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invaded Italy in 1944, starting their big push for Berlin and victory, who should they find waiting for them but Vito Genovese, an English-speaking American with lots of local knowledge and contacts. He got a job as an interpreter/liaison officer in the US Army headquarters, and turned himself into one of American Military Government of Occupied Territories’ (AMGOT) most trusted employees. This was a bit of a turnaround as, just under a year previously, he had arranged the killing of Carlo Tresca, editor of an anti-Fascist Italian-language newspaper in New York, as a favour to his good friend, the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. He was a friend of the family – he had also been supplying drugs to Il Duce’s brother-in-law.
    Ironically, Vito helped AMGOT to deal with crime in the Naples area, only, of course, so that he could clear out his rivals and take over their rackets. The opportunities were huge for a criminal mind such as Genovese’s and he worked with the Italian Mafia, establishing a massive black market operation in southern Italy. However, the military police launched an investigation into his activities and he was arrested in August 1944 and held in a military prison in Naples. While he was detained they looked into his past, learning that he was on the run from murder charges back in the United States. Luckily, however, his friends in America had not forgotten him and they made sure that the key witness in the case was not around to testify against him when he was deported to the States. The witness died of ‘an overdose of sedatives’ while being held in protective custody. Therefore in June 1945 all charges against Vito were dropped, to the disgust of the judge who said: ‘By devious means, among which were the terrorizing of witnesses, kidnapping them, yes, even murdering those who could give evidence against you, you have thwarted justice time and again.’
    Genovese was free to return to business as usual, but things had changed. Luciano had by this time been deported back to Italy and, although he was still nominally in charge, the real boss was the man they called ‘the Prime Minister of the Underworld’, Frank Costello. This irritated Vito who, of course, thought he should be boss. After all, he had been acting boss before he had had to leave for Italy and he wanted all the wealth, power and prestige that the position brought. Even more irritating was the fact that he was not even given the position of underboss. That went to New Jersey racketeer Guarino ‘Willie’ Moretti, a cousin of Costello. Vito Genovese was now 52 years old and still only a capo.
    As 1951 rolled around, Genovese made his mind up. He would take out Costello and his men and seize power.
    Moretti was no problem. He had contracted syphilis from one of his many liaisons with prostitutes and was losing it. He talked too much, sometimes revealing Mob secrets to the press. When the US Senate Select Committee on Organized Crime started an investigation known as the Kefauver hearings, they called Moretti to testify. He hammed it up for the cameras and was too candid with the committee. Moretti had breached the Mafia code of silence, omerta. He was the first that Genovese dealt with. He spread word that Moretti was no good and had to be rubbed out. On 4 October 1951, three of Albert ‘Mad Hatter’ Anastasia’s hitmen took him to lunch. Afterwards, they killed him with a number of shots to the chest. Interestingly, he had been due that day to have lunch with comedy duo Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, but Lewis learned that morning that he had mumps and the pair cancelled. The first nail had been hammered into Frank’s coffin.
    Genovese now went after the Prime Minister. He sent out soldier Vincent ‘Chin’ Gigante to whack Costello. In spite of a shotgun blast fired at his head from close range, Costello survived. Genovese had to move fast. He said that it had been kill or be killed, that Costello had been coming after him. He