Vito Cascio Ferro and the Petrosino murder

[Dwalin2014]

Just watched the "American lawmen" episode about Joe Petrosino, that reminded me of some discussions we had about Cascio Ferro time ago. I am curious: what is the today's view about his position in the hierarchy of the mafia as a whole? In the books I first read, he was indicated as one of the most important bosses in Sicily, even boss of bosses (?????) and the mastermind behind the Petrosino murder. Then I was told for example Salvatore Maranzano even being from another province, was more important than him in the hierarchy, and that for example Tommaso Buscetta thought of Cascio Ferro as a sort of clown who boasted much and did nothing. So was he just a small village hood or was he an important boss on a global scale in your opinion?

Also, who directly killed Petrosino: some say, it was Carlo Costantino and Antonino Passananti, some say it was Cascio Ferro personally, others that it was Passananti, Costantino and Cascio Ferro together, some recent confession of a mafioso stated that the triggerman was his ancestor Paolo Palazzotto, but I remember here on the forum somebody said the consigliere of a Palermo family was involved (can't find the thread and the post anymore).

[toto]

Giuseppe Palmigiano, Palermo Centro member, was the killer according to Buscetta. Giuseppe's brother Ernesto was consigliere of that family. Buscetta knew these guys personaly.

Addio Cosa Nostra page 106-7.

[bronx]

ill go with buscetta

[Antiliar]

I don't know why "American Lawmen" depended on a FICTION writer for so much of its narrative. Michael Zarocostas wrote a fictional book called "The Barrel Murder" that depended on people like Mike Dash for its information (I hope he gave credit to his sources). Anyway, Sicily did not have a position called "boss of boss" or "capo dei capi." Instead it had regional and provincial bosses. Salvatore Maranzano was the boss of the province of Trapani. Vito Cascio Ferro was reportedly the boss of Bisaquino (despite what Buscetto says about him not even being a "made" member) and had influence over other cities, including Corleone, through his connections. But he attained this position AFTER he left the United States around 1904.

As for who killed Petrosino, Cascio Ferro may have had something to do with it on a supervisory level, and he was in Palermo at the time, but definitely not directly. Costantino and Passananti, despite initial claims, appear not to have been in the area where the detective was shot, so can probably be ruled out. Paolo Palazzotto, I think was a suspect at the time, so it's possible he had something to do with it, and Palmigiano can't be ruled out either. More than one person was involved, but in the end we'll never know for sure.

[toto]

The grandsons of Vito Cascio Ferro were tried in the Maxi Trial in 1986. If i remember they got found not guilty.

I think Cascio Ferro probably did not have any respect in Palermo because of the city dwellers look down at villagers. It happened to Giovanni Brusca and he said they used to mock him as a "farmer" (and he used to answer them "what lovely water you drink" because when he dissolved bodies in acid he used to pour the substance in to the water supply for Palermo city).

So part of it can be he was from a small village. If I remember Buscetta didn't comment on if he was a member. Just merely he was a fraudulent person which was because he took credit for a murder he had nothing to do with and then got a jail sentence for it.

[Dwalin2014]

Just merely he was a fraudulent person which was because he took credit for a murder he had nothing to do with and then got a jail sentence for it.

He took credit for the Petrosino murder, but the ones he went to jail for were the murders of Gioacchino Lo Voi and Francesco Falconieri, but he never took credit for them I think, he said in jail on some point "I didn't kill them, but I killed Petrosino". At the trial he was pissed for being convicted for murders he didn't order and said according to the book "The Godfathers" ("I Padrini") by Giuseppe Carlo Marino: "I have committed many crimes in my life, but here, now, you have convicted me for the only one I haven't committed".

[Antiliar]

Buscetta said that Cascio Ferro wasn't a "man of honor," which could either mean that he literally had no honor or that he wasn't a "made" man. In context it looks like he was saying that Cascio Ferro was not made.

"A colossal misunderstanding given that "Cascio Ferro" was nothing but a charlatan. He was not even a man of honor. He was just a fool, a nobody who was mocked by the people of "Cosa Nostra" because he had taken the sentence of life in prison without knowing anything about the Petrosino murder, without having had anything to do [with it]. The old mafia were talking about him with contempt because they considered him an impostor. When [have] you ever saw a man of honor who boasts in public of a murder? And a murder actually committed! [Such] action would be contrary to the ABC of mafia behavior." Tommaso Buscetta to Pino Arlacchi, "Addio Cosa Nostra," 106-107. My translation.

"Un equivoco colossale date che "Cascio Ferro" non era che un ciarlatano. Non era neanche uomo d'onore. Era solo uno sciocco, un signor nessuno che veniva deriso dalla gente di "Cosa Nostra" perche si era preso la condanno all'ergastolo senza sapere niente dell'omicidio Petrosino, senza averci avuto nulla a che fare. I vecchi mafiosi mi parlavano di lui con disprezzo perche lo consideravano un impostore. Quando mai si e visto un uomo d'onore che si vanta in pubblico di un omicidio? E di un omicidio mai commesso! Sarebbe un'azione contraria all'ABC del comportamento mafioso."

[toto]

Buscetta said that Cascio Ferro wasn't a "man of honor," which could either mean that he literally had no honor or that he wasn't a "made" man. In context it looks like he was saying that Cascio Ferro was not made.

"A colossal misunderstanding given that "Cascio Ferro" was nothing but a charlatan. He was not even a man of honor. He was just a fool, a nobody who was mocked by the people of "Cosa Nostra" because he had taken the sentence of life in prison without knowing anything about the Petrosino murder, without having had anything to do [with it]. The old mafia were talking about him with contempt because they considered him an impostor. When [have] you ever saw a man of honor who boasts in public of a murder? And a murder actually committed! [Such] action would be contrary to the ABC of mafia behavior." Tommaso Buscetta to Pino Arlacchi, "Addio Cosa Nostra," 106-107. My translation.

"Un equivoco colossale date che "Cascio Ferro" non era che un ciarlatano. Non era neanche uomo d'onore. Era solo uno sciocco, un signor nessuno che veniva deriso dalla gente di "Cosa Nostra" perche si era preso la condanno all'ergastolo senza sapere niente dell'omicidio Petrosino, senza averci avuto nulla a che fare. I vecchi mafiosi mi parlavano di lui con disprezzo perche lo consideravano un impostore. Quando mai si e visto un uomo d'onore che si vanta in pubblico di un omicidio? E di un omicidio mai commesso! Sarebbe un'azione contraria all'ABC del comportamento mafioso."

I shouldn't be so lazy to go and pick the book and check the exact statements.

In the way he said it - he means not a man of honor ie not a member. Perhaps there was never any introduction from Bisacquino to Palermo because of distance or maybe his behavior prevented Bisacquino members to introduce him. Or perhaps he was a member in America and then never got an introduction in Palermo.

[Angelo Santino]

Cascio Ferro's relatives in the US remained in contact with him. For what it's worth in the 1913 range one of them told an informant that Cascio Ferro was recently made a head in the Sicilian mafia. Which brings us to question what his position was in the US. He wasn't over Morello and prior to that he was around Clemente and Stella Fraute in their counterfeiting network. This whole notion that Cascio Ferro sent over members to America or delegated what went on here (sending Maranzano over to retake it or personally making Carlo Gambino) never happened. It is possible that Cascio Ferro held some rank for the short while he was around the Corleonesi leadership but that's purely speculative on my end, there will never be any evidence for or against.

[Antiliar]

Buscetta said that Cascio Ferro wasn't a "man of honor," which could either mean that he literally had no honor or that he wasn't a "made" man. In context it looks like he was saying that Cascio Ferro was not made.

"A colossal misunderstanding given that "Cascio Ferro" was nothing but a charlatan. He was not even a man of honor. He was just a fool, a nobody who was mocked by the people of "Cosa Nostra" because he had taken the sentence of life in prison without knowing anything about the Petrosino murder, without having had anything to do [with it]. The old mafia were talking about him with contempt because they considered him an impostor. When [have] you ever saw a man of honor who boasts in public of a murder? And a murder actually committed! [Such] action would be contrary to the ABC of mafia behavior." Tommaso Buscetta to Pino Arlacchi, "Addio Cosa Nostra," 106-107. My translation.

"Un equivoco colossale date che "Cascio Ferro" non era che un ciarlatano. Non era neanche uomo d'onore. Era solo uno sciocco, un signor nessuno che veniva deriso dalla gente di "Cosa Nostra" perche si era preso la condanno all'ergastolo senza sapere niente dell'omicidio Petrosino, senza averci avuto nulla a che fare. I vecchi mafiosi mi parlavano di lui con disprezzo perche lo consideravano un impostore. Quando mai si e visto un uomo d'onore che si vanta in pubblico di un omicidio? E di un omicidio mai commesso! Sarebbe un'azione contraria all'ABC del comportamento mafioso."

I shouldn't be so lazy to go and pick the book and check the exact statements.

In the way he said it - he means not a man of honor ie not a member. Perhaps there was never any introduction from Bisacquino to Palermo because of distance or maybe his behavior prevented Bisacquino members to introduce him. Or perhaps he was a member in America and then never got an introduction in Palermo.

No problem. But I think Buscetta was wrong and I do think that Cascio Ferro was a boss.

[bronx]

he wa no doubt boss

[Dwalin2014]

By the way, who was the Palermo Centro boss at the time? He must have sanctioned the murder for sure.

[Dwalin2014]

Sorry for bumping an old thread...But I just finally got my hands on a copy on that book that provides this information: "Addio Cosa Nostra" by Pino Arlacchi. Seems an interesting one, am currently reading it, Buscetta does indeed quote the old mafiosi about Vito Cascio Ferro in some...not exactly flattering tones, to put it mildly. What's interesting though, is where did all these legends about his importance come from? Before reading the quote from this book here, I thought he was more or less on the same level as Giuseppe Genco Russo or Calogero Vizzini in terms of importance, although there wasn't a centralized "commission" ruling the mafia back then. Literally all the books and articles I read quoted him as a boss of considerable importance, and even the Fascists seemed to believe that, since his trial was one of the few which was publicized, and the prefect Cesare Mori thought he was sending "a powerful example of his victory against the mafia" by publicly putting Cascio Ferro away for life. If he knew he really was a secondary character, he surely would have chosen somebody else to make an example of. By the way, in the Italian book "I padrini" ("The godfathers") by Giuseppe Carlo Marino (not sure if ever translated in other languages), mostly about the mafia bosses before Riina and the Corleonesi, there is a 2001 interview with Paolo Scibetta, a retired businessman from Bisacquino, 89 years old at the time (born in 1912) who still remembered something about Cascio Ferro and people back then (Cascio Ferro was sent to jail in 1930). If we believe what he says, people there literally worshiped him like all those other "godfathers" in their towns etc. He also still believes he really killed Petrosino, but "Petrosino came to Sicily to kill Cascio Ferro, so it was self-defence" But anyway, if he was considered such a clown by everybody in the mafia, how did he gain respect in his territory? When the journalist conducting the interview asks Scibetta whether Cascio Ferro was just "feared" as a powerful criminal or really "respected and admired", Scibetta barely manages to construct a coherent sentence and just says, as if he was talking about a god: "he was really a myth, a wonderful character...oh! u 'zu Vitu! u 'zu Vitu! ("uncle Vito" in Sicilian)". So I am confused: how did he manage to wash the brains of the Bisacquino people if he was such a secondary character without respect and charisma, even on this small territory, why did no other "serious" and "real" boss take over? And, most importantly, why did so many people, including Fascist authorities, believe him to be important? And many still do, because, to be honest, if it wasn't for this book, I most likely wouldn't have learned this information at all....So thanks again for providing the quote and the title of the book. However, I have no idea where to search for additional information. For example, the name of Giuseppe Palmigiano, who Buscetta indicates as the real killer of Petrosino, I never heard this name before this topic and never managed to find anything about him anywhere since. Petrosino is considered one of the legends of the antimafia history, why is this information by Buscetta, that he was killed by the Palermo Centro family, not publicized? Theoretically it should have made headlines when he said this, even though it was a century ago, it's still a historical mystery, one of the most important ones in this subject I think.

[Antiliar]

I think Buscetta had his own motives for downplaying Vito Cascio Ferro. Secret Service reports confirm that he was a boss around 1913, and he wouldn't have been around Morello as often and as closely if he was not made. He was treated with respect and deference, so I'm positive he was made in Sicily before he came to America. Maybe Palmigiano did kill Petrosino and Buscetta denigrated Cascio Ferro to elevate his compare. To me it makes sense that Palmigiano would have done it since the Piazza Marina was in his territory.

[DPG]

Is there anyway he was served up to the authorities? Im sure they were searching for a way to get Mori off their backs. Just a thought.