Maybe it is a difficult question to ask since all of the families have a history enshrined in violence. But still, which one of the Five Families in New York is known for being the most ruthless and violent of the bunch?

The Colombo's. They're not the sharpest guys around though.

From least to most
5. Genovese. They've never had a Casso, Gotti, Scarfo, ect. And only seem to kill when it's absolutely necessary.
4. Luchesse. Aside from the Amuso/Casso era, they were peaceful by mafia standards.
3. Gambino- Violent during Anastasia and Gotti years. Also had DeMeo crew
2. Bonnano- Always seem to be violent.
1. Colombo- 3 family wars

Genovese, their still wracking guys when everyone else slowed down

Gambino during Murder Inc days.

Chicago has always had some seriously sick fucks.

When's the last time you've heard of a genovese hit?

Tommy we agree on something.....colombos have always had more shooters than brains. 13th ave n Ave U and south Brooklyn always were good recruiting grounds for violent gangsters. When I was growing up there were at least 5 different street gangs on 13th ave that the colombos would use as farm teams. Avenue U had a few too .

Colombos

The Colombos. NickeyEyes1, even with the Amuso/Casso era, I would place the Lucchese family number 5 and the Genovese at number 4, this is from all five of the families history.

Colombos had scarp scarp

Found this old post while browsing the archive.

Really it's not the same family when you change bosses. So the Anastasia Family is not the same family as the Gambino. From that viewpoint, a better way to phrase the question of this thread is, "which Boss ran the most violent family?"

If you phrase it like that, it might be more quantifiable.

People mostly said the Colombos were/are the most violent of the families, and mostly have been throughout history. Does that take into consideration the Profaci family? Was Joe Profaci the most deadly boss? I don't know about that.

good post, alfa. the luchesse family isn't mentioned.

however one of the luchesse captains, paul vario. had

some of the most ruthless killers in the lcm. witness all

the murders connected to the Lufthansa robbery. that was

varios associates, he ran a deadly crew, maybe not like

demeo, but, luchesse family was right up there. just not as flashy.

Colombos

Hi Binnie, hope you're enjoying your day.

Burke. That was one unhinged SOB wasn't he. When Henry Hill said Burke slammed the phone down in the phone booth upon learning DeSimone was whacked instead of made, you could also feel the vibration right through the book.

Burke was like the Lucchese Roy Demeo almost, and Paul Vario the Lucchese Nino Gaggi, just a low key Sicilian that could lock eyes with a homicidal maniac and actually grab his attention.

Was Burke as prolific a killer as Demeo?

In murders he committed directly, probably yeah. In murders committed by those who worked with/under him, probably not.

It's not easy to answer. Believe it or not, I think Paul Castellano is right up there along with the most prolific bosses when it came to OKing hits, because of his connection to the Demeo crew.


Carlo might be there too. I read an anecdote about how he would hold court and just have that grin on his face with his head bobbing up and down nodding yes over and over again to anyone requesting to hit whomever. He would be nodding yes before you even asked him if you could whack Joey.

I get why people say that. The Colombo war, or if they nominate the Bonannos, it's because of the Bonanno war.

A war could've broken out in any family. My view is that shouldn't be used as the yardstick to nominate the most violent. I think the yardstick should be the family that whacked the most people just as a normal "traditional" course of doing business.

If you use that methodology I would nominate the Genovese as they whack guys when it's needed for business and have been very successful because of that.

I assume you're talking more in like the 70's-90's ?? They had a made guy name Gerry Pappa..He probably had a higher body count then any of those guys

What I meant was that they have never had a crazy, paranoid, or flashy boss like the ones I mentioned.

yeah but on the serious note,how does a guy get to kill 38 times.Thats how many people gerry pappa killed.Atleast thats what they say.Does the boss really use you for a hit 38 times?remmember he was 36 when he died,so his first hit had to be in his early 20s,maybe earlier.Thats a lot of people dead,evan for a guy who is only a hitman.In fact pappa was a good earner too,he was in windowns also,so hits were not his only trade.

Does the Boss OK 38 hits for one guy? I don't think so.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, these guys with big body counts, they must be killing associates, people on record with them but who are not made. To kill those people, they might not need permission. If the associate is not on record and is someone the soldier is just preying on, then it might be even easier to whack that person off the record.

If a guy with 38 hits was whacking mafia, there would be no mafia left. So they are probably killing civilians for various reasons such as to collect debts, silence witness, and of course to steal and consolidate wealth. Misappropriation of assets. Why be a silent partner when you can own the whole thing? These are just theories of mine.

I get what you mean Alfa Romeo,and i was not thinking he killed so much made men.But still he's got 38 kills thats a lot,dosen't matter if they were made or not,or just assosiates.It's a very high number if it's true.
Hw killed close to one guy for an every year of his life.horrible

alfa I think your theory must be correct, the numbers by themselves suggest they cant be made guys. and ill bet more associates are whacked for suspicion of ratting, then the made guy can get all the associates money. and half the time the guy wasn't a rat. it figures.

Gotti complained that this was exactly what Sammy would do...form a partnership, then whack the guy and take everything for himself.

sounds like Sammy. low as a snake.

Oh okay !!

As far as the family with the most hits, I have to say that the Gambinos are probably the most brutal or violent family. This because Murder Inc was a subset of the Gambinos (The Mangano Family) and also because the Demeo crew was also a Gambino crew.

As far as the Family that is the most cruel in their killings....Chicago?