Borelli was in a relationship with the daughter of Paul Castellano, the Gambino Boss, and had made numerous disparaging remarks about Castellano. One or more of these remarks made their way back to Castellano and his murder was ordered. The Bonannos were brought into the plot through Salvatore Catalano, then serving as that Family's Acting Boss on behalf of the imprisoned Philip Rastelli. Prior to his affiliation with the Gambinos, Vito Borelli had been on-record with Rastelli and had briefly dated one of Rastelli's nieces.
At the time, the Bonannos were on the outs with a majority of the leadership in the other New York Families. Internal dissension had culminated in the loss of their spot on the Commission, which had recently issued an edict forbidding them from inducting new members (a ban that would last until 1984). The Borelli hit was viewed as an opportunity by Catalano, who summoned Family Captains Joseph Massino and Dominick Napolitano and relayed the order, stressing the importance of gaining allies.
The victim was contacted by Bonanno Soldier Anthony Rabito and lured to the warehouse of Rabito's cookie shop at 308 East 53rd St in Midtown Manhattan, where he was shot to death by John Gotti and Joseph Watts. Gotti was an acting captain at the time, Watts an associate used in multiple Castellano-ordered hits. Joseph Massino, Dominick Napolitano and others were positioned around the block as lookouts.
Those specifically named as present included:
Bonanno
- Joseph Massino (Captain)
- Dominick Napolitano (Captain)
- James Episcopia (Soldier)
- Anthony Rabito (Soldier)
- John Cerasani (Associate)
Gambino
- John Gotti (Acting Captain)
- John Carneglia (Soldier)
- Frank DeCicco (Soldier)
- Angelo Ruggiero (Soldier)
- Joseph Watts (Associate)
Earlier the same day a stolen panel truck, obtained by Massino associate Duane 'Goldie' Leisenheimer, was provided to Bonanno Associate Salvatore Vitale and Gambino Soldier John Carneglia and left parked outside Rabito's business for use in transporting the body after the fact. Later that evening Vitale received a phone call from Massino: the truck wouldn't start. Vitale drove into Manhattan and, after his attempt to start the truck was also unsuccessful, offered his own car for use. The body was placed in the trunk and Vitale, accompanied by Frank DeCicco, delivered it to a location in or near South Ozone Park, Queens. A second group had assembled there, among them Gambino Soldier Roy DeMeo. From there the body was presumably dismembered and disposed of in Brooklyn's Fountain Avenue Dump, a site commonly used by DeMeo.
This murder is typically noted as having taken place in the mid-1970s. That was an estimate provided by Vitale, who frequently got dates wrong and, by his own admission, was only guessing at when Borelli was killed. Massino later clarified that he himself was a captain at the time, John Gotti an acting captain, and Salvatore Catalano the acting boss. Comparing this with other sources matches a Fall 1980 time frame. Catalano is first reported as acting boss in September 1980, and he was observed by the FBI meeting with Castellano the following month. By Spring 1981 he had been taken down from that position.
The murder may have been referenced by Napolitano in an October 1980 conversation with one of his crew members, FBI Undercover Agent 'Donnie Brasco'. The pair met at the Tahitian Motor Lodge in Holiday, Florida, where Napolitano updated Brasco on recent happenings in New York. Brasco later recalled: "Well, during one part of the conversation, Sonny [Napolitano] said he had done a great favor for Paulie Castellano [and] due to this favor that he and Paulie were now good friends." In a subsequent discussion with Bonanno Soldier Benjamin 'Lefty' Ruggiero, Brasco mentioned Sonny's remark: "I repeated the conversation that I had with Sonny [and] Lefty said he was surprised that Sonny had told me about the favor he had done with Castellano."
Twenty years prior to Vitale's defection in 2003, a vague report of Borelli's murder was received from another cooperating witness. Gambino Associate Frederick DiNome, a member of Roy DeMeo's crew, began speaking with the Federal Government following the latter's murder in January 1983. DiNome provided leads on a number of victims connected to DeMeo, one of whom was described as, "..an unidentified car dealer in Manhattan at a Cookie Factory." DiNome claimed the body was transported from Manhattan to Brooklyn where it was disposed of. It's worth noting that DiNome was initially hesitant to provide too many incriminating details, and early in his cooperation outright omitted his own involvement in several homicides. It's possible he was one of the individuals present with DeMeo when the body was delivered. He committed suicide in 1986, not long after his first appearance as a witness and before he could be more extensively questioned on many of the victims he described.
Twenty years prior to Vitale's defection in 2003, a vague report of Borelli's murder was received from another cooperating witness. Gambino Associate Frederick DiNome, a member of Roy DeMeo's crew, began speaking with the Federal Government following the latter's murder in January 1983. DiNome provided leads on a number of victims connected to DeMeo, one of whom was described as, "..an unidentified car dealer in Manhattan at a Cookie Factory." DiNome claimed the body was transported from Manhattan to Brooklyn where it was disposed of. It's worth noting that DiNome was initially hesitant to provide too many incriminating details, and early in his cooperation outright omitted his own involvement in several homicides. It's possible he was one of the individuals present with DeMeo when the body was delivered. He committed suicide in 1986, not long after his first appearance as a witness and before he could be more extensively questioned on many of the victims he described.