Joseph Pinzolo
Found shot dead in suite 1007 of the Brokaw Building, 1487 Broadway, on September 9, 1930, according to the New York police record read into the 1963 Senate hearings. Thomas Lucchese, the lessee, was arraigned and not indicted.
- Died
- 1930-09-09
- Aliases
- Joseph Pinzola
- Role
- Put in by Masseria "as boss after Reina was killed," as Sgt. Ralph Salerno described him; LaVern Duffy: "Joseph Masseria replaced Mr. Reina with Mr. Pinzolo" (testimony; counsel's statement, 1963)
- Rights
- Biography on this page is limited to what the cited federal records state.
On the record
- 9 September 1930 — New York police record, read by Sgt. Ralph Salerno on 1 October 1963 (printed p. 175): "On September 9, 1930, at 9 p.m., the body of Joseph Pinzola, who was in the fruit business, was found on the floor of his office, which is in suite 1007 in the Brokaw Building at 1487 Broadway." He died of gunshot wounds of the left chest and the neck. The firm was the California Dried Fruit Importers; the lessee was Thomas Lucchese. Police record, read aloud.
- 11 September 1930 — Salerno (printed pp. 175–176): Thomas Lucchese "was arraigned in homicide court," held without bail, and "The evidence was presented the grand jury which failed to return an indictment." Police record, read aloud.
- 1 October 1963 — Staff counsel Duffy (printed p. 164): "Joseph Masseria replaced Mr. Reina with Mr. Pinzolo." Counsel's statement.
- 1 October 1963 — Valachi testified (printed p. 164) that Bobby Doyle told him "He went down to Pinzolo's office and he found him all alone and he killed him," and (printed p. 176) that it was "Bobby Doyle, not Lucchese." Testimony, from hearsay; no one was charged on it in this record.
“Pinzola” is the spelling of the police record as printed; counsel and Valachi say “Pinzolo.” No record opened gives his birth date.
The role line quotes a police sergeant’s description and staff counsel’s statement in the 1963 hearing. Neither is a finding, and this archive does not put Pinzolo, or anyone before or after him, on a family chart.
Records
itemHearing of October 1, 1963, pp. 174–179: Sgt. Ralph Salerno reads the police records of the 1930 killings of Reina, Morello, Pinzolo, Ferrigno and MineoA New York police sergeant read into the record the department's entries on five killings of 1930, with the time and street of each: Reina at 1522 Sheridan Avenue, Morello at 362 East 116th Street, Pinzolo in the Brokaw Building, and Ferrigno and Mineo on Pelham Parkway. Every case was still open in 1963.
itemHearing of October 1, 1963, pp. 163–165: the killing of Tom Reina, the "undeclared war" and Joseph PinzoloStaff counsel LaVern Duffy named the death of Tom Reina as the first significant date of the 1930–31 war, and Valachi explained why the war was at first "undeclared" and what he was told of the killing of Joseph Pinzolo. Counsel's statements and testimony, not findings.
itemHearing of October 1, 1963, pp. 166–168: "All the Castellemarese were sentenced to death"; the Morello and Pinzolo killings as Valachi told themValachi testified that Masseria had condemned "all the Castellemarese" to death, that Peter Morello was killed "by the Maranzano group," and that the Maranzano and Gagliano sides then joined forces. Counsel put the dates of August 15 and September 9, 1930 from police records. Testimony, much of it hearsay.itemFBI identification record of Thomas Lucchese, furnished April 3, 1956: a New York homicide arrest of September 1930, dismissed February 26, 1931An FBI New York report (file NY 92-305) in the Lucchese file reproduces the Identification Division's record of April 3, 1956. Among its entries is a New York police arrest of "Thomas Luckese" in September 1930 on a homicide charge, disposition "dismissed," February 26, 1931. Read from the viewer's OCR.