Giuseppe Masseria was a Mafia strongman in New York City, an associate of Chicago's famed gang chieftain, Al Capone. Masseria's April 1931 murder was an especially brutal one, but one that Masseria knew was likely in the offing. My book details the factions of the Italian Mafia in New York City in the early years of the Twentieth Century. Giuseppe was among the Italians who warred with the Castellammarese Sicilians who were led by Stefano Magaddino and others. On numerous occasions Masseria was "put on the spot" only to survive assassination attempts. The Coney Island hit was the work of two Mafia button men, underlings at the time, who later rose to the top of the crime world of New York City.
