Salvatore "Salvie" Testa (31 March 1956 – 14 September 1984) was a Philadelphia crime family hitman. He avenged his father Philip Testa's death by whacking many of his killers, but he was murdered on the orders of Nicky Scarfo in 1984.
Biography[]
Salvatore Testa was born in southwest Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1956, the son of Philip Testa; Nicky Scarfo was his godfather. Testa went to Temple University for a year before going into the real estate business, and he later became involved with his father's drug trafficking, loansharking, and extortion rackets. In March 1981, Testa's father Philip was killed in a nail bombing, and Testa inherited most of his father's businesses. In January 1982, Testa was promoted to caporegime in the family, and a vengeful Testa was sent to whack his father's killers by his godfather. Testa killed Frank Narducci, Rocco Marinucci, and 13 other mobsters who had conspired to kill his father, and he was badly wounded in a June 1982 shooting at Lorenzo's Pizza in the Italian Market of Philadelphia.
Scarfo soon became jealous of Testa's rise to power within the family, and he was worried that he was becoming too powerful. After Testa offended underboss Salvatore Merlino by refusing to marry his daughter, and after the internal struggle with Harry Riccobene ended, Merlino and Testa decided that they could now eliminate Testa. On 14 September 1984, Testa was lured into the back room of a candy store in Philadelphia by his friend Joseph Pungitore. He greeted Salvatore Grande before talking with Pungitore, upon which Grande pulled a silenced pistol from under the cushions and shot Testa in the back of the head. Grande then stood up to shoot him again, killing him. His hogtied remains were found on the side of a road in Gloucester Township, New Jersey.