Mr. ADLERMAN. At the time that Albert Anastasia was killed, who do you believe arranged for his murder?

Mr. VALACHI. I believe that Vito Genovese worked hand in hand with Gambino and Joe Bandi. In other words, they have the right to do something like this. If it appears that Vito Genovese had a hand in it, then it would be hard to explain. But being that Albert Anastasia was doing so much wrong and it was up to his own family to act, in other words, what I am trying to tell you is that Gambino, Joe Bandi, and the rest, whoever they may have been in on it, acted with the assurance of Vito Genovese backing them up.

Mr. ADLERMAN. Now, after Anastasia was killed - you don't know who did the killing, do you?

Mr. VALACHI. No. You mean the actual trigger men?

Mr. ADLERMAN. That is right.

Mr. VALACHI. No, I don't.

Mr. ADLERMAN. Do you believe that Genovese and Gambino and Bandi were behind it?

Mr. VALACHI. Yes.

Mr. ADLERMAN. But you have no proof of that?

Mr. VALACHI. No, sir.

(Organized Crime and Illicit Traffic in Narcotics. Hearings before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Government Operations. United Ststes Senate. Part 1. 1963. pp. 348-349.)

Whoever killed Anastasia - and the indications were that it was men within his own Family - was not really my concern, but the concern of his Family. The identity of Albert's slayers was of interest to those who wanted to avenge his death. My main preoccupation was with the effects of Albert's death. On the Commission, Anastasia's demise benefited both Genovese and Lucchese, whose animosity toward Albert was well known. The man being mentioned to replace Albert as Father of his Family was Carlo Gambino. Lucchese and Gambino were very close; they were related because their children had intermarried. If Gambino was confirmed as Father, that would mean that on the Commission the liberal wing of Genovese-Lucchese-Gambino would form a united faction of equal voting strength with the conservative faction of Bonanno-Profaci-Magaddino. Just because Genovese and Lucchese benefited from Anastasia's death didn't necessarily mean that they had initiated it. However, the timing of Albert's death indicated that at the very least either Genovese or Lucchese condoned or did nothing to try to prevent it. [...] If I had been in the United States when Anastasia was killed, I would have moved very slowly. I would have given the people in Anastasia's Family time to resolve their leadership crisis. Perhaps someone other than Gambino might have emerged as Father if things had been left alone without outside interference. If I had been around I would have definitely lobbied against a national meeting. Such a conference would have the effect of giving official sanction to Gambino, pulling the rug out from under any dissidents within his Family. Of course, that's exactly what Lucchese and Genovese wanted.

(Bonanno, Joseph, with Sergio Lalli. A Man of Honor: The Autobiography of Joseph Bonanno. 1983. St. Martin's Paperbacks edition, 2003, pp. 207-208.)

After Anastasia's murder, the threat of a shooting war was in the air once more. The meeting that prevented such a war was held on November 9, 1957, at the home of a Genovese captain named Ruggiero "Richie" Boiardo in Livingston, New Jersey. [...] One group, the Anastasia loyalists, was represented by Aniello Dellacroce and Tommy Rava. The other group was represented by Carlo Gambino, consigliere of the Anastasia Family. As always, Gambino was aligned with Tommy Lucchese, head of the Lucchese family. At the meeting, Lucchese suggested that my father, as chairman of the Commission, appoint a temporary leader of the Anastasia family. This was a shrewd move by Lucchese, because a temporary appointment that was approved by the Commission was unlikely to be challenged. But it should be noted that the Anastasia Family had to grant the chair of the Commission this authority, or the Commission would have no power to act. And that is exactly what happened: The opposing parties - as well as Nino Conti, who had replaced Frank Scalice as Anastasia's sotto capo - agreed that my father, as chair, should name the temporary leader. Bonanno and the Commission accepted their decision, and the groups declared a truce. Although some speculated that Carlo Gambino may have had a hand in Anastasia's murder, there was no hard evidence against him, and my father chose Gambino as temporary leader of the Family, for a three-year term. However, he did so under three conditions: First, that Gambino report to a Commission member from time to time. (Tommy Lucchese, future father-in-law to Gambino's son, would fill this role.) Second, that neither Gambino nor any other group leader could arbitrarily be removed or replaced without Commission approval. And, third, that at the end of his probationary term, if everyone was happy, Gambino would become the permanent leader. That's exactly what happened. Some years later, I had the opportunity to ask my father why he'd chosen Gambino despite the suspicions that he may have been involved in Anastasia's assassination. My father's answer was short and blunt: "One needs much more than his masculinity to survive in this world of ours. One needs friends. We considered Gambino a generally peaceful person, somewhat servile, but one who would go out of his way to avoid conflict. We needed someone who could bring the various warring factions together and not tear them further apart. We did not need guts - what we needed was brains. Brains he had." As it turns out, my father's analysis was correct. In 1960, at a meeting in Ontario, California (we were in the state to attend that year's Democratic National Convention), we officially sanctioned Gambino as the head of the Family.

(Bonanno, Bill, and Gary B. Abromovitz. The Last Testament of Bill Bonanno. Harper Collins, 2011, pp. 186-188.)

The meeting was held at Richie-s farm /possibly Richard Boiardo/ in New Jersey. Riccobono advised those at the meeting the reason Anastasia had been killed, without identifying the killers and stated if he had been wrong in doing so, they could hold him responsible. At this meeting, in substance a trial, all responsible parties were pardoned, including Cahill and Grammatula. [...] Informant stated the Apalachin meeting was a continuation of the New Jersey trial or meeting so that the New York faction could advise the hoodlums from the other parts of the country the reason that Anastasia had been killed and that at the New Jersey meeting all responsible parties for the killing had been pardoned, including the killers.

(https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=125376&search=%22Riccobono%22_and+%22cahill%22#relPageId=10&tab=page)

The purpose of this meeting was to discuss the Anastasia killing. Informant advised the Commission members were "feeling the pulse" of the attendees. The Commission, of course, was aware Anastasia was slain but it appeared to the informant there was some confusion even among the Commission members as to why Anastasia was slain. From the way the "inquiry" made by the Commission went, informant got the opinion that some of the Commission members knew why Anastasia was killed but some did not. Informant pointed out the "inquiry" was completely in English. Carlo Gambino was among several speakers and he informed everyone that Anastasia was killed as he was using people from other "families" to kill people and he was killing some people who should not have been killed. Once the slaying of Anastasia was completely discussed it was decided to continue this meeting at another location. The location of the second meeting was decided by the Commission to take place in upstate New York at Joe Barbara's estate.

(https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc...24-10297-10003#relPageId=12&tab=page)