Cosa Nostra

Cosa Nostra is invoked in the manhunt through the history of Marco Vitellino, a former gunman associated with the organization. The reference gives the criminal network a narrow but consequential place in the investigation: it supplies one possible lead in the search for a political assassin, while also showing how quickly a lead can fail when the suspect does not fit the available description.

Vitellino’s Criminal Background

The Federal Bureau of Investigation proposed Vitellino as a possible suspect because of his past as the personal bodyguard of Albert Anastasia, a New York gangland boss described as a Capo. Anastasia was shot dead in a barber’s chair in October 1957. Fearing for his own life, Vitellino fled the United States and settled in Caracas, where he tried unsuccessfully to enter the local rackets. The local underworld froze him out.

The novel later identifies Vitellino more specifically as a former Cosa Nostra gunman. That affiliation is part of the information assembled for the inquiry; the evidence does not describe his duties within Cosa Nostra or establish that the organization itself participated in the assassination plot.

A Lead in the Manhunt

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s suggestion rested partly on the possibility that Vitellino, if completely broke, might accept a foreign organization’s offer of a contract killing. This was a conditional assessment, not evidence that he had taken such a job. His past as a gunman made him relevant to the search, but the police still needed to establish whether he matched the Jackal’s known profile.

When his file reached Paris, Vitellino had not yet been located. It described him as five feet four inches tall, immensely broad and squat, with jet-black hair and a swarthy complexion. Lebel judged that this appearance differed radically from the description supplied by the hotel clerk in Vienna and concluded that Vitellino could be discounted.

Narrative Significance

Cosa Nostra’s place in the episode is therefore indirect: it appears in a suspect’s biography, not as an actor in the conspiracy. The inquiry draws on international police files and criminal associations to widen its search, but the comparison of concrete physical details narrows it again. Vitellino’s history makes him plausible enough to investigate; his mismatch with the Jackal’s description removes him from consideration.