Mob Boss dies in Prison

One of the more interesting characters in Organized Crime passed away last Monday. From WNBC (New York):

Mob Boss Vincent 'Chin' Gigante Dies In Prison
Mob boss Vincent "Chin" Gigante, the powerful Mafioso who avoided jail for decades by wandering the Greenwich Village streets in a ratty bathrobe and slippers as part of an elaborate feigned mental illness, died Monday in prison, federal officials tell NewsChannel 4's Jonathan Dienst. He was 77.

His behaviour:

Denying he was a gangster, Gigante would wander the streets of his native Greenwich Village in nightclothes, muttering incoherently. Relatives, including a brother was who a Roman Catholic priest, insisted Gigante suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

And:

He also turned his claim of mental illness -- first used to escape trial in a 1970 police-bribery case -- into a full-time strategy, behaving weirdly in public, checking into psychiatric treatment clinics whenever the FBI turned up the heat.

There were comic-opera moments: Once, agents serving a subpoena found Gigante standing naked in the shower, holding an umbrella. Another time, upon spotting agents watching him, he fell to the sidewalk and prayed.

The court date that put him behind bars:

Dubbed the "Oddfather" for his bizarre behavior, the former Genovese crime family head, an ex-boxer whose lengthy string of victories over prosecutors ended with a July 1997 racketeering conviction, finally admitted his insanity ruse at an April 2003 court hearing.

After nearly a quarter-century of public craziness, Gigante calmly pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice for his deception. He then chatted amiably with his son, shook hands with defense lawyers and even laughed at one point.

Say what you like about 'organized crime', these people had class and style. Look at the thugs today - just violence and misogyny, no brains or class...