I posted this on EVL´s blog some time ago. But the Masseria hit is the one Mafia hit I REALLY would love to know ALL the details of.

"The Masseria hit is extremely interesting to me. It has been mentioned and described so many times and in so many ways in numerous books and articles, yet we don´t seem to know what really happened that day.
But there are some clues surrounding the Masseria killing we perhaps should pay more attention to. To my knowledge, there is only a few references we can point at when discussing the hit. First of all, in his book, Joe Bonanno mentions that Lucky Luciano had a meeting with Maranzano where they seem to have come to an agreement of Masseria´s demise. So, it sounds very likely that Luciano set his boss up for execution.
But what actually happened in that restaurant, on that day, I guess, we will never know.
Nicola Gentile, who had been a player in the Sicilian Mafia for many years and had been close to Masseria, perhaps provides us with the most accurate info about the murder. Gentile wrote in his memoirs that right before Masseria was killed, a peace meeting between Masseria and Maranzano had been scheduled. Masseria had apparently offered Maranzano to step down in hopes of concluding an honorable peace. Masseria´s men (Luciano being one of them), wasn´t keen on the idea. According to Gentile, the men had secretly united and had already made the decision to kill him.
Gentile and others had been members of a special Commission, formed in the purpose of making peace between the warring Mafia leaders. This Commission was set to meet with Masseria in the restaurant that day when Masseria was murdered.

This is what Gentile wrote:
"Toto Lo Verde, of Chicago, that was admitted to our confidence, offered to accompany me in a car... He came to the appointment a little late. However, we started to go to the restaurant when in front of the door we saw a big crowd. We went some place else and when we turned the corner we asked what happened? They answered "They have killed Joe Masseria". Quickly we went to the home of Lucky Luciano. In the meantime [Vincenzo] Troia [who had been a member of the peace Commission] arrived and Lucky turned to him and said "Don Vincenzo, tell your compare Maranzano we have killed Masseria not to serve him but for our own personal reasons."

To me, this indicates that Masseria was lured to a "peace meeting" only to be set up for murder. It also indicates that Gentile, who had been a staunch Masseria supporter (and a member of the peace Commission), was duped into arriving a little bit too late.
One coat, who had been left behind on the murder scene, was traced by the police to a Johnny Giustra. Giustra was a well known mafioso at the time. Why he had left behind his coat is a mystery. But the most logical explanation would be that he kinda left in a hurry and was taken completely by surprise by the shooting.
And also, nothing (evidence wise) seems to suggest that Lucky Luciano had been there. Him staying and later talking to the police seems to be a myth. No newspaper clip tells about him nor is Luciano´s talking to the police mentioned in any police report or file.

One more thing. According to the authopsy, Masseria´s stomach was empty. So he didn´t have that marvelous lunch all authors seems to prefer to pen down when writing about the Masseria killing."