survived. Although only in his mid-40s he was still much older than the remaining Young Turks. He became clearly a partner in the Luciano plottings, but he retained a little too much of the Old World traditions that doomed others and would eventually doom him as well.
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Mangano came to America with his father and young Joe Profaci, another future crime family boss, in 1922. Mangano became part of the Al Mineo crime family, which was particularly strong in Brooklyn waterfront rackets. (Other early members of the Mineo family were Albert Anastasia and Frank Scalise.) Mineo was murdered during the Castellammarese War, and Mangano assumed the leadership of the crime family, crossing sides with Luciano and others to the Salvatore Maranzano camp after the murder of Joe the Boss Masseria. As entitled by his position, Mangano became a high-ranking member of the board of directors of the new national crime syndicate, although not what was then the top six.
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Mangano concentrated on waterfront rackets, working closely with Emil Camarda, a vice president of the International Longshoremen's Association. Mangano and Camarda started the City Democratic Club, among whose charter members were such devotees of the principles of democracy as Anastasia and Mangano's lethal brother, Philip Mangano. Investigators later learned that many of the crimes committed by Murder, Inc., were plotted in the City Democratic Club.
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Anastasia became the chief executioner of Murder, Inc., and although Mangano remained technically his boss, Albert moved closer to crime chieftains like Louis Lepke, Frank Costello and Lucky Luciano, with whom he had closer personal ties than with Mangano. This led over the years to increasing conflict between Mangano and Anastasia; they often had to be separated by other crime bosses to prevent fisticuffs.
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Matters came to a head in 1951 when on April 19 the body of Philip Mangano was found in the tall grass of a marshland near the Sheepshead Bay section of Brooklyn. He was dressed only in a white shirt, white shorts, white undershirt, black socks and black tie. He had been shot three times in the back of the neck, in the right cheek and in the left cheek. The police could not inquire of Vince Mangano about the fate of his brother because Vince was missing, and he has remained missing to this day. Clearly he too had been murdered.
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Anastasia was obviously a prime suspect in the murder and disappearance of the two Manganos, but authorities seem to have concentrated more on the likes of Frank Costello and Joe Adonis, neither of whom had apparently anything of substance to offer. Adonis did, with a perfectly straight face, express the callous opinion that Phil Mangano must have been involved in an affair of the heart since he had no pants on when he was found.
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A meeting of the other New York crime bosses was called to inquire into the matter of Vince Mangano's disappearancePhil's murder was not of major consequenceand without admitting anything, Anastasia accused Vince Mangano of plotting to kill him. In that thesis Anastasia got confirmation from Costello. Faced with a fait accompli, the bosses acknowledged Anastasia as the new boss of the Mangano crime family.
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Actually there had been considerable politicking prior to the Mangano murders. Vince had realized he was becoming increasingly isolated, and appealed to his old friend, crime boss Joe Profaci, for aid. All he seemed to get was neutrality. He then hinted to Joe Bonanno that he wanted support. Instead, in what authorities have long noted to be a Joe Bananas trait, Bonanno left town on vacation, returning only after the Mangano affair had been concluded.
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Anastasia had clearly had ambitions to take over the Mangano crime family, but he was also goaded into it by Costello. At the time, 1951, Costello was himself facing strong pressure from Vito Genovese and needed protection. Until then, Costello had relied on the muscle of New Jersey mobster Willie Moretti, who maintained a powerful army of 50 or 60 gunners. However, Moretti was, at the time, going out of his mind due to the ravages of untreated syphilis, and Genovese was lobbying earnestly with other crime leaders that Moretti be "put to sleep" for his and the organization's good. With Moretti out of the way, Costello knew he needed another source of support, and Anastasia, with the full might of a crime family behind him, would make a powerful counter to Genovese. Thus undoubtedly Costello revved up Anastasia to make his bid for power when he did.
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Manton, Martin T. (18801946): Corrupt federal judge
When Woodrow Wilson made him a federal district court judge, Martin T. Manton at the age of 36 was the youngest federal jurist in the country. In time, he became the most crookedsomething the crime syndicate was quick to discover.
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Early on, Manton lived up to his wunderkind reputation, moving further up, to the appellate court, within a year and a half. In 1922 he was almost named by President Harding to the Supreme Court. In one 10-year period Manton produced 650 opinions, something few other jurists have ever equalled. It turned out, however, that the underworld concurred with many of his decisions. Maintaining a special bagman to negotiate the sale of his verdicts, he dispensed his decisions, according to a later description, "on an over-the-counter basis."
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