Vito Cascioferro – The Legendary Mobster
He is regarded to be a prominent boss, belonging to the Sicilian Mafia. He was also called Don Vito. There are many who claim him to be a legend and ‘Boss of Bosses’. It is in 1862, January 22 that he was born to a poor family and was raised in Bisacquino, a rural town. However, Palermo is his actual birthplace. Both his parents were illiterate and his father was working in Bisacquino as armed guard. Vito had started his career as revenue collector but he started to show interest in criminal activities like kidnapping, menacing, etc.
Rise to position as a Mafia
Vito got recruited by Bernardino Verro into the Sicilian League and soon with his smart and daring acts, he went on to become its President. A kidnapping case in 1901 had made him to sail towards America, to escape being caught by the police, where he worked as fruits importer in New York for about two years.
In the USA, he comes across the Morello Mafia family that he joined, but with the threat of being arrested in 1904, he went back to Sicily. Don Vito was described to be very intelligent by Luigi Barzini, a journalist and possessed great qualities. He was loved by everyone and wore the best clothes, was quite helpful and generous in nature.
His activities in Italy
Casciferro was described as a terrible criminal by Joe Pestrosino, who was an american cop, but was killed by the former. Due to lack of evidence, Vito’s case was sent to trial. Although in his lifetime, he got arrested numerous times, but never got convicted. Some writers are of the opinion that it was Vito who had murdered Joe. According to the then police commissioner, the murder probably was orchestrated by others under the direction of Casciferro.
Mussolini, the Fascist leader in 1926 had ordered the destruction of the Mafia in Sicily and for this, he had given the responsibility to Prefect Cesare Mori. Cascioferro along with 150 members were arrested in the process. Vito got life term in 1930, where he died due to natural cause. But some writers feel that his death may be because of severe dehydration in 1943. But historians do consider that Vito Casciferro was indeed a great Mafia leader in Mafia history, who although had a short stint in the United States, was intelligent and capable enough to steer his band to safety.