THE "BLACK-HAND" DOCTOR
There are characters in this story of Comito's of whom he never got a
glimpse until the case came to trial. There are still others involved
of whom he never even heard; in fact, not a few big fish are in the
net of the Secret Service whose names will probably never be revealed
to the public. This circumstance does not prevent me, however, from
surrounding Comito's statement with certain additional facts that may
serve to illuminate the plan followed by Lupo and Morello in building
up their sinister organization.
It often happens that disputes occur among the different elements of
the Italian criminals in New York City and in other parts of this
country. For instance, the Neapolitan element deals almost exclusively
in the traffic of women. Sometimes this business is invaded by a
hostile group from among the Sicilian element. Invariably quarrels
result and the disputes nearly always end in a shooting or a stabbing
affair.
It is well known to the Service that the quarrels of the Italian
criminals among themselves are settled without the help of the police
whenever this is at all possible. When a gang member is wounded,
secrecy requires that no ambulance be called or a doctor summoned who
is not a friend of the gang. This precaution is easily appreciated
when one comes to think that a call for an ambulance would require the
presence of a policeman and a public report being made of the affair.
Again, should a doctor, who is not known to the gang, be called in, he
is required to make a record of the occurrence and report any
suspicious injury to the police. If there is a death the coroner must
needs be notified. To avoid entanglement and trouble with the
authorities the various gangs have impressed in their service a
physician or two who may be relied upon to bind up the wounds and keep
the affair a secret. Many murders are in this way covered up and
escape the attention of the police and the public.
There was a man at the trial of the counterfeiters who was unknown to
Comito. Upon this man's testimony Morello expected to prove that he
was ill in the house during the period that he was actually out and
around and very active in the counterfeiting scheme.
Dr. Salvatore Romano is the man. The doctor perjured himself and
testified to please Morello, whose vengeance he feared.
After being indicted by the Federal Grand Jury, we were able to get a
statement from Dr. Romano. Incidentally this statement disclosed the
method whereby Morello and Lupo gathered their first money by sending
"Black-Hand" letters to countrymen who were suspected of having money,
or who could in any way be coerced into being useful to the gang.
Dr. Romano's cross-examination follows:
Q. Tell us, doctor, from the beginning, how you happened to get mixed
up; start from the time you knew Mr. Morello.
A. I met him in this country. He was living in East One Hundred and
Seventh Street; we were living at East One Hundred and Sixth Street.
He comes from the same town that my grandmother and mother hail from
in Sicily--Corleone--and while I was studying in my third year at the
College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia, my folks received a
letter from a "Black-Hand" Society.
Q. Who received it?
A. My mother.
Q. She knew Morello how long previous to this?
A. She had known him on the other side; never had anything to do with
him here.
Q. About when was it she got this "Black-Hand" letter?
A. Seven years ago; I was a third-year student in the College of
Physicians and Surgeons.
Q. What was the substance of the letter?
A. The substance of the letter was that unless a certain amount of
money was paid they would kill me. Naturally, my folks did not tell me
anything at all about it for fear that I would get excited, neglect my
studies, and so fail in my examinations. The folks kept the thing
quiet for a few days. The "Black-Handers" also said that if anything
were told to the police authorities, _the murder would take place
anyway_--money or no money. You see, my father was not here. I was a
young man, my brother was a small boy, and my family did not know what
to do at the time. My grandmother, though, knew this man Morello to
be mixed up with people of questionable character, and so she went to
him or he happened to meet her (I don't know which); anyway, she
confided the thing to Morello. He said, "All right, don't get excited;
they don't kill people off all at once. Wait until you get another
letter. Then we will see if we can find out the party who writes those
letters."
Finally, another letter was written. Then a third, and a fourth letter
came. _Morello always took the letters under the pretext of studying
the handwriting and to find out the origin of the letter._ Eventually,
he found out the origin of the letter, he said and--
Q. What was the origin?
A. Never found out. He just said that he had found out that they were
willing to settle for $1,000, but that he would pay $100 and that he
would make sure they returned the money to him after they found out
who he was; he said that we need not worry any more.
Q. Did you pay the $100?
A. No. Morello offered to pay the $100 himself and expected to get it
back. He said: "I will pay and see that they return it to me."
Q. Who would return it?
A. Those people would return the money again to him.
Q. He said that he would pay the money and that he would get it back
from the Black-Handers?
A. Yes. Then the whole thing quieted down and naturally my people
thought they were under obligations to this man Morello. And then when
the danger was over my folks told me about it and remarked about what
a terrible thing we had escaped.
About three or four months later, Morello came around and said to my
mother:
Q. Did you hear him?
A. No. She told me.
(Continuing) "I have a notion to get married. I'm in with a woman who
has a baby as the result of our relations. Now that I want to get
married, I want to break off this relation, and if it is not
inconvenient to you I would like to bring this baby, this little girl,
to your house until everything is arranged."
Q. That is the illegitimate child?
A. She could walk; was over one year old.
Q. Who was the woman?
A. I do not know.
Q. At that time he lived on Chrystie Street?
A. No. I understand he had a restaurant. Of course, my folks said that
it was no trouble for them. There were three or four women in the
household, and it would be no trouble for them to take care of the
little child.
Q. All the time you thought that you were under obligations to him?
A. Yes; just for that thing.
Q. Don't you know who the woman was?
A. No; never saw her.
Q. Sure you didn't?
A. No.
Q. Do you know her?
A. No, she was a Sicilian. I don't know her personally.
Q. Is she living?
A. I imagine she is.
Q. What was her name? What was she called?
A. Didn't know at all. Probably my grandmother would know.
Q. Was this after or before the barrel murder?
A. I think the barrel murder was after that.
Q. He lived on Chrystie Street at that time?
A. Yes. And so the baby was brought to our house and we took care of
it, a nice little baby. Nothing happened at all--no disturbance. They
came around to our house about once a week to see the baby. I kept on
studying; never bothered my head about anything at all. I went out
early in the morning and came back late; never bothered much with the
affairs of the family. That baby died. First it got the measles, then
bronchial pneumonia. It was a little over two years old when it died.
Q. Did Morello marry this woman?
A. The woman he married is his present wife. He had got her from the
other side. The sister (Morello's) had gone to the other side and
arranged for this marriage. So nothing happened until after I was
graduated. Then these people began to call on me as a doctor.
Q. He then lived in East One Hundred and Seventh Street?
A. I think in East One Hundred and Seventh Street, and he began to
call on me; and then the brother-in-law and then cousin, etc., called.
Q. Who is his brother-in-law?
A. He has three brothers-in-law, Lupo, Lima and Salima.
Q. Which one of his brothers-in-law did you treat?
A. I treated all three of them.
Q. Are Lima and Salima in this country now?
A. Yes, in New York City.
Q. And did you treat other relatives?
A. I treated all their relatives, and all free of charge. They would
call me; I would examine them, prescribe, etc., but I got no pay.
Q. Did you ever ask them for any?
A. No.
Q. Why not?
A. On account of the obligations; also the familiarity. Right from the
start I thought that I was doing a wise thing not to ask for money for
my services.
Q. What did you know about Morello about that time?
A. My folks had told him all about those letters and he had fixed it
all up; we had no disturbance because we were under his protection.
Q. Did you know that you were under his protection?
A. I knew as well as the family did.
Q. What protection did you think that he could give you?
A. Receiving no disturbance from the "Black-Handers."
Q. Did you know that he was connected with the "Black-Handers" then?
A. I did not know that he was a "Black-Hander," but I knew from the
fact that he had arranged everything that he must have known something
about these people.
Thus I became the regular physician for these people and never got any
pay. In the meantime I tried to get as much hospital experience as I
could and get out of New York, because, if a man goes out of New York
to a strange place without any experience--
Q. Why did you want to leave New York?
A. Not because I was afraid, not because they were doing anything to
me, but because I was tired of doing work for nothing; I never could
put any money in the bank.
The whole number of relatives, babies and patients, amounted to about
sixty. It would not be one day, but the next day, and all the time
they were on my hands. And I got no pay.
My mother was in the same position. My mother is a midwife. I tried to
get hospital experience, and as soon as I was in the position to leave
New York I departed, and I have never heard from him at all except
when I received letters from my mother who told me that they kept on
frequenting the house.
Q. What was the interview you had with Commissioner Wood?[5] And when
did you have that interview?
A. That was four or five years before I left New York. The main thing
he wanted to know was whether I knew these people well enough to tell
stories. Whether I could tell him that these people were
"Black-Handers"?
I had read in the newspapers that they had been in trouble with the
law; but they had treated me fairly well and I said nothing against
these people. Commissioner Wood wanted to know about these letters,
and naturally I did not tell.
Q. Did you treat Cecala?
A. No, I never treated him.
Q. Did you ever treat any of the defendants besides Morello?
A. No. Lupo, Morello and Palermo. Palermo was operated on for
something. At the time I was called in to give the ether.
Q. What was Morello's business after he gave up the grocery?
A. Real estate; then they started the real estate deal, the Ignatz
Florio Association. The way they worked that was--I don't know how
many got together, about nine or ten, and they started in by building
a house and selling it--they said, "We will build a house and sell it
and in that way there will be a big profit and from that profit we get
dividends." They got people to buy shares; the shares were payable, I
think, $5 down and $2 per month. So they came to my mother and she
bought one share for herself, one in the name of my brother, and one
in my name. When they got enough money they bought a lot, built a
house and sold it, and got a dividend of 40 per cent. You could then
either take the dividend, and put the money in your pocket, or leave
it and it would go on the share. So most of the people left their
money to go to their credit.
Q. Who got the money?
A. They claimed there was a big boom in real estate and they made
another deal; they got 35 or 30 per cent. dividend. Then they started
to build eight tenement houses, four on One Hundred and Thirty-seventh
Street and four on One Hundred and Thirty-eighth Street, near Cyprus
Avenue.
At the time they were building, the crash came.
They took advantage of the prices and said, "We have not enough money
to keep on; the shareholders will have to come together and pay more
money on each share."
I paid $10 extra on each share. At that time my mother had acquired
eight shares. She had bought another for herself. Then my cousin had
bought two for herself, which she did not want to keep, so my mother
told her she would buy them from her.
Q. Did Morello know anything about your going to see Commissioner
Wood; did you tell him?
A. Yes. I--
Q. What did you tell him?
A. I said that Commissioner Wood, when he found out that I would not
give the information he wanted, said that I was just like the rest of
them and then told me that I might go.
Q. Did you tell Morello before you went down?
A. No.
Q. What did Morello say when you told him that you had been down
there?
A. He said that is the way you have to do everything.
Q. What do you know about the barrel murder?
A. Absolutely nothing at all.
Q. What do you know about Inzarillo?
A. He is considered of questionable character.
Q. Do you know the Terranova Brothers?
A. They are the stepbrothers of Morello.
Q. Do you know anything about them? Did you treat them?
A. Yes, quite a long while; they had a disease which required that
they come to my house every day, both Morello and the Terranovas.
Q. When was that?
A. That went on for about two years.
Q. What two years?
A. The two years just preceding 1907 and 1908.
Q. Was Morello born with that deformed hand?
A. Yes. He was so much crippled that they called him "Little Finger."
Q. Then you did not treat Morello in 1909?
A. At the time that I stated I did see him at No. 107 East One Hundred
and Thirty-eighth Street; also, I saw him in Rizzo's house, and he
would complain of pains; he was always complaining.
Q. He was not sick in bed?
A. No.
Q. You did not have any consultation with Dr. Brancato?
A. No. I think that I may have had one consultation with him when he
was at One Hundred and Thirty-eighth Street.
Q. When?
A. I think it was before the time I covered. I think it was in
December, 1908, also.
Q. That means January and February?
A. No.
Q. He was not treating Morello?
A. He was the family physician in a way.
Q. What do you think of him?
A. Dr. Brancato? I want to state the fact as honestly as if he were my
brother. I think he was a figurehead, too.
Q. Did he ever say about what he was going to testify?
A. He said we were up against a bad proposition. "Let us make our
testimony as light as possible," he said. I asked him how we could
avoid a thing of that kind. They would get us into trouble and we
would have to stand for it.
Q. Who came to you and told you that you would have to testify?
A. Nobody; but this is the way it was done: They went to my mother and
began to talk to her.
Q. Who?
A. Mrs. Morello and the mother of Morello and the brothers of Morello.
So they went there and began to explain that they had got into very
serious trouble. They also said that the only way--
Q. Who?
A. That he could be possibly saved would be to produce an alibi. I was
to say that he was not out at any time he was accused of being out. I
was to understand that he was the wrong man mentioned in court. They
explained to my mother that the police knew that Dr. Romano had been
their physician. It would be only natural that they call me; I could
then testify that I was treating Morello at the time and he was unable
to get out when, the charges alleged, Morello was around and doing
things in the counterfeiting plant.
They explained to my mother that there was no other man that could be
called, because no other man would be trusted. The police knew I was
Morello's physician, they said.
And then my mother asked them not to call me, that it would be putting
me into trouble, and that I would have to abandon the business I had
started.
They told her that it was an absolute necessity that I come down from
Rochester and testify. If I did not come, they said, Morello would be
sentenced surely. "Naturally," they said, "we think if the doctor
would come down, Morello will be free."
So my mother wrote to me. "This is the last proposition they are going
to give you," she said. "I think you cannot avoid coming down."
Q. She wrote and told you about it? Have you got that letter?
A. No. Naturally I would not keep a letter of that kind. I thought the
matter over. I knew the character of the men I had to deal with. I
knew that if I refused and Morello got a big sentence they would put
the whole thing up to me. I thought of my mother down here going out
and in at night, and I had something to fear. Probably if it had been
for myself only I would not have considered it; I would have looked at
it differently. It seemed that I had no alternative in a case of this
kind. They telegraphed me.
Q. Who?
A. The brothers Terranova.
Q. What did they say?
A. Be in New York to-morrow to appear in Court for the testimony of my
brother.
Q. When was that sent to you? When did you get the telegram? Was it a
day or two before you came down?
A. Yes, but I came down at once. The first time I came I remained here
two days. Not being called, and not being able to leave my business
for such a long period, I rushed back to Rochester.
Q. When did you come down again?
A. One week later at the time the detectives were testifying.
Q. And you came down later? Did you go to your mother's house?
A. Yes.
Q. Whom did you see there?
A. Terranova, Nick Terranova.
Q. What did he say to you?
A. "I am very sorry to trouble you. I know what you are losing. I know
that you are doing this for us, but it is absolutely necessary. You
are in no danger at all"--he was all the time in the house--"there
will be no danger for you; you will be all right."
Q. Did he tell you what you had to say?
A. He said, "How many times a week do you want to say that you saw
him?" I answered once a week. "I want to make my testimony as light
as possible," I told him, "so as not to get into trouble with the
Court." He said that once a week was probably too little; "make it
twice a week," he said. And I said, if I remember rightly, I saw him
twice a week.
Q. Did he tell you the time and the period?
A. He told me the period from the latter part of December to the early
part of March. Of course I could not testify further than that.
Q. Was Dr. Brancato there?
A. I was all alone.
Terranova said to me that when his brother (Morello) comes out of the
Tombs I was to tell him just what I was going to testify to in Court.
This in order to keep Morello from getting mixed up in his testimony,
and also for the additional purpose of keeping Morello's mind at ease
in the courtroom. Terranova told me to come along with him, and he
made me stand in the corner there until he (Morello) came out, and I
was to say he had rheumatism.
Q. He said that; did Terranova tell Morello you were going to testify?
A. We had arranged that.
Q. When did you first see him?
A. When they were bringing him down from the Tombs to the courtroom.
Q. Did Terranova speak to Morello?
A. Yes. He first spoke to Morello.
Q. And he told him that you were willing to testify for that period?
A. Yes.
Q. Then what did you say to Morello?
A. "I am going to testify for you, that you had rheumatism for that
period, from the latter part of December to the first part of March."
Q. Up to the time you left for Rochester?
A. Yes. He said, "Don't fear; we are out; there is no danger at all;
you need not fear, and I tell you that I was not out of the house at
all; nobody saw me and nobody will know the difference, because I was
as pale as a ghost at the time."
Q. They did not know we had eight men watching them at the time--
A. I came the first time, was here two days and was not called; I hung
around the Court and finally had to go back to Rochester and look
after my business.
Q. When did you first see Dr. Brancato?
A. The second time I came down to New York.
Q. Did you know that he was going to testify too?
A. Terranova told me--
Q. What did he say?
A. "He is going to testify that you were in consultation." Terranova
took me from the courthouse here to Dr. Brancato.
Q. That is Nick Terranova?
A. Yes.
Q. What did you do down in Brancato's office?
A. We simply agreed as to what we were going to say; that is the time
Dr. Brancato told me "we are up against it."
Q. On the quiet?
A. On the quiet.
Q. Was Terranova there?
A. He was in the outside room.
Q. Did he tell you how you would fix it up--he did not treat Morello?
A. No. Morello was not sick; he had no rheumatism, but complained all
the time of pains.
Q. Did Dr. Brancato tell you he had not treated him?
A. We did not argue about that. It was understood.
Q. It was understood that you had to swear falsely?
A. _Because we could not do otherwise!_ So they came to me principally
because I was his regular physician and they got Dr. Brancato--
Q. To come in after you went to Rochester?
A. I do not know what Dr. Brancato said.
Q. Do you know Maria Capellano; she is no relation to you?
A. Who?
Q. The trained nurse who said she treated him?
A. No.
Q. Do you know Gasparo Candido, the druggist on One Hundred and
Forty-ninth Street, now at No. 23 New Bowery?
A. No.
Q. Did you ever have any conversation with Mrs. Morello?
A. No--the only conversation I had with her was--"Please do that for
the love of the children; try and help my husband."
Q. Where did you have that conversation?
A. She came to my house.
Q. You fixed the whole thing up with the Terranova boys?
A. With Nick.
Q. What happened after you got through testifying?
A. I rushed back to Rochester.
Q. Have you heard from them since you have been indicted?
A. My mother told the whole crowd that she would have nothing to do
with them; didn't care what the consequences would be. She said: "You
have ruined my son; the last good thing you have done for us." They
said to her, "Don't worry, everything will be all right."
She said: "I don't care how it goes; I don't want to see you any
more."
Q. Did you hear anything about the alibi that you were going to
establish for Cecala?
A. I heard something when I was in the lawyer's office.
Q. Were you down in the lawyer's office at all?
A. Twice. He said: "What is your testimony to be?" I told him, and he
said all right.
Q. The only lawyer you ever saw?
A. Yes.
Q. Terranova was the one who had all the conversation?
A. Nick, yes. He did the telegraphing.
Q. How did he sign the telegram?
A. Terranova.
Q. Did not sign Nicholas?
A. No, I don't think he did.
Q. He was down in Towns'[6] office?
A. He was; he never left me a minute.
Q. What conversation did you have with Ponticelli?
A. Only that I got there before he did. I was introduced to him here.
Q. By whom?
A. I do not recall.
Q. He is a friend of Morello's?
A. I think he was; lived downtown; they were neighbors.
Q. Did you not have a store up there? [Rochester.]
A. No. I went away from New York with a druggist.
Q. His name?
A. Bisconti. He went out there [Rochester] for the purpose of setting
up a drug store, and I to set up an office. Naturally, I would be
doing business with him. If I had any patients he would fill out the
prescriptions. We proposed to help one another. We could not set up
the drug store right away, so I rented my office to him and kept some
medicines there; and I wrote my prescriptions and told the patients
that if they wanted they could have the prescriptions filled out right
in the house. That thing did not work because people would pay one
dollar for the visit to me and sixty or seventy cents for the
medicine, and they thought it was a scheme. I told Bisconti that as we
had come to Rochester together I would help him all I could to set up
a drug store there. This was when we parted.
Q. How long have you known Bisconti?
A. About three months.
Q. Did any of the crowd ever give you checks to present at the bank?
A. No. Ponticelli has a store with three or four men working. He came
to me and asked if I could do him a favor. I had been there only two
or three months. He said that he was doing much business and that as I
was not doing very much he requested me to go and cash a check for
him. It was for $300 made out by Ponticelli himself.
Q. Did they ever discuss the counterfeit operations with you in any
way?
A. No.
Q. The only thing you know about them is that they made you come down
here and testify?
A. Yes.
Q. Did they threaten your mother?
A. No.
For making this statement, which shows up the methods whereby the
"Black-Handers" operated and tried to escape the punishment of the
court for the offenses with which they were charged, Dr. Romano was
allowed to go free after sentence was suspended.
Dr. Brancato, the other physician, was tried twice, once the jury
disagreeing and the second time he was found not guilty.
I have no criticism of the action of the jury in Dr. Brancato's case.
It is simply in line with the "fortunes of war" that the government
was unable to land Dr. Brancato.
FOOTNOTES:
[5] Commissioner Wood was at the time referred to here the Deputy
Commissioner of Police in charge of the Detective Bureau of New York
under Theodore Bingham. It was Wood who sent Lieutenant Joseph
Petrosino to Italy on the mission, in the carrying out of which the
Lieutenant was assassinated. In reference to this murdering of
Petrosino, who was the man who went to Sing Sing and got information
from DePriema, which led to the identifying of the man murdered and
found in the barrel, I wish to refer the reader back to that part of
Comito's statement where Comito tells of his visit to Morello's house
in East One Hundred and Thirty-eighth Street, and especially to take
note of the reference there made by Comito to "Michele, the
Calabrian," and the conversation that took place between Morello and
Cecala concerning the Calabrian. Then couple this with the reference
made again to the Calabrian by Lupo (Page 113) in paying Michele's
fare to Italy.
[6] Mirabeau L. Towns, attorney for the gang.