Peter Magaddino

Peter Magaddino (February 25, 1917 - August 1976) was a mobster in the Magaddino crime family of Buffalo, New York. The son of crime boss Stefano "The Undertaker" Magaddino, Magaddino was a caporegime in the family and possibly an underboss.

The Magaddino family immigrated to the U.S. from Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily and settled in New York City. Peter was born in Brooklyn, New York. In 1921, the family suddenly moved to Niagara Falls, New York. Due to some mob shootings in Brooklyn, Stefano had to leave New York City for his own safety. He decided to relocate to Niagara Falls because a large number of Castellammarese immigrants lived there and it was more peaceful than New York. Early in his criminal career, Peter married the niece of prominent Western New York businessman and Buffalo crime family consigliere John C. Montana.

In 1940 he opened a funeral home with Paul Palmeri. When Palmeri left Niagara Falls in 1942. Peter took over operation. He already had one college degree and now went to mortuary school and became a licensed funeral director. He ran the Magaddino Memorial Chapel, a funeral home in Niagara Falls, New York.

In the mid-1960s, Magaddino became involved in the New York gang war known as the "Bananas War". The conflict got its name from Joseph "Joe Bananas" Bonanno, former head of the Bonanno crime family and cousin to Peter's father, Stefano. On October 21, 1964, Bonanno was walking down Park Avenue in Manhattan, New York with his lawyer William P. Maloney. When they stopped in front of an apartment building on 36th Street, Bonanno was kidnapped, allegedly by Peter and his uncle, Antonio "Nino" Magaddino among others. [1] According to Bonanno, he was held captive in Upstate New York by Stefano. Magaddino claimed to represent the Mafia Commission when he told Bonanno that he "took up too much space in the air", a Sicilian metaphor for being arrogant. After some more conversations, Bonanno allegedly convinced the Magaddinos that he would retire and Stefano released him.

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