Albert Anastasia had spent two decades building a reputation as the most feared man in organised crime, running Murder, Inc., the Mafia’s contract-killing squad blamed for thousands of unsolved deaths, which earned him the nickname the Lord High Executioner. By the mid-1950s he had clawed his way to boss of his own crime family, but his brutal, unpredictable style had made him more enemies than allies.
On 25 October 1957, Anastasia settled into the barber’s chair at a Manhattan hotel for a shave. His driver had parked the car and stepped outside, leaving him unguarded. Two gunmen with scarves hiding their faces burst in, shoved the barber aside and opened fire, chasing Anastasia as he staggered into the mirror before he fell dead. No one was ever charged, though a rival mobster later boasted to an associate, “You can just call the five of us the barbershop quintet.”
