Theories Abound In Scarpa Slay Try

THERE'S no shortage of possible reasons behind the attempted rubout last week of Gregory Scarpa, the Colombo Capo with AIDS.

Usually reliable underworld sources say that the ambush on the AIDS-stricken capo a few blocks from his Dyker Heights, Brooklyn home was orchestrated by mob rivals who have discovered he's an FBI informer.

Law enforcement sources, however, say Scarpa has been an informer for decades and that his suspected informer status is only one of many possible reasons for the recent rubout effort.

The notion that Scarpa was shot because he is an informer was "absolutely absurd," said Scarpa's lawyer, Joseph Benfante. "He learned his son was in trouble and was shot when he left his house to try and protect his son."

Supposedly, Scarpa's son, Joseph, 21, was having a dispute over $500 with "wannabe mobsters" minutes before the elder Scarpa was shot in the eye.

Police and federal authorities have heard this, too, and this theory has some law enforcement support because Scarpa's informer status has been an open secret for years.

For example, the feds have known for some time that mobsters loyal to Victor (Little Vic) Orena have suspected that Scarpa -- who has remained loyal to jailed Colombo boss Carmine (Junior) Persico -- was an informer.

Even Persico has had doubts about Scarpa's trustworthinesss. During an IRS sting operation 15 years ago, he expressed them when he was asked about Scarpa by an agent pretending to be corrupt.

"We're not too sure about him," said Persico, who reportedly became very certain about Scarpa's loyalty about a year ago, when Scarpa re-established his prowess with a gun on Jan. 7, 1992.

That day, at the height of the bloody insurrection by Orena followers to oust Persico as the official family boss, capo Nicholas (Nicy Black) Grancio was sitting behind the wheel of his all terrain vehicle parked near his social club in Gravesend.

"This one's for Carmine," said a gunman, identified by law enforcement and underworld sources as Scarpa, who stuck a gun behind Grancio's ear and blew his brains out.

A few minutes earlier, Grancio, who was aligned with Orena, was overheard muttering to associates, "Yeah, we're trying to make peace. We gotta stop all this stupid shit."

Grancio is the only capo to die in the war, which has claimed at least 11 lives, including two bystanders.

Law enforcement sources said Scarpa picked out Grancio for execution after he failed to locate his main target that day, Alphonse (Funzi) D'Ambrosio, an Orena loyalist with whom Scarpa has had a long running feud.

"One day, they're each driving down Avenue U in different directions when they see each other and start shooting," said an underworld source. "They drive a little more, make U-turns and start shooting again when they pass each other."

Neither man was hit in the fusillade, said the source.

Sources on both sides of the law point to Orena capo William Cutolo as the man most likely behind the attempted rubout of Scarpa.

Cutolo -- who's called Wild Bill by the feds and Billy Fingers by the mob -- was the target of an aborted hit by Scarpa last year, according to conversations that were picked up in the home and car of Joseph (Joey Brains) Ambrosino, a Scarpa acsscoiate who was arrested in June and has become a cooperating witness.