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Printed page 212 of the 1963 hearings, Part 1 (NCJRS PDF page 226): Valachi says he has forgotten the name of the restaurant, and Sergeant Salerno reads the police record of Masseria's killing on April 15, 1931.
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Hearing of October 2, 1963, pp. 210–213: Valachi's account of the killing of Joseph Masseria, and the police record of April 15, 1931 at 2715 West 15th Street, Coney Island

Valachi testified from hearsay that Masseria's own men took him to a Coney Island restaurant and killed him. Sgt. Ralph Salerno read the police record: at 3:30 p.m. on April 15, 1931, "Giuseppi Massaria, alias Joe the Boss," was shot in the back and head in a restaurant at 2715 West 15th Street by unknown persons who escaped.

Date
1963-10-02
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 210 to 213 of Part 1 (NCJRS PDF pages 224 to 227), October 2, 1963. Valachi testified that Masseria’s friends, “Charley Luciano and Vito Genovese and Ciro Terranova,” brought him to a restaurant in Coney Island, that “it took them 5 or 6 months to get him there,” and that Maranzano’s men did not do the killing: asked “It was Masseria’s own people who killed him at that restaurant?”, he answered “Right.” He said: “I wasn’t there, but I was told Ciro was there, Vito was there, Charley was there, a fellow named Cheech was there, and Joe Stretch was there.” He repeated a story the soldiers told him, that Terranova was so shaky at the car that he was thrown off the wheel and later lost his standing. Asked the name of the restaurant, he said: “I know it if I hear it, but I have forgotten it, Senator.” He said peace came “about 5 days after that.”

Sergeant Ralph Salerno of the New York Police Department then read the record: “It shows at 3:30 p.m. on April 15, 1931, Giuseppi Massaria, alias Joe the Boss, … while sitting in a restaurant at 2715 West 15th Street in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn, was shot in the back and head by unknown persons who escaped. Cause of death was six gunshot wounds of the head and body. The case is active.” Asked whether the police ever got a lead, he said: “Not to the point where there was evidence that could be presented to a grand jury” (printed page 213). The record gives the street address but not the restaurant’s name.

The FBI’s own later accounts are different in kind. Its history page says the war “ended in 1931 when Salvatore Maranzano conspired with Masseria’s top soldier, Charles ‘Lucky’ Luciano, to have Masseria killed” (FBI history page), and an older FBI overview says “The murder of faction leader Joseph Masseria brought an end to the gang warfare” (www2.fbi.gov overview). Those are agency narratives. Valachi’s account is hearsay testimony. Nobody was charged with the killing in this record. The police record also prints Masseria’s last residence; it is not repeated here.

Page images: printed p. 212 (stored above) and p. 211.

itemHearing of October 1, 1963, pp. 198–199: Masseria's offer of peace, Maranzano's refusal, and the men Valachi said "set him up"Valachi testified that Masseria "offered himself to be a plain soldier" and that Maranzano refused, that Maranzano's side had grown to about 600, and that Masseria's own men set him up at a Coney Island restaurant. Testimony from hearsay; Valachi was not there.itemHearing of October 2, 1963, pp. 214–218: the "score" of the war, Maranzano's meeting on Washington Avenue ("the boss of all bosses, which is myself"), and the banquetValachi testified that the score was "we lost 1 and they lost from 40 to 60," described a meeting of 400 to 500 people in a hall on Washington Avenue in the Bronx where Maranzano declared himself "the boss of all bosses," named the bosses he recalled being designated there, and described a five-night banquet he understood raised $115,000. Testimony, not findings.itemHearing of October 2, 1963: Valachi's testimony and police recordsValachi continued his account of the 1930 to 1931 gang war. Police witnesses from Hartford and New York testified to records the subcommittee set beside his statements.itemLa Cosa Nostra (FBI history page)The FBI's history essay on the Genovese family. It says that Valachi survived three attempts on his life in prison and testified before the Senate subcommittee on September 27, 1963.itemFBI, "Italian Organized Crime – Overview" (archived www2.fbi.gov page)An older FBI web overview, still served on the www2.fbi.gov archive host. It says the murder of "faction leader Joseph Masseria brought an end to the gang warfare," that Maranzano, "the first leader of La Cosa Nostra, was murdered within six months," and that Luciano "set up the 'Commission.'" An agency narrative, not a record of the events.