Antonio Rocco Caponigro, 68, also known as Tony Bananas, was found dead on April 18, 1980, in the trunk of a car in the South Bronx. Caponigro had been consigliere of the Philadelphia crime family and is described as having ordered the unsanctioned murder of his boss, Angelo Bruno, who was killed outside his Philadelphia home on March 21, 1980. Caponigro reportedly believed he had Commission approval for Bruno’s killing after assurances from Genovese family figure Frank Funzi Tieri.

After Bruno’s murder the Mafia Commission did not reward Caponigro with leadership. He was summoned to New York under a pretense of meeting about the Philadelphia family, and his death there is described as a calculated execution for killing a boss without Commission approval. Reports say he was garroted, stabbed, and shot multiple times; dollar bills had been stuffed into his mouth and anus. Alfred Salerno, his brother-in-law and alleged accomplice, was also found dead.

No official arrests or public trials are mentioned in these accounts. Does anyone have further documented leads or contemporaneous reporting that sheds light on who carried out the executions?