| |
| Giuseppe Masseria | |
| Biographical Information | |
| Aliases | "The Man Who Can Dodge Bullets" "Joe the Boss" |
| Gender | Male |
| Born | Marsala, Sicily, Italy |
| Died | April 15, 1931 Coney Island, New York |
| Affiliation | Masseria crime family |
| Title(s) | Don |
Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria was a Sicilian mafioso who was the first boss of the Masseria crime family, later to become the Genovese crime family. Masseria was known to have been involved with the bootlegging and heroin distribution businesses and became one of New York's toughest bosses before his murder.
Biography[]
Giuseppe Masseria was born in Marsala, in the Province of Trapani, Sicily. He immigrated to the United States in the 1890s and became the boss of his own gang in Manhattan. Masseria became "Boss of all Bosses" in the 1920s, and had a swathe of territory on the island, and competed with Salvatore Maranzano, Arnold Rothstein, and Nucky Thompson for power in the bootlegging business. Masseria sent his nephews Incrocci Masseria and Scarpelli Masseria to enforce his laws around town, but they were both murdered in 1922 by Jimmy Darmody after they tried to rob him.
Masseria believed that Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky killed them, so he demanded a 10% cut of their card game winnings, with Arnold Rothstein mediating between the two parties. When Benjamin Siegel was employed by the Bugs and Meyer Gang, Masseria ordered their deaths because they were selling narcotics hidden in Siegel's coat linings and hat, without paying him any tribute. However, the two hitmen were gunned down.
Masseria recruited Gyp Rosetti to work for him, and when he wanted to kill him for failing to report to him, Rosetti begged for his life to be spared after warning him about the dangers of Rothstein and Thomspon in the future. Gyp failed to whack Rothstein, Thompson, Luciano at a gas station, and mob war began. When Joe felt mad that Gyp failed to take over Atlantic City, he mentioned that he had the bootlegging and the rackets, but Masseria told him that he did not kill Nucky or his allies, and not to underestimate them.
After growing sick of Gyp's incapabilities, Masseria made a deal with Rothstein where he would partner with him in the heroin business in exchange for Joe backing off from Gyp. Rosetti was killed on a beach by his own assistant, and the war ended.
Death[]
While eating at a diner, he was left at a table eating alone when Lucky Luciano headed to the bathroom. Just then, Vito Genovese, Luciano, and many other of his former associates rushed in and shot him to death. They had been convinced by Maranzano that the war was not going well and betrayed their former boss.