When he testified Monday, Joseph Massino told of a life of crime that began as a teenager. For the entire day, Massino, looking like he put on more weight despite a prison diet, dropped a few interesting tidbits which readers of The Last Godfather and other Mafia fans would appreciate.
As a bookmaker in the 1960s Massino paid one NYPD detective $500 to get out of gambling case and another detective $10,000 to get out of a burglary case.
Massino committed his first homicide in the 1960s, the killing of one Tommy Zummo, a Bonanno associate who he said was killed in the lobby of a Queens building. Massino said he feared getting caught when the clip fell out of the handgun which had his fingerprints. Nothing happened. The late Philip Rastelli one day told Massino he was looking into who killed Zummo and if he discovered who did it would kill the person. Rastelli never found out and ironically became Massino’s protector and mentor.
Massino said he set up Joseph “Do Do” Pastore to be murdered in 1976. Tutti Franzese did the killing, said Massino.
Massino was made on June 14, 1977 in a bar in Queens. The late Anthony Spero, Joe Chilli and three others were made in the same ceremonoy prssided over by Carmine Galante. It was Galante who was considered the street boss at the time, although the incarcerated Rastelli was the official boss.
John Gotti Senior carried out the shooting of Vito Borelli, the old boyfriend of Paul Castellano’s daughter. Borelli had joked about Castellano looking like chicken grower Frank Perdue.
Wednesday, prosecutors played tapes Massino made of Basciano while both were in jail. Some of the transcripts can be seen in the October 2010 postings on the site.
Hollywood goodfella 
You must be logged in to post a comment.