The Last Testament of Bill Bonanno by Bill Bonanno

Author:Bill Bonanno
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins

The Insult

The first item on the agenda was the introduction of Sam Giancana to the members of the Commission and the other high-ranking attendees. Giancana, former sotto capo of the Chicago Family, had been chosen by the Chicago Family as its new leader. The sitting leader, Anthony Accardo, had indicated his plans to retire in the near future, and appropriately set the stage for a smooth transition for his successor. Giancana took Accardo’s place at the table.

The chairman then asked if anyone had anything to say. And then, out of nowhere, the fireworks started.

As best as I can recall, Giancana looked directly at Anastasia and asked him, “How do you plan the death of Frank Scalice?”—in other words, When and how are you planning to eliminate him? This came out of nowhere. Scalice was an old-timer, a ranking member in the Anastasia Family. But we had all heard rumors that Anastasia and Scalice were having problems; word on the street was that Scalice was raking in a handsome profit running a secret side business selling memberships in the Family to wannabes. Giancana, like Anastasia, was known for his temper; both were prone to act first and deal with the consequences later.

Still, whatever Scalice’s infractions, Giancana—a brand-new member of the Commission—had just questioned Anastasia’s leadership, in front of the leaders of all the other Families. It was an outrageous affront, a breach of a fundamental principle: the autonomy of each Family. Anastasia’s face grew red; his eyes looked as if they were about to fire bullets. I looked around the room. The other leaders were clearly disturbed, even frightened at what might happen next. Profaci and Magaddino glanced at each other as if hoping the other would say something. This was a major insult, to both Anastasia and the Commission. Was this son of a Sicilian so Americanized that he didn’t realize what he had done?

Before anyone else could step in, Anastasia started screaming, “What the hell is this? Who the hell are you? Why, I have every right—”

Magaddino cut him off midsentence. “Albert, calm down.” But this only enraged Anastasia more. He rose to his feet and continued: “You—the new boss of Chicago. You come out here and you want to know about my Family! Why, I’ll send you back to Chicago! Don’t anybody dare to stop Albert!” he cried, referring to himself in the third person. “Nobody should interfere in my Family. I say nobody!” Anastasia lunged across the table at Giancana.

At that point, my father took charge. He stood up, protecting Giancana while trying to shout Anastasia down. “Albert, sit down! You are out of order!”

“All right, you’re the chairman,” Anastasia answered, never taking his eyes off Giancana. “I’ll shut up.” And then, with great hesitation, Albert sat down.

We were now in a situation where somebody was going to lose face. As the tension mounted, Giancana held fast, unwilling to appear intimidated. After my father restored some semblance of order to the meeting, Giancana then said apologetically, “I meant no disrespect.

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