What happened to Paul Castellano? Mob boss John Gotti had him assassinated while he was watching nearby but was caught and jailed by the FBI. Details explored.
John Gotti (real name: John Joseph Gotti Jr.) was an American gangster and former boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City.
The Gambino mob family was founded in the 1900s and was known as one of the “Five Families” that dominated organized crime activities in New York City.
Before John Gotti became the boss, he
Before Gotti notoriously took over control of the Gambino family from 1985 to 1990 with Salvatore “Sammy the Bull” Gravano as his second-in-command, he ordered Paul Castellano murdered.
Here’s everything we know about Paul Castellano.
Who was Paul Castellano?
Constantino Paul Castellano was born on June 26, 1915, in Brooklyn, New York, New York, United States.
His parents were Giuseppe Castellano (father) and Concetta Castellano (mother), both Italian immigrants. His dad, Giuseppe, was a butcher and a member of the Mangano crime family, which later developed into the Gambino crime family.
He had one sibling, a sister named Catherine Castellano who married one of their cousins, Carlo Gambino, in 1932.
When Castellano was in eighth grade, he dropped out of school in order to work as a butcher.
He was arrested for the first time in 1934 when he was 19 years old for robbing a haberdasher. He served three months in jail, which helped increase his credibility and reputation with the mob.
Castellano was considered the “boss of bosses,” or “the Godfather,” because he presided over the largest and most powerful of the New York City crime families.
His role was after Carlo Gambino died a natural death in 1976 and chose Castellano to succeed him as the head of his organization.
Paul Castellano was a construction tycoon in New York City and a wholesale meat merchant. He has been portrayed in several films including by Richard C. Sarafian in the 1996 HBO movie “Gotti,” Abe Vigoda on the NBC TV movie “Witness to the Mob” in 1998, Sam Coppola in the 2001 TV movie “The Big Heist,” and Chazz Palminteri on the 2001 TNT TV movie “Boss of Bosses.”
His nephew Richard S. Castellano starred in The Godfather movie.
On December 16, 1985, at age 70, he was murdered from multiple gunshot wounds.
How did Paul Castellano die?
Nearly 40 years ago, Gambino crime boss Paul Castellano was assassinated after fellow mobster John Gotti ordered the hit, allowing him to ascend to the coveted rank as head of the family.
Only five years later, Gotti was arrested by the FBI over the murder and several other crimes thanks to surveillance bugs planted on the mob boss.
The December 1985 hit came as Gotti and Castellano disagreed on how to lead the infamous Gambino family – particularly when it came to drugs.
At the time, Castellano believed no one within the family should be dealing drugs.
This stemmed from the fear of the government monitoring their dealings and apprehension over whether low-level associates would flip on the family in exchange for shorter sentences if they were caught.
Gotti, second-in-charge of the Gambino family, disagreed with this decision and reportedly sought to oust Castellano.
The mob boss reportedly heard of these plans and was set to put out a hit on Gotti following Christmas Day.
However, Gotti struck first.
The mobster ordered Castellano to be gunned down on December 16 at around 5:25 p.m. as he exited a steakhouse in Manhattan.
Gotti sat in a car with fellow mobster Salvatore Gravano across the street as the assassination unfolded.
How was John Gotti caught by the FBI?
In a 1992 testimony that aided in Gotti’s conviction in the murder, Gravano revealed the two of them drove by the scene of the crime immediately after to make sure Castellano was dead.
In his testimony, Gravano described himself as a “back-up shooter,” according to The New York Times at the time.
Not long after, Gotti ascended to the head of the Gambino family.
Over the next several years, the mob boss kept slipping away from authorities through public acquittals, earning him the nickname The Teflon Don.
But that didn’t stop authorities from investigating him even further and using his own men to turn on him.
Eventually, the FBI and New York Police Department received court approval for electronic surveillance.
The law enforcement agencies then bugged Gotti’s Ravenite Social Club in Manhattan’s Little Italy.
Among the reportedly hundreds of hours of surveillance recorded, authorities uncovered Gotti boasting about killing partners who disagreed with him.
Upon playing the audio for Gravano, the mobster reportedly believed Gotti wanted him dead as well.
It wasn’t long until Gravano agreed to become a witness in the FBI’s investigation.
Following Gravano’s cooperation, Gotti was arrested in December 1990 and charged with several counts of racketeering, extortion, jury tampering, as well as the murder of Castellano.
He was sentenced to life in prison in April 1992, where he died in 2002 at age 61.
What was Paul Castellano’s net worth?
Paul Castellano was one of the richest criminals in the history of America.
Although his exact fortune was never reported, he had an estimated net worth of $20 million, per Celebrity Net Worth.
And while his yearly salary was also unknown, mob bosses like Paul and John Gotti would earn $10-15 million annually.
Paul Castellano accrued his fortune from his profession as a businessman (being a construction company and a wholesale meat merchant) as well as being an American gangster and boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City.
Due to his wealth, he lived in a lavish mansion. Per reports, he had a 17-bedroom house on Staten Island which later became known as The White House. His house was selling for over $16 million recently per a report by New York Post.