New York Times Ex-Mob Boss Tells Jury, Calmly, About Murders
By LIZ ROBBINSAPRIL 14, 2011
The cross-examination of a Mafia turncoat started quietly and predictably enough on Thursday. Joseph C. Massino, the former boss of the Bonanno crime family, spoke matter-of-factly about having to kill one of his closest associates, simply because he had disobeyed protocol.
“As much as I didn’t want to kill him,” Mr. Massino said of the 1999 murder of Gerlando Sciascia, “I had to kill him.”
NEWSNEW YORK
Massino ends testimony; hopeful
By ANTHONY M. DESTEFANO
anthony.destefano@newsday.com
Updated April 21, 2011 10:58 PM
During his testimony, Massino indicated that while mob members risk death by committing a murder without approval or by lying to the family boss, enforcement of those rules was erratic. For instance, Massino said he had Bonanno captain Gerlando Sciascia killed in 1999 because he didn't seek approval for the slaying of another mobster's son. But Massino then said he didn't kill another Bonanno mobster who apparently lied about slaying a couple who specialized in robbing mob social clubs.
