14. The Castellammarese War
In 1928, the Masseria and Maranzano factions started hijacking each other’s alcohol trucks, and encroaching on and disrupting rival bootlegging operations. Fighting erupted in February, 1930, when Masseria ordered the killing of a Castellammarese Detroit racketeer. The Castellammarese retaliated a few months later by murdering a key Masseria enforcer in Harlem. A few weeks later, they got a Masseria ally whom he had earlier betrayed, the Reina family, to switch sides, killing a key Masseria loyalist on their way out. Masseria responded in October, 1930, by sending one of his key lieutenants, Alfred Mineo, to kill a key Castellamerese ally, Joe Aiello, in Chicago.
In November, Mineo and another key Masseria henchman were murdered, and Mineo’s successor defected to Maranzano. The tide then swiftly turned, with other Masseria allies defecting and switching to the Castellamarese. With his ship clearly sinking, Masseria’s remaining key henchmen, led by Lucky Luciano, approached Maranzano, offering to defect and seal the deal by murdering Masseria. On April 15th, 1931, Masseria was duly murdered.
