Umberto Valente
? to Aug. 11, 1922.
"Ghost"

Umberto Valente was a shadowy figure in the early New York Mafia underworld.

He is known to have been a capable enforcer for 1900s boss of bosses Giuseppe Morello. He acquired his "ghost" (or "spirit") nickname by seeming to simply vanish after an execution was performed.

New York newspapers stated that Valente was believed to be responsible for more killings than any other man.

When Morello was sent off to prison in 1910 after a counterfeiting conviction, Valente went to work in the rackets in Brooklyn. There he had dealings with members of the Neapolitan Camorra as well as new boss of bosses Salvatore D"Aquila. Valente is believed to have killed the LoMonte brothers of East Harlem in 1914 because they competed for power with D'Aquila.

At the start of the Prohibition Era, Morello was released from prison and returned to New York. D'Aquila, apparently fearful that Morello would attempt to take back his boss of bosses position, sentenced to death Morello and all who followed him.

Valente was initially included in the death sentence, but he managed to convince D'Aquila of his loyalty and usefulness. D'Aquila canceled Valente's penalty but ordered Valente to eliminate the Morello clan and its new Manhattan champion, Giuseppe Masseria.

Masseria narrowly escaped a Valente ambush on Aug. 9, 1922. He contacted Valente and asked for a peace conference. At the end of that conference, Masseria gunmen attacked and killed Valente. Some believe that the gunman directly responsible for felling Valente was Masseria underling Charlie Luciano.

© 2007 T.Hunt
The American "Mafia"