William Grasso

William "Wild Guy" Grasso was an Italian-American gangster from East Haven, Connecticut who served as underboss to Raymond Patriarca, Jr. (a.k.a. "Junior") in the Patriarca crime family, also known as the New England crime family, the Providence crime family or the Boston crime family. The Patriarca family is a Mafia crime family based in New England. Succeeding his father Raymond L.S. Patriarca as boss after his father's death in 1984, Junior was considered a weak leader. He managed to keep the peace in his crime family due to the support of the Gambino crime family of New York. When Junior's original underboss Ilario "Larry Baione" Maria Antonio Zannino was sentenced to thirty years in prison in 1987, it further weakened Junior's position. With Zannino in jail, Grasso became underboss.

Some law enforcement officials believed that Grasso, who was known for his ruthlessness, was actually in charge, but these rumors ended when Grasso was killed on June 13, 1989.

With the death of Grasso, Raymond Patriarca, Jr.'s position as boss was weakened. In 1990, Junior was superseded by Nicholas Bianco, the acting underboss after Grasso's death. In 1991, Bianco was one of the defendants tried for the murder of Grasso.

Restaurateur Gaetano Milano of East Longmeadow, Massachusetts, a suburb of Springfield, was charged with the murder of Grasso. "Wild Guy" reportedly was murdered as the two were traveling on Interstate 91 to what Grasso believed was a meeting with Carlo Mastrototaro, a Worcester gangster, to settle a dispute about vending machine territories in Springfield. Springfield was a fiefdom of the Genovese crime family, operating with Patriarca family approval.

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