Vito Genovese
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Vito Genovese (November 2,1897 - February 14,1969) was a mafioso who rose to power in America during the Castellammarese War.
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The Beginning
Genovese started his Mafia career serving Joe Masseria and worked with people like Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky, Bugsy Siegel, and Frank Costello.
After the Great War, Salvatore Maranzano introduced Genovese to the family headed by Luciano. After a while Maranzano began to realize that these young men would be a threat to his undisputed crown within the mafia, so he made a hit list that included Genovese amongst others.
In April 1931, Luciano orchestrated the assassination of Joe Masseria. Vito Genovese was one of the four shooters involved in the hit on his former employer. Later that year, Lucky also arranged the assassination of Maranzano, and established himself as the paramount gangster in the United States.
Rise to Power
After World War II, Genovese began a murder spree to gain new status in the underworld, taking advantage of Luciano being in exile in Italy. Facing a murder charge (of Ferdinand "The Shadow" Boccia) in 1937, Genovese was forced to flee to Italy as well.
When he later returned to the States, all the witnesses to his murder spree had disappeared. He remained a free man, and attended the infamous Havana Conference in 1946, where he got involved in a scrap with Luciano and got three of his ribs broken.
Apalachin Meeting
Now Genovese had control of Luciano's family and sought to strengthen his hold. He reportedly co-ordinated the Apalachin Meeting where he expected to be named Boss of Bosses.
Unfortunately for him, the meeting (November 14, 1957) went horribly wrong. New York State Trooper Edgar Croswell had been watching the house the meeting was supposed to be held in, because he was suspicious of the owner, Joseph Barbara.
When he checked the licence plates of the cars coming in and out, he found enough reason to set up a road block on the only road leading up and from the house on the hill.
Genovese was blamed for the fiasco and before he could move to take advantage of the situation Lansky and Luciano set him up on a huge drug smuggling deal.
In 1959, Genovese was sent to prison, where he died in 1969.
External links
- Genovese Article on Gangland News (http://www.ganglandnews.com/genovese.htm)
- Apalachin Meeting on Gangland News (http://www.ganglandnews.com/column202.htm)
- Vito Genovese (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USACgenovese.htm)ja:ヴィト・ジェノヴェーゼ