Stefano "The Undertaker" Magaddino (; October 10, 1891 – July 19, 1974) was an Italian-born

crime boss A crime boss, also known as a crime lord, mafia don, mob boss, kingpin, or godfather is the leader of a criminal organization. Description A crime boss has absolute or nearly absolute control over the other members of the organization and is ...

of the Buffalo crime family in

western New York Western New York (WNY) is the westernmost region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The eastern boundary of the region is not consistently defined by state agencies or those who call themselves "Western New Yorkers". Almost all so ...

. His underworld influence stretched from

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

Southern Ontario Southern Ontario is a Region, primary region of the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. It is the most densely populated and southernmost region in Canada, with approximately 13.5 million people, approximately 36% o ...

and as far east as Montreal, Quebec. Known as ''Don Stefano'' to his friends and ''The Undertaker'' to others, he was also a charter member of the American Mafia's ruling council, The Commission. He is the longest serving mafia boss, serving from 1922 until his death in 1974.

Early years

Stefano Magaddino was born on October 10, 1891, in

Castellammare del Golfo Castellammare del Golfo (; ; or ) is a town and municipality in the Trapani Province of Sicily. The name can be translated as "Sea Fortress on the Gulf", stemming from the medieval fortress in the harbor. The nearby body of water conversely tak ...

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

. Magaddino's father (Giovanni Magaddino), was the brother of Joseph Bonanno's maternal grandmother. Magaddino's uncle of the same name led a Castellammarese clan allied with Giuseppe "Peppe" Bonanno and his older brother and advisor, Stefano, uncles to Joseph Bonanno.A Man of Honor: The Autobiography of Joseph Bonanno By Joseph Bonann
p.24-28
/ref> During the 1900s, the clans feuded with Felice Buccellato, the boss of the Buccellato Mafia clan. After the murders of Stefano and Giuseppe, their younger brother, Salvatore (the father to Joseph Bonanno), took revenge by killing members of the Buccellatos. In 1902, Magaddino arrived in New York and became a powerful member of the Castellammarese clan.Jerry Capeci ''The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Mafia'
pg.49–52
/ref> Magaddino married Carmella and the couple had four children. His son Peter A. Magaddino, born on February 25, 1917, became a made member of the Buffalo mafia family and married the niece of Buffalo mobster Charles Montana. The eldest daughter Josephine married Charles Montana, the nephew of Buffalo mobster John C. Montana. The next daughter Angelina married James V. LaDuca, who was a member of the Buffalo family. The last daughter Arcangela married Vincent Scro, a mobster in the Buffalo family. Magaddino's brother Anthony "Nino" Magaddino and his brother's son Peter J. Magaddino both became members of the Buffalo family.

Criminal career

The "Good Killers" case

Magaddino orchestrated the murder of Detroit gangster Felice Buccellato in March 1917. In August 1921, a barber named Bartolo Fontana turned himself into the New York police, confessing to murdering Camillo Caiozzo a couple of weeks earlier in Avon, New Jersey. Fontana claimed he murdered Caiozzo at the behest of the "Good Killers", a group of mafiosi who hailed from Castellammare del Golfo, in retaliation for Caiozzo's involvement in the 1916 murder of Magaddino's brother, Pietro, back in Sicily. Fearing he might be murdered, Fontana agreed to help police set up a

sting operation In law enforcement, a sting operation is a deceptive operation designed to catch a person attempting to commit a crime. A typical sting will have an undercover law enforcement officer, detective, or co-operative member of the public play a rol ...

. Stefano Magaddino met Fontana at Grand Central Station to give Fontana $30 to help him flee the city. After the exchange, Magaddino was arrested by a group of undercover police. Vito Bonventre and four other gangsters were subsequently arrested for their involvement in the murder. Fontana revealed that the "Good Killers" were also responsible for a string of other murders. New Jersey decided not to pursue conspiracy charges in the Caiozzo murder and the charges against Magaddino were dropped despite the New York police officers' testimony about the sting linking him to the murder. Magaddino fled New York City after his release, ending up in the

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

area.Jerry Capeci ''The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Mafia'
pg.68
/ref> Buffalo crime family boss Joseph DiCarlo died in 1922, and Magaddino succeeded him as boss.

Buffalo crime family

Joseph Bonanno slipped back into the United States in 1924, by stowing away on a Cuban fishing boat bound for

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

with Magaddino's son, Peter Magaddino.Raab, Selwyn. Five Families. New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2005. Print. According to Bonanno, upon arriving at a train station in

Jacksonville Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

, Bonanno was detained by immigration officers and was later released under $1,000 bail. He was welcomed by Willie Moretti and an unidentified man, it was later revealed that Magaddino was responsible for bailing him out as a favour for Giovanni Bonventre, Bonanno's uncle. In 1924, Magaddino became a naturalized U.S. citizen. FBI mugshot of Peter Magaddino

Although he operated a legitimate

funeral home A funeral home, funeral parlor or mortuary is a business that provides burial, entombment and cremation services for the dead and their families. These services may include a prepared visitation and funeral, and the provision of a chapel for t ...

business in

Niagara Falls, New York Niagara Falls is a City (New York), city in Niagara County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a total population of 48,671. It is adjacent to the Niagara River, across from the city of Niagar ...

, the Magaddino Memorial Chapel, with

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

in effect in the United States, Maggadino made his real money running a profitable bootlegging business by smuggling wine and spirits across the

Niagara River The Niagara River ( ) flows north from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, forming part of the border between Ontario, Canada, to the west, and New York, United States, to the east. The origin of the river's name is debated. Iroquoian scholar Bruce T ...

into

New York State New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...

, thereby supplying the needs of

speakeasies A speakeasy, also called a beer flat or blind pig or blind tiger, was an illicit establishment that sold alcoholic beverages. The term may also refer to a retro style bar that replicates aspects of historical speakeasies. In the United State ...

located in Buffalo and the very " Honky-tonk" Niagara Falls. After Prohibition ended, Magaddino and his crime family made their money by means of loan sharking, illegal gambling,

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit (e.g., money or goods) through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, although making unfounded ...

carjacking Carjacking is a robbery in which a motor vehicle is taken over.Michael Cherbonneau, "Carjacking," in ''Encyclopedia of Social Problems'', Vol. 1 (SAGE, 2008: ed. Vincent N. Parrillo), pp. 110-11. In contrast to car theft, carjacking is usually i ...

and labor

racketeering Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercion, coercive, fraud, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. ...

, as well as other legitimate lucrative businesses such as linen service businesses that served the needs of most of the hotels located throughout the region, taxicab companies, and other service-oriented businesses. Magaddino's crime family held power in the underworld territories of Upstate and Western New York, namely, Buffalo, New York, bordering Canada and situated on Lake Erie, Rochester and Utica, along the

Mohawk River The Mohawk River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 3, 2011 river in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is the largest tributary of the Hudson R ...

as far east as Amsterdam, New York; from Eastern Pennsylvania as far west as

Youngstown, Ohio Youngstown is a city in Mahoning County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Ohio, 11th-most populous city in Ohio with a population of 60,068 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Mahoning ...

, and in Canada from Fort Erie (opposite Buffalo) to

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Ontario and as far east as

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

. By the 1960s, it was reported that Magaddino's crime syndicate supplied drugs to the Canadian cities of

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

and

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as The Royal City, it is roughly east of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Ontario Highway 6, ...

, which in turn supplied drugs to Toronto. Magaddino led his Buffalo family through its glory years and its most powerful and profitable era. He was an old-style boss who preferred to stay in the background and not draw any attention to himself or his criminal activities if possible. Due to his territory's remoteness yet the vast amount of it he controlled and being geographically insulated from the inter-family squabbles of the New York City-based families, he was held in high regard and was at times called upon to be an arbiter involving territorial disputes between crime families based there.

National crime figure

For fifty years, Magaddino was a dominant presence in the Buffalo underworld. He was the longest tenured boss in the history of the American Mafia. Magaddino was also involved in national La Cosa Nostra affairs. Magaddino was a charter member of Charles "Lucky" Luciano's Mafia Commission and attended important underworld summits such as the 1946 Havana Conference and the 1957 Apalachin Conference. It is believed Magaddino, along with Antonio and Johnny Papalia, played a role in notorious

bootlegger Rocco Perri's disappearance in 1944 in order to gain more Canadian market control. After Perri's disappearance, three of his former lieutenants, in addition to Papalia and Giacomo Luppino, began answering to Magaddino in Buffalo: Tony Sylvestro, Calogero Bordonaro and Santo Scibetta, known as the "three dons".Schneider, 200
p.285-286
Magaddino had survived several

assassination Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

attempts. In 1936, rival gangsters attempted to kill Magaddino with a bomb, killing his sister instead. In 1958, an assassin tossed a

hand grenade A grenade is a small explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a Shell (projectile), shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A mod ...

through his kitchen window; the grenade failed to explode. In 1963, Joseph Bonanno made plans to assassinate Maggaddino and several rivals on the Mafia Commission, bosses Tommy Lucchese, Carlo Gambino, as well as Frank DeSimone.Staff (September 1, 1967
"The Mob: How Joe Bonanno Schemed to kill – and lost"
''

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

'' p.15-21 Bonanno sought Profaci crime family boss Joseph Magliocco's support, and Magliocco readily agreed due to his bitterness from being denied a seat on the Commission previously. Bonanno's audacious goal was to take over the Commission and make Magliocco his right hand man. Magliocco was assigned the task of killing Lucchese and Gambino, and gave the contract to one of his top hit men, Joseph Colombo. However, the opportunistic Colombo revealed the plot to its targets. The other bosses quickly realized that Magliocco could not have planned this himself. Remembering how close Bonanno was with Magliocco (and before him, Joe Profaci), as well as their close ties through marriages, the other bosses concluded Bonanno was the real mastermind. The Commission summoned Bonanno and Magliocco to explain themselves. Fearing for his life, Bonanno fled to Canada, leaving Magliocco to deal with the Commission, but was deported back to the United States. In October 1964, Bonanno returned to

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, but on October 20, 1964, the day before Bonanno was scheduled to testify to a grand jury inquiry, his lawyers said that after having dinner with them, Bonanno was kidnapped, allegedly by Magaddino's men, as he entered the apartment house where one of his lawyers lived on Park Avenue and East 36th Street. Magaddino's empire began to crumble in 1968, when police found $500,000 stashed away in Magaddino's funeral home and his son's attic. Retired FBI agent Donald Hartnett said, "At that time, Magaddino had been telling his underlings that money was tight, and he could not afford to pay them Christmas bonuses... People began to stop trusting him when we found all that money."

Death

Magaddino died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

on July 19, 1974, at age 82, at Mount Saint Mary's Hospital in Lewiston, New York. His funeral was held at St. Joseph's Catholic Church. He was buried at St. Joseph's Cemetery on

Pine Avenue Pine Avenue () is an east–west street in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. This street serves as the dividing line between the Downtown Montreal, downtown Ville-Marie, Montreal, Ville-Marie borough and Boroughs of Montreal, borough of Le Plateau-Mon ...

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the Canada–United States border, border between the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York (s ...

Legacy

''Mob Boss'', written by Mike Hudson, is a book about Magaddino's life as a mob boss. Magaddino is also mentioned in ''Niagara Falls Confidential'', also written by Mike Hudson. He also gets a passing mention in '' The Valachi Papers'' by Peter Maas. Magaddino, as head of the Buffalo/Niagara Falls crime family, is a subject throughout the two-volume history, ''DiCarlo: Buffalo's First Family of Crime'' (Vol. I through 1937, Vol. II 1938 through 2012) by Thomas Hunt and Michael A. Tona (2013).