On this day in 1930 the mobster know as Dominick Napolitano was born. Napolitano was eventually killed by the mob for breaching its security.

Sonny Black as he was better known as, let undercover agent Joe Pistone into the mob and the two became close friends. The downfall for Napolitano came after 6 years of undercover work came to an end when Joe Pistone was given a contract to make his bones. Napolitano was summoned to a meeting in the basement of house. Knowing that he would be killed, Napolitano gave his jewelry to his favorite bartender, along with the keys to his apartment so that his pigeons could be cared for.

Napolitano was pushed down the staircase into the basement and shot to death by Filocomo and Lino with .38 caliber revolvers.

On this day in 1930, Dominick Napolitano was born in New York City, a man who would rise through the ranks of the Bonanno crime family to become one of its most respected and feared capos. Better known on the streets as "Sonny Black," a nickname derived from his jet-black hair, Napolitano was a commanding figure in the world of organised crime, known for his sharp instincts, his violent reputation, and ultimately, for making one of the most catastrophic mistakes in American Mafia history.

Napolitano climbed steadily through the Bonanno family hierarchy, eventually taking control of the Madison Street crew in Brooklyn. His rise placed him in a strong position within the family at a time when the Bonnanos were already a well-established pillar of the New York Five Families structure that had been cemented following the Commission meetings of the early 1930s, brokered in large part by the legendary Lucky Luciano. Napolitano was considered a serious candidate for the position of boss, and his future within the organisation appeared bright.

That future unravelled spectacularly when it emerged that his close associate, a man he knew as Donnie Brasco, was in fact FBI undercover agent Joe Pistone. For nearly six years, Pistone had embedded himself deep within the Bonanno family, and it was Sonny Black who had personally vouched for him and sponsored his advancement toward full membership. When the operation was blown in 1981, the consequences for Napolitano were inevitable. In the world of the Mafia, vouching for someone who turned out to be a federal agent was an unforgivable breach, a death sentence with no right of appeal.

In August 1981, Napolitano was summoned to a meeting at a house in Staten Island. He arrived knowing full well what awaited him. Before making his way to the meeting, he handed his jewellery to his favourite bartender and left his apartment keys with someone he trusted, asking only that his beloved racing pigeons be looked after. It was a moment of quiet dignity in the face of a violent end. Upon arriving, he was pushed down the stairs into the basement, where he was shot dead with .38 calibre revolvers by Anthony Filocomo and Benjamin Lino. His remains were not discovered until 1982, when his decomposed body was found with his hands severed — a traditional mob message signalling that he had shaken hands with the wrong man.

Sonny Black's story endures as one of the most dramatic cautionary tales in organised crime history, immortalised in the 1997 film Donnie Brasco, in which he was portrayed by Michael Madsen. His fate remains a defining chapter in the FBI's long campaign against the American Mafia.