-grab murders on other prominent mob families that were ordered by Galante, the murder was ordered by other high-ranking members of the Cosa Nostra to put an end to Galante’s antics.
Galante wasn’t the only one slain over wine and salad that day. One of his associates and the owner of the restaurant went down with him. However, while federal authorities maintain the hit couldn’t have been carried out without the consent of a majority of bosses, only one man was ever charged for the crime, Anthony (Bruno) Indelicato – a member of Galante’s own Bonanno family.
