Murder of George Maisano

October 2020 Issue contents - Feature 

Los Angeles, 1906:

The Murder of George Maisano

By Justin Cascio

"Before Joseph Ardizzone became one of the first crime bosses of Los Angeles, he was the central figure in a series of murders. The shooting of George Maison and the revenge killings that followed powerfully illustrate the transition between the old and the new Mafias in America. According to legend, the violence originated in a long-standing feud between the Matranga and Ardizzone families, and it initiated a chain of events that led to the consolidation of the Mafia in Los Angeles in the early years of Prohibition. However, the story of Joseph Fusco and his fiancee, Angela, published after the September 1906 murder of Joseph Cuccia, suggests another origin of the conflict..."

Preview/purchase this issue:

Magazine format

• Printed & bound - MagCloud, 214 pages ($47.50 US)
• Electronic PDF - no search - MagCloud ($9.49 US)
• Electronic PDF - searchable - Google Play Books ($9.49 US)

Book format

• Trade Paperback - Amazon, 382 pages ($24.95 US)
• Kindle format E-book - Amazon ($9.49 US)
• EPUB format E-book - Google Play Books ($9.49 US)

Was there a post-Maranzano purge?

August 2019 issue contents
Columns

Just One More Thing...

Was there a post-Maranzano purge?

By Thomas Hunt

One persistent Maranzano-related legend relates to a supposedly widespread post-assassination purge of Maranzano's followers. The slaughter has been referred to as "the Sicilian Vespers."

The term "Sicilian Vespers" originally referred to a Palermo uprising against an oppressive Angevin occupying force on the Easter holiday way back in 1282. The Sicilian community, apparently gathering for an evening Vespers religious service, suddenly and brutally attacked the occupiers. According to legend, thousands were slaughtered in the uprising...

The American Mafia-related version of the Sicilian Vespers legend suggests that Salvatore "Charlie Luciano" Lucania, successor to Maranzano's defeated Castellammarese War opponent "Joe the Boss" Masseria, organized a secret conspiracy against Maranzano...

Seven pages including two images and one page of notes.
 

• Preview/purchase print and electronic editions through MagCloud
• Kindle e-book edition can be ordered through Amazon.

DiGiorgio: First crime boss of Los Angeles?

Vol. 3, No. 3, July 2010 Contents
Feature article

Before Dragna called the shots, the southern California Mafia

took its orders from a relocated New Orleans grocer.

Might the mysterious Vito DiGiorgio have been...

The first crime boss

of Los Angeles?

By Richard N. Warner

"In many people's minds, Los Angeles organized crime began with Jack Dragna, Benjamin 'Bugsy' Siegel and Mickey Cohen. Some secondary sources go so far as to list Dragna as the first Mafia boss in southern California. Through the help of informants, organized crime specialists with the Federal Bureau of Investigation were able to turn the clock back a bit before Dragna's reign, discovering bosses Joe Ardizzone and Rosario DeSimone. One underworld chronicler provides a glimpse into the more distant past and describes the man who was possibly the first Mafia chieftain of Los Angeles. In 1960s-era memoirs and interviews, Mafioso Nicola 'Zio Cola' Gentile described a previously unknown southern California boss by the name of Vito DiGiorgio."

Twelve pages
including two pages of notes.
Five images.

Click here to preview or purchase this issue.