A former Bonanno capo testified yesterday that crime-family boss Vincent “Vinny Gorgeous” Basciano took credit for the murder of a mob associate by flashing a news photo of the dead man’s corpse.
“You owe me one,” Basciano allegedly said, as he held up a newspaper article about the mob hit.
Generoso “Jimmy the General” Barbieri, an acting Bonanno captain now cooperating with federal prosecutors, testified that Basciano made the boast to him shortly after the 2004 mob rubout of Randy Pizzolo, a Bonanno associate who was considered disrespectful and insubordinate.
Barbieri testified that Basciano had the conversation while both men were in the federal Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where they were awaiting trial for other mob crimes.
Now in the witness-protection program, Barbieri told the jury in Brooklyn federal court that the newspaper article described the murder of Pizzolo, who was gunned down on an industrial street in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
Pizzolo had attempted to shake down a business affiliated with Barbieri, officials say, giving Basciano a reason to say that the capo “owed him one.”


