Mafia succession by designated heir is rare and frequently fatal

Evidence

The Greco family, for instance, was severely weakened in the 1980s by a combination of law enforcement action and internecine war. The Bontade family was wiped out in that same war. Joe Bonanno, himself of mafioso descent, lost his grip on his own family, bequeathing his sons nothing but trouble ( Bonanno 1983). Unlike his predecessor, Michele Navarra was not granted the luxury of making poetic proclamations on his deathbed; he was shot by Luciano Liggio, a man in too much of a hurry to wait for the reading of the boss’s will (C. A. Dalla Chiesa 1990). Carmelo Colletti’s sons were not able to succeed their father when he was killed in the internecine war in 1983 ( OSAG). And Mariano Marsala was murdered, allegedly by the man designated as his successor (SSPA 1985, 1986). — Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Business of…, 826

Categorization

• XREF: Concrete evidence that planned hereditary succession fails in practice, matching the reader’s interest in how mafia commitment mechanisms break down — compare the succession failures in Puzo’s own narrative.