Metro

Wiseguy’s words of wisdom

It could be an instruction manual for ambitious mobsters called “How to Kill Enemies and Influence Wiseguys.”

Former crime boss-turned-rat Joseph “Big Joey” Massino has done more than just play stoolie at the recent trial of ex-pal and alleged Mafia cohort Vincent “Vinny Gorgeous” Basciano in Brooklyn federal court. He’s also waxed lyrical about everything from La Cosa Nostra’s hiring policies, the importance of work-murder balance and communication strategies in the RICO era.

While on the stand and in wiretaps, the so-called “Last Don” freely dispensed the following wit and wisdom that propelled him from 12-year-old homing-pigeon thief to head of the Bonanno family:

* Murder must look random instead of professional, so don’t bury bodies in out-of-the-way locations. “Do it in the street. Throw [a body] in the street,” Massino said.

* Massino said he didn’t believe in hiring the family members of his soldiers because “you can’t be a father and a son in the same crew. It don’t work.”

* And don’t let fear stop you, he advised Basciano when discussing the younger man taking the reins. “You can’t be afraid to be [in] the top seat. I wasn’t afraid.”

* As for ever trusting a lawyer to help communicate your orders, don’t, he said. “A lawyer never gets a message right. I was getting messages [to people] through my daughter.”

* Massino also said it was a complete violation of his policies for anyone to kill without his permission, insisting, “Life is precious to me.”