CRIMES OF THE CAMORRA

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 261, 14 March 1911, Page 5

CRIMES OF THE CAMORRA

A TERRORIST SOCIETY. By Cable—Press Association—Copyright. Rome, March 12, Two judges have been appointed to preside over the Veterbo trial alternately, in case one should be unavoidably absent. Jurymen receive an allowance from the State of 43'/ 3 d daily, [ Many have come from distant parts. The trial is likely to be protracted for j months. Of 42 originally accused, one is dead, three are fugitives, and two are still free, but are watched. There was great difficulty in completing the jury, owing to fear of the vengeance of the Camorra. Terrorists in Sicily killed Infanti, who was prosecuting counsel against one of their number recently sentenced to imprisonment; also Infanti's clerk. A STRONG BAR. Received 13, 11.30 p.m. Rome, March 13. Thirty-two counsel arc engaged for the defence in the trials at Viterbo. The history of the Italian crimes is startling. On the night of June 5, 1900, an Italian woman 1 of great beauty was found murdered ip her bed at-her apartment in one of the central streets of Naples. She was known to a wide circle as La Sorrentina, and her beauty was famed far and wide. Suspicion at first fell on her husband, named Cuocolo, but the subsequent discovery of his body on a lonely road not far from Naples was sufficient proof of a plot agaiiißt the pair. It was known that Cuocolo knew several members of the secret society called the Mala Vita, which is practically, like the Mafia, a branch of the notorious Camorra, or Black Hand Society. His special work was to find out, by means of such influence and social position as he had, where the Black Hand members might expect to find treasure worth stealing. At the same time that this discovery was made evidence also came to light that Cuocolo was by no means free from suspicion of having acted as a spy on behalf of the police. Now, the Black Hand PUNISH WITH DEATH any member of their society who is suspected of treachery of the kind that Cuocolo appeared to have been guilty of. Hence it was soon regarded as clear thai, he was yet another of their victims, and that his beautiful and notorious wife must also have had a share in his treachery. On the day following this discovery the head of the very Camorra itself and, three of the chief members were arrested. Naples was in a ferment of excitement. The city was restless with astonishment, apprehension, and fear. The Camorrist leader arrested was named Erricone, a man whose reckless daring and inexhaustible cunning had alone raised him to his position of leader. He had been seen with three friends close to the scene of Cuocolo's murder, and en the same night. It was sufficient to justify his arrest. For fifty days he and the three men were kept in prison, but in spite of diligent search and inquiry no further evidence could be brought against them, and they were released. Even the populace went to cheer them as they left the hands of their custodians; and in time the two murders, that of Cuocolo on the lonely road, and of La Sorrentina in her bed at Naples, passed out of the popular mind. The release of Erricone and his com-1 panions did not, however, close the case, for, at any rate, one enterprising and enthusiastic Italian. This was a man named Capezzuto, a sergeant of the Carabinieri, who, as is well-known, have an irreconcilable rivalry of the police. Capezzuto, in the course of his investigations, learned that in an Italian prison there was a man named Abattemaggio, who, having been expelled from the Camorra, boasted, in revenge, that he KNEW THE GUILTY HANDS that had done the foul murders of Cuocolo nnd La Sorrentina. After much badgering and many threats Abattemaggio told a story to the effect that the Camorristi, suspecting that Cuocolo was acting both for them and for the police, had laid traps for him. A Camorra tribunal held u meeting and decided unanimously, Erricone being at their head, that Cuocolo and his wife should die. Six of the most resolute of the gang were selected to carry out the dread sentence. Their plan was to waylay Cuocolo on the road, murder him, and take his keys from him, and then return to Naples, enter her house with her dead husband's keys, and carry out the Black Hand sentenec on La Sorrentina. These facts were communicated to the head of the Naples Police. This man, jealous that a member of the Carabinieri had discovered them, declared that there was no truth in the story. The Carabinieri therefore determined to act on their own iniative. In short, they promptly seized every member of the Camorra who had had any hand in the sentences of death passed on Cuocolo and his wife. Their action was entirely and enthusiastically supported by the people of Naples, who, but a short time previously, had cheered the released Camorristi. Erricone, who, on hearing of the proposed arrests, fled to America, was extradited, and placed in safe custody with the rest. All this was in the spring of 1007, and since then the authorities have been making the case stronger every day with fresh evidence. Not far from one hun died lawyers are engaged in the case, a large number of them taking part in the defence of the 31 accused men. To ensure the safety of the Cnmmorist informer, a special cage, in addition to that for the prisoners, had to be Erected in court. All the prisoners were well supplied with money, and, the Italian prison regulations permitting them to provide their own food, they made themselves exceedingly comfortable, having their meals from the best restaurants, drinking freely, and smoking the B®St cigars. /