Gaspare Messina and the Boston Mafia

October 2011 Contents
Feature Article
By Richard N. Warner

Part Two of a History of the New England Mafia

Gaspare Messina and the Rise

of the Mafia in Boston

By Richard N. Warner

"Only a very small number of American Mafiosi ever rose to the exalted position of capo dei capi – boss of bosses. The short list of those who have served as supreme leader of the Sicilian criminal society in the United States includes illustrious names: Giuseppe Morello, Salvatore 'Toto' D’Aquila, Giuseppe 'Joe the Boss' Masseria and Salvatore Maranzano. Though this list of underworld czars is by no means unwieldy, one name is almost always omitted from it.
"Perhaps because he differed in a number of important ways from the other occupants of the high office, Gaspare Messina’s short but important term as Mafia capo dei capi is generally neglected..."

Fifteen and a half pages including two pages of notes and twelve images.

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Patriarca Becomes 'The Man'

October 2011 Contents
Feature Article
By Thomas Hunt

A native of Massachusetts and longtime resident

of Rhode Island, Raymond Patriarca rose to

command the Mafia in New England

The Man

By Thomas Hunt

(Part 1) "Though often in trouble with the law and constantly plagued by turncoats, surveillance and underworld factional quarrels, Raymond Patriarca was the longest tenured and arguably the most successful ruler of the New England Mafia. A native of Massachusetts and a longtime resident of Providence, Rhode Island, Patriarca’s reign as underworld boss continued through parts of four decades.
“'The Man' presided over a golden age of the Providence-based criminal organization and brought it a level of clout on the national scene that it had never before experienced. Unwittingly, he also provided authorities with much of the information that would lead to the decimation of the crime family leadership and a long period of instability and decline."

Sixteen and a half pages including three and a half pages of notes and ten images.

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