Pasquale "Pat the Cat" Spirito

Infobox Person
name=Pasquale "Pat the Cat" Spirito


caption=One of the few existing photographs of the Scarfo mobster, Pasquale "Pat the Cat" Spirito.
birth_date=???
birth_place= Trenton, New Jersey?
death_date= April 29, 1983
death_place= South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA"Pasquale "Pat the Cat" Spirito" (? - April 29, 1983 ) was a soldato and hitman of the Scarfo Crime Family from 1981, until his predictable death on April 29, 1983. Only his participation in the mob is truly known about him; His past is mysteriously unknown.

Pasquale "Pat the Cat" Spirito

The documented life and history of mobster Pasquale Sprito is severely unknown - just as deceased Murder Inc. employee, Seymour Magoon. The only recorded analysis of his life, is between his works in the Scarfo crime family during the 1980's, under Nicodemo Scarfo's powerful reign and rule. Not much is known of Spirito's early life and career, or even his significant birth date. All that is technically known of him is that he worked in the South Philadelphia side of organized crime, and that he came from Trenton, New Jeresy. Pasquale Spirito was supposedly initiated into the family in the year 1981, and was a getaway driver for Tommy DelGiorno and Frank Iannarella during the murder of associate John Calabrese. For his part, Spirito became a soldier. DelGirono and Calabrese would become capos, or captains just a year later. Spirito fell out of favor with Scarfo very early on. [http://members.fortunecity.com/sosdie/mob/family/philly/philly.htm] Spirito was known to be a reluctant hitman - possibly suggesting that he never finished a contract he was given when ordered to whack somebody - or that he instead started to decline in taking out his targets, which didn't satisfy Nicodemo Scarfo.

Speculation & Conflicts

Speculation of the reason Sprito was whacked either climaxed into the fact Spirito was being becoming a houshold nuisance to the family; Spirito's lack of ambition and willingness to perform hits under the crucial orders of Nicodemo Scarfo; partially that Nicodemo Scarfo thought he was completely useless to his organization and that his prominence in the family had to be put to an end like most of Scarfo's former associates and wiseguys; or, was all of the above. Although his birth date was never officialized, it's certain that since he was a citizen of the USA, that he must of at least held a birth certificate.

Downfall & Death

Mob boss Nicodemo Scarfo was starting to begin a violent genocide of his associates and every member of the family. An estimated total of 30 outsiders and and made men were dead by the end of his reign, largely due to the Scarfo-Riccobene War and his own paranoia of disloyal and dishonest people. Pasquale "Pat the Cat" Sprito's run was ticking and was going to end, eventually. Scarfo ordered him to take out Bobby Riccobene. Pasquale's reluctancy was again showing; he balked once too often about carrying out a Scarfo contract. Scarfo sent Nicholas Caramandi and Charles Iannece Jr.On April 29, 1983, Pasquale "Pat the Cat" Spirito, an La Cosa Nostra member, was shot two times in the back of the head while sitting in his car in South Philadelphia. Spirito was killed for failing to carry out a contract to kill Robert Riccobene, the brother of Harry Riccobene. [http://www.nevadaobserver.com/Reading%20Room%20Documents/LCN%20-%20Philadelphia%20and%20Southern%20New%20Jersey%20(1988).htm] Nick Caramandi, during an interview - was glad that Pasquale, his former mentor, was taken out - commented,

" We tried for months to kill him, and for a while that's all we used to talk about. We used to get sick when we'd see him. We'd want to throw up. Pat had bad vibes and knew what was coming. This guy tried to work my head for hours the day before. He had me in a booth in a luncheonette drinking coffee for four hours, making me tell him how much I love him, and it's already set up to kill him the next night. I said, "Pat, what are you talking like this for? I'd do anything for you. Hey! I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you. Buddy, my life is yours. Jesus Christ, I love you." He was relieved."

[ http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,973168-2,00.html]

The truth to the reason his death, and his personality and character, were revealed:

"“Spirito was not cut out for the Scarfo mob. He had come out of Trenton and moved to South Philadelphia at a time when mob members were low-key operators concentrating on gambling, loan-sharking, and bookmaking. He was greedy and ambitious, attributes that Scarfo could appreciate, but he lacked the killer instinct. He thought he could slide by generating enough money to keep the Little Guy down the shore satisfied. But he underestimated Scarfo’s bloodlust. Spirito was a money-maker, but he was also a whiner and complainer.” After we killed him, “everybody was happy. Everybody hated him. I never seen a guy hated so much.”"

[http://www.americanmafia.com/Allan_May_5-8-00.html]

References

*Blood and Honor: Inside the Scarfo Mob - The Mafia's Most Violent Family by George Anastasia, 2004, ISBN 0-9410159-86-4

*http://members.fortunecity.com/sosdie/mob/family/philly/philly.htm

*http://www.nevadaobserver.com/Reading%20Room%20Documents/LCN%20-%20Philadelphia%20and%20Southern%20New%20Jersey%20(1988).htm

*http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,973168-2,00.html

*http://www.americanmafia.com/Allan_May_5-8-00.html