Joseph Catania
Shot six times near 647 Crescent Avenue in the Bronx on February 3, 1931, and died in Fordham Hospital, according to the New York police record read into the 1963 Senate hearings. Valachi testified that Maranzano would not make peace until "Joe Baker" was killed.
- Died
- 1931-02-03
- Aliases
- Joe Baker
- Rights
- Biography on this page is limited to what the cited federal records state.
On the record
- 3 February 1931 — New York police record, read by Sgt. Ralph Salerno on 1 October 1963 (printed p. 192): "On February 3, 1931, at 11:45 p.m., 15 feet west of 647 Crescent Avenue in the Bronx, one Joseph Catania, alias Joe Baker ..., male, white, 29, while walking in front of that premise was shot six times in the head and body, causing his death in Fordham Hospital to which he was removed." He "could not or would not identify the perpetrators." Police record, read aloud.
- 1 October 1963 — Valachi testified (printed pp. 188–192) that Maranzano said "If I don't get Joe Baker, I will never make peace," over hijacked alcohol trucks, and that he drove the car for the three men who waited in an apartment at "183d Street and Crescent Avenue." He dated it "About 1930." Testimony.
- 2 October 1963 — Asked by Senator Mundt whether any soldiers had been killed, Valachi looked at the chart and said: "The only soldier I see up there is Joe Baker" (printed p. 208). Testimony.
The staff chart, Exhibit 8, has a box for “James Catania,” alias “Joe Baker,” marked “Murdered Feb 3, 1931.” The police record names him “Joseph Catania.” Both forms are given as printed; the heading follows the police record.
The police record gives his age as 29, which would put his birth about 1902; no record opened gives a birth date. The printed time, 11:45 p.m., does not match Valachi’s account of a morning ambush; both are left as printed. No role or family is set: Valachi calls him a “soldier,” which is a label on a chart, not a finding. His home address, printed in the police record, is not repeated here.
Records
itemHearing of October 1, 1963, pp. 188–192: the "contract" on Joseph Catania ("Joe Baker") and the police record of his killing on February 3, 1931Valachi testified that Maranzano would not make peace until Joe Baker was killed, and described the watch from an apartment in the Bronx. Sgt. Ralph Salerno read the police record: Joseph Catania, alias Joe Baker, 29, shot six times 15 feet west of 647 Crescent Avenue on February 3, 1931, died in Fordham Hospital.
itemHearing of October 2, 1963, pp. 207–209: Senator Mundt asks how long the "undeclared" and "declared" war lastedQuestioned by Senator Karl Mundt, Valachi said the undeclared war lasted "a couple of months" and the declared war "about 8 months, 8 or 9 months," and that members spoke of having been "away 14 months." His own figures, which he said he never checked.
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.