This article includes alist of references,related reading, orexternal links,but its sources remain unclear because it lacksinline citations. Please helpimprove this article byintroducing more precise citations.(April 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
James Squillante | |
|---|---|
James Squillante | |
| Born | Vincent James Squillante (1919-06-07)June 7, 1919 |
| Disappeared | September 23, 1960(1960-09-23) (aged 41) |
| Status | Missing for 65 years, 1 month and 21 days |
| Other names | "Jimmy Jerome" |
| Occupation | Gangster |
Vincent James Squillante, also known asJimmy Jerome (June 7, 1919 – disappeared September 30, 1960), was an American New York mobster who belonged to theGambino crime family and was known as "king of the garbage collection racket". Squillante also worked as an assassin for mob bossAlbert "Mad Hatter" Anastasia.
Squillante was born to Luigi and Bedelia Alberti, one of two sons, the other being Nunzio and seven sisters. He married Theresa Scialabba in 1949 and fathered one child, Bedelia. He divorced Theresa in 1951 and married Olivia Hughes and fathered two daughters with her, Donna and Olivia. He is the uncle to mobsterJerry Mancuso. In 1963, Government informantJoe Valachi claimed that Squillante participated in the 1957 slaying of Anastasia underbossFrank "Don Cheech" Scalise. After the murder, Scalise's brother Joe publicly declared that he would avenge Frank's death. However, the Gambino family did not support Joe's declaration, possibly due to Anastasia's opposition. As a result, Joe was forced into hiding for several months until the family ostensibly forgave him. On September 7, 1957, according to Valachi, Squillante invited Joe to his house. Once Joe arrived, Squillante and several others murdered him, dismembered his body, loaded the remains onto one of Squillante's garbage trucks, and dumped them.
In fall 1960, Squillante was indicted onextortion charges. Reportedly, the Gambino family worried that Squillante could not handle the upcoming trial and probable prison sentence. So, to "put him out of his misery," the family ordered Squillante's death. On September 30, 1960,[1] Squillante disappeared. According to some accounts, Squillante was handcuffed alive to the steering wheel of a rustyChevrolet and the car was moved into a baling press typecompactor. The metal was then melted down in an open hearth furnace. However, some newspaper accounts of that period claim that Squillante was seen on September 30 at 2 a.m. driving aroundthe Bronx in his brother-in-law's car. Squillante's body was never found and no murder suspects were never arrested.
From "Organized Crime: 25 Years After Valachi," Hearings Before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, 100th Congress, Second Session, US Government Printing Office, Washington: 1988