https://thenewyorkmafia.com/steven-crea-innocent-meldish-murder/9/

To me this is the most compelling and frustrating part. There was wiretap evidence indicating that the word on the street was that another family was behind the killing of Meldish (do we know which one?) but the jury wasn't allowed to hear it. Baffling.

That means that even if one believes Crea was the underboss and in that role he was privy to all Lucchese family murder plots, the killing of Meldish wasn't actually carried out by the Luccheses.