Nick Civella was my father's godfather and then later ordered the hit on my uncle's the Spero's. The Spero's were considered the "Young Turks" attempting to get rid of the old faction. The feds were quite aware of the hits prior to when they happened and did nothing to prevent them.
I'm sorry, he wasn't listed there. But he was listed in later FBI reports as a made member. He was related by marriage to the Balestrere family: "Big Jim" Balestrere and his son, Bastiano V. "Buster" Balestrere.
Frankly, the FBI believes Nick Civella earned his bones perpetrating this hit. It is written in Ed Reid's 1953 Mafia Tome that an assasin brought in by the Maria from Tia Juana MX. He is said to have bumped off Willie Morettin in New Jersey and that he was known as "lil" Joe because he always tries to use no more than four shells in doing any single job.
I've got Ed Reid's "Mafia." The "Little Joe" scenario comes from the Kefauver hearings in KC. One investigator recalled that rolling a four in dice parlance is known as Little Joe, and that since they were supposedly killed over gambling and shot four times each, it may have been a calling sign, so he tracked down a local hood named "Little Joe" Cutrera. Somehow, that morphed into this mythical killer named "Little Joe." A decade later, Joe Valachi named one of the killers of Willie Moretti.
BTW, Reid's "Mafia" was a commendable effort, but remember that few realized what the Mafia was in those days. There were some wild claims about it. I believe Reid wrote that every nation in the world had a Mafia boss in charge of organized crime there or some such nonsense. So "Mafia" has not stood up to the test of time on a lot in it. Reid's "Anatomy of Organized Crime" in the '60s was much better. It was based on the McClellan hearings, whereas "Mafia" was based on the Kefauver hearings.
If you actually read this, I'm sorry about such a late response. I don't come on YouTube often and haven't checked my account in some time. I wish they would bump up the character count some. Hard to write anything remotely extensive with a 500 character-count limit.
Anybody who follows American Mafia history are well aware of it. It ranks up there with one of the mob's most celebrated hits. As was pointed out, it sparked the Kefauver Committee Hearings and put the kleig lights on the mob from coast to coast. According to FBI files, the killer was Joseph "Joe G" Gurera. At least that was his reputation, the underworld rumor, that he did it. If you look again he was listed as one of the "members" in that Kefauver exhibit with the baseball diamond.
Nick Civella was my father's godfather and then later ordered the hit on my uncle's the Spero's. The Spero's were considered the "Young Turks" attempting to get rid of the old faction. The feds were quite aware of the hits prior to when they happened and did nothing to prevent them.
NWOkillas 11 months ago
I'm sorry, he wasn't listed there. But he was listed in later FBI reports as a made member. He was related by marriage to the Balestrere family: "Big Jim" Balestrere and his son, Bastiano V. "Buster" Balestrere.
newbiehere 2 years ago
Frankly, the FBI believes Nick Civella earned his bones perpetrating this hit. It is written in Ed Reid's 1953 Mafia Tome that an assasin brought in by the Maria from Tia Juana MX. He is said to have bumped off Willie Morettin in New Jersey and that he was known as "lil" Joe because he always tries to use no more than four shells in doing any single job.
TeeMoe216 2 years ago
I've got Ed Reid's "Mafia." The "Little Joe" scenario comes from the Kefauver hearings in KC. One investigator recalled that rolling a four in dice parlance is known as Little Joe, and that since they were supposedly killed over gambling and shot four times each, it may have been a calling sign, so he tracked down a local hood named "Little Joe" Cutrera. Somehow, that morphed into this mythical killer named "Little Joe." A decade later, Joe Valachi named one of the killers of Willie Moretti.
newbiehere 2 years ago
BTW, Reid's "Mafia" was a commendable effort, but remember that few realized what the Mafia was in those days. There were some wild claims about it. I believe Reid wrote that every nation in the world had a Mafia boss in charge of organized crime there or some such nonsense. So "Mafia" has not stood up to the test of time on a lot in it. Reid's "Anatomy of Organized Crime" in the '60s was much better. It was based on the McClellan hearings, whereas "Mafia" was based on the Kefauver hearings.
newbiehere 2 years ago
If you actually read this, I'm sorry about such a late response. I don't come on YouTube often and haven't checked my account in some time. I wish they would bump up the character count some. Hard to write anything remotely extensive with a 500 character-count limit.
newbiehere 2 years ago
Had anybody ever heard this story before? Harry Truman definitely took some heat for this mob hit!
TeeMoe216 2 years ago
Anybody who follows American Mafia history are well aware of it. It ranks up there with one of the mob's most celebrated hits. As was pointed out, it sparked the Kefauver Committee Hearings and put the kleig lights on the mob from coast to coast. According to FBI files, the killer was Joseph "Joe G" Gurera. At least that was his reputation, the underworld rumor, that he did it. If you look again he was listed as one of the "members" in that Kefauver exhibit with the baseball diamond.
newbiehere 2 years ago