Tomasso Petto

Tomasso Petto (* 1879 ; † 1905 in Wilkes-Barre , Pennsylvania ) was an American mobster . The Italian-American who is also under the name of The Ox ( dt. : The ox ) was known in the early was 1900s one of the leading assassins of the Morello family . In the course of the barrel murder of Benedetto Madonia, he was arrested by the NYPD in 1903 , but released again at the beginning of the following year, before he was killed again a year later by 62 stab wounds.

Life and career

Petto was born in 1879 and later lived among other things, in the district of Williamsburg in Brooklyn , one of the five boroughs of New York City in the US state of New York . His nickname The Ox ( dt .: The Ox ) he received primarily for his massive head and his equally massive physique. In civilian life he worked as a press ( suit presser busy) but worked really just for the infamous Morello family. Many of the later, but occasionally even before that, practiced barrel murders , in German also tons of murders called, were attributed to Morello. On April 13, 1903, the body of Benedetto Madonia, brother-in-law of Giuseppe De Primo , a member of the Black Hand Gang , was discovered in a barrel. Madonia was killed with 18 stab wounds, his genitals were cut off and put in his mouth.

Several suspects were subsequently arrested by the NYPD , including Tomasso Petto. However, since nothing could be proven, she was released immediately. The day after next, there was a violent confrontation with the NYPD, in the course of which Petto was arrested again and accused of the murder of Benedetto Madonia. The case was largely cleared up by Joe Petrosino , an Italian-American police officer and head of the homicide squad since 1895, although mainly circumstantial evidence was available, but there was no conviction and no circumstantial trial was made of the accused . Among other things, Petrosino succeeded in identifying Madonia's corpse by interviewing Giuseppe De Primo, who was imprisoned at Sing Sing , and who recognized his brother-in-law Benedetto Madonia in a photo. He also told of his and Madonia's involvement in a counterfeit money distribution and that his brother-in-law had been commissioned to get his property back from Peter Morello. Peter Morello's shop was also the last known place where Madonia was seen alive. The Wallace & Thompson company sugar keg used for his corpse could only be assigned to a Sicilian customer. This was Peter Inzerillo, who was himself a member of the Morello family. In addition, cigar stubs were found in the sawdust at the bottom of the barrel, which could be assigned to the favorite brand Peter Morellos. When Madonia's wristwatch could also be secured in a pawn shop, where Tomasso Petto had previously taken it, the case was as good as resolved. However, since there was no conviction, as all witnesses adhered to the Omertà and De Primo no longer made any useful testimony, Petto was soon released from The Tombs .

According to other sources, he was also mistakenly released from prison and went into hiding in New York. He then reappeared in Pennsylvania , where he was involved in criminal activity with a Black Hand gang in the Scranton , Pennsylvania area . In August 1904, a witness accused Petto of being involved in the kidnapping of Vito Laduca , another member of the Morello family. He was never arrested or charged; Laduca is said to have returned to Sicily the year before. In 1905, Petto was killed in front of his house in Wilkes-Barre , Pennsylvania, with 62 stab wounds, at which time it was assumed that Giuseppe De Primo killed the 26-year-old Tomasso Petto in revenge for his murdered brother-in-law. De Primo had only recently been released from custody and was in prison at the time of his brother-in-law's death. Following Petto's death, there were no arrests and the real killer was never found. A few years later, De Primo was deported to Sicily. Since the Black Hand gang took him for a police informant, they contacted Vito Laduca in Sicily and charged him with the murder of Giuseppe De Primo. Shortly afterwards, however, it was Laduca who was found shot dead in Sicily.

Web links

• Tomasso Petto on gangrule.com (English)