Mafia: The History of the Mob by Nigel Cawthorne Read Free Book Online Page B

under Petrosino. It was funded by some of the Italian merchants who had been extortion targets.
    According to Petrosino, the only way to thwart the Mafia was to cut it off at the roots, so he decided to go to Sicily. However, the news leaked out prematurely. On 5 February 1909 L’Araldo Italiano , a New York Italian-language newspaper, published a story about Petrosino’s forthcoming departure, in which it listed his itinerary and wished him well in his mission. Then on 20 February The New York Times reported that Petrosino had been given a roving commission to wipe out the Black Hand and had disappeared from police headquarters.
    The Herald followed by reporting that he was on his way to Sicily. Petrosino left the country a few days later under an assumed name, but the purser on the Italian liner Duca di Genova recognized him. When he reached Rome he met the editor of L’Araldo , who was in Italy to cover the aftermath of the earthquake that had hit Messina on 28 December 1908. The two men went to a restaurant where they bumped into Giovanni Branchi, the former Italian consul general in New York.
    The United States ambassador arranged a meeting with Francesco Leonardi, the head of the national police force, who furnished him with a letter of introduction to his subordinates, in which he ordered them to furnish Petrosino with all possible assistance. Petrosino then made a short detour to Padula, his home town, where his brother showed him an Italian newspaper that carried a reprint of the Herald story. His secret mission was not so secret any more. On the train to Naples he was recognized by a captain in the carabinieri . From there, Petrosino took a steamer to Palermo, arriving on the morning of 28 February.
    He registered at a hotel under a false name and then called the US consul, William H. Bishop. Bishop was the only person he confided his plans to, though he had made contact with a supposed ‘informant’ in Palermo. The police lieutenant then went to a bank and opened an account in his own name, so that he could have his mail directed there. After that he went to the courthouse and started searching the criminal records for wanted mafiosi. His aim was to have them deported.
    He made an entry in his notebook on 11 March: ‘Have already met criminals who recognized me from New York. I am on dangerous ground.’
    On the following day he made another note: ‘Vito Cascio Ferro, born in Sambuca Zabut, resident of Bisaquino, Province of Palermo, dreaded criminal.’
    After having dinner at a café, where he was seen talking briefly to two men, he went to the Piazza Marina. A few minutes later, shots were heard. Petrosino’s dead body was found near the Garibaldi Gardens, in the centre of the square.
    News of Petrosino’s assassination caused a sensation in New York. After his body was shipped back, an estimated 250,000 people turned out for his funeral. But the popular acclaim surrounding Petrosino did little to dent the power of the Black Hand. A few weeks later a personal friend of Petrosino’s, Pioggio Puccio, was also shot and killed. Puccio had helped organize Petrosino’s funeral, followed by a benefit for Petrosino’s widow at the Academy of Music. The benefit itself was not a great success because ‘the majority of those who promised to take part at the last moment sent excuses’. In fact, almost everyone involved with the benefit, including Puccio, had received threatening letters. Soon afterwards, an Italian grocer on Spring Street received a letter demanding money, which read: ‘Petrosino is dead, but the Black Hand still lives.’ He took it to the police.
    Days later, the ageing tenement in which he lived was burnt to the ground with the loss of nine lives.
    In Sicily, William H. Bishop felt that he was being ‘delayed and hindered’ by the authorities in his efforts to investigate the murder. However, in April he issued a report calling for the indictment of 15 men, including Vito Cascio Ferro,