American Monsters: Petto the Ox
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Sources: The Ananconda Standard, "The Baffling Mystery of the Barrel Murder," by William J. Flynn, Sunday, April 19th and April 26th, 1914.
Accessed via Newspapers.com
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Zevon Odelberg is a true crime podcast host and disability advocate. Zevon has cerebral palsy and he wants Kinda Murdery to be welcoming community for people with disabilities and for people living with challenges of any kind. Life can be hard, but being together makes it better.
Speaker 1: Warning, Kind of Murdery contains adult themes, explicit language, and
Speaker 1: descriptions of violence. It is not suitable for anyone, and
Speaker 1: we recommend you stop listening. Now true crime with a
Speaker 1: dash of the paranormal, the garish, the strange in the
Speaker 1: darkly comic. I'm Zevan Odelberg, host of Kind of Murdery,
Speaker 1: a podcast that's about more than just murder. It's my
Speaker 1: very own pocket dimension, home to a curated collection of
Speaker 1: bizarre and compelling stories, the unsolved, the unsettling, and the unbelievable.
Speaker 1: I cover it all just so long as it's kind
Speaker 1: of murdery. Hey there, as it says in the intro,
Speaker 1: I am Zevanoldberg, and this is kind of murdery. Thanks
Speaker 1: for joining me. I hope you enjoyed our last episode,
Speaker 1: Campfire's Stories with my daughter Daisy. It was a lot
Speaker 1: of fun to record it with her and knock on Wood.
Speaker 1: All Odelberg family members are now recovered from COVID nineteen.
Speaker 1: Thank goodness. I hope this episode finds you and your
Speaker 1: loved ones also well. Today's murder comes our way from
Speaker 1: a series of Washington Post Sunday features during the spring
Speaker 1: of nineteen fourteen in total. It's the sprawling story of
Speaker 1: the busting of a Cosinostra counterfeiting ring, as told by
Speaker 1: William J. Flynn, chief of the US Secret Service under
Speaker 1: President Woodrow Wilson. But to tell you the truth, I
Speaker 1: had trouble wrapping my head or my attention span around
Speaker 1: the intricate details of a year's long funny money investigation.
Speaker 1: So we're going to focus the scope of the inquiry
Speaker 1: a bit and zero in on the contents of a
Speaker 1: wooden barrel with a coat thrown over it, a barrel
Speaker 1: left at the corners of Avenue D and Eleventh Street
Speaker 1: in New York City. So please do join me now
Speaker 1: as we uncover what truths we can and solveties we
Speaker 1: may kind of murderies pet of the Ox and the
Speaker 1: Alphabet barrel. Murder starts now. Missus Francis Connors left her
Speaker 1: little room in an east side tenement house early on
Speaker 1: the morning of April twelfth, nineteen oh three, to go
Speaker 1: to the bakery for rolls for breakfast. Missus Connors was
Speaker 1: a normal woman and thereby endowed with a generous share
Speaker 1: of curiosity. Just a reminder, this is the story as
Speaker 1: told by William J. Flynn, head of a secret service
Speaker 1: in the early twentieth century. I'm going to go ahead
Speaker 1: and let him tell the story, and so take any
Speaker 1: comments and editorializing he happens to do, such as all
Speaker 1: women are curious in the proper historical context. I'm sure
Speaker 1: you will all right back to the story. As missus
Speaker 1: Connors passed in front of the New York Mallet Works
Speaker 1: at Avenue D in Eleventh Street, she noticed a barrel
Speaker 1: standing near the curb. An overcoat was thrown over the
Speaker 1: head of the barrel. It was a decent looking coat,
Speaker 1: not ragged enough to be thrown away, and Missus Connor's
Speaker 1: curiosity grew. Why should anyone, even a wealthy person, throw
Speaker 1: away an overcoat which was not worn out. She paused
Speaker 1: in her walking and regarded the barrel. Her interest increased.
Speaker 1: It had been drizzling all night, yet the overcoat was
Speaker 1: scarcely wet. It couldn't have been lying there very long.
Speaker 1: She glanced up and down the street. No one was
Speaker 1: in sight. Perhaps the coat was placed there to keep
Speaker 1: the contents of the barrel dry. While I was strange
Speaker 1: to use a coat for such a purpose, there would
Speaker 1: be no harm in Gratifying her curiosity, Missus Connors stepped
Speaker 1: to the barrel, lifted a corner of the garment, and
Speaker 1: peered in a cry of terror broke from her lips.
Speaker 1: She dropped the coat back over the grizzly things she
Speaker 1: had seen and staggered, pale, and shaken away from the barrel.
Speaker 1: Other people had seen her strange actions. In a moment,
Speaker 1: a little group, also fired by curiosity, collected the frightened
Speaker 1: woman stammered out what she had seen. Someone ran for
Speaker 1: a policeman, An ambulance was sent for, and the crowd grew. Meanwhile,
Speaker 1: a policeman arrived and drew the body of a man
Speaker 1: from the barrel into which it had been jammed. When
Speaker 1: the ambulance surgeon arrived, he announced what everyone had already
Speaker 1: figured out. The man was dead. A strip of gunnysack
Speaker 1: had been wound around his neck, hiding a dozen wounds,
Speaker 1: any one of which would have caused death. The neighborhood
Speaker 1: was in a panic, the police department was at sea,
Speaker 1: and the entire city of New York was agog, and
Speaker 1: all of this before Missus Connors even recovered from the
Speaker 1: shock of her discovery. At the Union Market police station,
Speaker 1: It was determined that the man had been dead at
Speaker 1: least two hours. He seemed about forty years old and
Speaker 1: well set up. His complexion was swarthy, and his ears
Speaker 1: were pierced for rings, after the manner of many Sicilians.
Speaker 1: His clothing was of good quality, and from his general
Speaker 1: appearance it was judged that he was not a laborer.
Speaker 1: His forehead was high and receding, covered with thin, curly
Speaker 1: hair of a light brown tinge, his mustache streaked with gray.
Speaker 1: On the left cheek were two old scars which formed
Speaker 1: an inverted letter V. That's V as invictor. Photographs of
Speaker 1: the man were made promptly and compared with the pictures
Speaker 1: in the rogue's gallery at police headquarters, but the victim
Speaker 1: was not to be identified that way. The police investigation
Speaker 1: of the circumstances of the crime was pushed to the utmost.
Speaker 1: Every detail of the man, his clothing, and the barrel
Speaker 1: was recorded. It was determined that at least two weapons
Speaker 1: had been used by the murderer or murderers. A wound
Speaker 1: directly below the left ear had been inflicted with a narrow,
Speaker 1: two edged blade, and the incision was three inches deep.
Speaker 1: It takes a strong wrist and a heavy lunge to
Speaker 1: drive a knife in so far. At that point a
Speaker 1: wound above the atom's apple, which penetrated sheer to the
Speaker 1: spinal cord, had apparently been made with the same weapon.
Speaker 1: There were numerous similar wounds of little account, but a
Speaker 1: deep gash across the throat, literally from ear to ear,
Speaker 1: had evidently been made with a heavy and more clumsy knife.
Speaker 1: All of these observations resulted in nothing. A search through
Speaker 1: the clothing of the dead man put a number of
Speaker 1: details in the hands of the police. The most striking
Speaker 1: object found was a small brass crucifix, the like of
Speaker 1: which is not often seen, and which, to my knowledge,
Speaker 1: was common to no one in particular locally. It was
Speaker 1: of a foreign make and bore a Latin motto on
Speaker 1: the scroll work above the figure of the Savior on
Speaker 1: the cross. At the base of the cross was a
Speaker 1: skull and crossbones. Since that time I have come across
Speaker 1: the same type of crucifix. In the dead man's overcoat
Speaker 1: were two handkerchiefs, one small and delicately perfumed, but the
Speaker 1: only identification mark on the clothing was Burt and Co.
Speaker 1: Opposite produce exchange stamped on the shoes, which were well
Speaker 1: worn and had been patched. Stenciled on the bottom of
Speaker 1: the barrel were the letters W and T and on
Speaker 1: the side G two three three. It had evidently contained sugar,
Speaker 1: and in the bottom was a layer of sawdust mixed
Speaker 1: with the burnt stubs of cigars and a quantity of
Speaker 1: onion peel. Also there was a note in the handwriting
Speaker 1: of a woman. Part of two lines were legible, and
Speaker 1: the Italian words giorne chevanite subito la urgenza could be
Speaker 1: made out. The translation is and by the way, apologies
Speaker 1: because I'm sure my pronunciation was awful, but the translation
Speaker 1: is day that you come dot dot dot illegible suddenly
Speaker 1: the urgency So again giornae chevanite subito la orgenza. That's
Speaker 1: the Italian and the legible part of the translation was
Speaker 1: day that you come suddenly the urgency. Inspector George W. Mcclutsky,
Speaker 1: then chief of the Detective Bureau of New York, took
Speaker 1: personal charge of the case and directed the work of
Speaker 1: his men. Every art known to the police was employed.
Speaker 1: The entire uniformed force was put on lookout for chance
Speaker 1: clues and photographs of the murdered man were distributed in
Speaker 1: the hope that some policemen would recognize him. None did.
Speaker 1: The shoes were so worn that any marks of identification
Speaker 1: by which Bert and Co. Might have determined to whom
Speaker 1: they were sold had disappeared. The handkerchiefs told nothing. Not
Speaker 1: a pawn shop in the city had sold a crucifix
Speaker 1: similar to the one in the possession of the murdered man,
Speaker 1: nor had any of the regular dealers in such articles.
Speaker 1: The markings on the barrel led to no discovery of value.
Speaker 1: The letter, which was regarded as perhaps the most promising clue,
Speaker 1: turned out to be only tantalizing half a dozen more
Speaker 1: words unobliterated. Perhaps only a single word might have told
Speaker 1: so much. Now there was a tendency on the part
Speaker 1: of many to attribute the crime to a woman, or
Speaker 1: at least to find a woman in the motive, because
Speaker 1: of the letter. However, as the identity of the victim
Speaker 1: was not established, there was no woman toward whom suspicion
Speaker 1: might point of all this, I I, of course, being
Speaker 1: William J. Flynn, head of the Secret Service, read in
Speaker 1: the evening papers. I was at the time watching in
Speaker 1: New York a band of Sicilians, whom I suspected of
Speaker 1: certain crimes of which I shall treat lay. Many of
Speaker 1: you probably know, but the Secret Service has two main purviews,
Speaker 1: of course, one being the protection of the President, the
Speaker 1: physical protection of the President and at times other key
Speaker 1: government officials or their families. And the second one is
Speaker 1: the protection of the integrity of the American money supply,
Speaker 1: meaning rooting out counterfeiters. Chief of the Secret Service, William Flynn,
Speaker 1: continues in short as long ago as nineteen oh three,
Speaker 1: and this article, of course being written in nineteen fourteen,
Speaker 1: I Director Flynn, was convinced in my own mind of
Speaker 1: the existence of a black hand organization, black hand being
Speaker 1: what we today might refer to as the mafia or Coosinostra,
Speaker 1: the Godfather, the Sopranos, etc. From descriptions of the murdered
Speaker 1: man and from photographs, it seemed to me that I
Speaker 1: had seen him before. Now we're back to the storytelling
Speaker 1: and observations of Director Flynn. I could not quite place him,
Speaker 1: and yet I was certain that I had seen the man.
Speaker 1: I shut myself up with a cigar and pondered the matter.
Speaker 1: The murder was brought to my attention on April fourteenth,
Speaker 1: only two nights previously, the band, which I had under surveillance,
Speaker 1: had exhibited unusual activity. On the night of April twelfth,
Speaker 1: I was in the possession of sufficient information in regard
Speaker 1: to this band to feel justified in making a personal
Speaker 1: expedition into their stronghold. In other words, he had enough
Speaker 1: information to feel like he ought to go to New York.
Speaker 1: Of course, in nineteen fourteen, they like to say it
Speaker 1: a little more flowery, like I was in possession of
Speaker 1: enough of sufficient information in regards to this band to
Speaker 1: feel justified in making a personal expedition into their stronghold.
Speaker 1: He could have said, I had some info about this
Speaker 1: mafia group that made me feel like I should go
Speaker 1: to New York. But there you go. Certain of my men,
Speaker 1: playing the part of thieves, had gained the confidence of
Speaker 1: some of the lieutenants of Lupo and Morello. Lupo and Morello,
Speaker 1: Lupo the Wolf, and Morello were leaders of this mafia group,
Speaker 1: and I Director Flynn was shaping up evidence enough to
Speaker 1: arrest them on here you go a charge of counterfeiting.
Speaker 1: So yep. The reason the Secret Service is looking into
Speaker 1: the mafia is because they are suspected of counterfeiting. On
Speaker 1: the evening in question, I picked up the trail of
Speaker 1: several members of the band and followed them from their
Speaker 1: counterfeiting headquarters in the cafe at Elizabeth and Princess Streets
Speaker 1: to the butcher shop of Vito de Luca in Stanton Street,
Speaker 1: east of the Bowery. The Elizabeth Street cafe was just
Speaker 1: around the corner from Ignacio Lupo's saloon. That's Lupo the Wolf,
Speaker 1: one of the mafia leaders in the rear of which
Speaker 1: Giuseppe Morello conducted a restaurant. In Vite de Luca's meat store,
Speaker 1: I saw Morello, who I had arrested four months before
Speaker 1: with a gang of counterfeitters. Morello had been acquitted, though
Speaker 1: all the others were convicted. Two other men president at
Speaker 1: the store were Antonio Geneva and Domenico Pocarero, both of
Speaker 1: whom I knew well as members of the band. I
Speaker 1: was watching. These three men stood in the rear of
Speaker 1: the shop in animated conversation, and while they talked, a
Speaker 1: fourth man, whose face was strange to me, stood alone
Speaker 1: on the sidewalk near the door, close to the flickering
Speaker 1: glare of the street light. Smoking, the three men were
Speaker 1: evidently arguing, and presently they hung up a piece of
Speaker 1: bagging as a curtain at the door of the street.
Speaker 1: I knew the men were still talking behind the curtain
Speaker 1: when a covered wagon stopped in front of the shop,
Speaker 1: and two men left it and entered the store. One
Speaker 1: of them came out almost immediately and drove away. Shortly
Speaker 1: after eight o'clock, the visitors to Laduca's place left. They
Speaker 1: divided into two groups. The stranger went towards the bowery
Speaker 1: with Morello and Peccarero. All this on the evening of
Speaker 1: April twelfth. Now, as I sat smoking and pondering the
Speaker 1: whole thing, two nights later, the feeling grew that the
Speaker 1: stranger I had seen in the little Butcher's shop and
Speaker 1: the man who was found in the barrel might be
Speaker 1: one and the same person. Yet the pictures did not
Speaker 1: seem to portray the same features exactly as I remembered them,
Speaker 1: and the suit of the dead man was described as blue,
Speaker 1: while I remembered him to be clothed in brown. Of course,
Speaker 1: he might have changed his clothes before meeting his death,
Speaker 1: but this didn't seem likely. I couldn't eliminate from my memory.
Speaker 1: The covered wagon I had seen two nights before it
Speaker 1: seemed to possess me. Finally I gave up on finding
Speaker 1: the reason for its presence and the unusual conduct of
Speaker 1: the drivers. The more I thought, the more I believed
Speaker 1: that the means by which the dead man had been
Speaker 1: transported from the place where he met his doom to
Speaker 1: the pavement on Avenue D was in that wagon. The
Speaker 1: men were Italians and associates of the Black Handers. Then again,
Speaker 1: the fact that the men and La Ducas had been
Speaker 1: afraid of being seen and had hung the bagging over
Speaker 1: the glass door, and the stranger standing apart on the
Speaker 1: street just outside the door, where he could not hear
Speaker 1: the talk, all strengthened my suspicions that the man in
Speaker 1: the barrel was the man I had seen. I knew
Speaker 1: much of the inside working of the gang, and I
Speaker 1: felt in some way that the stranger had incurred the
Speaker 1: hatred of the Black hand The murder was not within
Speaker 1: my province, yet I wanted, if possible, to solve it,
Speaker 1: partly for my own satisfaction, partly because every fresh fact
Speaker 1: I learned regarding the organization I was after could be
Speaker 1: used to my advantage. It was in a peculiar slanting
Speaker 1: ray of light that I had seen the stranger, and
Speaker 1: I determined to reproduce, to the best of my ability,
Speaker 1: the same lighting effect and make certain of the man
Speaker 1: before committing myself. Accordingly, I went to the morgue and
Speaker 1: viewed the body in the same kind of light in
Speaker 1: which I had first seen the face. I was no
Speaker 1: longer in doubt the dead man was the stranger of
Speaker 1: Luduca's butcher shop. To prove this, rather than just knowing,
Speaker 1: it was a different matter altogether, several of my men
Speaker 1: went with me to the morgue. We measured the body
Speaker 1: according to Bertillion methods. Still, the man had not been identified,
Speaker 1: nor did his measurements correspond with any record in the
Speaker 1: Bertillion files. Just a moment, I'm curious what Bertillion methods are,
Speaker 1: so I'm going to google it. Here we go. The
Speaker 1: Bertillion method had developed by Alphonse Bertillion, was a system
Speaker 1: used to track and identify suspects and criminals. Police to
Speaker 1: use special instruments to take precise measurements of a criminal's arms, ears, nose, trunk, head, face,
Speaker 1: feet and hands, as well as standing height, sitting height,
Speaker 1: distance between the fingertips and arms outstretched. It's no longer used.
Speaker 1: The flaws seem somewhat apparent. In particular, it's really only
Speaker 1: relevant for grown men who have reached full physical maturity
Speaker 1: and have short hair. But it was in use in
Speaker 1: nineteen fourteen, so they tried it to no avail in
Speaker 1: this case. Despite no matches in the Bertillion files, I
Speaker 1: was positive I was correct in my statement and that
Speaker 1: I had seen the man as described, But I was
Speaker 1: troubled by the fact that the clothing was blue instead
Speaker 1: of brown as I had seen it. Finally, with the
Speaker 1: aid of my men, I rigged up a light in
Speaker 1: my office such as I had seen the man standing
Speaker 1: near on the night of April twelfth, at the same height. Anyway,
Speaker 1: the clothes were brought from the Morgan under the light.
Speaker 1: Sure enough they looked brown instead of blue. I was
Speaker 1: then sure I was right, and the man had been
Speaker 1: a victim of the black hand. I at once notified
Speaker 1: Inspector McCluskey and his men, working in conjunction with certain
Speaker 1: of mine, arrested eleven of the gang. They were Giuseppe Morello,
Speaker 1: Ignacio Lupo, Messino, Genova, Vita la Duca, Pietro Inzarillo, Domenico Peccarero,
Speaker 1: Lorenzo Libido, Giuseppe Finara, Lorenzo Lobido, what kind of That's
Speaker 1: quite a name. It's like Michael vicks alter Ego when
Speaker 1: he goes to Italy instead of Ron Mexico, he's Lorenzo Lobido.
Speaker 1: In addition to Lorenzo Lobido, there was Giuseppe Finara, Giseppe Lelamia,
Speaker 1: Nicola Testa, that's almost Nicola Tesla, whoa Nicola Testa and
Speaker 1: Luciano Pirino. All of these men were Sicilians, and most
Speaker 1: of them, when arrested, were armed with knives or revolvers.
Speaker 1: On Morello, the police found a forty five caliber revolver
Speaker 1: and a knife tucked in the waistband of his trousers.
Speaker 1: A cork fixed on the point of the blade prevented
Speaker 1: it from scratching his leg and allowed him to bring
Speaker 1: it into play with a single motion of the wrist,
Speaker 1: much more readily than if he had carried it in
Speaker 1: a sheath. Luciano Pirino, known as Ilbovai or Tomaso Petto
Speaker 1: the Ox, carried a pistol in a regulation holster and
Speaker 1: a stiletto in a sheath. Most of the men arrested
Speaker 1: were in possession of permits to carry revolvers issued by
Speaker 1: the Police Department of New York. It was this round
Speaker 1: up of desperate men, most of them armed, which did
Speaker 1: much to bring about the passage of a law forbidding
Speaker 1: the carrying of dangerous weapons. Now, while it was established
Speaker 1: beyond reasonable doubt that the man whose body was found
Speaker 1: jammed into the barrel was the stranger I had seen
Speaker 1: in Vito de Luca's meat shop, we were still at
Speaker 1: a loss to identify him. The eleven prisoners were taken
Speaker 1: to the morgue, and each one separately was confronted with
Speaker 1: the murdered man and questioned as to his acquaintance with him.
Speaker 1: When Morello, whom I had seen walking with the murdered man,
Speaker 1: viewed the body, he showed not the slightest sign of
Speaker 1: recognition or of agitation. Though my secret servicemen and police
Speaker 1: detectives watched him as an animal does its prey, he
Speaker 1: shrugged his shoulders and volunteered the statement, don't know. Domenico Peccarero,
Speaker 1: who might also seen with the victim when he left
Speaker 1: the butcher's store, was similarly as loquacious. In other words,
Speaker 1: he wasn't. He shrugged his shoulders as only an Italian can,
Speaker 1: and varied the formula by muttering the words no understand.
Speaker 1: The other nine prisoners denied all acquaintance with the victim
Speaker 1: of the murder. None of them had ever seen him,
Speaker 1: they said. We then hoped that relatives or friends would
Speaker 1: claim the body and thus establish the victim's identity. But
Speaker 1: for all we could tell after days of waiting, he
Speaker 1: had died without a single friend, with no relative to
Speaker 1: care whether he went to Potter's Field or not, Potter's
Speaker 1: Field being where they would bury impoverished people in unmarked graves.
Speaker 1: The police redoubled their efforts, but to no avail every clue,
Speaker 1: and there were few enough of them, as it was
Speaker 1: led to nothing. Each new line which was run down
Speaker 1: to no purpose, and all left the case more baffling.
Speaker 1: Joseph Petrosino was at the time in the Italian squad
Speaker 1: of the New York Detective Bureau. He received an anonymous
Speaker 1: letter telling him to keep off the case and describing
Speaker 1: the murder as a vendetta, which seemed to the writer
Speaker 1: of the letter sufficient reason for the Baryl crime. Petrosino
Speaker 1: showed this letter to me. Here was a clue worth following.
Speaker 1: The writer was evidently afraid to divulge his name, even
Speaker 1: to the police, out of fear of the vengeance of
Speaker 1: the terrible Black Hand. I knew of no man so
Speaker 1: well qualified to handle the case as Petrosino himself, so
Speaker 1: after carefully thinking out a plan of procedure, I suggested
Speaker 1: that he go to sing Sing prison, where several of
Speaker 1: the Lupo Morello band were serving terms for counterfeiting. Petrosino
Speaker 1: took with him a photograph of the Beryl victim and
Speaker 1: showed it to several of the convicts, whom he knew
Speaker 1: to be identified with the b Black Hand. They too
Speaker 1: professed ignorance of the dead man's identity. It seemed as
Speaker 1: if it was to be the same story over again.
Speaker 1: But at last Petrosino showed the photograph to Giuseppe de Prima, and,
Speaker 1: without telling him of the murder, asked him if he
Speaker 1: knew whose likeness it was. Diprima glanced at the detective,
Speaker 1: an alarm showed on his face. He clutched at the
Speaker 1: pasteboard on which was the likeness of the murdered man.
Speaker 1: That is mourinno Benedetto, my brother in law. He cried,
Speaker 1: what has happened? The detective told him that Benedetto was murdered.
Speaker 1: Giuseppe d Prima felt a trembling like a leaf. Fear
Speaker 1: distorted his features. He knew the power that was behind
Speaker 1: the knife that had slit the throat of Morainno Benedetto,
Speaker 1: his brother in law. He overcame his fear, and it
Speaker 1: turned to anger. He cursed the murderers from his cell.
Speaker 1: He shook his fist against the bare walls, and he
Speaker 1: swore a vendetta against the men who had slain his
Speaker 1: relative by marriage. When he was calmer, Deprima convinced Petrosino
Speaker 1: beyond reasonable doubt that he had identified the victim correctly.
Speaker 1: He described a watched jane which had been found in
Speaker 1: one of Benedetto's pockets, and described the curious crucifix which
Speaker 1: had been found with the body. He told of the
Speaker 1: scar on the murdered man's face, and other unmistakable marks
Speaker 1: of identification. Benedetto, he said, was a stonecutter and lived
Speaker 1: in Buffalo for some months. He had been out of work,
Speaker 1: and Dprima believed he had recently been operating with a
Speaker 1: band of counterfeiters in New York. This, of course was
Speaker 1: the Lupo Morello gang. But Duprima, for reasons of his own,
Speaker 1: would not tell too much, nor would he tell if
Speaker 1: he knew who was likely to have committed the murder.
Speaker 1: His was vengeance, and he did not intend to aid
Speaker 1: the law to take over his prerogative. He steadfastly denied
Speaker 1: that he had the slightest idea who was the guilty
Speaker 1: man or men. At last it was learned who the
Speaker 1: Baryl victim was, and Petrosino returned to New York. Together,
Speaker 1: we went to police headquarters and examined all the letters
Speaker 1: and papers taken from the men arrested as suspects in
Speaker 1: the case. Among the possessions of Luciano Pirino or petoviox
Speaker 1: I found a pawn ticket for watch which had been
Speaker 1: pledged in a Bowery pawnshop for one dollar on the
Speaker 1: day of the murder. We sent to Buffalo for Benedetto's wife.
Speaker 1: To the minutest details. She described the watch which her
Speaker 1: husband had worn, the one which the ox had pawned,
Speaker 1: was procured, and it tallied to every particular with the
Speaker 1: woman's description. She was certain when it was shown to
Speaker 1: her that it had belonged to her husband. Before seeing it.
Speaker 1: She described certain markings and engravings which could have only
Speaker 1: been known to a person familiar with it. With the
Speaker 1: evidence in hand, Pet of the Ox was indicted by
Speaker 1: the grand jury for murder in the first degree. The
Speaker 1: other suspects had been held on a charge of murder
Speaker 1: without bail, but because the evidence was not sufficient to
Speaker 1: hold them, Magistrate Barlow turned them out. The Secret Service
Speaker 1: continued to watch these men, however, and what developed from
Speaker 1: this surveillance will be shared with you soon. At this
Speaker 1: time came fresh evidence of the existence of the Black
Speaker 1: Hand organization. Pet of the Ox was apparently penniless and
Speaker 1: counsel would have been provided for him by the state,
Speaker 1: but suddenly, apparently from nowhere, a great fund was raised.
Speaker 1: High priced counsel was engaged to fight his case in court,
Speaker 1: and money was spent freely in a campaign for his release.
Speaker 1: This money, for the greater part, was contributed by members
Speaker 1: of the Black Hand. Some of it was wrung from
Speaker 1: terrorized Italians, some of it was begged from the campari
Speaker 1: or godfathers of members of the gang. Every Sicilian has
Speaker 1: two compari and they are bound to aid their charges
Speaker 1: when they are in trouble. Meanwhile, the police worked tirelessly
Speaker 1: in efforts to accumulate evidence against Peto. The watch, which
Speaker 1: he had pawned, was the only incriminating evidence they unearthed.
Speaker 1: I was morally certain who had murdered Benedetto, and reports
Speaker 1: from my men strengthened my belief. From information in my possession,
Speaker 1: I was certain the Black Hand organization was furnishing the
Speaker 1: funds to conduct Peto's defense. It was to my interest
Speaker 1: to find out just who were in this organization and
Speaker 1: just where the money came from, for I knew the
Speaker 1: band to be engaged in counterfeiting. It's interesting because, as
Speaker 1: I've mentioned before, as we've discussed before, the two goals
Speaker 1: of the Secret Service are the physical protection of the
Speaker 1: President and the protection of the money supply rooting out
Speaker 1: of counterfeiters. Now, when you just sort of think of
Speaker 1: that abstractly, you don't necessarily think that chasing down counterfeit
Speaker 1: money is going to lead you directly to a mob
Speaker 1: barrel murder. I also find it sort of philosophically academically
Speaker 1: interesting that the Secret Services to jobs are protect the
Speaker 1: integrity of the President and protect the integrity of American money.
Speaker 1: Of course, practically that does make sense, but it's also
Speaker 1: hard not to wonder or feel like there's a certain
Speaker 1: symbolic synergy there as well, America being the consumer society
Speaker 1: that we are. All right, back to the murder investigation
Speaker 1: and the musings of Secret Service Chief William J. Flynn.
Speaker 1: He's just said it was in my interest to find
Speaker 1: out just who were in this organization and just where
Speaker 1: the money came from. But I knew the band to
Speaker 1: be engaged in counterfeiting. It was at this time that
Speaker 1: I learned a great deal about the organization of the
Speaker 1: Black Hand. While Petto was in the tombs. That's a
Speaker 1: fun old timey metaphor for prison. I ascertained that every
Speaker 1: member of the band was from Corleone, while a name
Speaker 1: made very famous by the Godfather, of course, a town
Speaker 1: about twenty seven miles from Palermo, Sicily. It was in
Speaker 1: Palermo that Joseph Petrosino was later murdered while executing a
Speaker 1: mission for Commissioner Bingham of the New York Police Department.
Speaker 1: So the police officer who identified the murder victim later
Speaker 1: became some kind of an international undercover spy for a
Speaker 1: New York PD operation against the Italian mafia. I would
Speaker 1: like to know more about that, Okay, I promised not
Speaker 1: to interrupt the story quite so much with my own musings.
Speaker 1: Let's get back to it. II, being William J. Flynn,
Speaker 1: was seeking to get one or more of my operatives
Speaker 1: into the inner circle of the Black Hand, and I
Speaker 1: learned that in order to accomplish this, the man must
Speaker 1: be from Corleone, or he must come recommended by a
Speaker 1: member of the society who came from Corleone or lived
Speaker 1: there at present. Peto the Ox was in the tombs
Speaker 1: four months awaiting trial. During this time the police bent
Speaker 1: every effort to produce evidence against him which would hold
Speaker 1: in court. Meanwhile, the Black Hand was raising money for
Speaker 1: his defense, and my men the Secret Service were working
Speaker 1: into the confidence of the Black handers. Nevertheless, scarcely a
Speaker 1: single piece of evidence which would have held for a
Speaker 1: moment in a court of law was unearthed by the police.
Speaker 1: Peto steadfastly denied his guilt. Of course, there was no
Speaker 1: witness to the crime. Peto had not been seen with
Speaker 1: the victim by any person who was available as a witness,
Speaker 1: and the watch was the only slender clue that connected
Speaker 1: him with the crime. There were a dozen different ways
Speaker 1: in which that could be accounted for. Peto's lawyer asked
Speaker 1: that the prisoner be released on his own recognisance, on
Speaker 1: the ground that there was not sufficient evidence upon which
Speaker 1: to bring the accused to trial with any fair hope
Speaker 1: of a conviction. The barrel murder was more of a
Speaker 1: mystery than ever. The one man to whom circumstances pointed
Speaker 1: as guilty of the crime was discharged by the court
Speaker 1: because there was not sufficient evidence against him to make
Speaker 1: a conviction even possible. The police tried other clues. They
Speaker 1: worked more upon the theory that there was a woman
Speaker 1: in the case. They tried to find some person with
Speaker 1: a grievance against Benedetto, but they failed. Peto disappeared from
Speaker 1: his accustomed haunts, but the eyes of the Secret Service
Speaker 1: followed him, and the long arm of Uncle Sam hovered
Speaker 1: over him, ready to strike. What happened to Petto The
Speaker 1: ox and how Secret Service Chief William J. Flynn finally
Speaker 1: solved the mystery of the murder of Maurania Benedetto, which
Speaker 1: was never solved by the police. Well you'll find that
Speaker 1: out after a super quick break and we're back. I
Speaker 1: hope that wasn't too painful. Hey, before we jump back
Speaker 1: into the story, I wanted to remind you, as I
Speaker 1: often do, of the free three digit number nine eight eight,
Speaker 1: the twenty four hours a day, seven days a week,
Speaker 1: toll free lifeline nine eight eight, that you can call
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Speaker 1: please remember that you are loved and the world is
Speaker 1: a better place with you in it. If you'd like
Speaker 1: to reach out to someone just to make a connection
Speaker 1: and talk about your life, you can also reach out
Speaker 1: to me Kindomurdery at gmail dot com or at kind
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Speaker 1: would love it if you would share a per kind
Speaker 1: of Murdery story from your own life. A few episodes ago,
Speaker 1: I did an episode called kind of Murdery Stories from
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Speaker 1: bit more empathy people who live differently than us, or
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Speaker 1: forget that they're human beings just like us. Driven by
Speaker 1: the same hopes and dreams and fears and insecurities and
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Speaker 1: hoping we can all share together. Also, on a lighter note,
Speaker 1: I've been trying to figure out what the name for
Speaker 1: our community for kind of murdery listeners should be. I know,
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Speaker 1: If you have any suggestions, please send them to me,
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Speaker 1: murdery prize. All right, thanks for giving me this time.
Speaker 1: Let's get back to the story. Pet of the Ox,
Speaker 1: released by the courts because there was not sufficient evidence
Speaker 1: to bring him to trial for the murder of Marine Benedetto,
Speaker 1: disappeared from his accustomed haunts in New York. Whether the
Speaker 1: police followed his movements, I do not know, but the
Speaker 1: eyes of the Secret Service were ceaselessly on him, and
Speaker 1: the long arm of Uncle Sam hovered ever over him,
Speaker 1: ready to strike. Aside from a matter of pride, it
Speaker 1: was my business to follow Peto, for I knew him
Speaker 1: to be identified with a band of counterfeiters. I was
Speaker 1: trying to break up. The very fact that he shunned
Speaker 1: New York after his release strengthened my growing belief in
Speaker 1: the existence of a black hand society. There was not
Speaker 1: sufficient evidence in the hands of the police to make
Speaker 1: him fear them. New York was the headquarters for his band.
Speaker 1: Yet he fled to Pittston, Pennsylvania, and we knew that
Speaker 1: he feared something. It was reasonable to suppose that if
Speaker 1: he was the murderer of Benedetto, he feared vengeance. In Pittston,
Speaker 1: on the outskirts of the city, Peto lived in a
Speaker 1: small house where many a foul plot was hatched, and
Speaker 1: many a blackmailing scheme was originated, with Peto as its
Speaker 1: master plotter. The decent Italians of the district feared him
Speaker 1: as they would a plague. Even the poorest of them
Speaker 1: were not safe from his depredations, and the most powerful
Speaker 1: were his easy prey. One night, the Ox was sitting
Speaker 1: in a comfortable room of his little house. Doubtless he
Speaker 1: was gloating over some rich haul, or plotting some new
Speaker 1: trick by which to wring gold from an industrious neighbor outside.
Speaker 1: A scotch mist chilled all things, and Peto hugged the
Speaker 1: fire for warmth. A shrill whistle pierced the night. Peto
Speaker 1: must have started, for he was not a brave man,
Speaker 1: though he held cheaply human life when it was someone else's.
Speaker 1: From his pocket. He snatched a heavy revolver. At the
Speaker 1: same time, he quickly turned out the lights that no
Speaker 1: man might see him through the window. Peto the Ox
Speaker 1: knew the meaning of that shrill whistle. Cautiously he crept
Speaker 1: toward the door of his house. Slowly he opened it
Speaker 1: and peered through the mist on His quickness of eye
Speaker 1: depended his life, and it was hard to see. Something
Speaker 1: must have moved in the darkness, for Petto fired once.
Speaker 1: At the same instant. Five quick stabs of red pierced
Speaker 1: the curtain of mist. The Ox fell dropped as drops
Speaker 1: the animal for whom he was named, when struck with
Speaker 1: a pole axe. Five leaden slugs had found his body.
Speaker 1: One had carried away a part of the hand with
Speaker 1: which he gripped his own revolver, which fell fully loaded
Speaker 1: by his side. The murderer of Petto took no chances
Speaker 1: lest the Ox should be playing possum. He sank a
Speaker 1: dagger into Peto's heart. So far as the police records
Speaker 1: of any city go, the slayer of Petto has never
Speaker 1: been discovered. Nothing which might help materially in the solution
Speaker 1: of the mystery was found. But about Petto's neck hung
Speaker 1: a little brass crucifix, just such a one as was
Speaker 1: found in the body of the barrel victim, with a
Speaker 1: skull and crossbones beneath the feet of the figure on
Speaker 1: the cross. Here was another mystery, and yet it confirmed
Speaker 1: my theory of the first. It started a train of
Speaker 1: thought on which I worked to a certain conclusion and act. Afterward.
Speaker 1: My ideas were confirmed by the confessions of black handers
Speaker 1: with whom I talked. In my mind, there was no
Speaker 1: doubt that the slaying of the Ox was an act
Speaker 1: of vengeance. The most reasonable supposition I was already morally
Speaker 1: certain that Petto had killed Benedetto, was that he had
Speaker 1: died at the hand of a relative of Benedetto's. It
Speaker 1: was but a step further to attribute the killing of
Speaker 1: Benedetto himself to vengeance. Now, for a moment, I must
Speaker 1: lead you back again. In January nineteen o three, several
Speaker 1: months before the Beryl murder baffled the police of New York,
Speaker 1: three Italians were arrested in Yonkers, New York, charged with
Speaker 1: counterfeiting five dollar notes of the National Iron Bank of Morristown,
Speaker 1: New Jersey. These notes were being imported from Italy by
Speaker 1: the Lupo Morello gang. The three men arrested were Isidoro Crocevera,
Speaker 1: Salvatore Romano, and Gisebe di Prima. The last you will
Speaker 1: remember was the brother in law of the Beryl victim,
Speaker 1: and was the first to identify him as Mourinho Benedetto.
Speaker 1: When I took hold of the case, the Yonkers, New
Speaker 1: York police told me that there had been a fourth
Speaker 1: man in the company of the three arrested, but that
Speaker 1: he had gotten away. I knew at once that this man,
Speaker 1: the fourth man, was the treasurer of the crew passing
Speaker 1: the counterfeit money. The treasurer, with the bills on his person,
Speaker 1: always lurks in the background, and if the others get
Speaker 1: into trouble, he immediately flees with the bulk of the
Speaker 1: counterfeit notes. His first move is to go to the
Speaker 1: headquarters of the gang, where all the machinery of the
Speaker 1: Black Hand Society is immediately set in motion in the
Speaker 1: effort to win the release of those captured. The description
Speaker 1: that the Yonker's police gave me of the escaped man
Speaker 1: was so accurate that I at once identified him as
Speaker 1: a counterfeiter known in the files of the Secret Service
Speaker 1: as Number six. Incidentally, I knew Crochevera and de Prima
Speaker 1: were members of the Corleone band, in other words, members
Speaker 1: of the Black Hand. The men who made the arrests
Speaker 1: in Yonkers went with me to New York, and I
Speaker 1: stationed them where they could get a good view of
Speaker 1: Number six. They at once declared that he was the
Speaker 1: man who had escaped from them, and on February nineteenth
Speaker 1: we arrested him. He gave his name as Giuseppe Gaalombardo
Speaker 1: and was sentenced to serve six years in prison. Meanwhile,
Speaker 1: I several times questioned Crochevera, Duprima, and Romano. I knew
Speaker 1: that none of these men would talk. If any one
Speaker 1: of them did and was released, his body would doubtless
Speaker 1: be found broken and mutilated within twenty four hours. On
Speaker 1: one occasion, I had Crochevera and Duprima brought to my
Speaker 1: office at the same time. I left Crochevera in the
Speaker 1: outer office, and with a great show of secrecy, kept
Speaker 1: Duprima locked up with me in the inner office for
Speaker 1: more than an hour. Crochevera, of course, knew that he
Speaker 1: was in there, and my scheme was to make him
Speaker 1: think that Daprima had confessed, thus leading the other prisoner,
Speaker 1: in a spirit of spite, to incriminate his companion and
Speaker 1: perhaps divulge many secrets of the band. After I thought
Speaker 1: Crochevera had had time to think things over, I dismissed
Speaker 1: Duprima as he left my office. I went to the
Speaker 1: door with him, and insight and hearing of Crochevera, shook
Speaker 1: him cordially by the hand and bade him goodbye, heartily,
Speaker 1: as if I was much gratified by what he had
Speaker 1: told me. As a matter of fact, he had told
Speaker 1: me next to nothing, but I wished to strengthen Croceevera's
Speaker 1: suspicions against him. The ruse was fruitless. Crochevera told me
Speaker 1: absolutely nothing. He did, however, convey to the leaders of
Speaker 1: the Black Hand news of all that had transpired in
Speaker 1: my office. This I learned later through a number of
Speaker 1: different channels. He gave it out that Duprima had confessed
Speaker 1: all and that every member of the band was in danger.
Speaker 1: Although my little piece of acting did not result in
Speaker 1: forcing Croceevera to discourage secrets of the Black Hand, it
Speaker 1: had convinced him of Duprima's duplicity and had far reaching
Speaker 1: results of an unexpected and startling nature. The members of
Speaker 1: the society had no reason to doubt the truth of
Speaker 1: Crochevera's accusations against Duprima, and when we arrested the treasurer,
Speaker 1: the man called Number six, they were absolutely convinced that
Speaker 1: the prisoner Duprima had betrayed them. The three men captured
Speaker 1: in Yonkers were sent to sing Sing, convicted of passing
Speaker 1: counterfeit money. The fact that Daprima himself was serving a
Speaker 1: term in prison did not excuse him in the eyes
Speaker 1: of the Black Hand Society, which believed he had betrayed
Speaker 1: its secrets. According to the tenets of the organization, Daprima
Speaker 1: should be punished by death. But Daprima was in prison,
Speaker 1: and it did not suit the desires of the Black
Speaker 1: Hand to wait for vengeance until he was released. The
Speaker 1: anger of the Sicilian flares up like loose powder when
Speaker 1: it is kindled, and revenge must be quick if possible,
Speaker 1: according to the unwritten law of the Black Hand. As
Speaker 1: Daprima was where he could not be punished, his nearest
Speaker 1: male relative was marked to pay the penalty. Duprima had
Speaker 1: no male blood relatives, and so at a conference of
Speaker 1: the leaders of the society, it was decided that his
Speaker 1: brother in law should die instead. This was Mourenno Benedetto,
Speaker 1: the man whose body was found in the barrel, covered
Speaker 1: by an overcoat. Pet of the Ox was selected to
Speaker 1: commit the crime. So pet of the Ox was chosen
Speaker 1: to kill Benedetto, the barrel victim. In turn, Peedo was
Speaker 1: shot to death by a kinsman of Benedetto. Many supposed
Speaker 1: that the avenger of the barrel murder was Duprima himself, who,
Speaker 1: in the natural course of events would have been called
Speaker 1: upon to act. This is because Diprimo was released from
Speaker 1: sing Sing at about the time of Peto's death. But
Speaker 1: I can say for a certainty that Daprima did not
Speaker 1: shoot Ilbobe the Ox, for he was still in prison
Speaker 1: when Peto answered the shrill whistle, which drew him to
Speaker 1: his death. The police will also tell you that Daprima,
Speaker 1: when released, attempted to flee to Palermo, and that he
Speaker 1: died at sea, probably at the hands of a mafia assassin.
Speaker 1: And that is the conclusion of the case of Peto
Speaker 1: the Ox and the Alphabet Barrel murder. So the black
Speaker 1: Hand Cosinostra. The mafia believed that Diprima had ratted out
Speaker 1: their secrets to the Secret Service regarding the counterfeiting ring,
Speaker 1: but Daprima hadn't. Because they couldn't kill Duprima who was
Speaker 1: in prison, and because he didn't have an amia be
Speaker 1: it male relative, they killed Daprima's brother in law, and
Speaker 1: by they I mean they had pet of the Ox
Speaker 1: killed Daprima's brother in law, and then pet of the
Speaker 1: Ox himself was killed, likely to cover their tracks, because
Speaker 1: if there's one thing both pirates and mobsters know, it's
Speaker 1: that dead men tell no tales. Here's what I find interesting,
Speaker 1: I suppose not surprising, but interesting. You could argue, in
Speaker 1: the endless chain of cause and effect, that in fact,
Speaker 1: the murderer, or at least the killer of the barrel
Speaker 1: murder victim Murano Benedetto pet of the Ox and Duprima
Speaker 1: was actually Secret Service Chief William J. Flynn because it
Speaker 1: was his bit of office play acting the friendliness and
Speaker 1: handshaking he engaged in with Daprima in front of Crocevera
Speaker 1: that convinced Crocevera that Duprima had flipped on the black
Speaker 1: hand and set off the chain of triple murder that
Speaker 1: this story was about. And so I ask you who
Speaker 1: killed the Baryl Victim Murano Benedetto. Was it Pedo Theox
Speaker 1: Ilbove or was it in fact Chief of the United
Speaker 1: States Secret Service, William J. Flynn, And does he also
Speaker 1: bear responsibility for the subsequent murders of Pedo the Ox
Speaker 1: and Giseppi di Prima. Let me know what you think.
Speaker 1: I'm Zevan Odelberg and this has been kind of murdery.
Speaker 1: I'd like the show. The subscribe, review and tell your friends.
Speaker 1: You can find us on social media at Kino Murdery
Speaker 1: or email at Kinomurdery at gmail dot com.
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