Enrico Alfano (; 1869 or 1870 – 9 January 1940), also known as "Erricone", was considered to be one of the chiefs of the Camorra, a Mafia-type organisation in the region of Campania and its capital Naples in Italy, at the turn of the 20th century. He was described as "a kind of president of the confederation."Critchley, The Origin of Organized Crime in America, p. 120 According to some sources, Alfano was linked to the murder of New York City police lieutenant Joseph Petrosino in Palermo in 1909, however, the murder had since been attributed to the Sicilian Mafia.
Alfano was accused of being the man behind the murder of rival Camorra boss Gennaro Cuocolo and his wife. The trial against Alfano and his associates in Viterbo in 1911–12, expanded from a murder case into a tribunal against the Camorra and attracted a lot of attention of newspapers and the general public both in Italy as well as in the United States. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison in July 1912, and despite the fact that the legitimacy of the trial was seriously questioned when the main witness for the prosecution retracted, he was only released in 1934 after having served 27 years.
Early life The son of a shoemaker,Paliotti, Storia della Camorra, pp. 191–98 Alfano began as a fruit merchant in Naples and speculating on the cattle fairs. He apparently became affiliated with the Camorra at an early age, but this is not certain because he was not mentioned in a 1901 investigation report by the Ministry of InteriorAlfano Holds Stage at Viterbo Assizes, The New York Times, April 1, 1911, Page 5 – known as the Saredo Inquiry since it was led by senator Giuseppe Saredo (it) – which unearthed an extensive political patronage system in the city of Naples.Dickie, Blood Brotherhoods, p. 184–86 However, the inquiry revealed little about the inner workings of the Camorra.Criminal Band That Murdered Petrosino In Police Coils, by Walter Littlefield, The New York Times, September 11, 1910, Section M, Page 1 According to an informer, Alfano had become the head of the Camorra after the death of the legendary capintesta (head-in-chief) Ciccio Cappuccio in 1892,Camorrist Told All To Win His Bride, The New York Times, March 6, 1911 although other sources disagree over his rise to power.
According to The New York Times report on the Cuocolo trial in 1911, Alfano was below medium height but a man of commanding presence; across his cheek he bore a long scar, the sfregio (a knife slash for dishonour; a sign of Camorra punishment). The New York Times reported that he was arrested many times as an accomplice in homicide, robbery and less important charges, but had never been convicted. According to the Italian newspaper La Stampa, Alfano did spend six or seven years in prison, where he earned his initiation as a camorrista, which gave him the "right" to demand a tangente, protection money, from the merchants in the neighbourhood he controlled. Erricone, l'assassino dei coniugi Cuocolo, La Stampa, June 7, 1907
Both sources agree that Alfano imposed his position when he defeated the Camorra head, the capintesta Totonno 'o Pappagallo (The Parrot) – so-named for his beak parrot nose – in a zumpata – a kind of ritual initiation knife duel – despite the fact that his adversary sent his Mastino dog to attack Alfano. The conflict started when Pappagallo returned from prison and found Alfano in control of his former territory.A fictional account of the zumpata is told by Italian-American author Louis Forgione in The Men of Silence, see under In popular culture. Other sources mention that after the death of Cappuccio, Giuseppe Chirico, 'o Granatiere (The Grenadier), from the Porta San Gennaro neighbourhood was elected. Although the conclave of the twelve district heads had decided in favour of Chirico, another popular leader, Totonno 'o Pappagallo, with many followers, contested the election. The matter was settled in a zumpata. Chirico, due to his inexperience with weapons, was wounded at the first blow and, to save himself, threw the knife to the ground and declared himself defeated. Paliotti, Storia della Camorra, pp. 175–80
After his win 'o Pappagallo was elected with all the votes, but had been sentenced to go to prison. Two of the twelve districts, Vicaria and Mercato, decided that his alternate, the young Alfano, would assume effective powers. Consiglio, La camorra a Napoli, p. 124 When 'o Pappagallo left prison, he was defeated in yet another duel by Alfano around the turn of the century. According to La Stampa, describing the event many years after it took place, the duel went as follows:
Camorra boss Although elected head of the Camorra, due to his reluctance to accept the challenges coming from all sides, and all the inevitable quarrels that so abundantly flourished in the meetings of the bosses, he did not keep the position. Challenged by Gennaro Cuocolo, he was deposed and Luigi Fucci, known as 'O Gassusaro, became the nominal head, the capintesta, of the Camorra, while Alfano remained head of the Vicaria section. While Fucci was the nominal head, Alfano apparently remained the operational leader and was described as "a kind of president of the confederation." He had his own representative in the twelve districts next to the capintrito rionale that answered to Fucci.Di Fiore, Potere camorrista, p. 111 Alfano, freed from the care of governance, devoted himself exclusively to his lucrative trade: usury.
He worked closely with his associate Giovanni Rapi – a former primary school teacher turned gambling operator and usurer –, who after a gambling stint in France opened the Unione del Mezzogiorno club in 1902 in Naples, popular among the aristocracy.French Detective at Viterbo Trial, The New York Times, May 27, 1911An American Lawyer at the Camorra Trial, by Arthur Train, McClure's Magazine, November 1911, pp. 71-82 Rapi and Alfano specialised in providing usury loans – at a rate of thirty per cent per week and fifty per cent per month – to merchants and gamblers, collecting extortion money, as well as procuring. He lived the good life and dressed very elegantly in Poole suits from London and Boivin shirts from Paris. He followed his rich clientele to the casinos in Nice, Montecarlo and Aix-les-Baines in the spring. Even the Naples lighting company paid protection money to prevent their wires being stolen.Says Business Paid Tribute To Camorra, The New York Times, July 12, 1911
From the traditional ranks of criminals, a new brand of sophisticated camorristi evolved: the 'elegant camorra' or 'camorra in straw-yellow gloves' (in guanti gialli) that moved among the affluent strata of Neapolitan society and provided them the means to enjoy their vices; at a cost.Dickie, Blood Brotherhoods, p. 195–96 Barbagallo, Storia della camorra, pp. 89-91 These 'gentlemen mobsters' mingled with the bourgeoisie in the Galleria Umberto I, a prestigious new arcade built as part of the reconstruction programme following the cholera epidemic of 1884, where Alfano had his informal headquarters at the Caffe Fortunio. La camorra secondo un delegato di P.S., La Stampa, 9 June 1911 In 1902, the famous French vaudeville singer and dancer, and the vedette of the Folies Bergère, Eugénie Fougère, who was performing at the Salone Margherita a café-chantant in Naples, contacted Alfano to get back her stolen jewelry. Within a few days, Alfano tracked the thieves and restored the jewelry. The case hit the news headlines and Alfano was arrested for complicity with the thieves but was absolved.
The power of Alfano reached as far as politics. Together with his right-hand men, the priest Ciro Vitozzi and his associate Giovanni Rapi, Alfano was said to be the man behind the election in 1904 of the Count Vincenzo Ravaschieri Foschi to parliament to the detriment of the incumbent socialist deputy Ettore Ciccotti.Says Politicians Hire The Camorra, The New York Times, July 13, 1911 I mille spettri della camorra, La Stampa, April 3, 1982Di Fiore, Potere camorrista, p. 117 Serena Robba (2009). Camorra - uno stile di vita , Tesi di Laurea, Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale "Amedeo Avogadro" The night before the election dissident voters were intimidated, assaulted, beaten, and sustained knife injuries by ruffians hired and encouraged by both the Camorra and the police, since the authorities equally disapproved of a socialist candidate. Atti Parlamentari 17 giugno 1907, Camera dei Deputati Alfano, Rapi and Vitozzi were seen and photographed while actively directing the vote in favour of Count Ravaschieri in the Camorra controlled district of Vicaria in which Ciccotti surprisingly had won in 1900. Ravaschieri won the 1904 election. Paliotti, Storia della Camorra, p. 186
Cuocolo murder
Alfano was charged with the murder of Gennaro Cuocolo and his wife, suspected of being police spies, on 6 June 1906. The murder case would develop into one of the most complicated legal cases of the early twentieth century in Italy.The Cuocolo trial: the Camorra in the dock ( Camorra: processo Cuocolo ), Museo criminologico (Retrieved May 25, 2011); The police moved quickly to arrest Alfano, his brother Ciro, Giovanni Rapi, and two members of the Camorra rank and file: Gennaro Jacovitti and Gennaro Ibello. They had frequented a restaurant in Torre del Greco, in the vicinity of the Cuocolo murder. However, the investigation did not produce evidence and the suspects were released from jail 50 days later, not in the least thanks to the intervention of the priest Ciro Vitozzi, the "guardian angel" of the Camorra and Erricone's god-father.Camorrist Victims Were Police Spies; Evidence Against Alfano and 40 Others Shows Double Dealings of Cuoccolo and His Wife, The New York Times, February 27, 1911Cuocolo Trial May Be Death Blow of the Camorra; Italian Government Hopes That the Great Murder Case at Viterbo Will End in the Extermination of the Powerful Criminal Organization, by Walter Littlefield, The New York Times, March 5, 1911, M section, p. 4Don Ciro Vitozzi's Tears Move Court, The New York Times, April 7, 1911
On the basis of Vitozzi's declarations and the testimony of Giacomo Ascrittore, a regular police informer and member of the Camorra, the local police and judiciary of Naples identified Gaetano Amodeo and Tommaso De Angelis as the real killers.Ascrittore Again Heard At Viterbo, The New York Times, April 12, 1911Ex-Ministers At Trial; One of Them, Signor Riccio, Mentioned by Sortino in His Defense, The New York Times, May 21, 1911 However, the murder investigation was transferred to the Carabinieri and delegated to Captain Carlo Fabbroni. Fabbroni accused the Naples police of inefficiency and corruption. The investigation got new momentum when Gennaro Abbatemaggio, a young camorrista and a former Carabinieri informer serving a jail sentence in Naples, testified that the decision to kill Cuocolo, suspected of being a police spy, had been taken at a meeting at the restaurant chaired by Alfano. The developments of the case and suspected police corruption were discussed in parliament several times. I rapporti fra camorra e polizia in Napoli discussi a la Camera, Corriere della Sera, April 2, 1908
In New York