Jack Anderson L./A tm, f- nil Mafia Had Motive to Assassinate JFK In a recent column, we reported that six months to the day before the assas- the most intriguing of the conspiracy handiwork. It will note the traditional sination in Dallas, shows that Buffalo Mafia reluctance to use "nondependa- theories, in connection with the mur- crime boss Stefano Magaddino la- der of John F. Kennedy, involved Mafia ble, nondescript people" instead of pro- mented: "We are in a bad situation . fessional killers for gangland murders. bosses Carlos Marcello and Santos Traf- They [the FBI] know everything under ficante. The report, however, will acknowl- the sun. They know who's back of it ... edge three exceptions to the rule. Two The House Assassinations Committee They know there's a Commission (of will conclude that organized crime had of these were famous: the 1956 acid- mob leaders). We got to watch out right blinding of labor columnist Victor the "motive, means and opportunity" to now ... and stay as quiet as possible." kill the president. Although there is no Riesel and the 1971 shooting of Joe In October, a month before the assas- Columbo. In both cases, the mob used direct evidence that the mob hierarchy sination, Magaddino was almost hysteri- met and planned the assassination, the outsiders — and in both cases, the hit cal, saying: "They should kill the whole men died shortly after the job was committee's final report will give indi- [Kennedy] family. The mother, the rect evidence linking Marcello and done. father, too." The third exception was the 1970 Trafficante to Lee Harvey Oswald and In another transcript of a tapped con- Jack Ruby. murder of a Kansas City, Mo., business- versation of May 1963, two Cosa Nostra man by four street thugs who were The most compelling evidence of a figures in New York talked about the at- Mafia motive for killing Kennedy is hired by a lower-echelon mobster. The torney general's campaign against the businessman was a witness in a federal provided by underworld figures them- mob. "Bob Kennedy won't stop until he selves, in more than 300 volumes of gambling prosecution. The four thugs puts us all in jail all over the country," and the Mafioso who hired them were transcripts made from FBI taps of the said one mobster. "Until the Commis- nation's top crime figures. Ralph J. caught and convicted. sion meets and puts its foot down, Clarification: On Dec. 20 we repor- Salerno, a recognized authority on or- things will be at a standstill." ganized crime, supervised the commit- ted that Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio About the same time, Angelo Bruno, Somoza had expanded his power over tee staff's painstaking examination of the organized crime leader in Philadel- the transcripts. the press by purchasing an influential phia, listened while an associate told fortnightly news magazine called Vi- The wiretap evidence reveals the him what they should do to President mob's deep-seated hatred of the Ken- sion. "A separate Portuguese edition, Kennedy. "With Kennedy, a guy should Visao, sells some 125,000 copies in Bra- nedy brothers, and Salerno pinpoints take a knife. Somebody should kill the the reason: Attorney General Robert F. zil," we wrote. [expletive deleted]. I mean it. Honest to We thus left the impression that Kennedy's relentless pursuit of the syn- God . . . Right in the White House. dicate. Visao is part of Somoza's publishing Somebody's got to get rid of this [exple- empire. This is not true. Visao was "By 1963," Salerno told the commit- tive deleted]." tee, "the FBI had a very complete and owned by Vision until 1967, when it The transcripts helped convince the was purchased by Brazilian interests. accurate picture of who was doing committee that the mob had a motive what and where they were doing it [in- It was bought in 1974 by Henry Mak- for killing President Kennedy. soud, a Brazilian businessman, who is side the Mafia] ... You had total pene- House investigators asked Salerno tration of the organization." The Mafia, now the sole owner of the magazine. whether the Kennedy shooting in Vision's sales representatives still act for the first time in its infamous his- Dealey Plaza had the earmarks of a tory, was scared. as agents for Visao's foreign advertis- mob "hit" In its final report, the com- ers. However, the Brazilian magazine A transcript of an intercepted tel- mittee will conclude that on its face the ephone conversation of May 22, 1963, is definitely not owned or controlled assassination did not look like mob by Anastasio Somoza.