The killing of Francesco “Franky Boy” Cali in New York City this week has shed light on past mob-related in hits in America.
Here are summaries of his death and four other gruesome organized-crime killings that have made headlines over the years:
Frank Cali
New York police are hunting the hitman who gunned down Francesco “Franky Boy” Cali on Wednesday -- witnesses and officials say the killer then made sure the 53-year-old Gambino mob boss was dead by running over him with a blue pickup truck.
Cali was shot outside his house in the Todt Hill section of Staten Island around 9:20 p.m.
Cali became the notorious crime family’s acting boss in 2015, replacing Domenico Cefalu, then 68, according to the New York Daily News.
Paul Castellano
Castellano was the leader of the Gambino crime family when he was shot to death outside Sparks Steakhouse in Midtown Manhattan in 1985.
Detectives stand over body of reputed mob boss Paul Castellano, after execution on 46th St. Body of Castellano's chauffeur, Thomas Bilotti, lies partially covered in the street, far left. (Photo By: Tom Monaster/NY Daily News via Getty Images)
The 70-year-old owned a sprawling mansion in the same neighborhood as Cali, dubbed “The White House”, according to SI Live.
After exiting a limousine outside the restaurant, Castellano and his underboss, Thomas Bilotti, were approached by three men in trench coats who shot them each about six times, The New York Times reported at the time.
Subsequent media accounts linked the whacking to Gambino capo and future don John Gotti.
Frank DeCicco
DeCicco was the No. 2 figure in the Gambino family in 1986 when he died in a car bombing in Brooklyn.
Police sources told The New York Times that year it was likely he died in retaliation for Castellano’s killing or was the victim of a power struggle within the Gambino family.
Frank DeCicco was killed in a car bombing in Brooklyn in 1986.
Police say DeCicco “took the brunt of the blast” when he opened the passenger side door of a 1985 Buick Electra. The deadly device was hidden under the car’s front end and its explosion was strong enough to shatter windows of shops and buildings nearby.
Vincent Zito
The 77-year-old, who'd in the past been arrested in connection with loan sharking, was found dead in his Brooklyn home in October 2018.
Zito’s grandson, who lived at the property, came home from school one day to find his grandfather’s lifeless body in the living room with a handgun lying next to him and two gunshot wounds in the back of his head, according to the New York Post.
Vincent Zito was found dead in his Brooklyn home in October 2018. (Google Maps)
The newspaper cited a past report saying Zito’s still-living older brother, Anthony, has ties to the Lucchese crime family and was jailed in the 1970s for extortion.
Whitey Bulger
At one time, the notorious Boston mob boss James “Whitey” Bulger was one of the most wanted criminals in America. But at the age of 89 — roughly five years after he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for his role in 11 murders, Bulger was found dead in 2018 a West Virginia prison.
This file booking photo provided by the U.S. Marshals Service shows James "Whitey" Bulger.
Bulger, who evaded federal authorities for years prior to his 2011 arrest in Santa Monica, Calif., was killed the same day he was moved to the facility.
Fox News’ Stephen Sorace and Madeline Farber contributed to this report.
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