Gambino Hitman Charles Carneglia

Charles "Charlie Canig" Carneglia, the reputed Gambino hitman scheduled to go to trial next month on five alleged murders, reportedly is fond of using acid to dispose of the bodies.  According to court papers filed by federal prosecutors yesterday, Carneglia explained to an associate, who now is cooperating with authorities, "that acid was the best method to use to avoid detection":

The reputedly bloodthirsty mob killer - who sports long, scraggly hair and an unkempt beard - went so far as to keep vats of the caustic, flesh-eating liquid in his basement. When it came time to clean house, Carneglia asked the turncoat for help in moving the acid, and "alluded to the fact that the barrels had been used in connection with disposing of a number of bodies," Assistant US Attorney Roger Burlingame wrote. The turncoat told prosecutors he believed this expertise was "a key component of [Carneglia's] value to the Gambino family," the court papers say. Body disposal was a studied art for Carneglia, who also told the turncoat about the latest page-turner he'd picked up - a book on dismemberment.

The informant against Carneglia reportedly is Kevin McMahon.  Among those whom Carneglia allegedly murdered -- and disposed of in a barrel of acid -- was John Favara who accidentally ran over and killed John Gotti's twelve-year-old son in 1980:

Young Frankie Gotti was riding McMahon's minibike when the mob scion was fatally struck on 86th St. by Favara, who was briefly blinded by the setting sun as he drove home from work. Prosecutors say Carneglia "protected" McMahon from retaliation by the Dapper Don for lending his son the minibike and - in a bizarre twist - McMahon is the one ratting him out. No one could save Favara. He found the word Murderer scrawled on his auto and was attacked with a bat by Gotti's wife, Victoria, but failed to heed repeated warnings to move out of the area, sources said. Several weeks after the tragic accident, Favara was abducted outside the Castro Convertible warehouse where he worked in New Hyde Park, L.I.. Cops identified his killers as Gambino members John Carneglia, Charles' brother, Gene Gotti, Wilfred (Willie Boy) Johnson, Anthony Rampino and Richard (Redbird) Gomes. Favara was forced into a van, sources said, and shot in the legs. He was taken to another location in Brooklyn where he was killed and stuffed into a 55-gallon drum, sources said.

Among those expected to testify against Carneglia at his upcoming trial is John Alite who last January admitted his role in several murders on behalf of the Gambino crime family.