Tom Reina
Shot dead as he left 1522 Sheridan Avenue in the Bronx on February 26, 1930, according to the New York police record read into the 1963 Senate hearings. Subcommittee staff named him as the boss of a gang whose killing opened the 1930–31 war.
- Died
- 1930-02-26
- Aliases
- Tommy Reina
- Rights
- Biography on this page is limited to what the cited federal records state.
On the record
- 26 February 1930 — New York police record, read into the hearing by Sgt. Ralph Salerno on 1 October 1963 (printed p. 174): "On February 26, 1930, at 8:10 p.m., one night, Tom Reina, male, white, 40, ... while leaving premise 1522 Sheridan Avenue, ... was shot and killed by unknown male who fired both barrels of a sawed-off shotgun into Reina's body, causing death." Salerno said the case was still active. Police record, read aloud.
- 1 October 1963 — Duffy, presenting Exhibit 8 (printed p. 163), said the first significant date on the chart was "the death of Tom Reina. He was the boss of this gang" (the OCR reads "denth"). He said Reina was murdered by a member of the Masseria group. Committee staff, describing its chart.
- 1 October 1963 — Counsel Adlerman (printed p. 167): "The first one that was killed was Tommy Reina, is that right?" Valachi: "Right." Asked "He was boss of one of the families?", Valachi answered "The way I understood, yes." He said he did not know Reina: "Just that they told me they killed their boss, that is all" (printed p. 163). Testimony.
- 2 October 1963 — Valachi testified (printed p. 215) that Maranzano, at the meeting after the war, said the Masseria side had killed people "without just," naming "Don Antonio" and "Reina." Testimony.
The name is given as the hearing prints it, “Tom Reina.” The chart’s own box for him is not legible in the text layer, so no fuller name is used here.
Duffy dated the killing “February 26, 1960” in the printed text; the page image shows that the error is in the print, not in the OCR. The police record read into the same hearing at printed page 174 gives February 26, 1930, and the date of death here is the police record’s. The record gives his age as 40 but no birth date. It also prints his home address and the name of a woman he had visited; neither is repeated here.
The statement that Reina was “the boss of this gang” is the staff reading its own chart. A chart statement does not set a role on this archive, so the role line is empty.
Records
itemOrganized Crime and Illicit Traffic in Narcotics, Part 1 (September 25 to October 9, 1963)The first printed volume of the 1963 Senate hearings: Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy's opening testimony, Joseph Valachi's public testimony, New York police witnesses, Exhibit 8 and Charts A to E.
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.
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. 163–165: the killing of Tom Reina, the "undeclared war" and Joseph PinzoloStaff 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.
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.
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.