Albert Anastasia

Albert Anastasia was a very prominent and violent figure in the 20th century American Mafia. Born Umberto Anastasio in Tropea, Calabria, Italy, Albert changed his named upon arriving in New York City. At the young age of 18, Anastasia committed his first murder and is believed to be responsible for all of the key witnesses to the crime going missing before the re-trial. It was at this point, that Albert's path into crime was set. His early influence was in the waterfront, gaining high positions of authority in the longshoremen's union. He later reported to Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Massaria, one of the highest ranking mafia members in the American Mafia syndicate.

During the 1930s, Albert Anastasia's power and violence began to soar. He was approached by Lucky Luciano with a plan to kill both Joe the Boss and Salvatore Maranzo, making Luciano the second highest in command for the entire mafia. Anastasia agreed and became loyal to Luciano from this point forward. It was also around this time that he became the head member of Murder, Inc. Murder, Inc. was responsible for carrying out murders and hits put out by the "commission," the branch of the Mafia designed to keep order. It was during this time that Anastasia gained his nicknames of "the Mad Hatter" and "Lord High Executioner." By the early 1940s, Murder Incorporated was responsible for 400-700 murders and the Mad Hatter was never prosecuted or officially connected to any of these deaths by the police.

Anastasia's loyalties were strong, but eventually ran out in later years. During World War II, he was involved in an elaborate scheme to win a pardon for his boss Lucky Luciano, and though it ultimately resulted in him becoming a naturalized citizen, Luciano was deported after the war. With Luciano out of the picture, Anastasia’s days were apparently numbered. Support for Anastasia was dwindled away by plots from other mob leaders. Anastasia's ambitions in the mafia were getting far too strong for many figures taste and eventually Vito Genovese and Meye Lanksy joined forces to oppose Anastasia. By 1957, support for Anastasia was virtually gone. On October 25, 1957, Anastasia entered a barbershop without his bodyguards, who were parking the car. Shortly after, two gunmen with covered faces entered the barbershop and opened fire on Anastasia. He was shot multiple times before succumbing to his attackers and dying on the shop’s floor.