The Good Killers1921’s Glimpse of the Mafia(Continued from Page 8) 
On trial New York authorities held six men – Fontano, Magaddino, Bonventre, Galante, Lombardi and Puma – as fugitives from New Jersey justice and awaited the processing of extradition orders. When extradition papers were officially filed, however, only Fontano, Lombardi and Puma were named.99 While Monmouth County Detective Jacob B. Rue was said to have been interested in all six men, the New Jersey State Archives has paperwork relating only to the three. There are some oddities in the surviving documents. Rue’s individual complaints against the three fugitives were signed Aug. 16, 1921. Warrants based on those complaints were issued by Justice of the Peace Edward Wise the same day. No surviving document from that day refers to the wanted men collectively. So, complaints and warrants for the other three men held in New York might have been produced and later discarded. The individual documents were not notarized until 10 days later, the notary certification of each document being printed on a separate sheet and then attached.100 In the interim. the Monmouth County prosecutor’s office became involved in the case. Prosecutor Charles F. Sexton produced a written affirmation for his files on Aug. 24 that the Rue complaints and Wise warrants were true copies of the originals. That was done two days before those originals were notarized. The first New Jersey document to refer to the fugitives collectively was created on Aug. 25. It defined the case of “State of New Jersey vs. Bartolomeo Fontana, Francesco Puma, Giuseppe Lombardi.” There was no mention of Magaddino, Bonventre or Galante.101 Sometime between the New York City arraignment on Wednesday, Aug. 17, and the filing of the complaint with the Monmouth County Court of Oyer and Terminer, the decision had been made to abandon a broader conspiracy case against the Good Killers and to focus only on those who had been physically present in New Jersey for the murder of Camillo Caiozzo and the disposal of his remains the next day. Magaddino, Bonventre and Galante were released.
Lombardi was the first of the three fugitives to be returned to New Jersey. His extradition papers were approved by New York Governor Al Smith early in September. Detective Rue and Detective Charles C. Davenport escorted Lombardi from New York’s Tombs Prison to the Monmouth County lockup in Freehold on Sept. 7. Fontano and Puma followed soon after.103 Pleading not guilty to the charge of concealing a murder, Puma and Lombardi both appear to have been freed on bail.104 Though Fontano had confessed to the premeditated murder of Caiozzo, he pleaded not guilty to the first-degree murder charge against him, possibly hoping that prosecutors would allow him to plead guilty to manslaughter in exchange for his testimony against the other accused.105 All hope for a plea bargain was dashed when Prosecutor Sexton reportedly concluded that an appearance of a quid pro quo would make Fontano’s testimony worthless.106 On March 22, 1922, Fontano appeared in court to change his plea from not guilty to non vult contendere, announcing that he would not contest the first-degree murder charge.107 He was immediately convicted and sentenced by Judge Samuel Kalisch to life in prison at hard labor.108 Later that same day, Fontano was brought back into court to testify against innkeeper Salvatore Cieravo.109 Cieravo’s alleged participation in the Caiozzo murder triggered indictments for accessory before the fact, accessory after the fact and murder. The charges were divided into separate cases, with the accessory before the fact charge heading to trial first.110 As Fontano reached the stand, he curiously refused to swear to the truthfulness of his testimony or to place his hand on the Bible. Sexton asked Judge Kalisch to compel the witness to take the oath. An amused Kalisch asked what he could possibly do to compel Fontano after having already sentenced him to life in prison. A brief recess was called, after which the witness was more accommodating.111 Fontano testified to his conversations with Cieravo the day before Caiozzo’s murder. He told of Cieravo’s offer of the shotgun and his instruction to perform the murder away from the Riverview Inn. He also testified about the innkeeper’s role in the temporary hiding and subsequent disposal of Caiozzo’s remains, and about the stones and rope that were taken from inn property in order to keep the body submerged in Tucker’s Cove.112 Judge Kalisch took issue with portions of Fontano’s testimony, informing the jury that the current trial was on the charge of accessory before the fact. Any evidence to Cieravo’s activities after Caiozzo’s death were of no consequence.113 Cieravo took the stand in his own defense. Questioned by his attorney J. Mercer Davis, he denied ever speaking to Fontano about the murder, even of knowing Fontano aside from the short vacation he and Caiozzo spent at the inn. Cieravo also said he did not know Giuseppe Lombardi. “I first learned of the murder from a taxicab driver on Springwood Avenue, who told me that a dead man had been found near my place,” he stated.114 As the trial concluded, defense attorney Davis told the jury to disregard Fontano’s testimony. As a convicted murderer, Fontano’s words should carry little weight, he argued. Davis insisted the Good Killers gang story was “bunk,” cooked up by Fontano in an effort to deflect the blame for Caiozzo’s murder. Fontano, said Davis, murdered his old friend merely to rob him of his several hundred dollars.115 Cieravo’s jury deliberated for four hours on March 24 before returning a verdict of not guilty.116 Sexton, realizing that his chief witness had an enormous credibility problem, promptly dropped the other charges against Cieravo. The innkeeper was freed just as Fontano began his life behind bars.
On Nov. 4, 1922, Puma took an evening walk from his home at 508 East 12th Street, Manhattan. With his hands in his pockets and a cigar in his mouth, he strolled around the corner onto Avenue A. Five gunshots sounded from close by. Several slugs passed into Puma’s chest, abdomen and right wrist. One stray shot wounded a 12-year-old girl playing nearby. Puma drew his own handgun and spun to face his assailant. At that moment, the blade of a knife entered his stomach. He fell, bleeding badly, and lost consciousness, his cigar smoldering on the sidewalk beside him. He died of his wounds at Bellevue Hospital.117 With the report of his death, the New York Times revealed its suspicion that Puma had been cooperating with authorities on an investigation of the Sicilian-American underworld. A previous attempt had been made on his life a month earlier. Puma kept the incident secret from all but his close family.118 One month after Puma’s death, Monmouth County Prosecutor Sexton caused Lombardi’s bail to be discharged and dropped the case against him.119 (Continued on Page 10) |
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