Longtime Montreal mob boss Luigi Greco, aka Louis Greco went down in a blaze of glory at age 59, literally becoming a human torch while using gasoline as a solve to lay tiles at his brother's pizza place late at night on Dec. 3, 1972.This happened two decades after his ex-wife was shot dead in a murder suicide in front of his son.
Neither helped in his quest to keep a low profile.
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Louis Greco reigned as king of the Montreal underworld from about 1946 to 1972, taking the helm with Frank Pretula after his boss Harry Davis was shot dead on Stanley Street.
Greco's biggest innovation was helping forge the French Connection, a massive heroin importation system that supplied the injectable opiate to junkies all across North America and later inspired a Gene Hackman action blockbuster.
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Greco started in crime after being forced to quit school at the age of 10. He was forced to earn for his family after his dad died while working for the Canadian Pacific Railway, in 1923 as Jerry Prager notes in a useful article.
Aged 17 in 1930 Greco, was sentenced to 68 days for assault, while his brother Antonio had already been working the world of violent crime for at least six years by then.
One young woman said that Greco had hit her after she turned down his invitation to work as a prostitute in Toronto. Another young man said Greco beat him for refusing to steal a gun. Greco was given six months hard labour.
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Greco was arrested a year later after his crew knocked over a Canadian National Bank at St. Viateur and Park on February 28, 1933. They nabbed $86,000 and police recovered all but $4,000 of it when the group was found in Toronto two weeks later. It was his sixth arrest and he served 11 years in prison.
Local mob kingpin Harry Davis, serving a seven year bid, befriended Greco in prison. The two would later become close associates upon release along with the Ukrainian-Italian Frank Petrula.
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Greco made the news again when Clarence John Ford shot at him on Mountain Street on 15 Nov. 1945. Newspapers made a note to mention that Ford was Afro-Canadian, so this might have been a conflict with a dubious character from the places near St. Antoine.
Ford, who was variously reported as being 19 years old and 32 years old, was charged with attempted murder.
In an unusual show of compassion, Ford couldn't afford a lawyer so Greco offered him one.
Greco's prominence and importance rose suddenly after Louis Bercowitz shot Harry Davis dead on Stanley Street in 1946.
Greco partnered with Frank Petrula, a tall half-Ukrainian, half-Italian Gary Cooper lookalike, who could switch from charming to violent on a dime, leaving many terrified of him. Pretula lived in a suburban home in Beaconsfield and drove a Cadillac and played the ladies men in clubs around town.
Greco, meanwhile was far more discreet, living a low-profile life in Westmount.
RCMP files note that Greco traveled to met international Mafia boss Lucky Luciano in 1951 so his ascent up the ladder was evident.
Greco frequented the Bonfire Restaurant, a former FDR restaurant, just outside of the Blue Bonnets racetrack on Decarie. The restaurant, of which he was part owner, was described as Mafia headquarters.
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Greco married Berthe Bernard in 1947. She was half-Cree and half French Canadian. They had a child Louis Greco Jr. but the two split in early 1951.
Berthe remarried Raymond Cardis on March 1, 1952, who worked as a toolmaker at Canadian Vickers.
Cardis had immigrated from France one year earlier.
Berthe and Cardis lived at the northeast corner of Dorchester and Clandeboye, second building over, likely the same home that she lived in with Greco previously.
Cardis became enraged with jealousy when he overheard his wife Berthe sweet talking to her ex, Greco, on the phone.
Cardis ordered her to phone Greco in front of him to tell him that she'd never return to him. She refused.
So Cardis shot Berthe dead with a high powered rifle at their apartment at 4069 Dorchester W. in front of the maid Yvonne Hainault, 17, and their two year old child on February 12, 1953.
She was aged 32.
(Another high-profile murder suicide occurred just a few doors down one month earlier, as Bertrand Dussault targeted his clandestine lover Reine Johnson at 4041 Dorchester W. She survived. He didn't. Johnson's husband and two sons all later became Quebec premiers. The buildings were demolished in the early sixties )
The irony, of course is that Berthe and her family appear to have rejected Greco on the grounds of Greco's intense involvement in crime. Indeed the normal guy she ended up marrying, Cardis, proved more lethal.
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Greco got custody of his son, who remained estranged from his mother's relatives.
Louis Jr. would later grow up and also became a criminal.
Louis Greco remarried to Doris Gibson and lived with her in the West Island with daughters Camilla and Gina.
Legal documents, in the form of a lawsuit laid after his death, made no mention of those daughters. By that time he lived at 7659 Millet in St. Leonard and spent his days at his brother's restaurant.
So it's possible that Greco became estranged from his second wife and kids and excluded them all from his will.
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A 1955 incident led to Greco's ascension to the top of the local mob chain.
Greco's partner Petrula, who was a well-dressed, big tipper and man about town, and known for running protection and prostitution rackets, disliked a rival named Harry Smith.
So he dropped by to visit him at the El Morocco, which was still downtown at the time.
Pretula smacked doorman Ned Roberts, in his fifties, in the head with a gun and got to Smith.
Pretula and Smith scuffled without conclusion and were separated.
But Pretula returned the same night with a small army of local boxers, working as muscle for him. They were mostly local African-Canadians, in the form of William "Carfare" Bowman 32, Joseph Chambers, 30, Charlie Chase, 24, Lionel Deare, 34, George Desmond, 29, Ronald Jones 27, and bankrobber Vincent McIntyre 27.
The gang ransacked the El Morocco and several other places, which led to major headlines and much unwanted police attention.
Police then sought to arrested Pretula and raided Petrula's home, where Pretula's wife offered them a friendly tour, even opening the safe hidden in the bathroom, which revealed a treasure-trove of details of bribery.
Greco's prominence and importance rose suddenly after Louis Bercowitz shot Harry Davis dead on Stanley Street in 1946.
Greco partnered with Frank Petrula, a tall half-Ukrainian, half-Italian Gary Cooper lookalike, who could switch from charming to violent on a dime, leaving many terrified of him. Pretula lived in a suburban home in Beaconsfield and drove a Cadillac and played the ladies men in clubs around town.
Greco, meanwhile was far more discreet, living a low-profile life in Westmount.
RCMP files note that Greco traveled to met international Mafia boss Lucky Luciano in 1951 so his ascent up the ladder was evident.
Greco frequented the Bonfire Restaurant, a former FDR restaurant, just outside of the Blue Bonnets racetrack on Decarie. The restaurant, of which he was part owner, was described as Mafia headquarters.
**
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| Greco's ex-wife Berthe was gunned down in Westmount |
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| Maid and murder witness Hainault |
Berthe remarried Raymond Cardis on March 1, 1952, who worked as a toolmaker at Canadian Vickers.
Cardis had immigrated from France one year earlier.
Berthe and Cardis lived at the northeast corner of Dorchester and Clandeboye, second building over, likely the same home that she lived in with Greco previously.
Cardis became enraged with jealousy when he overheard his wife Berthe sweet talking to her ex, Greco, on the phone.
Cardis ordered her to phone Greco in front of him to tell him that she'd never return to him. She refused.
So Cardis shot Berthe dead with a high powered rifle at their apartment at 4069 Dorchester W. in front of the maid Yvonne Hainault, 17, and their two year old child on February 12, 1953.
She was aged 32.
The irony, of course is that Berthe and her family appear to have rejected Greco on the grounds of Greco's intense involvement in crime. Indeed the normal guy she ended up marrying, Cardis, proved more lethal.
***
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Greco got custody of his son, who remained estranged from his mother's relatives.
Louis Jr. would later grow up and also became a criminal.
Louis Greco remarried to Doris Gibson and lived with her in the West Island with daughters Camilla and Gina.
Legal documents, in the form of a lawsuit laid after his death, made no mention of those daughters. By that time he lived at 7659 Millet in St. Leonard and spent his days at his brother's restaurant.
So it's possible that Greco became estranged from his second wife and kids and excluded them all from his will.
**
A 1955 incident led to Greco's ascension to the top of the local mob chain.
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| Frank Pretula with lawyer |
So he dropped by to visit him at the El Morocco, which was still downtown at the time.
Pretula smacked doorman Ned Roberts, in his fifties, in the head with a gun and got to Smith.
Pretula and Smith scuffled without conclusion and were separated.
But Pretula returned the same night with a small army of local boxers, working as muscle for him. They were mostly local African-Canadians, in the form of William "Carfare" Bowman 32, Joseph Chambers, 30, Charlie Chase, 24, Lionel Deare, 34, George Desmond, 29, Ronald Jones 27, and bankrobber Vincent McIntyre 27.
The gang ransacked the El Morocco and several other places, which led to major headlines and much unwanted police attention.
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| Greco and Pretula 1950s |
The papers revealed that much mob cash had been given to Jean Drapeau's mayoralty rivals, revealed.
Louis Greco's name was also found in the documents, so they raided his home and found guns.Greco claimed that the guns were not his, they were simply in the house when he took it back after his wife's murder. He just put them in the basement.
The judge said he suspected Greco was all loaded up with weapons because he feared someone might try to kill him.
Greco was only given three days in jail on the guns charges. It was his first time behind bars since his stint from 1933-1944.
Authorities arrested Pretula at Dorval Airport just before taking a flight to the Caribbean. Authorities charged him with falsifying his taxes in 1949 and 1953, a crime punishable by five years in prison.
He claimed to be unable to pay his back taxes but somehow managed to come up with $23,000 in bail money. His sister and Greco's wife Gibson showed up with the cash. However they would not get the money back as Pretula defaulted on the bail cash on 19 June 1958 when he failed to show up for his trial. He was never seen again.
Some speculated that the body parts thought to be those of Mafia hit-man Larry Petrov in rural St. Donat in July 1957 were actually Pretula's.
Pretula's reign lasted about a decade and he was suspected of involvement in the murders of Wyman, Ballazo, Randolph, Battaglia and Petrov.
Whether Greco had anything to do with Pretula's disappearance and like death remains a mystery but it would seem likely that he did.
The logic is that Pretula was clearly a headache for Greco and when the federal government came after Pretula for $200,000 in back taxes in October 1956, Greco feared that he might make a deal and rat others out.
So Pretula disappeared forever on 24 June 1958, with some suspecting that he was drowned in cement in a lake in the Laurentians, while others claimed he was shot dead in the bathroom of a downtown Montreal restaurant.
**
Later that year someone shot at Greco's station wagon in Dorval and Greco's wife reported it to police.
Greco launched a waiters union in 1960 and gave himself a salary for his efforts.
He was given eight days in jail for being caught inside at gambling house at 1451 Metcalfe in 1961.
And guns and drugs were discovered in the dryer in the laundromat of his building at the southwest corner of St. Catherine and Sanguinet around that time.
The next year he was arrested for stolen goods found at his home. He was known to be close to Carmine Galante, who headed the Bonanno clan of New York City.
Greco was exposed again on Nov. 26, 1966 when he was nabbed outside a north end cabaret with the who's who of the top mafia who were in town for a meeting involving Cotroni, Violi, Luppino, Sal Bonnano and others.
Bonanno, from one of the five families of New York, said he was in town to look into his father interests in the Saputo company of which he owned 20 percent according to Joe's memoirs published in 2002.
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Around this time Greco agreed to share power with Vic Cotroni, likely due to his reluctance to get involved in a major gang war.
Greco left the west island to live in St. Leonard, next door to his henchman and top heroin dealer Conrad Bouchard. Bouchard had been an opera singer performing in Vic Cotroni's club when he was cultivated for a life of crime.
Greco lent his brother Antonio, who was two years his junior, $5,000 to open Gina's Pizzeria at 3212 Jarry East. "My brother lent me $5,000 and he spent his days at my business. I didn't want to kick him out, he was doing god things there," Antonio would later say.
Antonio hired O.B. Tiles to replace the floors and Orlando Cocco, 48, (9110 Clark) and his brother Bruno (6880 Clark) got to work on 3 December 1972.
But Louis Greco burst in and started taking over.
Orlando Cocco was not impressed with Louis's decision to do his work.
"Luigi is a good guy but he wanted to do it all by himself because the work done by others was never to his standards. The night of the accident, we were preparing to put down the new tiles when Greco took a spreader from my hand and started doing my job," Orlando later told the fire commissioner during an investigation
Greco supposedly replaced the varsol they were using with gasoline and the place exploded, causing injuries to all present.
Greco, who was closest to the explosion, died of burns three days later.
The Cocco brothers later sued Greco's estate and other owners of Gina's for $232,000 in damages, saying they had suffered serious injuries in the fire. It's unknown what, if anything, they ultimately were awarded. Orlando Cocco died in Chicoutimi in June 1989 aged 68.
The local Mafia was taken over by Vic Cotroni, who mentored the Ontario-born Calabrian Paolo Violi to become boss. Violi was later wiped out by the Rizzutos, who later suffered a similar fate.
***
Stories like this fill the must-read Montreal: 375 Tales of Eating, Drinking, Living and Loving, order your paper copy here now or buy it at Indigo or Paragraph.
***
**
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| Louis Greco |
Greco launched a waiters union in 1960 and gave himself a salary for his efforts.
He was given eight days in jail for being caught inside at gambling house at 1451 Metcalfe in 1961.
And guns and drugs were discovered in the dryer in the laundromat of his building at the southwest corner of St. Catherine and Sanguinet around that time.
The next year he was arrested for stolen goods found at his home. He was known to be close to Carmine Galante, who headed the Bonanno clan of New York City.
Greco was exposed again on Nov. 26, 1966 when he was nabbed outside a north end cabaret with the who's who of the top mafia who were in town for a meeting involving Cotroni, Violi, Luppino, Sal Bonnano and others.
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| Vic Cotroni |
**
Around this time Greco agreed to share power with Vic Cotroni, likely due to his reluctance to get involved in a major gang war.
Greco left the west island to live in St. Leonard, next door to his henchman and top heroin dealer Conrad Bouchard. Bouchard had been an opera singer performing in Vic Cotroni's club when he was cultivated for a life of crime.
Greco lent his brother Antonio, who was two years his junior, $5,000 to open Gina's Pizzeria at 3212 Jarry East. "My brother lent me $5,000 and he spent his days at my business. I didn't want to kick him out, he was doing god things there," Antonio would later say.
Antonio hired O.B. Tiles to replace the floors and Orlando Cocco, 48, (9110 Clark) and his brother Bruno (6880 Clark) got to work on 3 December 1972.
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Orlando Cocco was not impressed with Louis's decision to do his work.
"Luigi is a good guy but he wanted to do it all by himself because the work done by others was never to his standards. The night of the accident, we were preparing to put down the new tiles when Greco took a spreader from my hand and started doing my job," Orlando later told the fire commissioner during an investigation
Greco supposedly replaced the varsol they were using with gasoline and the place exploded, causing injuries to all present.
Greco, who was closest to the explosion, died of burns three days later.
The Cocco brothers later sued Greco's estate and other owners of Gina's for $232,000 in damages, saying they had suffered serious injuries in the fire. It's unknown what, if anything, they ultimately were awarded. Orlando Cocco died in Chicoutimi in June 1989 aged 68.
The local Mafia was taken over by Vic Cotroni, who mentored the Ontario-born Calabrian Paolo Violi to become boss. Violi was later wiped out by the Rizzutos, who later suffered a similar fate.
***
Stories like this fill the must-read Montreal: 375 Tales of Eating, Drinking, Living and Loving, order your paper copy here now or buy it at Indigo or Paragraph.
***
Better than a movie
ReplyDeleteAgree
DeleteMy father Jean-Paul Hétu (1925-1995) owned a TY/Radio repair shop next to Gina's Pizzeria. He was putting up Christmas decorations with my mother when the explosion occured. They were not injured because a ciment wall seperated the two businesses. My mother was first to help Mr.Luigi who was blown in a snow bank. The second floor above the business was a conferance room where underworld meetings were held... My father was often pressured by Police and fire fighers (across the street) for "potection"... He was a very honest man and was very disturbed by this and talked to Mr. Greco. A deal was made. My father was tasked with sweeping the conference room for bugs and ohther listening devices in exchange for peace and quiet. My father was never again bothered by the police and fire dept. For
ReplyDelete"protection" and each friday we were treated for a free pizza. My father told me he never accepted money from the mob.
Thank you. A well written mob history I (a NYer) was unaware of.
ReplyDelete