by B. » Thu Jun 06, 2024 3:04 pm
If you've followed this stuff long enough you see these narratives form. People are attracted to the idea of these "tragic heroes" who would have been such "great" bosses but the big, mean, and evil bad guy killed them out of jealousy, greed, or whatever.
Salvie Testa, the perfect and handsome young prince of the Philly mob heartlessly killed by the paranoid Little Nicky, aka Satan. Meanwhile it was Testa's peers who continually told Scarfo about problems with Testa and as Caramandi said, finally a meeting was held where Faffy Iannarella (Testa's close friend) convinced him Testa needed to be killed. Jealousy, greed, and paranoia are factors too but there is more to these stories.
In addition to what Persico observed on his own, he was being told by high-ranking members, including members of other Families, that Cutolo was becoming a problem. Even the Jackie DeRoss narrative is off. DiLeonardo knew DeRoss on the street and they had other social connections outside of the life and Michael had a very high opinion of him as a person. The other guy I talked to did prison time with DeRoss and said the same exact thing, that DeRoss was a genuinely nice guy to spend time with. Yes, he betrayed his old friend Cutolo and badgered Cutolo's family about money/rackets afterward but he was a member of Cosa Nostra and that's what they do. It's why Buscetta hugged and forgave Cancemi in court for strangling Buscetta's own son -- "I know what it means to be in Cosa Nostra." Not everyone has that level of enlightenment but that response alone tells us why Buscetta's mind was so respected in the life.
Nobody is saying what these guys do in these situations is moral but it's how it works. If Cutolo had usurped control of the Family or killed Persico, he would have harassed the Persico relatives for resources he believed belonged to the Family. Cutolo and his crew were notorious for terrorizing people as it is.
Stuff like this is why it's important to have sources from different factions. If you read Bonanno and Valachi, the Castellammarese War is black and white. "Joe the boss FAT and BAD", meanwhile you read Gentile and even though he says Masseria was dictatorial and vicious he had different sympathies and a broader perspective. Masseria was open to peace but Maranzano completely rejected the national peace committee and Masseria was ultimately killed by his own people for not being violent and ruthless enough. Cracks start to develop in the narrative. If one of Masseria's core allies like Mangano or Luciano had detailed the war we would probably have an even different perspective on who Masseria was and what was going on in their minds.
If you've followed this stuff long enough you see these narratives form. People are attracted to the idea of these "tragic heroes" who would have been such "great" bosses but the big, mean, and evil bad guy killed them out of jealousy, greed, or whatever.
Salvie Testa, the perfect and handsome young prince of the Philly mob heartlessly killed by the paranoid Little Nicky, aka Satan. Meanwhile it was Testa's peers who continually told Scarfo about problems with Testa and as Caramandi said, finally a meeting was held where Faffy Iannarella (Testa's close friend) convinced him Testa needed to be killed. Jealousy, greed, and paranoia are factors too but there is more to these stories.
In addition to what Persico observed on his own, he was being told by high-ranking members, including members of other Families, that Cutolo was becoming a problem. Even the Jackie DeRoss narrative is off. DiLeonardo knew DeRoss on the street and they had other social connections outside of the life and Michael had a very high opinion of him as a person. The other guy I talked to did prison time with DeRoss and said the same exact thing, that DeRoss was a genuinely nice guy to spend time with. Yes, he betrayed his old friend Cutolo and badgered Cutolo's family about money/rackets afterward but he was a member of Cosa Nostra and that's what they do. It's why Buscetta hugged and forgave Cancemi in court for strangling Buscetta's own son -- "I know what it means to be in Cosa Nostra." Not everyone has that level of enlightenment but that response alone tells us why Buscetta's mind was so respected in the life.
Nobody is saying what these guys do in these situations is moral but it's how it works. If Cutolo had usurped control of the Family or killed Persico, he would have harassed the Persico relatives for resources he believed belonged to the Family. Cutolo and his crew were notorious for terrorizing people as it is.
Stuff like this is why it's important to have sources from different factions. If you read Bonanno and Valachi, the Castellammarese War is black and white. "Joe the boss FAT and BAD", meanwhile you read Gentile and even though he says Masseria was dictatorial and vicious he had different sympathies and a broader perspective. Masseria was open to peace but Maranzano completely rejected the national peace committee and Masseria was ultimately killed by his own people for not being violent and ruthless enough. Cracks start to develop in the narrative. If one of Masseria's core allies like Mangano or Luciano had detailed the war we would probably have an even different perspective on who Masseria was and what was going on in their minds.