by PolackTony » Wed Mar 30, 2022 1:41 pm
Thanks for posting. After speaking with you and Anti about Russo, I looked into him a bit.
November 20th, 1876, Italian barber Salvatore Pitereso [sic] was found dying of a stab wound in the gutter at 19th and State on Chicago's Near Southside. Pitereso was accompanied by fellow Near Southside Italian barber Casimo Vatroso [sic], who told police in broken English that he had come upon the wounded Pitereso and that the latter had been injured due to an "old feud". Before Pitereso died at a nearby hospital, he denied that Vatroso had played any role in the attack and stated that he had been stabbed by Gaetano Russo, though he refused to state why. The police began to hunt for Russo, who they claimed was being "shielded by all his countrymen" and also charged Vatroso, who had also been found to have a concealed pistol on his person, as an accessory to the murder. After discovering that Pitereso had been boarding with Russo and his wife Rosa, the police at first suspected that Pitereso had been sleeping with Mrs. Russo.
After searching the Russo home, however, police discovered that the Russos were operating a counterfeiting ring and arrested Rosa on counterfeiting charges, seizing counterfeit currency and coin moulds from the home. They further learned from witnesses that Russo, Vatroso, and Pitereso were all friends, had been seen together in a neighborhood saloon prior to the murder, and were afterward heard quarreling in Russo's home. The police now updated their theory on the motivation for the murder and told the Tribune that they believed that Pitereso may have been killed because Russo thought that he was an informant for the Secret Service. Out of compassion for the Russo children, Rosa was released on her own recognizance pending trial and promptly fled Chicago. In 1878, the Tribune announced that Gaetano Russo had been arrested in New Orleans, where he had returned after fleeing Chicago and reportedly making his way across the South through Virginia, Alabama, and Mississippi. Russo was transported back to Chicago to face murder charges. The case against Vatroso as an accessory had been dropped due to lack of evidence and he had also fled Chicago. With both Vatroso and Rosa missing, the prosecution had no witnesses for their case and dropped the charges against Russo.
In 1887, the Tribune reported that Gaetano Russo had been arrested in relation to a counterfeiting ring in Boston. After he had been freed in Chicago in 1878, he had departed for St Louis, where he was subsequently convicted on an arson charge and given a life sentence. Two years into the sentence, however, he was pardoned by the governor of MO after he allegedly assisted guards in putting down a prisoner revolt. Then, in 1888, the Tribune reported that Gaetano and Rosa Russo were arrested for their role in an NYC counterfeiting ring. SS agent Billy Hall of the Chicago division had been called to NYC to assist in the investigation and capture of Russo and his partners.
It would seem to be a strong conclusion that the Petereso murder was the first mafia killing in Chicago, a year after the first known mafia murder in St Louis. The Sicilian community was still tiny in Chicago in the 1870s, so it's anyone's guess what prompted Russo to move there and operate a counterfeiting ring in that period. Maybe he founded the mafia in Chicago, maybe there was already a small network that arrived with the very first Sicilians. Based on Russo's movements and activities (and other evidence), St Louis, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, and Philly all seem to have been cities with an active mafia presence as early as the 1870s-1880s. The next likely mafia murder in Chicago that I'm aware of was in the 1880s, which is the decade when the Sicilian population in Chicago really began to grow.
Thanks for posting. After speaking with you and Anti about Russo, I looked into him a bit.
November 20th, 1876, Italian barber Salvatore Pitereso [sic] was found dying of a stab wound in the gutter at 19th and State on Chicago's Near Southside. Pitereso was accompanied by fellow Near Southside Italian barber Casimo Vatroso [sic], who told police in broken English that he had come upon the wounded Pitereso and that the latter had been injured due to an "old feud". Before Pitereso died at a nearby hospital, he denied that Vatroso had played any role in the attack and stated that he had been stabbed by Gaetano Russo, though he refused to state why. The police began to hunt for Russo, who they claimed was being "shielded by all his countrymen" and also charged Vatroso, who had also been found to have a concealed pistol on his person, as an accessory to the murder. After discovering that Pitereso had been boarding with Russo and his wife Rosa, the police at first suspected that Pitereso had been sleeping with Mrs. Russo.
After searching the Russo home, however, police discovered that the Russos were operating a counterfeiting ring and arrested Rosa on counterfeiting charges, seizing counterfeit currency and coin moulds from the home. They further learned from witnesses that Russo, Vatroso, and Pitereso were all friends, had been seen together in a neighborhood saloon prior to the murder, and were afterward heard quarreling in Russo's home. The police now updated their theory on the motivation for the murder and told the Tribune that they believed that Pitereso may have been killed because Russo thought that he was an informant for the Secret Service. Out of compassion for the Russo children, Rosa was released on her own recognizance pending trial and promptly fled Chicago. In 1878, the Tribune announced that Gaetano Russo had been arrested in New Orleans, where he had returned after fleeing Chicago and reportedly making his way across the South through Virginia, Alabama, and Mississippi. Russo was transported back to Chicago to face murder charges. The case against Vatroso as an accessory had been dropped due to lack of evidence and he had also fled Chicago. With both Vatroso and Rosa missing, the prosecution had no witnesses for their case and dropped the charges against Russo.
In 1887, the Tribune reported that Gaetano Russo had been arrested in relation to a counterfeiting ring in Boston. After he had been freed in Chicago in 1878, he had departed for St Louis, where he was subsequently convicted on an arson charge and given a life sentence. Two years into the sentence, however, he was pardoned by the governor of MO after he allegedly assisted guards in putting down a prisoner revolt. Then, in 1888, the Tribune reported that Gaetano and Rosa Russo were arrested for their role in an NYC counterfeiting ring. SS agent Billy Hall of the Chicago division had been called to NYC to assist in the investigation and capture of Russo and his partners.
It would seem to be a strong conclusion that the Petereso murder was the first mafia killing in Chicago, a year after the first known mafia murder in St Louis. The Sicilian community was still tiny in Chicago in the 1870s, so it's anyone's guess what prompted Russo to move there and operate a counterfeiting ring in that period. Maybe he founded the mafia in Chicago, maybe there was already a small network that arrived with the very first Sicilians. Based on Russo's movements and activities (and other evidence), St Louis, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, and Philly all seem to have been cities with an active mafia presence as early as the 1870s-1880s. The next likely mafia murder in Chicago that I'm aware of was in the 1880s, which is the decade when the Sicilian population in Chicago really began to grow.