Genovese's New Jersey Faction (1930s-1960s)

[eboli]

In the Frank Costello murders thread we discussed the Genovese politics in NJ around the time Vito took over and how they formed and transformed over the years. I dug out some of my scribbled notes about Boiardo, Catena, Zwillman and Moretti, but I didn't want to slide that thread any further, so I'm posting them here.

Check out some of the other relevant threads on the subject:

viewtopic.php?f=29&t=4257 - Boiardo Crew History
viewtopic.php?f=29&t=4124 - Willie Moretti Murder Revisited
viewtopic.php?f=29&t=1392 - Historical Genovese Leadership Crews


Around 1930 Moretti moved to Hasbrouck Heights and started building gambling and bootlegging operations in Bergen and Passaic counties. He used The Marine Room club in Cliffside Park, NJ as his headquarters. Zwillman, Costello, Luciano, Lansky had a stake in the club as well. Early on Moretti was the connection between Zwillman and New York. After moving to New Jersey Moretti tried to establish a prostitution ring in Newark's First ward, which was Richie 'The Boot' Boiardo's territory, but he was forced out in quick fashion. After that Boiardo started jacking Garfield Express Company's trucks in Passaic County which were under Moretti's protection. The trucks were property of Buchalter and Shapiro and were transporting booze from the Jersey ports to New York speakeasies. According to a memorandum from 1954 Moretti warned Boiardo to stop this nonsense immediately.

While his spat with Moretti took place, Boiardo was in an old school mob war against Abner 'Longie' Zwillman. There's not one reason why it started, but it was most likely an attempt by Boiardo to expand his numbers racket. At the time Zwillman was based in Newark's Third Ward and was viewed as one of the most powerful gangsters in the country. Both of them tried to assert their dominance over the Ironbound neighborhood of Newark. In 1927 Longie recruited to his outfit the Catena brothers from the Fifth Ward - they had a reputation as thieves, extortionists and killers. Eugene was strong and impulsive in contrast to his brother Jerry who was quiet and calculating, but just as vicious when the situation required it. At the same time Boiardo made an alliance with Tony 'Bananas' Caponigro. He got that nickname because his father was a food vendor and because he was a mentally unstable killer known for his frequent anger outbursts. After that things escalated. In 1930 Al Capone himself tried to negotiate a truce organizing a meeting at the Robert Treat Hotel in Newark. Boiardo demanded 50/50 split of the alcohol destribution in the city and the peace talks failed. In late september 1930 Luciano intervened and squashed the whole thing. Young Jerry Catena was Zwillman's representative during the negotiations and acted as a liason between Zwillman and the New York italians. Both parties made concessions and agreed to stop the violence. On October 5 Boiardo celebrated the newly signed peace with a big "Peace Banquet" at the Nuova Napoli restaurant in the First Ward. A month later on 26 November he would survive an assassination attempt despite not wearing his usual bulletproof vest and being shot in the head. The next year he would go to prison on a concealed weapon conviction where he would throw wine and rum parties for his fellow inmates.

In 1946 Boiardo was inducted in the Luciano Crime Family and was promoted to capo immediately or continued to operate semi-independent under Moretti until the latter's murder on October 4, 1951. Jerry Catena inherited Moretti's crew. According to taped conversations between Tony Boy Boiardo, Sam DeCavalcante, and Gyp DeCarlo, Jerry Catena was made roughly around the same time Boiardo was. During the 1940's and 1950's Catena and Richie Boiardo became partners in crime. Catena became friends with Tony Boy, and the two loved to play golf together twice a week. Years later during these golf sessions Jerry will give Tony Boy his monthly payment of 3500 dollars for his 1% interest in the Fremont Hotel and Horseshoe Club in Las Vegas. Catena was Tony Boy's best man at his wedding on April 30, 1950. Catena delegated a lot of his responsibilities to his brothers - Eugene and Frank. Frank was a powerbroker in ILA local 1235. Eugene oversaw the Port Newark waterfront union racketeering and gambling rackets, and the rest of the old Moretti territories. In 1956 Jerry Catena was temporarily promoted to acting boss while Costello was serving a short prison sentence.

In 1957 Vito Genovese took over the family. Jerry Catena and Mike Miranda were promoted to admin roles. On November 10, 1957 the new admin body of the family had a meeting at Boiardo's Livingston estate. This happened four days before the Apalachin meeting. It's likely Boiardo was one of Genovese's loyalists and succeeded the former Moretti/Catena regime in some capacity. By 1960's there were three active Genovese crews operating in New Jersey. Those were DeCarlo's Crew, Boiardo's Crew and Eugene Catena's Crew. Eugene Catena was most likely elevated to a captain around this time. At the earliest a CI report identifies him as such in February 1959 during a meeting he had with Zwillman concerning the ongoing IRS investigation. Eugene was known as a greedy, rude and generally troublesome to work with and at the same time he was the only trustworthy person in the eyes of his brother Jerry. Richie Boiardo remained a captain until his death in 1984, but in the 1960's Tony Boy took over his crew in as an acting captain until his own death in 1978.

In 1958-1959 Genovese was indicted and sentenced for narcotics trafficking. During this time five important things happened. 1) Catena's old boss Abner Zwillman died and according to the FBI Catena inherited his criminal organization. 2) Boiardo was thinking retirement and started the process of turning over his rackets to Tony Boy. 3) Mike Miranda's crew was split. 4) Catena was elevated to acting boss or 'substitute boss' according to Valachi for a second time. 5) Tony Strollo was given the underboss spot in an acting capacity.

With the new acting administration up and running there were multiple reports of mobsters being displeased with Catena's promotion. According to wiretaps of Gyp DeCarlo the only reason Catena was elevated this high is because of his financial interests in Las Vegas, which at the time were managed by Catena's underlings Joe Stacher and Harry Coopersmith, and not because Genovese held him in a very high regard. FBI report from 1963 states that Catena solidified his position in the administration by distributing points in his casinos, which included the Sands, Fremont, and Horseshoe Club. Again according to Gyp, Catena "only wants the job because it makes him bigger than someone else". Another FBI report claimed Miranda was the popular choice and the only reason he was passed over was due to his close relationship with Frank Costello. The decision made Miranda question his loyalty towards Genovese, if there was any to begin with. One of the people irritated with Genovese's decision to snub Miranda was Miranda's long-time friend Richie Boiardo. In taped conversations between Anthony Russo and Gyp DeCarlo in DeCarlo's headquarters they discuss the hidden animosity between the Boiardos and Catena. Gyp speculated The Boot was afraid of dying because he knew Catena was going to murder Tony Boy afterwards.

On April 8, 1962 Tony Strollo disappeared on Vito Genovese's orders for allegedly joining a conspiracy to depose Genovese. He was replaced by Tommy Eboli as captain and acting underboss. According to Anthony Russo Boiardo told Giancana he was directly responsible for Strollo's disappearance. Even though he was a close friend of Genovese for decades, Strollo had a reputation for untrustworthiness and switching allegiances when it suited him. Replacing Strollo with Eboli can be viewed as an attempt to hinder the growing power of Catena in the early 1960's.

[Frank]

In the Frank Costello murders thread we discussed the Genovese politics in NJ around the time Vito took over and how they formed and transformed over the years. I dug out some of my scribbled notes about Boiardo, Catena, Zwillman and Moretti, but I didn't want to slide that thread any further, so I'm posting them here.

Check out some of the other relevant threads on the subject:

viewtopic.php?f=29&t=4257 - Boiardo Crew History
viewtopic.php?f=29&t=4124 - Willie Moretti Murder Revisited
viewtopic.php?f=29&t=1392 - Historical Genovese Leadership Crews


Around 1930 Moretti moved to Hasbrouck Heights and started building gambling and bootlegging operations in Bergen and Passaic counties. He used The Marine Room club in Cliffside Park, NJ as his headquarters. Zwillman, Costello, Luciano, Lansky had a stake in the club as well. Early on Moretti was the connection between Zwillman and New York. After moving to New Jersey Moretti tried to establish a prostitution ring in Newark's First ward, which was Richie 'The Boot' Boiardo's territory, but he was forced out in quick fashion. After that Boiardo started jacking Garfield Express Company's trucks in Passaic County which were under Moretti's protection. The trucks were property of Buchalter and Shapiro and were transporting booze from the Jersey ports to New York speakeasies. According to a memorandum from 1954 Moretti warned Boiardo to stop this nonsense immediately.

While his spat with Moretti took place, Boiardo was in an old school mob war against Abner 'Longie' Zwillman. There's not one reason why it started, but it was most likely an attempt by Boiardo to expand his numbers racket. At the time Zwillman was based in Newark's Third Ward and was viewed as one of the most powerful gangsters in the country. Both of them tried to assert their dominance over the Ironbound neighborhood of Newark. In 1927 Longie recruited to his outfit the Catena brothers from the Fifth Ward - they had a reputation as thieves, extortionists and killers. Eugene was strong and impulsive in contrast to his brother Jerry who was quiet and calculating, but just as vicious when the situation required it. At the same time Boiardo made an alliance with Tony 'Bananas' Caponigro. He got that nickname because his father was a food vendor and because he was a mentally unstable killer known for his frequent anger outbursts. After that things escalated. In 1930 Al Capone himself tried to negotiate a truce organizing a meeting at the Robert Treat Hotel in Newark. Boiardo demanded 50/50 split of the alcohol destribution in the city and the peace talks failed. In late september 1930 Luciano intervened and squashed the whole thing. Young Jerry Catena was Zwillman's representative during the negotiations and acted as a liason between Zwillman and the New York italians. Both parties made concessions and agreed to stop the violence. On October 5 Boiardo celebrated the newly signed peace with a big "Peace Banquet" at the Nuova Napoli restaurant in the First Ward. A month later on 26 November he would survive an assassination attempt despite not wearing his usual bulletproof vest and being shot in the head. The next year he would go to prison on a concealed weapon conviction where he would throw wine and rum parties for his fellow inmates.

In 1946 Boiardo was inducted in the Luciano Crime Family and was promoted to capo immediately or continued to operate semi-independent under Moretti until the latter's murder on October 4, 1951. Jerry Catena inherited Moretti's crew. According to taped conversations between Tony Boy Boiardo, Sam DeCavalcante, and Gyp DeCarlo, Jerry Catena was made roughly around the same time Boiardo was. During the 1940's and 1950's Catena and Richie Boiardo became partners in crime. Catena became friends with Tony Boy, and the two loved to play golf together twice a week. Years later during these golf sessions Jerry will give Tony Boy his monthly payment of 3500 dollars for his 1% interest in the Fremont Hotel and Horseshoe Club in Las Vegas. Catena was Tony Boy's best man at his wedding on April 30, 1950. Catena delegated a lot of his responsibilities to his brothers - Eugene and Frank. Frank was a powerbroker in ILA local 1235. Eugene oversaw the Port Newark waterfront union racketeering and gambling rackets, and the rest of the old Moretti territories. In 1956 Jerry Catena was temporarily promoted to acting boss while Costello was serving a short prison sentence.

In 1957 Vito Genovese took over the family. Jerry Catena and Mike Miranda were promoted to admin roles. On November 10, 1957 the new admin body of the family had a meeting at Boiardo's Livingston estate. This happened four days before the Apalachin meeting. It's likely Boiardo was one of Genovese's loyalists and succeeded the former Moretti/Catena regime in some capacity. By 1960's there were three active Genovese crews operating in New Jersey. Those were DeCarlo's Crew, Boiardo's Crew and Eugene Catena's Crew. Eugene Catena was most likely elevated to a captain around this time. At the earliest a CI report identifies him as such in February 1959 during a meeting he had with Zwillman concerning the ongoing IRS investigation. Eugene was known as a greedy, rude and generally troublesome to work with and at the same time he was the only trustworthy person in the eyes of his brother Jerry. Richie Boiardo remained a captain until his death in 1984, but in the 1960's Tony Boy took over his crew in as an acting captain until his own death in 1978.

In 1958-1959 Genovese was indicted and sentenced for narcotics trafficking. During this time five important things happened. 1) Catena's old boss Abner Zwillman died and according to the FBI Catena inherited his criminal organization. 2) Boiardo was thinking retirement and started the process of turning over his rackets to Tony Boy. 3) Mike Miranda's crew was split. 4) Catena was elevated to acting boss or 'substitute boss' according to Valachi for a second time. 5) Tony Strollo was given the underboss spot in an acting capacity.

With the new acting administration up and running there were multiple reports of mobsters being displeased with Catena's promotion. According to wiretaps of Gyp DeCarlo the only reason Catena was elevated this high is because of his financial interests in Las Vegas, which at the time were managed by Catena's underlings Joe Stacher and Harry Coopersmith, and not because Genovese held him in a very high regard. FBI report from 1963 states that Catena solidified his position in the administration by distributing points in his casinos, which included the Sands, Fremont, and Horseshoe Club. Again according to Gyp, Catena "only wants the job because it makes him bigger than someone else". Another FBI report claimed Miranda was the popular choice and the only reason he was passed over was due to his close relationship with Frank Costello. The decision made Miranda question his loyalty towards Genovese, if there was any to begin with. One of the people irritated with Genovese's decision to snub Miranda was Miranda's long-time friend Richie Boiardo. In taped conversations between Anthony Russo and Gyp DeCarlo in DeCarlo's headquarters they discuss the hidden animosity between the Boiardos and Catena. Gyp speculated The Boot was afraid of dying because he knew Catena was going to murder Tony Boy afterwards.

On April 8, 1962 Tony Strollo disappeared on Vito Genovese's orders for allegedly joining a conspiracy to depose Genovese. He was replaced by Tommy Eboli as captain and acting underboss. According to Anthony Russo Boiardo told Giancana he was directly responsible for Strollo's disappearance. Even though he was a close friend of Genovese for decades, Strollo had a reputation for untrustworthiness and switching allegiances when it suited him. Replacing Strollo with Eboli can be viewed as an attempt to hinder the growing power of Catena in the early 1960's.

Great info

[bert]

Eboli what is the source you used for Strollo being killed on Genovese orders, and the reasons for his being killed? Thanks.

On April 8, 1962 Tony Strollo disappeared on Vito Genovese's orders for allegedly joining a conspiracy to depose Genovese. He was replaced by Tommy Eboli as captain and acting underboss. According to Anthony Russo Boiardo told Giancana he was directly responsible for Strollo's disappearance. Even though he was a close friend of Genovese for decades, Strollo had a reputation for untrustworthiness and switching allegiances when it suited him. Replacing Strollo with Eboli can be viewed as an attempt to hinder the growing power of Catena in the early 1960's.

[B.]

Eboli what is the source you used for Strollo being killed on Genovese orders, and the reasons for his being killed? Thanks.

The DeCarlo / Russo bug picked them up discussing Russo's involvement in the Strollo murder and Genovese giving the order. They don't discuss the disposal of his body, but Strollo's body was said by a source to have been taken to a farm in NJ owned by Joseph Celso where a number of mafia murder victims were buried. That source named Strollo crew members Tommy Eboli, Dominick DeQuarto, and Giuseppe Sabato as participants in the murder.

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- There is an FBI report indicating they received some kind of information pointing to Willie Moretti, Al Capone, Vito Genovese, Richie Boiardo, and Angelo DeCarlo being with the Camorra before Cosa Nostra. Though not mentioned, Genovese captain Rocco Pellegrino was with the Camorra and Vito Genovese and Al Capone had strong ties to Camorra figures at the very least, so there could be something to this.

- Would be interesting to know whether Moretti was inducted in Buffalo before coming to the US. He was close to the Magaddinos, particularly one of Stefano's brothers, and sent by Stefano to greet Joe Bonanno upon arrival to the US. While Bonanno wasn't made yet, it is an indication that he had status in Buffalo given that he was escorting the leader's cousin.

- I'm curious if Buffalo member Paolo Palmeri transfered to the Genovese family after his move to NJ. Palmeri was from Castellammare but was very close with Moretti and lived in his area of operation. Seems possible he remained a Buffalo member in NJ or another NYC group but his strongest connection was to Moretti which makes me wonder if he was with him.

- Moretti's acting captain was likely John "Duke" DeNoia, who was ID'd as a deceased captain on the Valachi charts. It would make sense that Moretti would have had an acting captain while he served on the admin and would be the clearest explanation for how/when DeNoia served as a captain.

- Valachi ID'd Moretti as the acting boss for a period, so there was precedent for a NJ member to be running the family many years before Catena stepped up. It's been a myth on the boards over the years that the Genovese family "can't" be run by an NJ-based member and Moretti/Catena both disprove that.

- Valachi claimed Moretti had a small army under him in NJ though there are relatively few identified Genovese NJ members before the mid-1940s. HK and I tried to flesh out the Moretti crew during that period but it's still very murky.

- As mentioned in the other thread, there is reason to believe Moretti may have absorbed or otherwise made an alliance with Boiardo's gang when Boiardo as in prison in the 1930s. This may have been what ultimately led to the independent Boiardo joining that family. Many future members of the Boiardo decina were originally members of his bootlegging gang.

- Gerry Catena was closely associated with New Jersey mafia figures by the early 1930s. There are a couple of examples, but a notable one is putting up bail money for Nick Delmore in his murder case. He of course worked closely with Zwillman as mentioned, with Zwillman himself being closely aligned with the New Jersey mafia groups. Zwillman worked closely with suspected members of the Newark family and it seems all of these figures were more or less aligned against Boiardo at various times.

- What specifics do you have on Caponigro being associated with Boiardo in 1927-1930 period? Caponigro was 15-18 years old at the time and his family had moved to Newark from Philadelphia (originally living in Chicago), so I'd be surprised to hear that he was already heavily involved. Joe Licata, who started out as an associate under Caponigro, was recorded saying that Caponigro had been associated with Albert Anastasia before the Philly family.

- Boiardo was inducted in 1944. Likely among the first NYC/NJ inductions since the 1930s.

- As mentioned in the Boiardo crew thread, it's unlikely Tony Boiardo remained the acting captain through the 1970s. The younger Boiardo developed severe health issues that left him bed-ridden for extended periods of time. While titles aren't mentioned, John Russo's role appears to have been similar to that of an acting captain and an informant described him as the likely successor to Richie Boiardo before Russo's death.

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Great idea for a thread, Eboli.

[eboli]

- What specifics do you have on Caponigro being associated with Boiardo in 1927-1930 period? Caponigro was 15-18 years old at the time and his family had moved to Newark from Philadelphia (originally living in Chicago), so I'd be surprised to hear that he was already heavily involved. Joe Licata, who started out as an associate under Caponigro, was recorded saying that Caponigro had been associated with Albert Anastasia before the Philly family.

- Boiardo was inducted in 1944. Likely among the first NYC/NJ inductions since the 1930s.

- As mentioned in the Boiardo crew thread, it's unlikely Tony Boiardo remained the acting captain through the 1970s. The younger Boiardo developed severe health issues that left him bed-ridden for extended periods of time. While titles aren't mentioned, John Russo's role appears to have been similar to that of an acting captain and an informant described him as the likely successor to Richie Boiardo before Russo's death.

1) Despite his young age Caponigro was already involved in truck hijacking and had a reputation for being a "wild man". I guess around this time everyone were on the look out for young recruits and Boiardo saw the potential. I haven't seen anything that confirms Caponigro ever became part of Boiardo's gang, so him being an associate of Anastasia might even be linked to his early ties with Boiardo, since Richie had a presence in Brooklyn during the late 20's. One last thing about Caponigro from the period is that he and Boiardo ran a "lucrative still" in a warehouse located on Ferry Street. At the time Ferry Street was used as the central corridor for bootleggers to supply downtown Newark with booze from the ports, so the Boot's underlings will just go out on the street and snatch a rival's alcohol shipment. Often times without Boiardo's exact permission.

The above mentioned info on Caponigro comes from "In The Godfather Garden" by Richard Linnett. He quotes a couple of police and fbi reports from the 1950's, including a series of newspaper articles from the early 30's. These articles include "War Reported over Lotteries"(9.19.1930) and "Peace Sought in Racket War" (9.22.1930) from the Newark Evening News. I had both of them and will post them on the forums when I locate the flash drive I had them stored on. An additional article I haven't managed to find, which is quoted in the book is "Police ‘Drop in’ at Banquet to Newark Gang Leader" (10.06.1930), first published in the Newark Star-Eagle.


2) You're correct about Boiardo's year of induction into the crime family. I've made a typo in my previous post. He was most likely pressured to join since a lot of his subordinates were being recruited by New York.


3) Tony Boy had health issues for most of his life. In 1961 while serving his 30 days sentence for contempt in Essex County Jail he was diagnosed having a peptic ulcer and swollen gallbladder. His mother had the same health issues probably worsened by her chronic alcoholism. It's a fair assumption he wasn't acting throughout the 70's, because by that time he was in a very rough shape, but I don't see Richie putting anybody else in that position while his son was still alive. My personal opinion is both Tony and Richie called the shots and Russo was just doing the leg work without making him acting captain.

[eboli]

Eboli what is the source you used for Strollo being killed on Genovese orders, and the reasons for his being killed? Thanks.

B. already mentioned the DeCarlo tapes, but I'll add Valachi who stated that shortly before flipping Genovese told him he gave the okay on Strollo. Here's an NYT article on Russo and DeCarlo talking about it: https://www.nytimes.com/1970/01/08/arch ... ng-of.html

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1) Genovese learned Strollo was involved in the conspiracy to put him behind bars for drug trafficking. 2) Genovese generally didn't trust him after telling Tony Bender to set up his best friend Anthony Carfano in 1959. Caifano alone didn't show up at a meeting Genovese arranged for all of his capos and that put Carfano's allegiance in question. 3) Genovese wanted to slow down Catena's ever increasing influence over the family and thought in a potential power grab Strollo will take Catena's side. This might not be so far-fetched since Mike Miranda was at best irritated with Genovese at the time. That's basically the whole administration. 4) Tony Bender was in touch with the Gallo Brothers during their war against Profaci. He supported them and gave his endorsement for all the kidnappings they did. This angered a lot of people and Genovese might have interpreted it as an attempt for Tony to gain more power for himself. 5) According to a report from 1963 Tony Bender was playing the long con ever since Genovese's return from Italy. He was sowing distrust and discord between Costello and Genovese at every step "hoping to pit the two against each other, and in the ensuing struggle to emerge himself as the boss". The source advised that in 1960 during Costello's tax conviction he and Genovese met at Atlanta Penitentiary where they "compared notes" on Strollo. It's reported after this meeting Costello was "reinstated" in the family. 6) Tommy Eboli was trying for years to get rid of Strollo and in 1961 Bender was stripped from his rank as captain. During this time Dom De Quarto became acting captain of the crew.

[Frank]

Eboli what is the source you used for Strollo being killed on Genovese orders, and the reasons for his being killed? Thanks.

B. already mentioned the DeCarlo tapes, but I'll add Valachi who stated that shortly before flipping Genovese told him he gave the okay on Strollo. Here's an NYT article on Russo and DeCarlo talking about it: https://www.nytimes.com/1970/01/08/arch ... ng-of.html

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1) Genovese learned Strollo was involved in the conspiracy to put him behind bars for drug trafficking. 2) Genovese generally didn't trust him after telling Tony Bender to set up his best friend Anthony Carfano in 1959. Caifano alone didn't show up at a meeting Genovese arranged for all of his capos and that put Carfano's allegiance in question. 3) Genovese wanted to slow down Catena's ever increasing influence over the family and thought in a potential power grab Strollo will take Catena's side. This might not be so far-fetched since Mike Miranda was at best irritated with Genovese at the time. That's basically the whole administration. 4) Tony Bender was in touch with the Gallo Brothers during their war against Profaci. He supported them and gave his endorsement for all the kidnappings they did. This angered a lot of people and Genovese might have interpreted it as an attempt for Tony to gain more power for himself. 5) According to a report from 1963 Tony Bender was playing the long con ever since Genovese's return from Italy. He was sowing distrust and discord between Costello and Genovese at every step "hoping to pit the two against each other, and in the ensuing struggle to emerge himself as the boss". The source advised that in 1960 during Costello's tax conviction he and Genovese met at Atlanta Penitentiary where they "compared notes" on Strollo. It's reported after this meeting Costello was "reinstated" in the family. 6) Tommy Eboli was trying for years to get rid of Strollo and in 1961 Bender was stripped from his rank as captain. During this time Dom De Quarto became acting captain of the crew.

Great thread, and I'm glad you included the other threads, as I reread them. Some highlights for me was in Russo tapes that Paul Ricca was still the boss in Chicago and Russo saying that Phil Lombardo was really the boss. The Caponigro info was great, I didn't know he started that young. Don't know if it's on different tapes, but didn't the acting leaders discuss the possibility of killing Genovese when he was released.