Legend says he was used as an ambassador when one of the gangs sought peace arrangements. Whether the Provenzano mob sent him to discuss terms with the Matrangas, or vice versa, Ultonino found himself in hostile territory.

At some point, negotiations went badly, and Ultonino was stabbed to death. Official reports indicate he was knifed and dumped into a drainage ditch along an isolated stretch of New Orleans road. However, crime writers have embellished the story.

Some now suggest that Ultonino was nearly decapitated by the stroke of an ax (the ax wielder was somehow able to sneak up behind the victim) and then dismembered with that same ax and tossed into a canal.

The aftermath of Ultonino's death was a heightened level of conflict in the New Orleans underworld.