October 2016 issue of Informer

October 2016 Issue Contents
Editorial

A highly regarded sculptor of granite was shot to death at a 1903 meeting of socialists in Vermont. Elia Corti joined a growing list of martyrs to the radical leftist cause of anarchism, championed by Vermont-based newspaper editor Luigi Galleani.

A short time after the death of Corti, followers of Galleani engaged in a war of terror against leading figures of capitalism and the government of the United States. The little-remembered fight involved government abuses of individual rights, wholesale deportations of foreigners deemed to be threats and a series of anarchist bombings that climaxed with a deadly explosion on Wall Street.

In this issue, Thomas Hunt looks at the Corti killing (Link) and the anarchists’ conflict with the U.S. (Link).

Also in this issue:

•   Historian/genealogist Justin Cascio explores 100 years of family links among the leaders of the Corleone, Sicily, Mafia and its U.S. Mafia offshoots. (Link).
•   Book review and notes (Link).
•   In ‘The Warner Files,’ Richard N. Warner discusses the entertaining but flawed history told by Herbert Asbury (Link).
•   100 Years Ago (Link).
•   In ‘Just One More Thing,’ Thomas Hunt tries to track down elusive Providence, Rhode Island, boss Frank ‘Butsey” Morelli (Link).

48 pages including covers and nine pages of advertisements.

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Just One More Thing: 'Butsey' Morelli

October 2016 issue contents
columns

Just One More Thing

On the trail of 'Butsey' Morelli

by Thomas Hunt

"Those seeking information on long-time Providence, Rhode Island, rackets boss Frank 'Butsey' Morelli have likely encountered the few short mentions in former mobster Vincent Teresa's autobiography and very little else. Morelli was an important figure in the development of the New England Mafia, and he was an especially long-tenured chieftain over the Providence underworld, but he was not a cooperative historical figure."

Three pages, two images

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October 2011 Issue of Informer

October 2011 Contents

Though Gaspare Messina was one of a very small number of American Mafiosi ever to occupy the position of boss of bosses, few remember his name today. There are a number of reasons—including timing, background and overshadowing by more dynamic and tragic figures—that even true crime aficionados have found Messina forgettable.

In the lead feature in this issue, Richard Warner helps make Messina memorable by exploring his origin, his reign in New England, his brief tenure as supreme arbiter of the American Mafia and his quiet retirement in a Boston suburb (preview).

Acquaintances reportedly believed Tommy Carroll was always destined for a violent end. A gangster and bank robber, Carroll lived life on the edge, as he partnered with better known outlaws like “Baby Face” Nelson and John Dillinger. Carroll is the focus of Jeffery S. King’s feature article in this issue (preview).

Informer returns to the New England Mafia for its third feature, the initial article in Thomas Hunt’s series on Providence-based crime boss Raymond “the Man” Patriarca (preview). Also in this issue: Bill Feather provides a membership chart for the early Profaci/Colombo Crime Family (preview). Ed Valin takes another look at the FBI informants in the Chicago Outfit (preview). Patrick Downey deals with gangster combustion (preview). Richard Warner follows up on his July column by addressing additional J. Edgar Hoover rumors (preview). Thom L. Jones tells readers how an interest in sea otters sparked many years of research into the Mafia (preview). Informer reviews Al Capone and His American Boys by William Helmer (preview).

Seventy-six pages. Published October 13, 2011.

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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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July 2011 Issue of Informer

July 2011 Contents

Crime historians have puzzled for decades over FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover’s long denial of the existence of organized crime. Following the Apalachin Mafia convention of 1957 and Joe Valachi’s revelations in the early 1960s, Hoover and his Bureau joined the war on organized crime. Hoover, however, never explained his earlier reluctance , and various theories—some baseless and cruel—have emerged to fill the void in the historical record.

In this issue, author Alex Hortis shares with us a recently discovered handwritten Hoover memo from 1970 that serves as a window into the director’s earlier position (preview). Hortis and Informer columnist Richard Warner (preview) double-team many of the myths that have circulated about Hoover.

The New England Crime Family receives special attention in this issue. We begin with Part 1 of Richard Warner’s history of the Mafia in Boston (preview). A look at some of the better known underworld meeting places on Federal Hill in Providence, Rhode Island (preview), and Bill Feather’s New England Mafia Membership Chart (preview) follow.

In his first article for Informer, historian Ed Valin puts together historical clues to track down two of the FBI’s best confidential informants (preview).

Author Patrick Downey devotes his quarterly Dead Guys in Suits column to a discussion of siblings eliminated by their underworld rivals (preview). Then, in the issue’s final pages, Informer editor/publisher Thomas Hunt looks at an extremely early prediction of the Sicilian Mafia’s demise (preview).

Fifty-six pages. Published July 22, 2011.

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The 'Social Clubs' of Federal Hill

July 2011 Contents
Short Article
By The Wisconsin Kid

Luigi Manocchio

"Although many place the 'Golden Age' of American organized crime somewhere between 1890 and 1940, there happens to be a great deal of remarkable historical material related to much more recent mob activity. Considering the advanced age of most of those still involved much of today's activity may be merely an epilogue to events of days long past, but every story deserves an epilogue. Here is my attempt at providing one, utilizing research and recent personal observations of various business properties in the Federal Hill district of Providence, Rhode Island..."

Three pages including four photographs, one map and one half page of endnotes.

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New England Mafia Chart

July 2011 Contents
Membership Charts
By Bill Feather and Thomas Hunt

The July issue includes a New England Mafia Membership Chart by Bill Feather and Thomas Hunt. The five-page chart includes more than 100 documented and suspected Mafiosi along with birth, death, immigration, relationship, rank and other information.

Five pages.

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