Angelo Punchinello

**Angelo Punchinello** (died January 2001) was an American mobster who was the boss of the Punchinello Crime Family until January 2001 when he was entangled into a mass conspiracy involving a feud between the Aesir Corporation, Max Payne, and Punchinello's distribution network of lower level associates. Punchinello agreed to begin selling the designer drug, Valkyr around late 1997, and eventually, with Jack Lupino controlling the majority of distribution in the city, the Punchinello's crew to be the most power family in the city's criminal world. Punchinello would eventually be confronted by Payne, demanding answers before he was killed by the personal bodyguards of Aesir CEO, Nicole Horne.

## Biography

#### Early Life & Payne Family Killings

Very little is known about the early life of Punchinello, however what is known is that by the mid 1990s, Angelo was in control of the family, and by this point had married his wife, Lisa. Sometime around 1996 or 1997, Punchinello was approached by the CEO of the Aesir Corporation, Nicole Horne, offering him a chance for his family to serve as a distribution network for her newly developed drug called, Valkyr. Punchinello agreed, putting Jack Lupino in charge of the operation, which lead to the rise of the Punchinellos to beocome the most powerful crime family in New York. Due to the widespread valkyr distribution, a case opened by the DEA after mass reports of overdose deaths from the drug as well as its crippling affect on the lower income citizens of the city, and these events combined with the violent Payne Family Killings in 1998 resulted in mass media coverage, but it also opened by a massive DEA investigation into the Valkyr Epidemic that had began rapidly spreading before the killings, and would continue to spread in mass influence for several years afterward.

### Valkyr Case

For the next three years after the killings of the Payne Family, Punchinello controlled a Valkyr Empire, dominating the other mafia families, and even employing smaller level street criminals and gang members to distribute Valkyr in the inner city's rundown neighborhoods and subway stations. During this time, he worked alongside his man, Jack Lupino, who ran a valkyr dealing hub in an old hotel in Brooklyn alongside, Joey and Virgilio Finito. Punchinello always assumed Horne was from the government.

In January 2001, Punchinello baled hitman, Rico Muerte out of a "Chicago Incident", and as a repayment for this, Muerte was assigned to kill the mayor of New York City, however not long after his arrival, Muerte as well as both of the Finito brothers were killed by a rougue detective, Max Payne. At some point, likely before that January, Punchinello had gotten into a gang war with the Lem Mafiya, and one of Lem's dealers, Boris Dime sided with Punchinello, but he too was also killed once Lem and Payne had sided together. Destroying a ship and building owned by Punchinello, Payne then focused his attention on to Punchinello himself. Because of this, Frankie Niagara was sent by Punchinello to kill Payne, though this proved unsuccessful as he was killed as well.

## Downfall & Death

Punchinello decided that he would attempt to kill Payne in a trap, luring him to his restaurant and blowing the building up, though Payne was able to escape the explosion and then proceeded to head towards Punchnello's house. Despite being outnumbered, Payne was able to kill Punchinello's guards, including trio, Pilate Providence, Joe Salem, and Vince Mugnaio, and also recover the corpse of Punchinello's wife who had beaten to death, likely by Punchinello himself. Payne confronted Punchinello who begged for his life, however soon after suited men entered and gunned down Punchinello, later being revealed by guards of Nicole Horne. Payne was then kidnapped by them and taken away. With Punchinello and other major members of the family dead, this left the Punchinello family weaker than ever.