Mobster Albert Anastasia – The Mad Hatter

Mobster Albert Anastasia – The Mad Hatter

Albert Anastasia was considered to be a violent killer, who along with ‘Lepke’ Louis Buchalter headed the Murder Inc.

His early life

It was in Calabria, in Italy’s southern part that Albert was born on 26th September 1902 as Umberto Anastasio. At the age of 15, he along with Tony, his brother had illegally entered the Brooklyn Docks of New York by boarding a ship. He did not even have shoes upon his arrival in America. At Brooklyn, he had lived with some relative and worked as longshoreman with his brother.

His characteristics

However, he was known for his short, but violent temper and had been arrested in 1920 for murdering Joe Torino, a fellow longshoreman. He had been tried, convicted, sentenced to death. During this time, he had his last name to be changed to Anastasia from Anastasio, since he did not want to have his family’s name to get defamed. His brother came to be known as ‘Tough Tony’.

After waiting for his execution to be carried out at Sing Sing Prison, New York, his attorney had managed to get a new trial, where some witnesses changed their opinion about the murder and few simply disappearing from face of Earth. The case got dropped and Anastasia was released. He had learnt the method to have witnesses eliminated in his coming years for avoiding prosecution, with regards to his committed murders.

His activities as a Mafia

On his release, he had joined Joe Masseria’s gang, which at that point of time was America’s top Mafioso. He got close to Frank Costello and Charles ‘Lucky’ Luciano mobsters. Luciano in 1930 had planned to eliminate Masseria, his boss Salvatore Maranzao, his successor. The ultimate objective of Luciano was to have all Mafia Crime Families in the United States to be united like the Italian Mafia members, Jewish gangsters such as Meyer Lansky and Irish Gangsters such as Owney Maddon into a single National Crime Commission. It was something that was accomplished in 1931 with the death of Masseria. Five separate families were created from the rest of the made mafia men. Anastasia was made the Underboss as a reward in Vincent Mangano’s family. Anastasia had earned the loyalty of Luciano and hence, along with Louie ‘Lepke’ Buchalter was made in charge of ‘Murder Incorporated’ as it has been named by the press. Being known as ‘Boys from Brooklyn’, this group comprising over a 100 gang members had murdered several people.