Ex-New York mafia boss makes history with testimony

A FORMER Mafia boss who once ordered executions on suspected mob turncoats has made gangland history with his own betrayal, becoming the highest-ranking member of New York’s five Italian organised crime families to testify against one of his own.

Joseph Massino took the witness stand at the Brooklyn trial of Vincent “Vinny Gorgeous” Basciano, who served as one of Massino’s captains in the Bonanno crime family. Prosecutors allege that Massino secretly recorded Basciano admitting he ordered a hit on an associate who ran afoul of the Bonannos.

Moments after being sworn in, Massino pointed across the courtroom and identified Basciano — “the guy sitting in the grey suit” — as the crime family’s former acting boss. The defendant chewed gum as he stared back at the government’s star witness.