Former mob figure Michael Franzese has spent years answering one question more than almost any other: who were the most dangerous men in organized crime? In a recent sit-down, he offered his own list of 15 names, drawn from personal experience, conversations with his father, and the reputations that followed these men through the underworld.
Franzese made clear the list is not ranked. Some of the men he knew personally. Others were before his time or outside his circle, but their reputations reached him anyway. He also stressed that the numbers often attached to these killers should be treated with caution, since law enforcement and informants tend to exaggerate.
He opened with Anthony Senter, allegedly tied to more than 10 murders. Senter was one of the so-called Gemini twins, alongside Joey Testa, and part of the DeMeo crew. Franzese described Roy DeMeo as a serial killer who would have killed with or without the mob. The mob, he said, simply made it easier by giving him more people to kill.
Franzese recalled one personal encounter with DeMeo. Two of his Jaguars were stolen from outside a place he had in Queens. He contacted DeMeo, and by that evening the cars were returned. DeMeo's crew, it turned out, had taken them in the first place.
Joey Testa, the other half of the Gemini twins, came next. Franzese said Testa was inseparable from Senter in life and in crime, and that the two perfected a method he declined to describe in detail. He pushed back on the idea that Testa terrified made mobsters, noting that made men did not operate without orders from the top.
Tommy DeSimone, immortalized by Joe Pesci in "Goodfellas," was also on the list. Franzese met him a few times and called him a dangerous man you did not mess with. DeSimone disappeared and was killed. Franzese again warned against relying on the murder tallies attributed to such figures.
Joseph "Joe the Animal" Barboza, an enforcer for the Patriarca family in New England, allegedly carried out more than 20 murders. Franzese heard about him from his father and said Barboza earned his nickname through sheer savagery. In 1976, after becoming a government witness, Barboza was gunned down in San Francisco in a mob hit.
Sammy "the Bull" Gravano made the list largely because omitting him would raise questions. Gravano admitted to participating in 19 murders, though he has said he did not pull the trigger in all of them. Franzese noted that Gravano rose to underboss of the Gambino family under John Gotti, but rejected the idea that the murders earned him the promotion.
Franzese said he now considers Gravano a friend and declined to judge him. He described Gravano as capable and said he believes Gravano is sorry for what he did and has tried to turn his life around.
Frank Abbandando, known as "the Dasher," was one of Murder Inc.'s most feared killers. Law enforcement linked him to more than 60 killings. He was convicted and executed in the electric chair in 1942.
Abe "Kid Twist" Reles was tied to 85 killings through his own testimony, though the count of murders he personally committed was lower. A Murder Inc. hit man, Reles specialized in strangulation and ice pick killings. In 1941, he fell from a hotel window while under police guard. Franzese said he does not believe Reles simply fell.
Harry "Happy" Maione, another Murder Inc. figure, was known for brutality and loyalty to the syndicate. He favored stabbing or beating victims before finishing them off. He was convicted and executed in the electric chair in 1942.
Harry "Pittsburgh Phil" Strauss was credited with more than 100 murders, making him Murder Inc.'s most prolific executioner. He was deadly with ice picks, guns, strangulation, or fire. Franzese paused on this point, saying there is a difference between shooting someone and the methods Strauss used.
"You got to be under demonic control when you're doing something like that," Franzese said. He described such killings as sickening and said there has to be something wrong with anyone capable of them. Strauss was convicted and executed in 1941.
Louis Lepke Buchalter, though technically a boss, oversaw Murder Inc. and directly ordered dozens of killings. Franzese explained that Lucky Luciano wanted to minimize random street violence, so he worked with Meyer Lansky and Lepke to create a professional killing squad that operated nationwide for roughly 11 or 12 years.
Buchalter's organization turned murder for hire into a nationwide business. He was the only major mob boss executed in the electric chair, put to death in 1944. Franzese noted that Buchalter was Jewish, not Italian, and therefore could not be a made member, but he led Murder Inc. and was close to Lansky, Bugsy Siegel, and Albert Anastasia.
Roy DeMeo returned to the list, with estimates of 70 to 200 murders attributed to his crew in the Gambino family. Franzese said he knew all about it during his era and called DeMeo's crew the most feared killing squad. The crew perfected dismemberment as a way to make victims vanish.
DeMeo was murdered in 1983 and left in the trunk of his car, likely by order of his own family. Franzese said it was not "likely" but certain. DeMeo had become too wild, and in that life, a loose cannon does not last. Discipline, Franzese said, is everything.
Richard "the Iceman" Kuklinski was convicted of five murders and claimed more than 100. Franzese questioned how much Kuklinski actually worked with DeMeo, saying he did not hear that at the time. Kuklinski was infamous for experimenting with cyanide and freezing bodies to obscure the time of death.
Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso, a Lucchese underboss, admitted to at least 36 murders after becoming an informant and ordered many more. Franzese disputed Casso's claim to have invented the gas tax scheme, saying Casso was only on the outskirts of that operation and did not run it day to day.
Casso put NYPD detectives on his payroll, using them to track and even execute targets. He was captured in 1993 and became a government witness, but was later deemed too violent and manipulative and removed from witness protection. Franzese said he did not know whether Sammy Gravano played a role in that outcome.
Charlie Carneglia, a Gambino enforcer tied to John Gotti, was suspected in numerous murders, including of law enforcement officers. He was feared for disposing of bodies in acid. Franzese said he knew Carneglia and actually liked him, but described him as a brutal man. Carneglia was convicted in 2009.
Albert Anastasia closed the list. Known as the Lord High Executioner and the Mad Hatter, he took over Murder Inc. after Buchalter and was often credited with well over 100 killings. He was feared even within the mob for sudden, ruthless violence.
In 1957, Anastasia was assassinated in a Manhattan barber chair, one of the most dramatic mob hits in history. Franzese said someone he knew very well was among the alleged killers who came in on Anastasia while he was getting a shave.
Franzese also addressed a name raised by viewers: Greg Scarpa. Scarpa was in Franzese's crew and family, and Franzese knew him very well. He called Scarpa no stranger to violence and a cold man, but declined to put a number on how many people Scarpa killed.
Franzese acknowledged there were other killers in that life, but said none stood out to him at the level of the men he named. If others existed, he simply did not know who they were.
He also reflected on the broader question of murder. He said there is no justification for murder in the Bible, pointing to the Ten Commandments and the story of Abraham and Isaac. He said people will be judged by their hearts and by asking for forgiveness.
Franzese said he was not trying to justify mob killings, especially those carried out with brutal and demonic methods. He noted that the FBI has said his father killed 30 to 40 people, but said his father never confessed specific killings to him. He recalled his father telling him that even if they had done something wrong together, two seconds later he would deny it ever happened.
He ended by asking why people are so fascinated with murder, and whether a soldier returning from war is ever asked how many people he killed. Franzese said murder is murder, and that God will judge his heart as well.