According to Leonetti in "Mafia Prince," there were three reasons for the Caponigro set up by the Genovese family.

1. Testa, Scarfo, etc. taking over Philly mob swings their vote to the Genovese, which gives them more control of Commission.

2. Scarfo, etc. taking over Philly mob means he also takes control of HEREU Local 54 (which they were beefing with Bruno about) and that would benefit the Genovese who later received money out of the union from Scarfo.

3. Taking out Caponigro meant the Genovese could take over his gambling/loansharking operations in North Jersey (which they had beefed about in the past when Caponigro won the sitdown).


It certainly seems this was a power play by the top guys in the family and not just Tieri alone. Especially when you consider it was Chin's crew who took out Caponigro.