by B. » Wed Apr 07, 2021 3:25 pm
Massino said he approved the LoPresti murder from prison but didn't go into detail. It was when they were asking him about different murders he approved. Can't imagine he would take responsibility for it if Sciascia did it on his own, or if Vitale/Spero were the only ones who approved it. He usually makes a distinction between hits he approved versus hits they approved without him (i.e. Perrino).
I think Sal Vitale confused the circumstances of the LoPresti murder with the Cotroni son's murder that Massino accused Sciascia of ordering without approval. In later testimony Vitale couldn't even remember LoPresti or his murder so his memory concerning it appears to be inconsistent and hazy. In his earlier account of the LoPresti murder he says it was basically a gut feeling that Sciascia had asked for approval after the LoPresti murder was already carried out -- doesn't seem Vitale had any actual evidence of it.
Though they were some years apart, I'm thinking Vitale confused the two murders alleged to have been ordered by Sciascia in Canada during the 1990s. He may have heard that Sciascia ordered a murder without approval and mixed them up when he cooperated, hard to say, but that is the simplest explanation for the discrepencies.
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Almost every account of Sciascia is that he was immensely popular with the American, Canadian, and Sicilian members. Whatever the issue with Graziano was, it appears to have been Sciascia taking issue with Graziano's conduct not the other way around.
Massino obviously felt Sciascia needed to die and he says it was because of the unauthorized murder of Bonanno member Frank Cotroni's son in Canada. We can question this, but we know Frank Cotroni's son was murdered and that Massino was made aware of this somehow. A big question is how Massino and/or the Cotroni faction learned Sciascia was responsible, or if they simply assumed it because of the alleged fight between Cotroni and Sciascia's nephew.
Massino admitted to ordering the murder, so I'm not sure what his motivation would be to invent a different story that involves real events. Sal Vitale admitted in later testimony, too, that there may have been other reasons for the Sciascia murder that he wasn't aware of. In the hierarchy of sources, Massino is the highest authority and while he has offered different motivaions for highly publicized murders, he has yet to be caught in an outright lie.
Massino said he approved the LoPresti murder from prison but didn't go into detail. It was when they were asking him about different murders he approved. Can't imagine he would take responsibility for it if Sciascia did it on his own, or if Vitale/Spero were the only ones who approved it. He usually makes a distinction between hits he approved versus hits they approved without him (i.e. Perrino).
I think Sal Vitale confused the circumstances of the LoPresti murder with the Cotroni son's murder that Massino accused Sciascia of ordering without approval. In later testimony Vitale couldn't even remember LoPresti or his murder so his memory concerning it appears to be inconsistent and hazy. In his earlier account of the LoPresti murder he says it was basically a gut feeling that Sciascia had asked for approval after the LoPresti murder was already carried out -- doesn't seem Vitale had any actual evidence of it.
Though they were some years apart, I'm thinking Vitale confused the two murders alleged to have been ordered by Sciascia in Canada during the 1990s. He may have heard that Sciascia ordered a murder without approval and mixed them up when he cooperated, hard to say, but that is the simplest explanation for the discrepencies.
--
Almost every account of Sciascia is that he was immensely popular with the American, Canadian, and Sicilian members. Whatever the issue with Graziano was, it appears to have been Sciascia taking issue with Graziano's conduct not the other way around.
Massino obviously felt Sciascia needed to die and he says it was because of the unauthorized murder of Bonanno member Frank Cotroni's son in Canada. We can question this, but we know Frank Cotroni's son was murdered and that Massino was made aware of this somehow. A big question is how Massino and/or the Cotroni faction learned Sciascia was responsible, or if they simply assumed it because of the alleged fight between Cotroni and Sciascia's nephew.
Massino admitted to ordering the murder, so I'm not sure what his motivation would be to invent a different story that involves real events. Sal Vitale admitted in later testimony, too, that there may have been other reasons for the Sciascia murder that he wasn't aware of. In the hierarchy of sources, Massino is the highest authority and while he has offered different motivaions for highly publicized murders, he has yet to be caught in an outright lie.