Joe Morello and the Black Handers
The story of Joe Morello and the Black Handers is a chilling glimpse into the early days of organized crime in America, a narrative woven with threads of Sicilian heritage, brutal extortion, and the relentless pursuit of law enforcement. This saga unfolds against the backdrop of New York City’s burgeoning Italian immigrant communities at the turn of the 20th century, a time when the promise of the "Mountain of Gold" often clashed with the harsh realities of poverty and exploitation.
Giuseppe "Joe" Morello, the central figure in this dark chapter of American history, was a man marked by a physical anomaly from birth. Born in 1867 in Corleone, Sicily, Morello’s right hand was severely deformed, leaving him with only a grotesquely bent, elongated pinky finger. This distinctive feature earned him a series of unflattering nicknames: "The Clutch-Hand," "Little Finger," and "One Finger Jack." These monikers, however, belied a ruthless ambition that would drive him to the forefront of a criminal enterprise that terrorized the Italian enclaves of New York City.
Morello’s early life in Corleone was steeped in the traditions of the Sicilian Mafia. Following the death of his father, Calogero Morello, in 1872, his mother, Angelina Piazza, remarried Bernardo Terranova, a known Mafioso. This union brought four half-siblings into Morello’s life: Nick, Ciro, Vincent, and Salvatrice. While the exact familial relationships were sometimes blurred (Nick Terranova was, in fact, Joe Morello’s half-brother), the Terranova family would become instrumental in Morello’s criminal career. Salvatrice Terranova’s marriage to Ignazio Lupo, also known as "Lupo the Wolf" Saietta, further solidified the network of power and violence that would define the Joe Morello and the Black Handers organization.
Under the tutelage of his stepfather, Bernardo Terranova, Morello and his half-brothers were initiated into the Corleonesi Mafia, also known as the Fratuzzi. They proved their loyalty through acts of violence, carrying out assassinations ordered by the Corleonesi bosses. One notable victim was Giovanni Vella, the head of the Guardie Campestri, a local quasi-police force tasked with patrolling Corleone and curbing the activities of Mafia members.
In 1888, Morello was arrested for Vella’s murder. However, the case quickly unraveled. The murder weapon mysteriously vanished from the police lockup, spirited away by a bribed officer. Furthermore, Anna Di Puma, a witness who claimed to have seen Morello commit the crime, was murdered just two days after Vella’s death. With no gun and no witness, Morello walked free.
Recognizing the precariousness of his situation, Morello turned to counterfeiting. His foray into "funny money" proved profitable but short-lived. In 1892, he was arrested with counterfeit bills in his possession. Rather than face prosecution in Sicily, Morello fled to America, seeking refuge in the Lower East Side of New York City. He was tried in absentia and sentenced to six years of solitary confinement, but the judgment was meaningless in the face of the Atlantic Ocean that separated him from Italian justice. Joe Morello and the Black Handers were now poised to make their mark on American soil.
Soon after Morello’s arrival, his stepfather Bernardo Terranova, along with his wife Angela and their six children, followed him to America. Morello’s wife, Lisa Marvelesi, and their infant son, Calogero (named after Morello’s father), accompanied them. They legally entered the United States through Ellis Island. While most immigrants arrived with little more than the clothes on their backs, the Terranovas brought a substantial amount of luggage and presumably a significant sum of money, a detail that should have raised suspicion given Bernardo Terranova’s declared occupation as a "laborer."
Initially, Morello and the Terranovas attempted to maintain a low profile, knowing that Italian immigrants were subject to deportation for three years after arrival. They settled in Manhattan’s Little Italy and engaged in various legitimate occupations, including plastering. However, the allure of illicit gains proved too strong to resist.
Meanwhile, Ignazio Saietta, "Lupo the Wolf," had his own path to America. Born in Corleone in 1877, Saietta fled Sicily to escape prosecution for the murder of Salvatore Morello. He joined forces with Joe Morello and the Black Handers in New York City, eager to participate in their criminal enterprises.
Morello’s initial attempts at honest work were merely a facade. He quickly reverted to illegal activities such as bookmaking and loan sharking. Flush with cash, he invested in a series of businesses in Little Italy, including a coal store, bars, and restaurants. However, these ventures invariably failed, providing a convenient cover for his illicit income. In 1899, Morello returned to counterfeiting, this time targeting American currency.
He established a small printing press in an apartment in Italian Harlem, focusing on two- and five-dollar bills, the most commonly used denominations. Morello hired Italian and Irish men to distribute the counterfeit money throughout New York City. When the police discovered the operation, several workers were arrested. One of them, Jack Gleason, betrayed Morello, identifying him as the mastermind. Despite the accusations, Morello was released due to a lack of evidence and the unwillingness of the other arrested men to testify against him. This experience taught Morello a valuable lesson: to trust only those he knew from Sicily.
The exact origins of the Black Hand extortion scheme in America remain murky, but it is clear that around 1898 or 1899, Morello, Saietta, and the Terranova brothers began terrorizing Italian businessmen in New York City. They sent "Black Hand" or "La Mano Nera" extortion letters, demanding substantial sums of money under the threat of violence. The letters were typically adorned with the imprint of a black hand, initially made by dipping a hand in ink, but later drawn to avoid fingerprint identification.
Those who refused to comply with the demands faced dire consequences. Businesses were bombed, and victims were often tortured or killed in the infamous "Murder Stables" located in Harlem. The story of Joe Morello and the Black Handers is also a story of the victims.
One tragic example was the case of Gaetano Costa, a butcher who received a Black Hand letter demanding $1,000. When Costa refused to pay, two men entered his shop and murdered him.
Morello devised a particularly insidious method of ensuring compliance. He would mail an extortion letter to a victim and then position himself near the victim’s store as the letter was delivered. When he saw the victim reading the letter, Morello would approach and feign concern, offering to intervene on the victim’s behalf. The victim, knowing Morello’s influence in the Italian community, would often hand over the letter and beg for his assistance. Morello would take the letter, promising to investigate. Since Morello was the one who sent the letter, the demand could not be withdrawn entirely. However, he would return to the victim and claim to have negotiated a reduced payment, which the victim would gratefully pay, believing that Morello had saved them from further harm.
Saietta and Morello also operated a counterfeiting operation in Highland, New York. Saietta oversaw the day-to-day operations while Morello managed the rackets in New York City.
However, the Black Handers had a formidable adversary in Deputy Inspector William Flynn. Flynn had been investigating Morello and Saietta since the "Barrel Murders" of 1903. He suspected their involvement in counterfeiting but struggled to locate their printing operation.
Flynn placed Morello under "life surveillance," although the intermittent nature of the observation reflected limited police resources. Saietta’s sudden disappearance from New York City and relocation to Highland, New York, where he oversaw the counterfeiting, raised Flynn’s suspicions.
In 1908, Saietta initiated a large-scale fraud scheme using his network of grocery stores that imported Italian goods. Saietta filed for bankruptcy, claiming only $1,500 in inventory despite over $100,000 in debts. Other Italian dealers, including Antonio Passananti, also declared bankruptcy.
In November 1909, Saietta returned to New York City. Accompanied by his lawyer, he told a fabricated story about fleeing to avoid a Black Hand extortion attempt. Flynn, however, had his men tailing Saietta, leading them to the counterfeiting operation in Highland.
Flynn had enough evidence to arrest Morello, Saietta, and other Black Handers involved in the counterfeiting operation. On November 15, 1909, Thomas Callahan, a 17-year-old operative posing as a shoeshine boy, spotted Morello and the Terranova brothers entering a tenement building on East 107th Street. Callahan followed them into the building and encountered Morello on the stairs. Morello simply asked, "Scusa, please," and allowed Callahan to pass, unaware of his true identity.
Flynn and his men surrounded the building. On November 16, they entered the apartment and arrested Morello and Vincent Terranova while they slept. Four loaded revolvers were found under Morello’s pillow, and five were under Terranova’s.
Other Black Handers were arrested in the apartment, including Morello’s wife, Lina, who attempted to hide incriminating letters in her infant daughter’s clothing. Fourteen Black Handers and counterfeiters were arrested, and $3,000 in counterfeit bills were seized. However, Saietta remained at large.
Saietta was eventually arrested in Brooklyn, where he was found hiding under an alias. He offered the arresting officer a bribe, which was refused.
The counterfeiting trial began in January 1910. The prosecution’s main witness was Antonio Comito, who testified that he and his wife had been forced to print counterfeit bills. Comito also claimed that Saietta had boasted about the murder of Police Lieutenant Joseph Petrosino.
The jury found all eight defendants guilty. Morello and Saietta were sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined $500 on each count.
The sentencing of Saietta and Morello effectively ended the Black Hand extortion scheme in America, at least for a time.
After their release from prison in 1920, both Morello and Saietta attempted to reclaim their former positions. Morello was eventually murdered in 1930 during the Castellammarese War. Saietta was forced to relinquish most of his rackets and died in Brooklyn in 1947. The story of Joe Morello and the Black Handers serves as a reminder of the challenges faced by law enforcement in combating organized crime and the enduring legacy of violence and extortion that plagued Italian immigrant communities in the early 20th century.