Mob FilesPublic-domain archive of American organized crime
Printed page 163 of the 1963 hearings, Part 1 (NCJRS PDF page 178): Duffy on "the death of Tom Reina," with the date printed "February 26, 1960," and Valachi's answer "they were what they call sneaking."
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Hearing of October 1, 1963, pp. 163–165: the killing of Tom Reina, the "undeclared war" and Joseph Pinzolo

Staff counsel LaVern Duffy named the death of Tom Reina as the first significant date of the 1930–31 war, and Valachi explained why the war was at first "undeclared" and what he was told of the killing of Joseph Pinzolo. Counsel's statements and testimony, not findings.

Date
1963-10-01
Kind
hearing
Source
National Criminal Justice Reference Service, scan of the printed hearings (NCJ 119303)
Retrieved
2026-10-12
Rights
A work of the United States Senate, printed by the Government Printing Office. Public domain in the United States. 17 U.S.C. § 105. The NCJRS cover sheet records reproduction permission as "Public Domain / U.S. Senate."

Printed pages 163 to 165 of Part 1 (NCJRS PDF pages 178 to 180), October 1, 1963. Staff counsel LaVern J. Duffy, reading from the staff chart filed as Exhibit 8, told the chairman: “The first significant date on the chart is the death of Tom Reina. He was the boss of this gang.” He said Reina was murdered “by a member of the Masseria group,” and that “Tom Gagliano, the underboss of this family, wanted to avenge the death of Reina, who was unjustly murdered.”

A printing error. The printed page has Duffy date Reina’s killing “February 26, 1960.” The New York police record read into the same hearing at printed page 174 gives February 26, 1930 (pp. 174–179), and the war Duffy was describing began in 1930. This archive uses the police record’s date.

Asked why the war was at first undeclared, Valachi said: “Senator, they were what they call sneaking. … In other words, they did not declare any war outright.” Duffy said Gagliano recruited men “unknown to Joseph Masseria,” so that the killing could not be traced to his group. Valachi said he did not know Reina: “Just that they told me they killed their boss, that is all.” He named two men he brought in, and said Gagliano had “200, 250” men, of whom “about 15” trusted one another.

Duffy said “Joseph Masseria replaced Mr. Reina with Mr. Pinzolo.” Valachi interrupted, “Wasn’t Peter Morello the first one?”, and Duffy answered “No.” Valachi testified that Bobby Doyle told him “that he got the break of his life. He went down to Pinzolo’s office and he found him all alone and he killed him.” That is what Valachi said he was told; no one was charged on it in this record. These are counsel’s statements and a witness’s sworn answers, not findings.

Page images: printed p. 163 (stored above) and printed p. 164.

itemHearing of October 1, 1963, pp. 174–179: Sgt. Ralph Salerno reads the police records of the 1930 killings of Reina, Morello, Pinzolo, Ferrigno and MineoA New York police sergeant read into the record the department's entries on five killings of 1930, with the time and street of each: Reina at 1522 Sheridan Avenue, Morello at 362 East 116th Street, Pinzolo in the Brokaw Building, and Ferrigno and Mineo on Pelham Parkway. Every case was still open in 1963.itemHearing of October 1, 1963, pp. 156–157: Valachi joins Gagliano's group and names "the Castellamarese war"Valachi testified that he was persuaded to join a group headed by Tom Gagliano that meant to "fight some big shots," and, asked about the war between Masseria and Maranzano, called it "what we call the Castellamarese war." Testimony, not a finding.itemHearing of October 1, 1963, pp. 166–168: "All the Castellemarese were sentenced to death"; the Morello and Pinzolo killings as Valachi told themValachi testified that Masseria had condemned "all the Castellemarese" to death, that Peter Morello was killed "by the Maranzano group," and that the Maranzano and Gagliano sides then joined forces. Counsel put the dates of August 15 and September 9, 1930 from police records. Testimony, much of it hearsay.itemTestimony of Joseph Valachi, October 1, 1963: the initiation ceremonyValachi described the ceremony at which he said he was made a member, with Salvatore Maranzano speaking. The same day, staff presented Exhibit 8, the Masseria-Maranzano war chart.itemExhibit No. 8: "Masseria-Maranzano War and Evolution of Gang Control—1930 to Present"Staff fold-out chart presented on October 1, 1963: the 1930 to 1931 war in three key-coded groups and the lines of succession drawn from it to five 1963 bosses. Several name boxes are illegible in the scan.