Who Was Vincent “Chin” Gigante? The Mafia Boss Behind the Bathrobe

#NOLAZINE - Vincent “Chin” Gigante became one of the most powerful and mysterious Mafia bosses in American history. While other organized-crime figures attracted attention by wearing expensive suits and appearing at popular nightclubs, Gigante built his reputation by doing the opposite.

He avoided publicity, rarely spoke on telephones and prohibited members of his organization from saying his name. When associates needed to refer to him, they reportedly pointed toward their chins or formed the letter “C” with their fingers.

To the public, Gigante appeared to be a confused man wandering the streets of Greenwich Village in a bathrobe and slippers. Behind that strange public image, however, federal prosecutors said he was secretly controlling the Genovese crime family—one of New York’s notorious Five Families.

Vincent Louis Gigante was born in Manhattan on March 29, 1928, to Italian immigrant parents. His nickname “Chin” reportedly came from his mother, who called him “Chinzeeno,” an affectionate variation of Vincenzo, the Italian form of Vincent.

Before entering organized crime, Gigante was a professional boxer. Between 1944 and 1947, he competed in 25 professional fights, winning 21 of them. Although his boxing career did not make him a major star, the discipline, toughness and ability to absorb pressure that he developed in the ring followed him into the streets.

As a young man, Gigante became connected to Vito Genovese, a powerful mobster who would eventually become the boss of the crime family that still carries his name. Gigante reportedly worked his way through the organization as a driver, enforcer and trusted associate.

His early criminal record included arrests for gambling, weapons possession and receiving stolen property. Many of those cases were dismissed or resulted in minor penalties, allowing him to continue rising within the criminal underworld.

One of the most important moments in Gigante’s early criminal career occurred on May 2, 1957.

Vito Genovese was attempting to take control of the Luciano crime family from its powerful boss, Frank Costello. Gigante was accused of waiting for Costello outside his Manhattan apartment building and shooting him in the head.

The bullet only grazed Costello, and he survived.

Although a doorman identified Gigante as the shooter, Costello refused to identify him in court. Gigante was acquitted of attempted murder. The shooting nevertheless achieved its apparent objective: Costello stepped away from power, allowing Genovese to take control of the organization.

The family would eventually become known as the Genovese crime family.

In 1959, Gigante was convicted of heroin trafficking and sentenced to seven years in prison. He served approximately five years before being released.

Rather than ending his criminal career, the conviction strengthened his standing within the organization. Gigante later became a captain and assumed control of a crew based in Greenwich Village.

During the 1960s and 1970s, he quietly increased his influence. Unlike more visible mobsters, Gigante preferred to operate behind layers of secrecy. He avoided unnecessary public appearances and limited the amount of direct evidence that law enforcement could collect against him.

By the early 1980s, Gigante had reportedly become the leader of the Genovese family. Anthony “Fat Tony” Salerno was publicly identified as the boss, but prosecutors and Mafia informants later said Salerno served as a front while Gigante exercised the real power.

This arrangement helped protect Gigante. While federal authorities concentrated on Salerno and the leaders of the other New York families, Gigante remained in the shadows.

Gigante’s most famous strategy involved convincing the public and law enforcement that he was mentally ill.

For years, residents of Greenwich Village saw him wandering the neighborhood in a bathrobe, pajamas and slippers. He appeared to mumble to himself, stare into space and behave as though he did not understand his surroundings. He also spent time in psychiatric hospitals and underwent numerous mental-health evaluations.

New York newspapers began calling him “The Oddfather” and “The Enigma in the Bathrobe.”

Prosecutors argued that the behavior was an elaborate performance designed to make Gigante appear mentally incompetent to stand trial. Family members and criminal associates reportedly participated in the deception by treating him as though he were seriously ill.

The strategy worked for years.

While Gigante appeared disconnected from reality, prosecutors alleged that he was overseeing an extensive criminal organization involved in illegal gambling, loan-sharking, extortion and labor racketeering. The family exercised influence over construction, trucking, waste management, New York’s waterfront and the Fulton Fish Market.

Gigante’s unusual public behavior became one of the most successful acts of deception in organized-crime history.

Gigante’s authority extended beyond the Genovese family. He was known for enforcing traditional Mafia rules and reportedly opposed John Gotti’s unauthorized 1985 killing of Gambino family boss Paul Castellano.

In 1986, Gambino underboss Frank DeCicco was killed by a car bomb intended for Gotti and DeCicco. Prosecutors alleged that Gigante and leaders of the Lucchese family approved the attack as revenge for Castellano’s murder.

After Gotti was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in 1992, law-enforcement officials considered Gigante one of the most powerful organized-crime leaders in the country.

His power did not depend on celebrity. It depended on silence, insulation and fear.

Gigante reportedly avoided telephones and rarely gave direct orders in ways that could be recorded. Associates were expected to communicate through trusted messengers. These methods made it extremely difficult for investigators to connect him directly to the family’s criminal operations.

Federal prosecutors indicted Gigante on racketeering charges in 1990, but years of legal arguments followed over whether he was mentally competent to stand trial.

The government gradually assembled testimony from cooperating mobsters who claimed that Gigante’s illness was an act. Investigators also presented evidence that he remained actively involved in the Genovese family’s affairs despite his public behavior.

In 1996, a federal judge ruled that Gigante was competent to stand trial.

The following year, a jury convicted him of racketeering and conspiracy. In December 1997, he was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison and ordered to pay a $1.25 million fine. Contemporary reporting described the conviction as the moment authorities finally brought the elusive boss to justice. Wired’s 1997 report covered Gigante’s sentencing and the eccentric behavior that had helped him avoid prosecution.

Even after his conviction, Gigante continued maintaining that he suffered from serious mental illness. That defense finally collapsed in 2003 when, facing additional obstruction-of-justice charges, he admitted in court that he had participated in a long-running deception to avoid prosecution.

He received an additional three-year prison sentence.

Vincent Gigante died on December 19, 2005, at the federal prison medical center in Springfield, Missouri. He was 77 years old and had a history of heart disease. The Los Angeles Times reported that he died while still in federal custody.

Gigante’s story remains one of the most unusual chapters in the history of the American Mafia. His reputation did not come from public speeches or a glamorous lifestyle. It came from his ability to conceal power behind the image of a harmless and confused neighborhood figure.

His intelligence and discipline made him difficult to prosecute, but the mythology surrounding him should not obscure the harm associated with his organization. The criminal empire he led was built through fear, violence, extortion and the exploitation of legitimate businesses and working people.

Vincent “Chin” Gigante became a Mafia legend because he understood that appearing powerless could be one of the most effective ways to hold power. For decades, the man wandering Greenwich Village in a worn bathrobe was allegedly one of the most dangerous and influential organized-crime bosses in America.

In the end, however, even the performance that protected “The Oddfather” for so many years could not keep him beyond the reach of the law.