The First Family: Terror, Extortion, Revenge, Murder and the Birth of the American Mafia (57 page)

262.
Andrea Ricci died in 1917:
Kings County death certificate 22069, November 14, 1917, NYMA.

CHAPTER 13.
The Eighteenth Amendment

263.
The world had changed:
Jackson,
The Encyclopedia of New York City
, pp. 605, 921; draft cards for Vincenzo and Ciro Terranova, June 1917, RG 163, NARA-SE.

264.
Joe Masseria:
Critchley, “Buster, Maranzano, and the Castellammare War,” p. 55.

264.
Umberto Valenti:
Gentile,
Vita di Capomafia
, pp. 55-71 (two thousand associates, “the Ghost”).

265.
fled the country:
Gentile,
Vita
, pp. 70-71 (D’Aquila, sentence, a dozen men); Ignazio Lupo, inmate file 2883, Atlanta Federal Penitentiary papers, Records of the Bureau of Prisons, RG 129, NARA-SE (release date); Dickie,
Cosa Nostra
, pp. 217-20; Gentile,
Vita
, pp. 70-71;
New York Times
, February 23, 1938, p. 40;
Washington Post
, February 5, 1922, p. 64 (Newport News, dates);
New York Times
, June 13, 1922, p. 1 (return date for Lupo).

265
hiding around Palermo:
Bonanno,
A Man of Honor
, p. 100.

267
Alcohol had been outlawed:
Sinclair,
Prohibition
, pp. 205-6 (Prohibition Bureau), 212 (quarter of a million), 220 (exports), 231 (N.Y. juries), 244-48 (market size); Jackson,
Encyclopedia
, p. 944 (speakeasies).

269
Ciro Terranova, with whom:
Downey,
Gangster City
, pp. 38, 199, 202. 269
Vito Genovese:
Maas,
The Valachi Papers
, pp. 128-31; Critchley,
The Origin of
Organized Crime
, pp. 132-34 (Paretti).

269
“Prohibition was too good to be true”:
Bonanno,
A Man of Honor
, p. 65.

269.
“so fearsome a competitor”:
New York Daily News
, May 9, 1922 (Harlem Tiger); trial transcripts, Paretti (1926), fol. 205 (Viserti and the Murder Stable); Critchley,
The Origin of Organized Crime
, pp. 102 (Viserti), 138-41, 154-56 (background of Italian bootlegging).

270.
His name was Giuseppe Masseria:
New York Times
, April 16, 1931, p.1 (criminal record); Critchley,
The Origin of Organized Crime
, pp. 154-56 (background and rise; Curb Exchange).

270.
Whatever it was:
Bonanno,
A Man of Honor
, pp. 84-86 (appearance, gluttony, “the Chinese,” messy eater), 100 (“his belly …”).

271.
From the Morello family’s perspective:
Critchley,
The Origin of Organized Crime
, p. 155.

272.
Diamond Joe Viserti was the first to go:
New York Daily News
, October 14, 1921 (Viserti death), and May 9, 1922, pp. 2, 14 (Vincenzo Terranova murder); Manhattan death certificate 13893, May 8, 1922, NYMA (Terranova wounds);
New York Times
, May 8, 1922, p. 1 (Terranova circumstances), and April 16, 1931, p. 15 (attack on Masseria; straw hat);
Herald
, May 8, 1922, p. 1 (Masseria shooting), and August 12, 1922, p. 1 (Valenti murder); Downey,
Gangster City
, p. 139 (Viserti and Masseria linked), 140-41 (Masseria’s gun battles); Gentile,
Vita di Capomafia
, p. 79 (Valenti responsible for killing Terranova); Critchley,
The Origin of Organized Crime
, pp. 155-56 (Valenti’s attacks on Masseria).

273
one further important casualty:
Manhattan death certificate 17260, June 19, 1923;
New York Times
, June 20, 1923, p. 4 (Salemi murder). My thanks to David Critchley for supplying the latter reference.

273
surviving Terranova brother’s place:
Maas,
The Valachi Papers
, pp. 53-54 (brokers truce, sets up burglars);
New York Times
, December 28, 1929, p. 1, and January 16, 1930, p. 1 (Vitale dinner, murder contract); Terrett,
Only Saps Work
, p. 33 (Vitale’s criminal connections).

276
The assassination of Totò D’Aquila:
New York Times
, October 11, p. 20, and October 12, 1928, p. 22 (criminal career, cheese importer, unknown as Mafioso, witness changes story); Gentile,
Vita
, pp. 70-71 (authoritarian, from Palermo); Critchley,
The Origin of Organized Crime
, pp. 161-64 (murder and aftermath).

278
wearied by age:
New York Times
, October 11, p. 20 (D’Aquila); Critchley, “Buster, Maranzano, and the Castellammare War,” pp. 55, 61n (Mineo, Schiro); Maas,
The Valachi Papers
, p. 65 (Reina); Bonanno,
A Man of Honor
, pp. 84-85 (“careful not to offend”).

278.
the boss as a benevolent “father”:
Bonanno,
A Man of Honor
, pp. 63, 76-77, 85.

280.
Masseria took things further still:
Maas,
The Valachi Papers
, p. 65, Critchley, “Buster, Maranzano, and the Castellammare War,” pp. 44, 75.

279.
the Castellammare War:
Critchley, “Buster, Maranzano, and the Castellammare War,” p. 61n (origins); Bonanno,
A Man of Honor
, p. 86 (guff), 88 (thick-skulled).

280.
“brains trust”:
Bonanno,
A Man of Honor
, p. 100.

280
Morello began by sowing dissent:
Bonanno,
A Man of Honor
, pp. 87-88 93-94 (Milazzo murder, Aiello, Capone), 100 (Morello and Milazzo), 102 (tribute, Bonventre murder); Critchley, “Buster, Maranzano, and the Castellammare War,” p. 63 (Milazzo murder).

280.
resembled a volcanic chamber:
Bonanno,
A Man of Honor
, p. 95 (“In a war between …”), 101 (sandwich), 102 (condemned).

281.
solved this problem by disappearing:
Bonanno,
A Man of Honor
, p. 102 (“If Masseria”); Critchley, “Buster, Maranzano, and the Castellammare War,” p. 61n (Schiro leaves for Italy).

281
“classic American success story”:
Bonanno,
A Man of Honor
, p. 74.

281.
Most of those who encountered Maranzano:
Bonanno,
A Man of Honor
, pp. 71 (appearance, voice), 100 (and Morello); Maas,
The Valachi Papers
, p. 74 (Valachi’s views); Critchley, “Buster, Maranzano, and the Castellammare War,” pp. 56-61 (background, immigration, and D’Aquila).

282.
knew as Peter Morello:
Critchley, “Buster, Maranzano, and the Castellammare War,” p. 63n (alias); Manhattan death certificate 19631, August 15, 1930, NYMA (correct identity).

283.
at the meeting place:
Bonanno,
A Man of Honor
, pp. 98-99.

284
Maranzano made ready:
Bonanno,
A Man of Honor
, pp. 95, 104.

284.
“We’re only a few”:
Maas,
The Valachi Papers
, p. 77.

285.
Every effort was made:
Maas,
The Valachi Papers
, p. 77, Bonanno,
A Man of Honor
, pp. 104-5 (limo, machine gun).

285.
“I watched Maranzano loading”:
Bonanno,
A Man of Honor
, p. 117.

286.
“Buster from Chicago”:
Maas,
The Valachi Papers
, p. 77 (Valachi’s initiation); Critchley, “Buster, Maranzano, and the Castellammare War,” pp. 46-51 (Buster identified); Bonanno,
A Man of Honor
, p. 105 (virtuoso).

287.
“Maranzano used to say”:
Bonanno,
A Man of Honor
, p. 107. 287
Morello never got the chance:
New York Times
, August 16, 1930, p. 1;
Daily
News
, same date, pp. 2, 4;
Herald Tribune
, same date, pp. 1, 4 (details); autopsy report, August 16, 1930, Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, file DA4801, NYMA (wounds); Maas,
The Valachi Papers
, p. 67, and Bonanno,
A Man of Honor
, p. 107 (events of murder).

Epilogue

289
“had lost his best man”:
Bonanno,
A Man of Honor
, p. 107.

289
Defectors began going over:
Bonanno,
A Man of Honor
, pp. 120-21.

289.
as his adviser and strategist:
Bonanno,
A Man of Honor
, p. 116.

290.
the next breakthrough:
Bonanno,
A Man of Honor
, p. 120 (“Maranzano had already decided …”); Maas,
The Valachi Papers
, pp. 68-71 (“to rent this apartment …;” Masseria spotted, Mineo shot).

291.
Lucky Luciano:
Bonanno,
A Man of Honor
, pp. 121-22.

292.
“limited number of meals”:
Bonanno,
A Man of Honor
, p. 120.

292.
the boss of bosses’ murder:
New York Times
, April 16, 1931, p. 1 (circumstances); Critchley, “Buster, Maranzano, and the Castellammare War,” pp. 64-65 (“ritual” aspects dismissed).

294.
Maranzano emerged as the dominant:
Bonanno,
A Man of Honor
, pp. 123-27 (aftermath, national conference, family heads), 131 (“more comfortable …”); Maas,
The Valachi Papers
, pp. 84-88 (numbers at meeting; “Whatever happened in the past…;” $115,000; “control everything”).

294.
Maranzano went much the same way:
Maas,
The Valachi Papers
, pp. 89-90.

294.
For years afterward, rumors:
Thompson and Raymond,
Gang Rule in New York
, pp. 374-75 (purge day); Nelli,
The Business of Crime
, pp. 179-218 (no evidence); Critchley, “Buster, Maranzano, and the Castellammare War,” pp. 44-78 (events in context); Maas,
The Valachi Papers
, p. 96 (“They got Jimmy Marino …”).

295.
Steve La Salle:
Terranova files (Morello associate); Maas,
The Valachi Papers
, p. 111 (numbers racket); Critchley,
The Origin of Organized Crime
, pp. 111, 113.

295.
his agency assumed some:
Flynn’s Weekly
, November 8, 1924, pp. 253-67 (cases); Melanson,
The Secret Service
, pp. 37-38 (manpower); Fox, “Bureaucratic Wrangling over Counterintelligence, 1917-18” (agencies).

296.
he tendered his resignation:
Washington Post
, December 24, 1917, p. 4, and December 30, 1917, p. 2 (dates, exhausted); McCormick,
Hopeless Cases
, pp. 44-45 (Hale).

296.
William Moran:
New York Times
, December 23, 1917, p. 1 (New York).

297.
appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation:
Ackerman,
Young J. Edgar
, pp. 27-30 (abilities, reaction, FRA police), 256-57 (investigation); McCormick,
Hopeless Cases
, pp. 8, 45-46, 108-9, 118-19, 125-27 (Wall Street, Clemente, resignation, Burns).

298.
“As he has told me”:
Ackerman,
Young J. Edgar
, p. 28 (Palmer quote).

298.
writer for the motion picture industry:
Dumaux,
King Baggot
, pp. 99-102, 243; information from Kevin Brownlow.

299.
running the detective business:
Private information from the Flynn family. 299
William Flynn expired:
New York Times
, October 15, 1928, p. 23;
Chicago
Tribune
, same date, p. 32.

299.
Francesco Ortoleva, the man framed:
Dailies Flynn, vol. 30 fols. 202-3, reel 117, June 25, 1910 (mother); James Ortoleva to William Mayer, Warden, Atlanta Federal Penitentiary, February 7 and 15, March 23, 1911, inmate file 2882, Giuseppe Morello, Atlanta Federal Penitentiary papers, RG 129, NARA-SE (works for Flynn; pressurize Morello); passenger list for SS
San Guglielmo
, 25 January 1914, “Passenger and crew lists of vessels arriving at New York, 1897-1957,” T715/2254, RG85, NARA (arrives N.Y.); Flynn pp. 259, 260-61 (weighted; mutual prayers).

300.
Most of the thugs:
Dailies New York, vol. 39 fol. 17, reel 592, April 3, 1913 (Inzerillo);
Washington Post
, April 26, 1914, SM5 (Di Priemo); Petacco,
Joe Petrosino
, pp. 190, 192 (Costantino and Passananti).

300.
Ralph the Barber:
Brooklyn Standard-Union
, June 12, 1918, p. 8 (begs to stay in jail);
Newark Star-Eagle
, August 17, 1925, and Alfonso Pepe death certificate, August 18, Essex County, N.J., 3346 of 1925 (murder);
New York Times
, June 17, 1929, p. 19 (killed within a month).