Edward Grillo

Edward "Danny" Grillo (1934 – November 14, 1978) was a member of a Gambino crime family crew headed by soldier Roy DeMeo. After falling deeply into debt to DeMeo and other loansharks, Grillo was murdered by his own associates in the DeMeo Crew.

Grillo was born in Little Italy, Manhattan to Italian immigrants from Genoa, Liguria. In 1976, after completing a prison sentence for hijacking, Grillo was recruited by DeMeo into his crew. Grillo and DeMeo had known each other through work in the Mafia-connected Canarsie junkyards. Grillo soon became involved in the hijacking of truck cargoes to and from John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens. Associate Dominick Montiglio, who became a government witness in 1983, described how DeMeo once asked him to temporarily store 120 stolen Smith & Wesson handguns. Grillo and other DeMeo crew members had hijacked the guns, headed to law enforcement in Finland as they were being transported to the airport. Montiglio stored the weapons for one day and then turned them over to Grillo and DeMeo.

Shortly after joining the DeMeo's crew, Grillo helped form an alliance with a group of Irish-American mobsters known as The Westies. While in prison during the early 1970s, Grillo had met James 'Jimmy' Coonan, an Irish mobster who wanted to lead the Westies. After their release, both men stayed in contact. Coonan wanted to oust Westies leader Michael 'Mickey' Spillane, but needed money to fund a rebellion. Grillo reported Coonan's predicament to DeMeo, who decided to help Coonan. The DeMeo crew and the Coonan faction were soon committing hijackings together and splitting the profits. DeMeo also loaned Coonan large sums of money to build a portfolio of loanshark customers. On May 13 of 1977, Spillane was shot to death outside of his apartment building, reportedly by Grillo and DeMeo.

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