- Joseph Ullo
Joseph Spencer Ullo (born 1929) was a New York mobster and suspected as one of the ".22 caliber hitters" hitmen during the 1970s.
Born in New York, Ullo was suspected by
NYPD detectives in connection to two unsolved homicides before moving to California in the early 1960s. Operating as aloan shark until his arrest in September 1977 on loansharking charges, prosecutors attempted to charge Ullo with the gangland slaying of gambler andpornography distributorJack Molinas andVincent Calderazzo , a New York mobster. Both men had been shot with a .22 caliber pistol (the same type of gun used in a series of gangland slayings) and, as Molinas had reportedly owed Ullo money, police suspected Ullo's involvement. Police also attempted to connect the murder of a Los Angelesmassage parlor ownerMichael Ariola , another victim of the ".22 caliber hitters", who resisted mobsters’ attempts to take over his business. Despite the testimony of car thiefEugene Connor , who claimed he had driven the getaway car during one of the murders, Ullo was acquitted.According to the testimony of Frank Tieri in 1980, several New York mafia leaders ordered Ullo's death in September 1976 after refusing to pay a loan. Ullo avoided these attempts on his life however; he was eventually sentenced to imprisonment for six years after making false statements during a federal investigation and released on January 21, 1983.
Further reading
*cite book |last=Rosen |first=Charley |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=The Wizard of Odds: How Jack Molinas Almost Destroyed the Game of Basketball |year=2003 |publisher=Seven Stories Press |location=New York |id=ISBN 1583225625
External links
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,879765,00.html Time.com: Fingering a .22-Cal. Killer]
* [http://www.geocities.com/jiggy2000_us/caseline.html Los Angeles Legal Timeline]
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