Salvatore Marconi

Salvatore Marconi was the Don of the Marconi Crime Syndicate, and was at one time, the most powerful man in the British criminal underworld. He was considered untouchable, but his rudeness and sheer arrogance led to him going to war with The Dryden Gang which culminated in his downfall.

"Take them glasses off, and let him come find ya."-Marconi attempting to intimidate Dryden by using his friendship with Morello against her.

"I am this city, and from now on you will move your mint sauce to the north."-Marconi regarding Dryden's mint sauce trucks being in his territory.

## Overview

Once the dominant kingpin of Britain's crime outfit, Marconi went to war with Granny Dryden which resulted in his death and her becoming the top crime boss in his place.

## Background

Marconi was born in Lost Heaven in 1938, and nothing is really known about his past other than the fact he attended Fordham, but ultimately dropped out in order to help his elderly grandmother do her groceries. At some point in the 1980's, Marconi had set up shop in Great Britain, and established his criminal empire, and gradually grew to become the most powerful man in the criminal underworld. He established friendly relations with many other gangs, and even managed to form contacts all the way back home in Lost Heaven as he was a close friend of Marcu Morello, the two had played kickball together as kids.

## The Mint Sauce War

In 1991, The Dryden Gang had become a prominent organisation, but their leader Granny Dryden was interested in expanding the operation into more powerful neighborhoods like Notting Hill and Tinsletown. She approached Marconi who controlled the rackets in these areas. Dryden and her best friend Frank Vinci had a sit down with Marconi, and offered him their political influence in exchange for letting them operate in his neighborhoods. Dryden mentioned that with her political backings, Marconi would be able to branch his empire into areas previously inaccessible to him such as the street gang dominated Sternton Island and he would receive less police attention as a result. Marconi was always a short sighted man, and spurned the proposal with contempt and it sparked off The Mint Sauce War which lasted from November 1991 all the way to New Years Day 1993, and it would change the very structure of Britain's criminal underworld. It seemed an uneven match at first, Marconi had a powerful organisation with strong enforcers. He had powerful business leaders on the payroll who could combat any political action Dryden sent his way, and he used these leaders to terrorize the workers in the Garment Centre. Marconi also controlled the Southport Docks, and his underboss Joey Demonte was in charge of taxing things that came into the city. It didn't help that Marconi also had a friendship with Don Morello in Lost Heaven, and could call for help in that corner if he needed. Marconi also had a good relationship with the Maranzalla Syndicate who controlled what there was of the thin drug traffic at that time. For three months, it was an uneven match with casulaties on both sides, a few of The Dryden Gang's mint sauce trucks went missing and some of their best soldiers including Ricky Berkshire, Eddie The Mick, and Thomas Bungalow were killed in the conflict. Dryden remained unterred and in her favour was the fact that Marconi was incredibly impulsive and not very intelligent as he didn't know the true extent of Dryden's power. He had even been tricked into thiniking that aside from gambling and extortion, the gang was mostly harmless and not worth worrying about. It would all come to a head when Dryden evened the odds with one masterful hit.

## Downfall

Marconi made a call to Morello asking for his two best gunmen Dino and Lou to come to the city to murder Dryden. Dryden had phone people on her payroll who relayed the news that the two gunmen would be arriving at the airport. She ordered Zi Wai to take care of the men, with instructions that liberated the violent man's most savage instincts. Zi Wai and his crew hjjacked a cab, and posed as cab drivers for the two arriving gunmen. Once inside the cab, Dino and Lou were held at gunpoint and taken to an old abandoned warehouse. Zi Wai proceeded to brutally hack Dino to death with an axe, while Lou was so shocked he choked on a towel that had been used to gag him. The message was made clear to Morello who wisely backed out from the conflict not looking to lose any more valued gunmen. For the next six months, Dryden outweighed Marconi in every corner. She had gambling dens under the man's protection raided, and then offered to provide protection to the dens for a much more reasonable amount, she had Derek Barrel attack the Longshore which resulted in the death of Joey Demonte, and allowed The Dryden Gang to take control of the docks which cut off Marconi's biggest revenue source. Vinci meanwhile helped to liberate the Garment Centre, and helped the shirt makers fight back against the corrupt business leaders.

## Death

Marconi was fearful, and sent his men to make a deal with Dryden. Marconi's men looking to escape led their chief to the slaughter, by arranging a sit down with Dryden at the Saint Marks Bistro. At the meeting, Dryden ran out feigning a stomach ache as Derek Barrell, Zi Wai, and an unnamed hitman entered the bistro carrying tommy guns. Marconi was in the middle of eating his veal and spaghetti, and had no time to react as he was filled with more holes than swisscheese. With Marconi dead, whatever remained of his empire either joined up with The Dryden Gang or went on the run to Sicily. Over night, the Dryden's were the most powerful criminal outfit in the country, and it would remain that way until 2004 when their empire began its steady decline.

## Aftermath

The Mint Sauce War became legendary in popular culture with an entire film being made about it called A Saucy Salvation. Marconi was considered a legend by many gangster alumni, with Dryden admitting years later that Marconi was a great man, but he lacked common sense, and often jumped straight into conflicts without assessing the possible outcomes.

## Trivia

* Marconi was the original owner of Luigi's Sex Club 7, and under his tenure the club was named The Musket House.