Angelo J. LaPietra

Who was Angelo J. LaPietra?

Angelo J. "The Hook" LaPietra was a Chicago mobster and member of the Chicago Outfit, involved in extensive loansharking operations in the city's First Ward during the 1970s and 1980s. He earned his nickname "The Hook" due to the way he murdered his victims—those that did not, or could not pay up. He would take his victim—bound and gagged—and hang him on a meat hook, and then torture him to death with a blow-torch. The torch would not actually be the cause of death. The victims most often died from suffocation.

He was born to first-generation immigrants from Sicily, Italy. A high-ranking member of the Chicago Outfit, LaPietra had an extensive criminal record stretching back to 1939 that included murder, kidnapping and narcotics. He was involved in criminal operations in the suburb of Cicero, Illinois, as well as in Chicago's First Ward, LaPietra was a top enforcer under Outfit boss Joseph "Joey Doves" Aiuppa for Cicero criminal operations.