Сицилиялық мафияның белгілі өкілі Вито Касио Ферро

Member of the Sicilian Mafia

Vito Cascio Ferro or Vito Cascioferro (; 22 January 1862 – 20 September 1943), also known as Don Vito, was an Italian criminal who was a prominent member of the Sicilian Mafia. He also operated for several years in the United States. He is often depicted as the "boss of bosses", although such a position does not exist in the loose structure of Cosa Nostra in Sicily. Cascio Ferro's life is full of myth and mystery. He became a legend even when he was alive, and that legend is partially responsible for creating the image of the gallant gentleman capomafia (Mafia boss). He is widely considered to have been responsible for the 1909 murder of Joseph Petrosino, head of the New York City police department's Italian Squad. However, he was never convicted of the crime. With the rise of Fascism in Italy, his untouchable position declined. He was arrested and sentenced to death in 1930 and would remain in jail until his death. There is some confusion about the exact year of his death, but according to La Stampa, Cascio Ferro died on 20 September 1943, in the prison on the island of Procida.

Although many sources have identified Cascio Ferro as a native of the rural town of Bisacquino, where he was raised, he was actually born in the city of Palermo, on 22 January 1862. His parents, Accursio Cascio Ferro and Santa Ippolito, were poor and illiterate. The family moved to Bisacquino when his father became a campiere (an armed guard) with the local landlord, Baron Antonino Inglese, a notorious usurper of state owned land. The position of campiere often involved Mafiosi. According to other sources, at an early age, the family moved to Sambuca Zabut, where he lived for approximately 24 years before relocating to Bisacquino, his recognized power base in the Mafia. Cascio Ferro received no formal education. When still young, he married a teacher from Bisacquino, Brigida Giaccone, who instructed him how to read and write. He worked as a revenue collector as a young adult, using the position as a cover to carry out his protection racket. His criminal record began with an assault in 1884 and progressed through extortion, arson, and menacing, and eventually to the kidnapping of the 19 year old Baroness Clorinda Peritelli di Valpetrosa in June 1898, for which he received a three year sentence.

In 1923, the sub prefect of Corleone warned the Ministry of Interior that Cascio Ferro was "one of the worst offenders, quite capable of committing any crime." In May 1925, he was arrested as the instigator of a murder. He was able to be released on bail, as usual. However, with the rise of Fascism, his reputation and immunity were declining. He was indicted for participation in 20 murders, eight attempted murders, five robberies with violence, 37 acts of extortion, and 53 other offences including physical violence and threats. He was sentenced to life imprisonment on 27 June 1930, on the old murder charge. The "iron prefect", as Mori was known, wanted to give maximum publicity to the event. He had posters printed with pictures of Cascio Ferro and the text of the court sentence. However, according to historian Giuseppe Carlo Marino, Cascio Ferro was transferred to another prison in Pozzuoli in 1940, and the octogenarian was left to die during an Allied bombardment of that prison in 1943 (other sources mention 1942). For years, a sentence believed to be carved by Cascio Ferro was legible on the wall of his Ucciardone cell: "Prison, sickness, and necessity, reveal the real heart of a man." Inmates considered occupying Don Vito's former cell a great honour. Historians consider this account a legend rather than fact.