Tommaso "The Ox" Petto (' 1879–October 21, 1905) was a New York mobster and leading hitman in the

Morello crime family The Morello crime family () was one of the earliest crime families to be established in the United States and New York City. The Morellos were based in Manhattan's Italian Harlem and eventually gained dominance in the Italian underworld by defea ...

during the early 1900s.

Early life

Born around 1879, Petto lived in the Williamsburg section of

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. His nickname "The Ox" came from his massive head and frame. Petto's nominal profession was that of a suit presser, but his real job was working for the Morello family. The Morello family was a Sicilian clan in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

that became infamous for killing their rivals, stuffing them in barrels, and leaving them on street corners.

Life as a criminal and fugitive

On April 15, 1903, after a violent fight with

New York Police Department The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...

(NYPD) detectives, Petto was arrested for the murder of Benedetto Madonia, one of the Barrel Murders. The police found a

pawn ticket A pawnbroker is an individual or business (pawnshop or pawn shop) that offers secured loans to people, with items of personal property used as collateral. The items having been ''pawned'' to the broker are themselves called ''pledges'' or ...

belonging to Madonia in Petto's possession. Petto was arraigned and held at the New York City Central Jail, known as "

the Tombs ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

", pending an inquest. However, jail officials released Petto by mistake and he disappeared from New York. Petto eventually resurfaced in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, where he became involved in criminal activities with a

Black Hand Black Hand or The Black Hand may refer to: Extortionists and underground groups * Black Hand (anarchism) (''La Mano Negra''), a presumed secret, anarchist organization based in the Andalusian region of Spain during the early 1880s * Black Hand (e ...

gang in the

Scranton, Pennsylvania Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U ...

area. In August 1904, a witness implicated Petto in the kidnapping of Vito Laduca, a Morello gang member, but no charges were ever filed.

Death

On the evening of October 21, 1905, Tommaso Petto, living under the alias "Luciano Parrino," was on his way home from his butcher shop when he was shot to death in the village of Browntown, near the cities of

Pittston Pittston is a city in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is situated between Scranton and Wilkes-Barre in Northeastern Pennsylvania. The city gained prominence in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as an active anthracite coal ...

and

Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Wilkes-Barre ( or ) is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, Luzerne County. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in th ...

. The body was described as "fairly riddled with bullets." Within a day or so, police were able to determine that "Parrino" was none other than Tommaso Petto."The Pittston Murder," ''Wilkes-Barre Record'', October 25, 1905. At the time, it was speculated that the murderer was Giuseppe de Primo, Madonia's brother-in-law. De Primo was a New York grocer who had helped the Morello gang distribute

counterfeit To counterfeit means to imitate something authentic, with the intent to steal, destroy, or replace the original, for use in illegal transactions, or otherwise to deceive individuals into believing that the fake is of equal or greater value tha ...

currency A currency, "in circulation", from la, currens, -entis, literally meaning "running" or "traversing" is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general def ...

. Serving a prison sentence when Madonia was murdered, De Primo was later released and allegedly tracked down Petto and killed him. However, no arrests were made and Petto's murderer was never found.

External links

GangRule.com - Tommaso PettoGangRule.com - Giuseppe De Primo
*

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Petto, Tommaso 1870s births 1903 murders in the United States 1905 deaths 1905 murders in the United States Bufalino crime family Deaths by stabbing in Pennsylvania Fugitives Genovese crime family Mafia hitmen Male murder victims Murdered American gangsters of Sicilian descent People murdered in Pennsylvania Unsolved murders in the United States

Early life

Life as a criminal and fugitive

Death

Further reading

See also

External links

References