Who is Eugene Massaro and How is Connected to the Tate LaBianca Murders
Eugene “Geno” Massaro was a close associate of Joel Rostau. Joel Rostau was a drug dealer who had told Jay Sebring’s secretary, Karlene McCaffery (Gallegly) that he had been to the Cielo Drive house on August 8, to deliver some drugs. He told her that they wanted a larger quantity than he had on hand and he was going to go down the hill and get more and return but was unable to do that and so he didn’t go back. Karlene reported this to the police and the police questioned Rostau who denied he was up there at all that day. When asked if he knew anyone who was murdered up there he denied knowing Jay Sebring (which is unlikely since he dated Sebring’s secretary and was a known cocaine dealer - Sebring’s drug of choice) he admitted to knowing Frykowski though. The police apparently took his word for this because there was no further investigation that can be found. Joel Rostau had been arrested in April of 1969 when he was found by police tied to a chair with Sebring’s secretary Karlene with a bullet hole in his foot and a pile of cocaine in his home. He was charged with possession of the cocaine and was released on bond. In October of 1969 Rostau was arrested again. This time it was for trying to sale stolen securities in Mexico. San Diego FBI filed the charges against him and he was placed under arrest in Los Angeles. Once again he was released on bail. In January of 1970 FBI agents were tipped off that Joel Rostau and an associate named Geno Massaro were trying to buy and sale securities in New York. They were planning to travel to Geneva to sale the worthless certificates, that did not happen at that time. Geno Massaro was already well known to the feds who had been monitoring him through local law enforcement very closely since about 1966. He was considered an armed and dangerous Top Jewel Thief. In May of 1970 Joel Rostau’s body was found in the trunk of a rented Cadillac at JFK airport in NY, his skull had been crushed apparently by a beating. Geno Massaro was the only suspect NYPD detective ever had for this murder. They were never able to prove it was Massaro but both the FBI and other law enforcement agencies felt Massaro killed Rostau either over stolen securities or narcotics.
When Massaro moved to Los Angeles in April of 1967 he was already being watched by the FBI in Florida. Florida notified Los Angeles that they should open a file on Massaro. LA did this immediately. Every month from the time he arrived until 1973 they sent in a report on Massaro. The reports included arrests, automobiles he was driving, where he was residing, who he was seen with, suspicious activity, and locations he frequented. It wasn’t long before Massaro proved to be a lot of paperwork for the FBI. The first crime he was arrested for was murder. What had actually taken place was Massaro went with a George Piscitelle and Ira Stark to an apartment in Van Nuys posing as cops armed with guns and demanded the inhabitants turn over the “stuff” a gunfight ensued and Piscitelle was killed and Massaro was shot in the stomach and the arm. The “stuff” turned out to be $11,000.00 worth of cocaine that Massaro and his cohorts knew the people at the apartment had just received. Massaro was ultimately acquitted of his charges in this crime after about three years of trials. The first trial was dismissed because all the witnesses disappeared, the second trial the jury was deadlocked resulting in a mistrial. Other criminal activity that Massaro was charged with but never convicted was assault on prostitute with a brass candlestick holder. The trial never took place because the witness “skipped” town. He was arrested for possession of dangerous narcotics found in a purse near his apartment. The purse, drugs and credit cards had his fingerprints on them and deceased Joel Roustau’s 38 callibur handgun was recovered from under the couch cushion where Massaro was sitting along with a Remington with a high quality silencer, Massaro was arrested and charged with possession of the guns by a felon, the drugs and receipt of stolen property. All charges were dropped because the feds said they wanted to build a case against him regarding the silencer and the guns, this never occurred. He was arrested a few months after the Tate killings for “injuring phone lines” and burglary. He was also arrested for arson. Massaro was never convicted of any of these crimes. Throughout his time under the Los Angeles FBI’s watchful eye he was suspected of dealing various narcotics and of using a vending machine business he claimed to be a sales person for and later Vice President, as a front. He also had a carpet cleaning business.
Enter Tex Watson and his book “Will you Die For Me”, this is the book where he doesn’t describe farting in the wind without adding that Charlie made him do it. In the book, specifically Chapter 10, Tex (probably never imagining that some researcher would one day request the FBI file of this individual) bragged about getting drugs through a mafia guy who had a vending machine business as a front.
It is highly likely that Eugene Massaro who was associated with Mickey Cohen, Anthony Patriarca (Crime boss in Boston at that time) and others, who dealt drugs under the guise of a vending machine business and who was a very close associate of Joel Rostau’s who admitted to knowing someone at the Tate residence, is the drug dealer that Tex bragged about in his book. Had Massaro been investigated the public would have had a much easier time believing that he had influence Tex and his criminal activity much more than Charlie could have. The kinds of crime Tex committed along with the small details like knowing how to “injure phone lines” is one sign.
It has always been said that the FBI was asleep at the wheel and if they hadn’t been they could have prevented the murders because they were watching the Tate residence. Were they watching Massaro go there, they were also watching Rostau who many witnessed there delivering drugs that summer. Was this just another crime that Massaro could have been involved in that the FBI let him get away with? We will probably never know. But knowing a hoodlum like Massaro was associated with someone the victims knew and with the murderer who killed the victims, creates reasonable doubt that Charlie was the sole controller of Tex Watson and his murderous ways, in fact I doubt that he had even a fraction to do with the murders as we have been led to believe over the years. It seems more likely that the Tate murders especially were the result of Tex' own connections to organized crime and the Hollywood criminal underworld, and that because someone who was supposedly being monitored as closely as Massaro was involved, Charlie was given full credits instead of the meager credits he had coming. This is a possibility but its a possibility that takes away from Bugliosi's claims to the point Charlie might not have even been charged much less convicted of these crimes he wasn't even present for when they were committed.
Massaro's FBI file can be found on my Google Drive https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0BxZlqgFIDD3kMEltWHQxU2hYbjQ&usp=sharing
Tex Watson's "Will You Die for Me?" can be found on his aboundinglove.com website.
