Although Colombo�s killer had been seized, he was dead and so now the speculation began as to why Joe had been shot. Because Johnson was black, it was immediately assumed by members of the family that Crazy Joe, who was known to be working with black criminal groups, was behind it. The police announced that their investigations had revealed that Johnson had been offered $200,000 for the hit. He was known as a loser, a petty crook and con man with a record of seven arrests, for rape, assault, burglary and possession of drugs. He was known to have associated with people connected to the Gambino crime family, and it was well known how upset Carlo Gambino had been about the publicity generated by the activities of the League. A story surfaced later suggesting that when Gambino confronted Joe and ordered him to back off, Colombo had spat in the Don�s face. His fate was sealed at that moment and the public execution was intended to demean him totally.
Another theory was that the government had set up the hit because they were afraid of the power Colombo was acquiring through the League and the embarrassment he was causing them. There were too many loose ends to unravel, and like most mob hits, this one was to go into the "too hard" basket.
The shooting and incapacitation of Joe Colombo created serious problems for the family. Money is the lifeblood of any crime family; if too much runs out, the family dies. Without a boss to control its activities, a family is like a ship without a rudder, drifting, not making money and vulnerable to predators and the law. After discussions among the senior members, it was decided to appoint Vincent Aloi as acting boss. Suave, well educated, his black-rimmed glasses giving him a studious appearance, he came from a strong mob background. His father Sebastiano had been a powerful and influenencal capo under Joe Profaci and had sponsored John �Sonny� Franzese into the Profaci Family. Vincent lived with his wife and three children in suburban Rampano, New York, and commuted daily to the city just like any other young, successful business executive. He ran a florist and trucking business and was the power in the garment center for the family. The beef behind Aloi was Joe "Yack" Yackovelli, the family consigliere.
The first item on the agenda of the new leader and his advisers was to get the approval of the Commission, the ruling body of organized crime, to kill Joe Gallo, who was now considered the prime suspect in the shooting of Joe Colombo. Also the family wanted to wipe out all of Gallo�s principal supporters -- some 17 men or, at least, their associates. . On July 6, 1971, eight days after Colombo was shot, Joe Gigalone and Greg Baretto were shot and wounded. Two weeks later, Colombo soldier Dominick Famulari was shot dead on the streets of Brooklyn. The second family war was under way. The killings and attacks continued for the next eight months and then on April 10, 1972 Crazy Joe went out for dinner.
In March 1972, Joey Gallo got divorced and married. One year to the day that he left prison, he got a different kind of freedom, divorcing his wife Jeffie, on the grounds that "she was unsafe to live with."
On the 16th, he married Sina Essary, a slim, brown-haired beauty that he had met in his apartment building. They were married in the West 22nd Street, Greenwich townhouse of actor Jerry Ohrbach and his wife Marta. Among the guests was singer Allen Jones, father of Jack Jones, whose rendition of �The Lord�s Prayer� apparently brought tears to the bride's eyes. On April 6th, Joey celebrated his 43rd birthday. That night, accompanied by two of his bodyguards, his wife, sister and 10-year-old stepdaughter Lisa, Joey went to the Copacabana nightclub to have dinner and watch Don Rickles, the star attraction. Early in his career, Rickles had worked in a nightclub operated by Joey. About 4 a.m. the next morning, they all piled into Joey�s Cadillac and went cruising for a late night snack down in Little Italy. The only place they could find open at that time was Umberto�s Clam House on the corner of Mulberry and Hester Streets. The restaurant was owned by Matty "The Horse" Ianello, a capo in the Genovese crime family. As the group settled down for a late snack, the word was already out on the street and a group of Colombo gunmen were arming themselves ready to make an assault on the restaurant.
Just as the group was into the second course of shrimp and scungilli salad, the gunmen arrived. Three of them, headed by Carmine " Sonny Pinto" Diabiase, a 49-year-old stone killer entered the building and started shooting at Crazy Joe. Pete "The Greek" Diapolous, Joey�s bodyguard was shot in the buttocks, as the customers and staff threw themselves to the floor or tried to hide behind furniture. Two bullets tore through Gallo�s back. He jumped up from his table and staggered out of the restaurant, toppled over into the street and collapsed. Rushed by ambulance to Beekman-Downtown Hospital, Crazy Joe was pronounced dead on arrival.
At his funeral, his distraught sister Carmella allegedly stood in front of his casket and cried out "The street are going to run red with blood, Joey." At least, that is what was reported. Perhaps she knew what was about to happen. Later that day, Gennaro Ciprio, a Colombo capo, had his head blown off by a shotgun blast as he stood outside his restaurant in Bath Beach, Brooklyn. On April 15th, William Della Casso, an associate of Ciprio�s, was killed, and over the next few weeks men were shot and killed or wounded on the streets of Brooklyn, just like in the good old days of the first family war.
The war�s casualty list grew longer and decidedly darker, when two innocent men were shot down by mistake. A group of seven Colombo gangsters were drinking at the Neapolitan Noodle House on East 79th street, Manhattan, while waiting for a table. Among them were Jerry Langella and Alphonse Persico. Unknown to them a Gallo associate was also in the bar. He finished his drink, went outside and dropped a dime in a payphone.By this time, the Colombos had settled at their table. At 9:30 p.m., a group of friends, five men and their wives who were at the bar were informed their table was ready. As they started to move towards it, a man left the bar and came towards them. Short, fat and middle aged, he was wearing a flowing shoulder-length wig, dark glasses and a Hawaiian shirt.