Who Are The Jeromes?

What’s all this talk about the deadly Jerome family Mob? Here’s a little recap of the terror they brought to town!

The Jeromes’ place in Port Charles history dates back to the mid-late 80s. Reporters interrupted Duke and Anna’s wedding with allegations that he helped cover up the murder of Edge Jerome of the notable Jerome crime family several years earlier. Although Anna left Duke, she couldn’t stay away for long and they married.

The Jerome family name popped up again a couple of years later when Anna was kidnapped and Duke joined the “family” to utilize their contacts to find her. The family patriarch, Victor, helped Duke locate Anna, but at a price: Victor insisted Duke fill the role within the organization once occupied by his son, who took a bullet for Duke and died. Duke wanted out, but he was trapped in the Jerome family Mob.

Victor’s daughter, Olivia, had the hots for Duke and tried to seduce him, but he was faithful to Anna, who was pregnant with his child. Rejected by Duke romantically and certain she would never fill the role in her family that Duke held, Olivia plotted to kill him. Her scheme, however, ended up injuring Anna and killing their unborn baby. She also set up an attack to kill her brother Julian, who faked his death. Olivia was confined to a mental hospital, was later released and then, thanks to a confession Anna got out of her, she was sent back again.

Victor, meanwhile, was sent to prison after Duke testified against him. He, of course, escaped and headed right off to see Lucy Coe, with whom he was obsessed. When she spurned his affection, he swallowed a pendant he engraved for her and choked to death on it. Julian took over the organization and was determined to neutralize Olivia by killing Duke and framing her for it. He set his scheme in motion by kidnapping her. When she heard that he was going to kill Duke, Olivia hoped to warn Anna. Julian, however, shot and killed her before she could do so. Later, Julian and Duke got into a fight and both were shot and killed. Or so everyone assumed. As it turned out, Duke was alive.

Could Julian have also survived? And what could Ava’s true motives be? Stay tuned!