of the family for the next two years. However, Eboli wanted to be the real head of the Genovese family. To further his advancement, Eboli borrowed $4 million from the Commission chairman and head of the rival Gambino crime family, Carlo Gambino to fund a new drug trafficking operation. However, law enforcement soon shut down Eboli's drug racket and arrested most of his crew. Gambino and his underboss Paul Castellano allegedly came to Eboli to get their money back, but he did not have it. Gambino then allegedly ordered Eboli's murder due to lack of payment. However, it is believed that Gambino actually wanted to replace Eboli with Gambino ally Frank "Funzi" Tieri, and that Gambino used the drug trafficking operation to set up Eboli. On July 16, 1972, Eboli left his girlfriend's apartment in Crown Heights, Brooklyn around 1:00 a.m. and walked to his chauffeured Cadillac car. As Eboli sat in the parked car, a gunman in a passing truck shot him five times. Hit in the head and neck, Eboli died instantly. No one was ever charged in his murder. Eboli was buried at George Washington Memorial Park in Paramus, New Jersey. Aside from the Eboli family, the only attendees at the graveside were law enforcement. See also List of unsolved murders References Further reading Capeci, Jerry. The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Mafia. Indianapolis: Alpha Books, 2002. Davis, John H. Mafia Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the Gambino Crime Family. New York: HarperCollins, 1993. Kwitny, Jonathan. Vicious Circles: The Mafia in the Marketplace. New York: W.W. Norton, 1979. Raab, Selwyn. Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires. New York: St. Martin Press, 2005. Mafia: The Government's Secret File on Organized Crime External links Thomas Eboli: Down for the Count by Allan May 1911 births 1972 deaths 1972 murders in the United States Acting bosses of the Five Families American crime bosses Burials at George Washington Memorial Park (Paramus, New Jersey) Deaths by firearm in Brooklyn Genovese crime family Italian emigrants to the United States Italian crime bosses Italian gangsters Male murder victims Murdered American gangsters of Italian descent People from the Province of Naples People murdered in New York City Unsolved murders in the United States