Giuseppe Morello

Lore & Background

Giuseppe Morello was a slender man with a distinctive physical deformity: his right hand was malformed, possessing only a single finger, which gave it a claw-like appearance. This feature earned him the nickname "the Clutch Hand." He was also known as "the Old Fox" and, to his Castellammarese rivals, as Peter Morello. His range of criminal activity was centered in New York City, where he founded the 107th Street Mob in the 1890s, which later evolved into the Morello crime family, the oldest of the Five Families. His habitat included saloons, such as one he acquired at 8 Prince Street in Manhattan, which served as a meeting place for his gang. Defining characteristics of his rule included a merciless approach to ordering murders, often carried out by his enforcer Ignazio Lupo, who was responsible for over sixty killings in a decade. The family frequently used a "barrel murder" method, dismembering bodies and dumping them in barrels. Morello pioneered systematic weekly extortion from businesses for "protection," a technique adopted from Black Hand gangsters, and was the first crime family boss in New York to organize money laundering through legitimate businesses like stores and restaurants. He was recognized as capo di tutti capi by Mafia leaders in other U.S. cities.

Reader's Guide

Giuseppe Morello built his criminal enterprise on ruthless violence and systematic extortion. He founded the 107th Street Mob in the 1890s, which later became the Morello crime family, recognized as the oldest of New York City’s Five Families. Morello’s organization pioneered methods that became standard in organized crime: they laundered illegal profits through legitimate businesses such as stores and restaurants, and they adopted the Black Hand practice of demanding small weekly “protection” payments from shopkeepers rather than stealing large sums that could ruin them. This approach increased their revenue. Morello’s main enforcer, Ignazio Lupo, was responsible for over sixty murders in a decade. The family frequently disposed of victims by dismembering bodies and sealing them in wooden barrels, which were then abandoned on streets, shipped to false addresses, or dumped at sea. Morello’s operations included counterfeiting, extortion, loan sharking, robbery, and the Italian lottery. By 1905, he had become the most powerful Sicilian crime boss in New York and was recognized as capo di tutti capi by Mafia leaders in other cities. His criminal career was marked by two counterfeiting convictions, the first in 1894 in Sicily and a second in 1910 that led to a 25-year prison sentence, though he was later paroled and received a conditional commutation from President Harding in 1922. Morello’s half-brothers ran the family during his imprisonment. His legacy endures: the Morello crime family evolved into the Genovese crime family, one of the Five Families that continue to dominate organized crime in New York.

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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