In your view who do you think Anastasia's shooters were ? There have been many people touted as his killers from the gallos and persicos or Steven arm one Arnold Wittenberg and Steven graummata . Has anyone got any other theories

An alternative theory was presented by Vincent Teresa, the Boston informant, back in 1972. He said that the shooters were Boston based hitman Jackie "Mad Dog" Nazarian and a Brooklyn guy identified only as "The Syrian". Teresa also said that Nicky Bianco identified Anastasia to the shooters by pointing a rolled up newspaper at Anastasia´s direction when the shooters entered the barbershop.

Yeah I've read that theory aswel pal

There has and always will be speculation on who the shooters were. One thing is clear from later defectors in the Gambino crime family, that the shooters were in house, and that the consigliere to the Gambino crime family at the time Joe Biondo gave out the contract. Most say that he had the Armone brothers do it, but Joe Armone was in lockup at the time, with the possibility of Stefano as being one of the shooters, as he was still out on the streets.

That is what I heard , joe piney was supposed to be on board but he was in prison so they recruited Steven armone in his place

Didn't they later find Biondo's fingerprint on the getaway car?

The Armone Crew theory is far more solid than any of the previous ones.Most mob historians will agree that somewhere around 75% of everything Vinnie Teresa ever "revealed" is total BS.There are many problems with the Gallo/Persico/Rent-A-Profaci story as well.For starters,the main guys behind the hit were Vito Genovese and Carlo Gambino----there is no evidence that Joe Profaci was part of the plot or was even in favor of it.Neither man was particularly tight with Joe Profaci and each had access to numerous "work" crews of their own.Also,the eyewitness' descriptions of the shooters is more in line with Grammauta and Wittenberg than any Gallo crew member---the estimated age of the shooters,in particular.Even though the shooters tried to disguise themselves,the shop manicurist got a pretty good look at them.In addition to all of that,while there have been a few notable exceptions,most major hits within a Cosa Nostra Family are carried out by other members of the same organization----another nod to the Armone Crew and the nominal supervisor of that crew Joe Biondo.

Agreed. Capeci´s "scoop" is most likely the theory closest to the truth. It´s interesting to see that after the Anastasia murder, the underboss and the consigliere spots were occupied by members of that Lower East Side crew, involved with the murder. Biondo, a former leader of the crew, was made underboss and Joe Riccobono, the leader of the same crew at that time, was made consigliere. Steve Armone, who according to Capeci´s "scoop" supervised the shooters, was made the new leader of the crew. So they were all promoted to key positions within the Gambino family. Steve Grammauta, the main shooter, was a cousin of the Armones, btw.

"Manicurist Jean Wineberger said that the primary shooter was about 40 years old, 5 10 to 5 11, on the slim side, 175 to 180 lbs. He had blondish hair with a pompadour, fair complexion, and was right-handed. The second shooter, she said, was about 45 years old, 5 7, stocky build, medium complexion, and may have been Italian or Jewish."

I agree with Knuckz. Capeci does seem to have great info that's trustworthy.

I must admit u can pretty much take it to the bank if it comes out of capeci's mouth . Cheers guys

What about Santo Trafficante?

I doubt that a man of Trafficante's smarts would been staying in that hotel if he knew there was a major hit going down the next day in the hotel lobby. Coincidence.

I've read somewhere that "Trigger Mike" Coppola was Anastasia's driver that day, he suddenly disappeared just before the two shooters came through the door.

It was *Anthony* Coppola. Mike Coppola was a Genovese family capo at that time.

I doubt Traficante had any say about what happened in Nyc

Yes,it sounds like a coincidence but there was a rumour that Albert wanted to muscle in Santo's gambling operations in Cuba.Dont know if that's true...

Well said, I agree 100%.

In "Havana Nocturne", the author T.J. English very strongly implies that it was Lansky, not Trafficante, who was most threatened by Anastasia's moves into Cuba and Lansky who had the most to gain by Anastasia's departure from our planet.

It wasnt only Far vinny teresa that mentioned it Mad Dog Nazzarene. It was also mentioned by Joe Barboza. You have to remember Ray Sr was really close with Ny I think he even was a member as well. During the Colombo wars he sent Joe Russo, Nicky Bianco, Mad Dog Nazzarene, Pop Werner Sonny Boy Rizzo BoBo Marrapese, Manacchio and many more to Old man Profaci's aid and even mentioned he will send as much as the need. Thats where Russo and Bianco became close like brothers and continued that relationship until the family takeover in the late 80's and the became Boss and Consgliere

I haven't read it, but I wouldn't think Lansky had enough pull at that point to kill a boss - if he ever did.

Especialy a cosa nostra boss...

I read this book, too, and they made a convincing argument. It wasn't Lansky's idea as Genovese and Gambino already had already hatched their plot. But I'm sure they heard of Anastasia's trip to Havana and his intentions on muscling in on Lansky. And when they got his approval, then Albert was history.

I understand that the majority opinion is that Lansky wasn't involved, but I can't overlook the battle in Havana and the timing of Anastasia's death.

I don't think that Genovese or Gambino would care if Anastasia muscled in on Lansky - neither one was allied with him and they would not favor a Jew over an Italian. If Anastasia was trying to muscle in on Lansky casinos which held a Genovese interest, that would be another matter altogether.

What I should have said is that I don't think Lansky had any stock in casinos which weren't also partly shared by the Genovese crime family. Now this would be a problem if Anastasia was trying to muscle in on them but in my opinion, the more plausible scenario is that Anastasia wanted to have his own casinos in Havana and Genovese was not willing to share the wealth. Gambino readily assented to the plot because he then take over the family.

Edit: Just double-checked some sources and this is indeed close to what actually happened. Whether or not he was assassinated specifically for this, I do not know.

That was it, thanks for the correction

It´s possible that one of the shooters was Joe N. Gallo, a member of that Lower East Side crew that planned the murder, and who in the late 1960s became the consigliere. According to a story I just heard (and I have no reason to suspect the story´s credibility), Gallo was very much involved with the Anastasia murder. The entire Gambino Family was in line against Anastasia with one or two guys (Rava and Robilotto) who might be a problem. But in the end, they weren't. All the planning came from Lower East Side, near 11th to 14th street. The Genovese and Gambino people were using clubs there to meet, so they would not be spotted all around the city. Carmine Persico and Joe Yacovelli were around too. All the Families were along. Joe Bonnano says in his book he was not involved, maybe he was deceived by his own captains or did not want to say he knew. He could have been indicted for murder if he said in his books that he knew Anastasia was going to be killed.

In days leading up to Anastasia´s hit, hit squads were in cars going around to spots where they would try to kill him. One such squad was in that barbershop day before the shooting. If Anastasia was there that day, that team would have killed him. Next day, the same were sent to another spot. All squads were rotated, so they would not be identified by people seeing them in same place over and over. So that day, when Anastasia was hit, Joe N. Gallo and his guys were at the barbershop. If Anastasia did not go to his regular places, whoever caught him next day would have gotten him.

Very interesting theory hairy , if he wasn't a shooter , he could well have been a back up

Richard Kuklinski may well have been involved...:-)

great assesment HAIRY

Who was behind that hit? I always thought Carlo Gambino, but I was watching a doc on the Genovese family which stated it was Vito Genovese. According to the doc he took out both Scalise and Anastasia. I always thought Anastasia took out Scalise and in turn Carlo engineered Anastasia's demise for the transgression (and probably because he was trigger happy and unpredictable). Is it possible Genovese was that crafty to set Albert up for the murder of Scalise or is that doc's info wrong?

I'm sure Steven grammauta is still alive he would be like 98 , can anyone confirm this ??