What would the mob stand to gain by having Sonny Liston whacked?

That's something we cannot prove, like most mafia related deaths. All we do know is that Sonny Liston was deathly afraid of needles, and died of an overdose related to needles. Shooting someone will only confirm that a murder took place, it was extremely common for the mob to kill people in the same fashion Liston died.

 

Manny was supposed be afraid of needles yet he's all inked up. You never know.

 

Sonny Liston started shooting heroin because Joe Louis was shooting heroin and they were pals hanging out together in Las Vegas.

Sonny Liston overdosed like a lot of people in 1970/1971 overdosed who weren't careful. (Hendrix. Morrison. Joplin.) People are still overdosing on it.

The mafia killed people to send a message. They weren't subtle. They didn't make murders they committed look like an accident.

Nobody thought Bugsy Siegel's death was an accident. Nobody thought Carmine Galante or Albert Anastasia or Paul Castellano or Angelo Bruno or Danny Greene's deaths were accidental. It wasn't a subtle business.

 

That's an old rumor by a couple friends that has long since been debunked

 

He was supposed to be the gentle don who worked out disagreements amicably. Little good it did him.

 

I'm sure it was a seat belt mishap of some sort. The mafia liked to make murders look like accidents.

 

If these are both true then it's probable that he just OD'd.

 

That's possible. I don't think he was suicidal. His wife said something about Liston planning to referee a wrestling match in Japan or something and had been visiting his son. Nothing indicated to her that he ODd on purpose, it could have simply been an accident. Drugs can be extremely dangerous and unpredictable.

Sometimes people have a hard time accepting that a larger than life figure could die in a very ordinary way.

 

I read somewhere that there was a 5 hour difference between when his wife said she found his body and when she called the police. If that's true, it's highly suspect.

 

A long delay wouldn't be suspicious at all in that situation. Heroin and drugs are illegal and a dead body is always a problem. The natural reaction would be, first, shock, then worry about getting in trouble yourself. So you would get rid of the drugs and the paraphenalia and anything else in the house that could be problematic. It would be likely that his wife would call some of his friends/associates to help her with this. Then call the police.
As for his fear of needles...heroin has helped many people overcome their fear of needles. It is kind of a wonder drug when it comes to things like that.

 

He had overdosed and he'd been dead for so long his body had begun to swell up from all the gas buildup.

There wasn't a need to hurry emergency services over. He wasn't going to be saved or anything.

You don't usually call the police at all when someone dies at home.

She probably couldn't accept what she was seeing. Or the friends she called first told her to call them.

The police showed up and said it looked like what it was. An overdose.

 

Joe Louis meant so much to so many people. Sad to think of him as a heroin addict.

 

He told the wrong person to get their shinebox