Joseph Colombo

Photo of the arrest of Joseph Colombo on March 6th, 1970.

Joseph Colombo (born December 14, 1914 , † May 23, 1978 in Newburgh , New York ) was an American mobster who was named after one of the five families of La Cosa Nostra in New York City .

At the end of 1963, Colombo replaced the powerful boss Joseph Profaci after a brief interlude from Joseph Magliocco as the ruler of the family. Magliocco had planned the assassination of some rival Mafia bosses with another boss, Joseph Bonanno , and commissioned Colombo with the implementation, but he betrayed the two. Through the protection of the powerful Carlo Gambino , Colombo became boss himself, but later made himself unpopular with Gambino and other full members of the Cosa Nostra, as he attracted a lot of publicity with the establishment of the Italian-American Civil Rights League (see also under The Godfather ) . In 1971, according to a report in the New York Times, he teamed up with the Jewish Defense League under Meir Kahane to defend himself against “discrimination by US authorities”.

He was shot by the black gangster Jerome Johnson while giving a speech in New York on June 28, 1971, and died in 1978 without ever waking from a coma .

The assassin was shot dead by Colombo's bodyguards immediately after his act, so his motives were not known. For a long time it was speculated whether Joseph "Crazy Joe" Gallo was behind the attack, since he had sought the help of the Afro-American gangs in Harlem in the internal conflict . Others see Carlo Gambino responsible for the attack; however, there is no evidence whatsoever for either variant. In any case, "Crazy Joe" Gallo was shot on April 7, 1972, while Carlo Gambino died of natural causes in 1976.

Colombo's memorial service was held at St. Bernadette's Catholic Church in Bensonhurst, New York City. He was buried in Saint John Cemetery in Queens.

Individual evidence

↑ Report in the New York Times (Eng.)
↑ Joe Colombo . In: Find A Grave . Retrieved November 9, 2011.
↑ Pranay Gupte: Colombo is eulogized as a champion of Civil Rights . In: New York Times , May 27, 1978. Retrieved November 9, 2011.

predecessor	Office	successor
Joseph Magliocco	Head of the " Colombo family " of La Cosa Nostra 1964 - 1971	Vincenzo Aloi

personal data
SURNAME	Colombo, Joseph
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American mafioso
DATE OF BIRTH	December 14, 1914
DATE OF DEATH	May 23, 1978
Place of death	Newburgh

[1] Report in the New York Times (Eng.)

[find_grave-2] Joe Colombo . In: Find A Grave . Retrieved November 9, 2011.

[colombo_eulogized-3] Pranay Gupte: Colombo is eulogized as a champion of Civil Rights . In: New York Times , May 27, 1978. Retrieved November 9, 2011.