Aldo Trapani

Aldo Trapani (1924-1 January 1959) was the Don of the Trapani crime family from 1955 to 1959, preceding Dominic Corleone. Trapani rose in the ranks of the Corleone crime family at the time of the Five Families War, being mentored by Luca Brasi. Trapani later rose to become a made man, and Michael Corleone made Aldo the "Don of New York" as the main Corleone family moved to Las Vegas. Trapani was killed by a Cuban sniper while trying to flee from Havana during the Cuban Revolution in 1959.

Biography[]

Early life[]

Aldo Trapani was born in the Bowery section of Little Italy, New York City in 1924, the son of Johnny and his wife Serafina Trapani. At 12 years old, Aldo lost his father, a soldato in the Corleone crime family, who was assassinated by the Barzini crime family for sabotaging their rackets. Aldo was told by Don Vito Corleone that, one day, he would have his revenge against Don Emilio Barzini, and Corleone saw to it that Serafina and her son were looked after.

Joining the family[]

Aldo grew up as a troubled child, and he served in the US Army during World War II. Upon returning home from active service, Trapani joined the Bowery Gang as a getaway driver, getting involved with the wrong crowd. On 26 August 1945, the day of Connie Corleone's wedding to Carlo Rizzi, Serafina Trapani asked Don Corleone for a favor; she wanted his help in rescuing her son. Don Corleone had Luca Brasi rescue Trapani from the gang, which had begun to beat him up due to his complaints about not receiving a fair share of their loot. Brasi killed gang leader Mike Brody and helped Trapani in beating down his former allies. Brasi then told Trapani that he had been looking for him, and Trapani was told that he now had an obligation to the Godfather.

Outsider[]

Trapani Galtosino — Trapani and Sergeant Joe Galtosino

Trapani's first task was to assist Luca Brasi in shaking down store owner Emilio Brunetti, who was paying protection money to the Tattaglia crime family. Trapani also proceeded to extort racket boss Frankie Fernetti, and he gave their protection money to Luca after paying off corrupt cop Joe Galtosino. Later, Trapani met Monk Malone and Paulie Gatto, and he helped them carry out the task of avenging the beating of Amerigo Bonasera's daughter Maria. Trapani, as an outsider in the family, would also proceed to take over several other rackets in Little Italy from the rival families, namely the Tattaglias, the Straccis and the Cuneos (the Barzini crime family was too strong, and lacked a major presence in Little Italy).

After Luca[]

In December 1945, Don Corleone sent Luca Brasi on a secret mission to infiltrate the Tattaglia crime family in order to spy on narcotics trafficker Virgil Sollozzo. Trapani served as Brasi's chauffeur, driving him to the Luna Bar in Midtown Manhattan for the meeting with Sollozzo and Bruno Tattaglia. Trapani witnessed Brasi be garrotted to death by Tattaglia assassin Guido Lucci, who noticed Trapani's presence. Sollozzo and Tattaglia fled as Trapani shot his way through Tattaglia buttonmen and killed Luca's assassin. He then escaped the NYPD and returned to his apartment on Grand Street, where he called Monk Malone. Malone told him that they should meet at the barber shop on Mott Street and talk face-to-face.

The Don is Dead[]

Trapani Frankie — Trapani meeting Frankie Malone

The following day, Malone and Trapani met at Dino DeMantagna's barber shop, meeting Malone's sister Frances (or "Frankie") along the way. As Monk and Aldo discussed Luca Brasi's death, Don Corleone went across the street to purchase some fruit while his son Fredo Corleone waited with their car. However, Tattaglia gunmen Donnie Marinelli and Mikey Saleri proceeded to shoot Don Corleone five times, critically wounding him. The gunmen then fired into the barber shop, wounding both DeMantagna and Malone. A wounded Malone told Trapani to rescue his sister, who had been taken hostage by Gino Amato. Trapani shot Amato in the head and proceeded to kill the other Tattaglia hitmen, and Fredo Corleone then approached Trapani, asking him to drive the Don's car to escort the ambulance as it picked up Vito Corleone. Aldo and Fredo followed the ambulance in the car, with Fredo shooting at pursuing cars as Aldo followed the ambulance. At the Brooklyn Bridge, the ambulance was ambushed, and the driver was killed. Aldo proceeded to interrogate Tattaglia capo Ricardo Lanza, from whom he discovered that Corleone consigliere Tom Hagen had been kidnapped by Sollozzo. Trapani then killed Lanza and entered the driver's seat of the ambulance, driving the Don to the hospital. There, he met Sonny Corleone and Peter Clemenza, two major figures in the family.

Rescuer[]

The following evening, Trapani, Clemenza, and Clemenza's enforcer Rocco Lampone helped rescue Hagen from Sollozzo's captivity at Joe's Diner in Brooklyn. Later, Trapani was sent to perform guard duty at the hospital where Don Corleone was held, and he encountered Frankie Malone as she visited her brother. The two flirted, and Malone agreed to date Trapani in the future. Trapani then decided to visit Monk Malone's hospital room, where he met Frankie once more. However, Tattaglia assassin Fabio DeMartini fired into the room, mistaking Malone for Don Corleone. Aldo Trapani proceeded to help Micahel Corleone with moving his father to another room and killing all of the Tattaglia hitmen sent to kill the Don. Trapani later witnessed Michael Corleone's jaw be broken by corrupt police captain Mark McCluskey after McCluskey attempted to arrest Corleone; Tom Hagen then arrived and forced the police to allow for private detectives to guard the hospital, or else the police would have to face a judge the next morning.

Rosa Morelli and Aldo Trapani — Rosa Morelli and Trapani after killing Galtosino

On New Year's Eve of 1945, Trapani was invited to a party at Rosa Morelli's brothel, which was attended by Corleones such as Monk Malone, Sonny Corleone, and Gatto. The party was raided by Sergeant Galtosino, who took Morelli with him for "interrogation". Aldo secretly bribed a policeman and snuck past other policemen in the alleyway, climbing to the roof of a nearby warehouse, where he confronted Galtosino and saw a violated Morelli. Trapani chased Galtosino to the roof and threw him off the balcony, making his death look like an accident. Morelli then gave Trapani a glass bottle, explaining that Galtosino's death was really an "accident", caused by his drunkenly falling off of the roof. Trapani dropped the flask off of the roof so that it landed next to Galtosino, creating a fake crime scene.

Climbing the ranks[]

As Vito was in the hospital recovering from his wounds, Sonny Corleone took over as acting boss for the family. He noticed that Paulie Gatto had been working for the family and sold out the Don, and Sonny sent Clemenza and Trapani to get the job done. They gunned Gatto down in the wastelands of southern Brooklyn, eliminating the traitor.

Later, Trapani was sent with Rocco Lampone to Los Angeles to force movie producer Jack Woltz into casting Vito's godson Johnny Fontane as the lead in a promising war film. After Woltz met with Tom Hagen and refused to cast Fontane in the role, Lampone and Trapani were sent to infiltrate his mansion that night. They snuck into Woltz's stables, beheaded his prized racehorse Khartoum, and delivered the horse's head to Woltz's room, placing it under his blankets. The next morning, Woltz woke up and was terrified by the surprise, and he was ultimately forced to cast Fontane in the role.

Around this time, Trapani began to date Frankie Malone with Monk's approval, and Trapani and Monk Malone proceeded to assist Peter Clemenza with attacking the Tattaglias. They assaulted Sollozzo's drug warehouse, which they proceeded to bomb; this crippled Sollozzo's distribution network. Trapani would then go on to blow up Sollozzo's drug fronts in several abandoned homes in both New York City and New Jersey.

Being made[]

In late January 1946, Sollozzo decided to have a meeting with Michael Corleone to discuss peace between the Tattaglias and the Corleones, with Captain McCluskey serving as Sollozzo's bodyguard. Corleone plotted to assassinate both Sollozzo and McCluskey at the meeting, as this would prevent further attempts on his father's life. Clemenza decided to have Trapani plant a gun behind a toilet at the meeting venue, the Louis Restaurant, so that Corleone could retrieve the hidden gun from the bathroom and kill the two men. Trapani drove to the restaurant in Midtown, planting the gun. He then served as Corleone's getaway driver, driving him to the docks, where he boarded a ship bound for Sicily. Trapani's role in the Sollozzo-McCluskey murders led to him being "made" as a soldato in the family, initiating him into the Mafia.

Five Families War[]

The deaths of Sollozzo and McCluskey led to the "Five Families War", with the Corleones going to war with the other families of New York. Trapani played a key role in the frontline warfare, assassinating made men from rival families and taking over rival fronts. Trapani also bombed the compounds of the rival families, expanding the Corleone empire. However, he paid the price for his actions. Soon after he was made, Tattaglia gunmen kidnapped Frankie Malone from Trapani's Chateau Leive apartment, and, despite Trapani's efforts to save her, she was murdered by Bruno Tattaglia at the St. Michael Archangel church in Brooklyn. The furious Trapani went into a rampage with the help of Sonny Corleone, luring Tattaglia to Tito Morelli's funeral parlor after killing a Tattaglia capo, and then throwing Bruno Tattaglia into the cremation oven. He would gain further prestige by helping Corleone with his war with the Cuneos, taking down Artie Manzanero's smuggling ring. However, in 1948, Sonny Corleone's own brazen actions would lead to him paying the price. As he drove to confront his brother-in-law Carlo Rizzi for beating Sonny's sister, Connie, Sonny was ambushed at the Jones Beach Causeway toll plaza and was gunned down by assassins from the rival families. After interrogating a Tattaglia underboss at The Tunnel Club, Trapani discovered that the Barzinis were behind Corleone's death. A recovered Don Vito Corleone proceeded to call a meeting of The Commission at the Hotel Alioto, where he made peace with the rival families. The war was temporarily brought to an end.

Caporegime[]

When Michael Corleone returned to New York, he had Trapani promoted to the rank of caporegime, and he sent him to find a rat in the Bowery Hotel. There, Trapani and Monk Malone (who had come out of hiding) hunted down the rat, D. Cooper, who was shot by Malone. Monk then fled, and Jimmy DeNunzio informed Trapani that Monk had killed his FBI handler; Monk was an informant. Trapani pursued Malone and confronted him at the Va Va Voom Room, where he killed Monk and his Cuneo bodyguards.

In 1955, Trapani was sent to assist Willie Cicci in driving the traitorous caporegime Salvatore Tessio to the Embassy Club in Brooklyn for his execution. Tessio had planned to lure Michael Corleone into an ambush by Barzini gunmen at the club in exchange for Barzini allowing for Tessio to keep his territories, which had come under Barzini threat. Trapani killed all of the would-be Barzini assassins before executing Tessio, eliminating another major traitor. He went on to kill traitor Jaggy Jovino as well, and he was also sent to clear out Moe Greene's secret casino underneath The Peak in order to finance the Corleone family's move to Nevada.

Taking over New York[]

With the money from Greene's casino, Michael Corleone now had just one problem left: he needed to get revenge on the heads of the other Five Families. Trapani assisted with the murders of Victor Stracci, Carmine Cuneo, Philip Tattaglia, and Emilio Barzini, weakening the Corleone family's opponents. Following the deaths of the rival dons, Trapani proceeded to take over the remaining rackets and compounds of New York and New Jersey and eliminate the last of the other families' made men, becoming "Don of New York" upon the completion of this task.

Death[]

Trapani reigned as Don of New York for four years, serving as Michael Corleone's right-hand man on the East Coast. In December 1958, Trapani and his underboss Dominic Corleone accompanied Michael Corleone and Fredo Corleone to a business meeting with Hyman Roth in Havana, Cuba, where Roth announced his intention to divide up his casinos between his associates. Trapani received a special percentage of the business to himself, as he was highly respected among mob circles. However, this deal was not to be, as the chaos of the Cuban Revolution on 31 December 1958 forced the mobsters to flee Havana. As he escorted Fredo and Michael to the Havana Airport, Trapani was shot in the neck by a sniper, killing him. His businesses in New York were taken over by rogue capos Tony and Carmine Rosato, and his protege Dominic would succeed him as don of the Trapani crime family.