a share of the drug-dealing profits. Bruno preferred to operate through bribery and soft power rather than murder. For example, he banished violent soldier Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo to the then-backwater of Atlantic City, New Jersey after he was charged with manslaughter. Rebellion and death On March 21, 1980, the 69-year-old Bruno was killed by a shotgun blast to the head as he sat in his car in front of his home near the intersection of 10th Street and Snyder Avenue in the Lower Moyamensing neighborhood of South Philadelphia; his driver, John Stanfa, was wounded. It is believed that the killing was ordered by Antonio Caponigro, Bruno's consigliere. A few weeks later, Caponigro's lifeless body was found, naked and battered, in the trunk of a car in the Bronx. The Commission had reportedly ordered Caponigro's murder because he assassinated Bruno without their sanction. Other Philadelphia family members found to be involved in Bruno's murder were tortured and killed. The murder sparked a mob war in Philadelphia, which claimed over 20 lives over the next four years, including the succeeding boss Philip "Chicken Man" Testa, and his son Salvatore Testa. In February 2016, author and historian Celeste Morello began an effort to designate Bruno's home a historical landmark. In March 2016, a historical landmark advisory committee ruled against the request. In popular culture Bruno is portrayed by Chazz Palminteri in the film Legend (2015) and Harvey Keitel in the film The Irishman (2019). See also List of crime bosses List of unsolved murders References Further reading Blood and Honor: Inside the Scarfo Mob - The Mafia's Most Violent Family by George Anastasia, 2003, Bureau of Narcotics, U.S. Treasury Department, "Mafia: the Government's Secret File on Organized Crime", HarperCollins Publishers 2007 Morello, Celeste Anne. Book One Before Bruno: The History of the Mafia and La Cosa Nostra in Philadelphia. Publication date: 4/28/2000, Morello, Celeste Anne. Book Two Before Bruno: The History of the Philadelphia Mafia, 1931-1946. Publication date: 11/28/2001, Morello, Celeste Anne. Book Three Before Bruno and How He Became Boss: The History of the Philadelphia Mafia, Book 3--1946-1959. Publication date: 8/28/2005, External links American Mafia's brief history of the Mafion sentencea in Philadelphia 1910 births 1980 deaths 1980 murders in the United States American crime bosses American Roman Catholics Burials in Pennsylvania Deaths by firearm in Pennsylvania Italian emigrants to the United States Male murder victims Murdered American gangsters of Sicilian