On August 17, 1981, Napolitano was summoned to a meeting in Bonanno associate Ron Filocomo's home in
Eltingville, Staten Island, which was the home of Filocomo's parents. Anticipating that he would be killed, Napolitano gave his jewelry to his favorite bartender, who worked below his apartment at the
Motion Lounge, along with the keys to his apartment so that his pet pigeons could be cared for. Bonanno capo
Frank Lino and Steven Canone drove Napolitano to the Filocomo's house. The three men were greeted at the door by
Frank Coppa, who told them the conference was to be held in the basement. As Napolitano descended the basement stairs, Coppa slammed the basement door shut, signaling for Lino to shove Napolitano down the stairs where two killers - Robert Lino Sr. (Frank Lino's cousin) and Filocomo – were waiting at the foot of the stairwell. Napolitano was pushed down the staircase and was shot and grazed by Lino Sr.. When his gun failed to fire a subsequent shot, Napolitano told them "Hit me one more time and make it good", to which Filocomo responded by firing several .38 caliber rounds, killing him. Napolitano's girlfriend, Judy, later contacted Pistone and told him that, shortly before his death, Napolitano had told her that he bore no ill will towards Pistone, knowing that Pistone was only doing his job, and that if anyone was responsible for taking him down, he was glad it was Pistone. She said that Napolitano really loved Pistone and was upset when he found out he was an agent. Napolitano could not believe that Pistone was an agent because of the "things we had done together, the conversations we'd had, the feelings we'd had." In August, FBI surveillance noticed workmen dismantling Napolitano's pigeon coops atop the Motion Lounge. On August 12, 1982, a body was found at South Avenue and Bridge Street in
Arlington, Staten Island; the corpse's hands were severed and the face was so badly decomposed that dental records were required to verify the identity. The FBI announced that it had found the corpse of Napolitano. In 2003, Bonanno boss Joseph Massino was arrested and charged with a variety of crimes, with the case centering on the murder of Napolitano. At Massino's trial, prosecutors claimed that Napolitano was killed by his associates for allowing his crew to be compromised, and that his hands had been removed as a warning to other mobsters to follow the rule about proper introductions (the implication being the association between shaking hands and being introduced to someone). Massino was convicted in 2004 and sentenced to life imprisonment. In 2006, Frank Lino and Frank Coppa became informants, providing authorities with the details of Napolitano's murder. Although the FBI was reasonably sure that the body found in Staten Island was Napolitano's, one discrepancy existed: Lino claimed that he and Filocomo shot Napolitano with .38 caliber revolvers and that he himself had fired more than once. But the corpse had only one bullet wound, apparently made by a .45 caliber pistol. Coppa later said that Napolitano "died like a man". Napolitano was buried in
Calvary Cemetery, Queens. About Napolitano's fate, Pistone had stated, "My intention in all of this was to put people in jail, not get them killed", and that he was sorry for Napolitano's murder. == In popular culture ==