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Vito Genovese was a mafioso who rose to power in America during the Castellammarese War.
The Beginning
Genovese started his Mafia career serving Joe Masseria and worked with people like Luciano, Lansky, Siegel, and Frank Costello.
After the Great War, a man called Marazano introduced Genovese to the family headed by Luciano. After a while Maranzano began
to realize that these young men would be a threat to his undisputed crown within the mafia, so he made a hit list that included
Genovese amongst others.
In April 1931, Luciano orchestrated the assassination of Joe Masseria. Vito Genovese was one of the four shooters involved in the hit on his former employer.
Rise to Power
After World War II, Genovese began a murder spree to gain new status in the underworld, taking advantage of Luciano being in
exile in Italy. Facing a murder charge in 1937,
Genovese was forced to flee to Italy as well.
When he later returned to the States, all the witnesses to his murder spree had disappeared. He remained a free man.
His next move was to obtain control of the Luciano family and the dominant role in the Mafia. But in order to accomplish this,
he needed to eliminate the acting boss Frank Costello. The attempt on Costello's life failed but the successful murder of
Albert Anastasia (ordered by Genovese) forced Costello to
retire.
Apalachin Meeting
Now Genovese had control of Luciano's family and sought to strengthen his hold. He reportedly co-ordinated of the Apalachin Meeting where he
expected to be named Boss of Bosses.
Unfortunately for him, the meeting (November 14, 1957) went horribly wrong. New York State Trooper Edgar Croswell had been watching the house the meeting was supposed to be held in, because
he was suspicious of the owner, Joseph Barabara.
When he checked the licence plates of the cars coming in and out, he found enough reason to set up a road block on the only
road leading up and from the house on the hill.
Genovese was blamed for the fiasco and before he could move to take advantage of the situation Lansky and Luciano set him up
on a huge drug smuggling deal.
In 1959, Genovese was sent to prison, where he died in 1969.
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