Angelo Bruno: The mob boss who ruled with peace
For over 20 years, Angelo Bruno ruled the Philadelphia mafia with a relatively gentle hand. In fact, he even forgave a man who tried to assassinate him. That earned him the title of The Gentle Don or The Docile Don.
But in 1980, his peaceful reign ended with his public murder.
Since his death, Bruno has become a fascinating subject for people interested in the mafia. Together with many other mob figures, Bruno was depicted in the 2019 film The Irishman. He also features in the real-life investigations of Ross Kemp: Mafia and Britain.
So, who was the real Angelo Bruno? Join us at Crime+Investigation as we discuss the life of this unusual crime family leader, including his rise to power and his violent end.
Who was Angelo Bruno?
In 1910, Angelo Bruno was born in Sicily. He was called Angelo Annaloro then.
Bruno moved to the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in his early teens. This was in the 1920s, the era of Prohibition, when alcohol was banned.
Prohibition had a strange effect on the USA. It caused a massive boom in organised crime as mobsters like Al Capone profited from illegal alcohol production. So, it’s easy to see how the young Bruno got involved in illegal organised crime activities. Soon, he became a prominent member of the Philadelphia mafia family.
During this time, Angelo Bruno developed strong connections to the Gambino crime family, one of the Five Families from the city of New York. Carlo Gambino was powerful within the mafia, and his support would be a great help to Bruno – but it possibly led to his downfall, too.
Bruno’s rise to power
In 1959, Antonio Pollina was the head of the Philadelphia mafia. Pollina felt that Bruno was a threat to his power, so he decided to order Bruno’s assassination. But Bruno had too many friends in the Philadelphia mob, and he found out about the hit.
Bruno’s friends outside Philadelphia came in useful. With the assistance of Carlo Gambino, Bruno asked the heads of all the mafia families for protection. As a result, Pollina had to give up his position.
And Angelo Bruno took over as the head of the Philly mob.
Notably, Bruno did not seek bloody revenge against Pollina, even though Pollina had wanted Bruno killed. His gentle treatment of Pollina made him known as The Docile Don.
His career in crime
Angelo Bruno would stay in power in Philadelphia for over two decades – until 1980.
Under Bruno, the Philadelphia mob made money from gambling, racketeering and loan sharking – illegal money lending. It was also involved with labour unions.
Interestingly, Bruno generally didn’t like his people to deal illegal drugs. And this didn’t make him popular among his underlings, because drug lords could make a lot of profit.
Was Angelo Bruno really a gentle or docile crime lord? Some say it’s absurd to describe any mafia don that way. But it does seem that Angelo Bruno was less aggressive and openly violent than other crime kingpins. In 1982, the New York Times reported that an official described Bruno as 'conservative' and 'cautious'.
Assassination
On 21st March 1980, Angelo Bruno was murdered, shot in the head while sitting in a car right in front of his home. It wasn’t a rival crime family that had wanted his assassination. His own second-in-command had ordered him killed, and his driver betrayed him.
By this time, Bruno was 69 years old. People working under him were frustrated with his leadership. Although he spoke out against drug dealing, he had allowed members of the New York mafia – his old friends, the Gambinos – to sell drugs on his territory. That was seen as unfair. Other issues involving New York and Philadelphia mobsters played a part as well.
Philadelphia after Bruno
Without Bruno’s 'gentle' leadership, the Philadelphia mafia fell into turmoil. A series of more murders resulted as different factions fought for power.
Bruno’s second-in-command, Antonio Caponigro, was discovered dead less than a month after Bruno died. So, Philip 'Chicken Man' Testa became the next Philadelphia don – though not for long. Just short of a year after Bruno’s murder, Philip Testa died in a bomb explosion.
The next leader of the Philadelphia mafia family was Nicodemo 'Little Nicky' Scarfo, who was anything but gentle. Scarfo ruled over a violent era in which almost 30 people from the organisation died. The reign of the Docile Don was truly over.
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