Instead of starting a new thread, I'll bump this one up....

I've always been really confused about this story. I read the book years ago, but couldn't figure out why the inmates wanted to hurt Vito. There isn't a popular theory that Genovese set up Costello with the IRS. If anything, you'd figure the inmates would have been mad about the murder attempt on Frank, which most authorities at the time attributed to Genovese.

Either way, why would the black/hispanic/non connected prisoners care about the beef between Costello and Genovese?

Also, what would the photo have done? And why send the photo to NYC?