Joseph Barboza

Joseph "The Animal" Barboza (pronounced BAR-bow-sa) (September 20, 1932 – February 11, 1976) was a Portuguese-American mafioso and one of the most feared mob hitmen during the 1960s. He is reputed to have murdered at least 26 men in his lifetime—yet never proven.

Background

Barboza, also known as "The Animal", "The Wild Thing", "The Nigger", "Joseph Donati", "Joseph Bentley" and "The Joe Valachi of New England", was born to Portuguese-American emigrants from Lisbon, Portugal who settled in the old whaling city of New Bedford, Massachusetts. He was born on September 30, 1932 the son of a middle-weight boxer and a mother who was a seamstress. Joseph's father was a constant womanizer who eventually abandoned his wife and four children when Joe was only twelve. He had one older brother who became a minor criminal in New England and a younger sister and younger brother. He was extremely good-looking and adored by women with a growling voice and dominating appearance. He was bull-necked and weighed between 168 to 175 pounds by the time he reached adulthood. Joe was fluent in Portuguese, Italian and Spanish language and self educated caused from lack of formal schooling. He was a skilled chef who cooked for his family and members of his crew authentic Portuguese cuisine dishes and later after graduating from cooking class as a sauce, vegetable and roast chef, learned how to cook French cuisine, mostly with...
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