Peter LaTempa

Peter LaTempa (1904-January 15, 1945) was a New York mobster and associate of the Genovese crime family, who later agreed to become a government witness against Vito Genovese.

A local Brooklyn hoodlum, LaTempa was pressured to support the testimony of hitman Ernest "The Hawk" Rupolo in the government's case against Vito Genovese for the murder of the 1934 murder of gambler Ferdinand "The Shadow" Boccia. Shortly after Genovese's escape to Sicily, LaTempa would eventually agree to cooperate with authorities apparently believing, like many in the underworld, of the federal government's inability to prosecute him.

With Genovese's recapture at the end of World War II, LaTempa immediately went to the district attorney's Brooklyn office demanding to be put in protective custody following news of Genovese's arrival on January 8, 1945. Placed under protective custody at the Raymond Street jail, less than a week after Genovese's return, LaTempa was found dead in his cell after taking medication for his gallstones. A later autopsy revealed enogh poison was in his system "..to kill eight horses." LaTempa's murder, specifically how his medication had been tempered with, remained unsolved.

With LaTempa's sudden death, the federal prosecutors were forced to rely on Rupolo's testimony and the case easily fell though with Genovese acquitted of all charges. The presiding judge however, stated to before the court:

"By devious means, among which were the terrorizing of witnesses, kidnapping them, yes, even murdering those who give evidence against you, you have thwarted justice time and again."

References

• Sifakis, Carl. The Mafia Encyclopedia. New York: Da Capo Press, 2005. ISBN 0-8160-5694-3
• Sifakis, Carl. The Encyclopedia of American Crime. New York: Facts on File Inc., 2005. ISBN 0-8160-4040-0