Mob FilesPublic-domain archive of American organized crime
Printed page 236 of the 1963 hearings, Part 1 (NCJRS PDF page 250): Adlerman asks "did Luciano take over as boss?" and "Did he abolish the boss of bosses system?" and Valachi answers "That was abolished."
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Hearing of October 2, 1963, pp. 236–239: the "boss of bosses" abolished, the Chicago meeting, and the membership "books" closed in about 1931

Valachi testified that after Maranzano's death Luciano took over as boss, that the "boss of bosses" system "was abolished" and a group of six consiglieri was set up, that Luciano and Genovese had to justify the killing before the bosses at a meeting in Chicago, and that "the books were closed in about 1931." One witness's account, not a finding.

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 236 to 239 of Part 1 (NCJRS PDF pages 250 to 253), October 2, 1963. The passage opens with “Sam Monica.” Valachi said he was killed “in New Jersey. They found him in the Passaic River.” Sergeant Salerno said police records showed “Don Steven’s closest associates were Joseph and Sam Acardi and Sam Monica,” but had no record of Monica’s killing. New Jersey’s records were read a week later (Bergin, October 9).

Counsel Jerome Adlerman asked: “Following this situation where you joined the Genovese family, did Luciano take over as boss?” Valachi: “Yes, he did.” Asked “Did he abolish the boss of bosses system?”, he answered: “That was abolished. He also put in, you know, a new consiglieri to protect the soldiers.” He said this was “a group of six,” and that a lieutenant who wanted a soldier killed now had to “come up and talk to these six and state what he has got, what is his reasons before he is able to carry out, which they never did that before.” Asked whether this came from grudges and feuds, he said: “Actually, it was the result of the way Joe Masseria was working.” He agreed there were “six families, five in New York and one in New Jersey.”

Valachi testified that he was to go to “the bosses in Chicago at the meeting in Chicago” to tell “the commission what Maranzano told me,” so that Luciano and Genovese could show “a bona fide or just reason for killing him”; he asked to be spared, and Bobby Doyle went instead (printed page 238). He explained that “the books were closed in about 1931. They were reopened around 1954,” meaning that no new member could be admitted while they were closed (printed page 239).

These are one witness’s recollections. The “commission,” the consiglieri and the Chicago meeting are Valachi’s words, and the meeting is not dated here. This archive does not date the founding of the Commission from these pages, and does not put any name on a chart from them. The FBI’s own later statements on the Commission are filed separately: a 1974 memorandum and an older FBI overview. The Second Circuit’s account of the Commission in the 1980s is in United States v. Salerno.

Page images: printed p. 236 (stored above), p. 238 and p. 239.

itemHearing of October 2, 1963, pp. 227–233: Valachi's account of the killing of Salvatore Maranzano, and the police records of September 10, 1931 (Maranzano at 230 Park Avenue; James Le Pore at 2400 Arthur Avenue)Sgt. Ralph Salerno read the police record: at 3:50 p.m. on September 10, 1931, Salvatore Maranzano was shot and stabbed to death in the office of the Eagle Building Corp., rooms 925 and 926, 230 Park Avenue at 46th Street, by "four unknown men posing as police officers." The same day at 5:45 p.m. James Le Pore was shot dead at 2400 Arthur Avenue in the Bronx. Valachi gave a hearsay account of the killing.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.itemFBI memorandum of October 2, 1974, "The Last Testament of Lucky Luciano": the Bureau's statement that Luciano created the Commission "in 1931"An FBI headquarters memorandum judged a 1974 book presented as Luciano's memoirs to be "a complete fraud." Among the errors it lists, it says Bureau information indicates Luciano dropped an old title "when he created the concept of the La Cosa Nostra ruling Commission in 1931." The Bureau's 1974 summary, not a record of a 1931 event.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.itemUnited States v. Salerno, 868 F.2d 524 (2d Cir. 1989)Second Circuit opinion on the appeal from the Southern District of New York trial of Anthony Salerno and seven other defendants, decided January 31, 1989.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.