WV WV - Bonnie Jeanne Hutton, 44, New Martinsville, Feb 13, 1983

[alb1on]

There is no Mafia. Only "this thing".

Are you sure the South Colorado faction were rivals? I think they would be a territory of the Smaldone family. Or at least that's how this thing is structured out here.

I found 3 James Cavaleris. One's an older guy (born 1913 in Denver) that I can't find much about. The other two were uncle and nephew... The uncle was born in 1920 and died in 2009; the other was born in 1939 (same year as Bonnie) and died in 1968 (the year before she moved to WV).

What made them think that he was involved in this thing? Italian + criminal? In WV, they used to (and the older ones still do) think that all Italians were. When my dad (who's from NJ and had a friend whose dad was "a wholesaler") moved to Charleston after college, he had a friend in WVSP who was transferred to the organized crime unit. After being there a few years, he said, "Did you know that there's no Mafia in WV?" (Dad's response was, "...yeah!") "All of those Italians in Charleston, Clarksburg, and Wheeling? They're all just... Italians!"

It does not matter what label we attach to the Smaldone family but since they were involved in Vegas skimming operations and closely tied to the St Louis family it is difficult to see them as anything other than Italian organised crime in the same way as the likes of the big families elsewhere. I am fairly sure the Jim Cavaleri who worked with them was the one born 1919 and died 2009. The police poster I linked in an earlier post shows him as Jim V Cavaleri. The obituary of the one who died in 2009 is at Jim Cavaleri Obituary | The Denver Post and shows his middle initial as V and says he was involved in the restaurant business - which fits with the Smaldones who operated out of Gaetanos, a restaurant. I would assume the family would know if the Jim Cavaleri in this case was part of the Smaldone operation as it seems to have been well known at the time and I cannot see any reason for inventing such a detail.

 

[LVatty10]

There are definitely folks who believe there was a mafia presence in WV, whether it's true or not. I've heard reference to it all my life. It didn't help when several years back, Clarksburg city employees uncovered old Prohibition-era tunnels used by 'bootleggers'.
The general consensus (imo) is that most Italian immigrants were ordinary people just here to make an honest living. However, I can believe there might have been a family or two who were somehow affiliated with mafia elsewhere. jmo

There are people who know there is a mafia presence in West Virginia. Ive practiced as trial attorney in Marshall, Wetzel, Doddridge, and Ohio (Wheeling) counties. I have personal experience and history in New Martinsville where Ms Hutton disappeared.

Whether the “mafia” had anything to do with Ms Hutton, I doubt it IMO. I believe there are three viable theories:
(1) local corruption (meaning well known person/ landowner, or local LE is responsible + coverup with local LE and/or court cooperation/knowledge),
(2) the Hare Krishnas at New Vrindaban (Moundsville, circa New Martinsville) when she disappeared (any affiliation?) - tbh almost everyone in New Martinsville was directly connected to the temple, IMHO. It’s nothing to be ashamed of but it is a subject of shame - no one talks about it, or
(3) connection to Wheeling mob - google Paul Hankish. If her significant other (or herself, I doubt it) had business dealings with the Wheeling mob, or Bluegrass conspiracy folk down in south WV (including fugitives of Marshall Co. political corruption or Pittsburg LCN mobsters hiding in plain sight in Charleston WV as judges and esteemed attorneys - this is true today in my personal experience and knowledge).

Again, based on my personal experience with violence and intimidation in NM and beyond in WV

 

[Aegon_the_Conqueror]

There are definitely folks who believe there was a mafia presence in WV, whether it's true or not. I've heard reference to it all my life. It didn't help when several years back, Clarksburg city employees uncovered old Prohibition-era tunnels used by 'bootleggers'.
The general consensus (imo) is that most Italian immigrants were ordinary people just here to make an honest living. However, I can believe there might have been a family or two who were somehow affiliated with mafia elsewhere. jmo

From ~1930, he Pittsburgh family (the LaRoccas) had a small crew in Wheeling. For a long time, it was mainly just the casino. They didn't even put made guys there. The guy that ran it until 1970 was Greek; after that, the next two were associates named Hankish - obviously not from The Boot, either. After the second Hankish died in 2008, the faction was defunct; now, after the last made guy died in 2021, the entire family is believed to be defunct.

Clarksburg did have the "Famiglia Vagabonda", which were mainly the Black Hand - the precursor to the mafia. Don Fanucci in Godfather II was in the Black Hand. It was similar to the protection rackets that the mafia ran, with the main difference being that, as long as you paid them (whether through extortion or voluntarily), the mafia would actually follow through with the protection. The Black Hand would just extort. Hence why Vito put a moonroof in Fanucci's head. The Famiglia Vagabonda were only around for 15 years. In 1923 they were all either given life or hanged. My great-grandmother was in high school in Clarksburg when they were tried. She said she was going downtown to check out the trial; in reality, she was just skipping school and went home.