In 1993 the FBI laid out in a 34 page memo how Gigante ordered the murders of six Philly mobsters who were in on the Bruno hit. Four of these men were killed in 1980, before Gigante is usually said to have become boss. Most of the info comes from confidential sources, Phil Leonetti being one. I know Tieri basically started the whole thing by setting up Caponigro to take over his numbers business, however I do not believe he was the boss, let alone de facto head of the Commission. Gigante may not have taken over full control of the family by this point, but if he hadn't I think he was second only to Lombardo. When they say he ordered the murders he may have been passing along orders from Lombardo. By 1980 Lombardo was in bad health and Tieri was 77 years old. Everyone knew Gigante was next in line to be the Boss. I think Lombardo may have put Tieri out in front to shield Gigante, which worked because instead of Gigante getting getting busted it was Tieri. By that point Gigante was much more important to the family than Tieri.