10 Unsolved Murders Linked To The Mob

The shadowy world of organised crime is notorious for its secrecy, ruthlessness and the chilling efficiency with which it silences those who get in its way. Over the years, many lives have been claimed in mysterious circumstances, with the perpetrators often escaping justice. These unsolved murders, shrouded in conspiracy and fear, continue to haunt the families of the victims and captivate those intrigued by the dark side of the mob.

John Favara

In 1980, John Favara lived in the Howard Beach neighbourhood of Queens, New York — where he had the extreme misfortune of living near several members of the Gambino crime family, including his neighbour John Gotti. At the time, Gotti was an up-and-coming figure who would later become the family’s boss as the Dapper Don.

One day while driving home from work, Favara struck and killed Gotti’s 12-year-old son Frank in what was determined to be an accident. Frank had darted into the road on a minibike from behind a dumpster. The boy’s mother, Victoria Gotti, did not accept it as an accident. Favara began receiving anonymous threats and was attacked in a supermarket car park by Victoria Gotti with a metal post. He was advised by police to move house. He did not move quickly enough.

In July 1980, Favara was seen being beaten and pushed into the back of a van outside his workplace. He was never seen again. John and Victoria Gotti were on holiday in Florida at the time. No body was ever found, no one was ever charged, and the case remains officially unsolved. It is one of the most widely believed unsolved mob-connected killings in American history.

Geoffrey Bowen

On the morning of 2 March 1994, one of the most brazen attacks on law enforcement in Australian history took place in Adelaide. Detective Geoffrey Bowen opened a parcel in his office at the National Crime Authority building. The parcel contained a bomb, which detonated immediately, killing Bowen on the spot.

The investigation quickly focused on Domenic Perre, widely considered a senior figure in organised crime. Within a week of the explosion, Perre was taken into custody and charged with the murder. But a week before his trial, prosecutors dropped the charges — stating there was insufficient evidence for a conviction.

The case remains officially unsolved. It is the only assassination of a law enforcement officer by parcel bomb in Australian history and one of the most significant unsolved crimes the country has seen.

Butch Petrocelli

Butch Petrocelli was an aggressive hitman connected to the Chicago Outfit who carried out several mob murders. Eventually his bosses turned against him — accusing him of carrying out unsanctioned killings that attracted police attention and of living too lavishly, drawing further scrutiny to the organisation.

On 30 December 1980, his body was discovered in his car. His throat had been repeatedly stabbed and his body had been set on fire, though not fully incinerated. Nobody was ever arrested for the murder — although Chicago Outfit associate Nicholas Calabrese later claimed in testimony that he himself had killed Butch. Despite this admission, no prosecution for the murder was ever brought.

Don Hancock

Don Hancock was a retired detective in Western Australia who had made enemies in the motorcycle gang world through his active campaigns against groups like the Gypsy Jokers. He had been a suspect in the shooting of a Gypsy Jokers member named Grierson, though the investigation concluded there were multiple possible suspects.

In September 2001, Hancock was killed when a bomb planted in his car detonated. Gypsy Jokers member Sid Reid stated that gang leader Graeme Slater had ordered him to plant the device. However, Slater’s trial collapsed after his lawyers successfully cast doubt on Reid’s credibility as a witness. Reid was jailed but was never considered the mastermind. Slater was never convicted. The case remains one of the most high-profile unsolved murders in Australian criminal history.

Gus Greenbaum

Gus Greenbaum was a key associate of Meyer Lansky and Bugsy Siegel who played a central role in running the Mafia’s gambling interests in Las Vegas. He managed the Flamingo after Siegel’s murder in 1947 and later the Riviera. Over time, however, Greenbaum became increasingly dependent on alcohol and drugs — a serious liability for a man who knew as much as he did about mob finances.

In December 1958, both Gus and his wife Bess were found in their Phoenix, Arizona home with their throats slashed. The murders have never been officially solved. Mob figure Johnny Roselli later claimed that Meyer Lansky had ordered the hit because Greenbaum’s addictions had made him dangerously unreliable. The double killing — including the murder of his entirely uninvolved wife — remains one of the more disturbing unsolved cases in Las Vegas mob history.

Theodore Roe

Theodore Roe was one of Chicago’s most significant illegal bookmakers and a man widely respected in the Black community for giving back to those around him. His numbers operation on the South Side made him wealthy and independent — too independent, in the view of Sam Giancana and the Chicago Outfit, who wanted control of his operation.

Giancana made multiple attempts to buy Roe out or bring him under Outfit control. Roe refused every time. In 1951 a group of Outfit members approached Roe’s car and a confrontation broke out, during which Roe shot and killed an enforcer named Leonard in self-defence. The following year, 1952, Roe was found murdered. No one was ever convicted — though the killing was universally understood to have been ordered by Giancana as payback for his continued defiance.

Kevin Hanrahan

Kevin Hanrahan occupied a curious position in Rhode Island’s criminal world — he was perpetually at the top of police suspect lists whenever an unsolved murder case arose, suggesting a long history of violent work. Law enforcement believed Hanrahan served as an enforcer for the Patriarca crime family, one of the most powerful New England organised crime organisations.

In 1992, as Hanrahan was leaving a restaurant, two men shot him in the face. He died at the scene. Despite his well-documented criminal associations, his murder remains officially unsolved to this day.

Donald Krosky

Donald Krosky became involved in a violent confrontation with several members of the Hell’s Angels motorcycle club at his bar in Sandy Hook, Connecticut. The confrontation ended with Krosky opening fire on the bikers, killing two and severely wounding a third. He was quickly arrested, charged with two counts of murder and released on $100,000 bail.

In the months that followed, Krosky reported receiving multiple anonymous death threats and claimed to be living in fear. On 19 July 1977, while driving to work with a 19-year-old female passenger, a stolen car pulled alongside them. The occupants emptied several bullets into both Krosky and his passenger before speeding away through Trumbull, Connecticut. His passenger survived. Krosky died instantly. No one has ever been arrested for his murder.

Nicola Campolongo

On 19 January 2014, a horrifying discovery was made in Calabria, southern Italy. Three members of a family — a grandfather, his girlfriend and a three-year-old child — had been shot dead and left in a burning car. The primary target was believed to be Giuseppe Iannicelli, suspected of owing money to the ‘Ndrangheta — the Calabrian organised crime organisation considered the most powerful criminal group in Europe. His three-year-old grandson was killed alongside him.

The murder of a toddler caused international outrage. Despite the attention the case drew, no one has ever been charged. It remains one of the most chilling examples of organised crime’s indifference to innocent life.

Daniel Morgan

Before private investigator Daniel Morgan was murdered on 10 March 1987 in a pub car park in Sydenham, South London, he had told friends he was investigating police corruption and was close to a major breakthrough. He was found with an axe embedded in his head.

Five separate police investigations have been launched into Morgan’s death over the years, none resulting in a conviction. A 2021 Independent Panel report concluded that the Metropolitan Police was institutionally corrupt and had obstructed investigations into Morgan’s murder. It remains one of the most controversial and high-profile unsolved murders in British criminal history — a case that continues to raise fundamental questions about the relationship between organised crime and law enforcement.

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