Giuseppe Morello

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Lore & Background

Giuseppe Morello, often called "the Clutch Hand" due to his deformed right hand that had only one finger and resembled a claw, was a Sicilian-born Mafia boss. He stood as the first leader of what became the Morello crime family, later known as the Genovese family, and was a top adviser to Giuseppe Masseria. His appearance was marked by this distinctive hand, and he was also known as "the Old Fox" and by the Sicilian diminutive "Piddu." His range of influence centered on New York City, where his gang, the 107th Street Mob, evolved into a powerful crime family. His habitat included a saloon at 8 Prince Street in Manhattan that served as a meeting place. Defining characteristics included his merciless ordering of murders, often employing a barrel murder system where dismembered bodies were dumped into barrels and discarded. He built his empire through extortion, loan sharking, counterfeiting, and the Italian lottery, pioneering weekly protection payments from businesses. He was recognized as the capo di tutti capi by Mafia leaders in other U.S. cities. Morello was born in Corleone, Sicily, in 1867, and his early life involved a stepfather, Bernardo Terranova, who may have helped him enter the local Mafia clan. He married twice, first to Maria Rosa Marsalisi, who died in 1898, and later to Nicolina Salemi. He was convicted of counterfeiting in 1910 and sentenced to 25 years in prison, later paroled and freed from parole constraints by President Warren Harding in 1922.

Reader's Guide

Giuseppe Morello’s criminal career centered on counterfeiting, a trade that led to his conviction in absentia in Sicily in 1894. After relocating to the United States, he founded the 107th Street Mob in the 1890s, which later became the Morello crime family, now known as the Genovese family, the oldest of New York’s Five Families. Morello built his empire through ruthless violence, ordering executions against anyone who opposed him. His main enforcer, Ignazio Lupo, committed over sixty murders in a decade. The family frequently used the barrel murder system, dumping dismembered corpses into barrels that were discarded at sea, on street corners, or shipped to false addresses. Their enterprises included extortion, loan sharking, the Italian lottery, robbery, and counterfeiting. Illegally earned money was laundered through legitimate businesses such as stores and restaurants, making them the first crime family to organize systematic money laundering. They also pioneered weekly extortion payments from business owners for “protection,” a method adopted from Black Hand gangsters that increased profits. By 1905, Morello was recognized as the capo di tutti capi by Mafia leaders across the U.S. His deformed right hand, with only one finger resembling a claw, earned him the nickname “the Clutch Hand.” He later served as top adviser to Giuseppe Masseria until his murder in 1930.

Did You Know?

• Giuseppe Morello was arrested for counterfeiting in 1899 and sentenced to three years.
• After his release in 1902, Morello set up a system to print counterfeit $5 bills in Sicily and smuggle them into the United States.
• Ignazio Lupo, known as 'Lupo the Wolf', arrived in New York and joined Morello's Black Hand operations.
• Charles Umbriaco arrived in New York and later joined the Black Hand under Giuseppe Morello and Ignazio Lupo.

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