The latest article by Edmond Valin examines the FBI's fairly abrupt adoption of the term "La Cosa Nostra" in the early 1960s to refer to traditional Sicilian-Italian organized crime. Valin digs through FBI records to turn up the earliest sources of the term and considers the reasons it may have been preferred by federal authorities … Continue reading How ‘Mafia’ became ‘La Cosa Nostra’
‘Onewal.com’ giving way to ‘Mafiahistory.us’
One of the results of a recent change in web hosting companies has been a fairly abrupt change in the use of the old onewal.com domain for this site. Some years ago, the site was given the domain, mafiahistory.us, but onewal.com was retained with full functionality for users who had grown accustomed to it. The … Continue reading ‘Onewal.com’ giving way to ‘Mafiahistory.us’
When ‘Lucky’ was locked up
Salvatore Lucania, widely known as Charlie "Lucky" Luciano, late in 1931 became the most powerful crime boss in the U.S. He personally commanded a sprawling New York-based Mafia organization, held one of seven seats on the Mafia's ruling Commission and maintained valuable alliances with non-Italian racketeering organizations across the country. Less than five years after … Continue reading When ‘Lucky’ was locked up
Historian reveals identities of Mafia informants
The FBI makes every effort to hide the identities of its confidential underworld informants, even long after the informants have passed away. Unlike the famous Joe Valachi and other Bureau cooperating witnesses, who exchange public testimony for government protection, confidential informants continue in their dangerous underworld roles while secretly feeding information to investigators. In reports, … Continue reading Historian reveals identities of Mafia informants
‘Rat Trap’
The website recently added a collection of articles by writer (and history detective) Edmond Valin. Based in the Toronto area, Valin's specialty is deducing the identities of confidential underworld informants through clues left in government documents, such as FBI files, and other sources. We are calling the article collection, "Rat Trap." At the moment, there … Continue reading ‘Rat Trap’
The Writers of Wrongs blog
If you are a reader of crime history, you are certain to find interesting items on The Writers of Wrongs blog. Launched in the fall of 2016, the blog now has four steady contributors, with more on the way. Sixty-four posts have been written to date by these true crime authors: - Christian Cipollini, author … Continue reading The Writers of Wrongs blog
1939: Sberna goes to The Chair
On this date in 1939: Charles Sberna was executed in Sing Sing Prison's electric chair. Though convicted of participating in the killing of an NYPD officer, many to this day insist that he was innocent. As the son of a fugitive wanted for orchestrating a series of bloody anarchist-terrorist bombings and the in-law of a … Continue reading 1939: Sberna goes to The Chair
Chance to win a copy of ‘Wrongly Executed?’
Three author-signed trade paperback copies of Wrongly Executed? The Long-Forgotten Context of Charles Sberna's 1939 Electrocution will be awarded through a promotional drawing on Goodreads.com. No purchase is necessary to enter. Entries will be accepted until Jan. 5, 2017, the anniversary of Charles Sberna's meeting with the Sing Sing Prison electric chair. Details are available … Continue reading Chance to win a copy of ‘Wrongly Executed?’
‘Wrongly Executed?’ book now available
In his book on The Barrel Mystery, legendary crime-fighter William Flynn discussed what he viewed as the two great organized outlaw elements in American society: violent political radicals or "Reds" and a growing Sicilian underworld organization he knew as "The Black Hand." Flynn feared that the Red and the Black might someday combine to form … Continue reading ‘Wrongly Executed?’ book now available
Expanding early Mafia timeline
A great deal of information, along with source citations, has recently been added to Timeline Part 1, 1282-1899. Later parts of the Timeline - largely neglected for more than a decade - will soon receive similar attention.