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.

In clipped tones, Massino testified that he had led a life of crime for more than three decades. Asked about his duties as boss, he replied: “Murder. ... Making captains. Breaking captains.”

Mr Massino gave the jury his view from the top as a manager of the mob. “If you need somebody to kill somebody, you need workers — it takes all kinds of meat to make a good sauce,” said the onetime restaurateur, catering consultant and coffee truck owner, referring to what he said were Mr Basciano’s skills both as a killer and as an earner for the crime family.

Massino, 68, broke ranks and began co-operating with investigators after his 2004 conviction for orchestrating a quarter-century’s worth of murder, racketeering and other crimes. While imprisoned together in 2005, the former Bonanno boss agreed to wear a wire and chat up Basciano.

Basciano “told me that he killed him,” Massino said in recounting a conversation about the 2004 slaying. “He said he was a scumbag, a rat, a troublemaker.”

Prosecutors say Basciano — the one-time owner of the Hello Gorgeous beauty salon known for his explosive temper — rose to his leadership role after a series of Bonanno defections and successful prosecutions decimated its leadership.

The 50-year-old defendant faces the death penalty if convicted of racketeering, murder and other charges.

He is already serving a life term for a conviction in a separate case in 2007.

By testifying for the government, Massino is seeking a sentence reduction, though he told the jury that none had been promised. In his words: “I’m hoping to see a light at the end of the tunnel.”

The case continues.