CRIME HISTORY - Mob whacks henchman wanted for agent's death
By: Scott McCabe
Examiner Staff Writer
November 17, 2009
On this day, Nov. 17, in 1989, members of the Bonanno crime family killed one of their own, Costabile "Gus" Farace Jr., instead of giving him up to the FBI for the murder of a Drug Enforcement Administration officer.
Farace had recently been paroled from prison for the murder and rape of a male prostitute in Greenwich Village in New York City. He soon got into trouble again after he set up a drug deal with Everett Hatcher, a DEA agent, and shot him through the head three times.
Hatcher was believed to have been the first law enforcement officer killed in the line of duty on Staten Island.
The FBI placed Farace on its Top 10 Most Wanted list and began squeezing his mob bosses.
The search ended on this night 20 years ago, when Farace was lured to Brooklyn with the promise of cash to escape the country. He died after he was shot 11 times.
In the TV thriller "Dead or Alive: The Race for Gus Farace," Tony Danza played the title character.
- Scott McCabe
