1 00:00:11,480 --> 00:00:13,480 Speaker 1: Quest for grand started working. 2 00:00:15,600 --> 00:00:21,319 Speaker 2: I didn't say Febrio Martino, Nicolo Martino. Nicolo Martino is 3 00:00:21,320 --> 00:00:23,799 Speaker 2: the name of Niccolo, last name Nicola? 4 00:00:24,040 --> 00:00:24,880 Speaker 1: Last time and. 5 00:00:25,680 --> 00:00:30,600 Speaker 3: Again, why course is the same day at the same time, 6 00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:31,880 Speaker 3: so maybe. 7 00:00:32,400 --> 00:00:33,920 Speaker 1: The same place. He thinks they're. 8 00:00:33,720 --> 00:00:40,040 Speaker 2: Connected at the great check. That's unusual because there weren't 9 00:00:40,120 --> 00:00:42,160 Speaker 2: so many deads in the same day in a small 10 00:00:42,200 --> 00:00:46,880 Speaker 2: town like this in nineteen sixteen, the same place Postelos test. 11 00:00:46,960 --> 00:00:49,520 Speaker 4: So they'll cico. 12 00:00:50,680 --> 00:00:51,440 Speaker 3: In contra. 13 00:00:52,800 --> 00:01:01,400 Speaker 1: Contra smat, you have a why would they be murdered together? 14 00:01:03,320 --> 00:01:05,720 Speaker 5: Nicolo Martino? 15 00:01:06,080 --> 00:01:06,959 Speaker 1: Who are you? 16 00:01:07,560 --> 00:01:08,560 Speaker 4: Nikomo Martino? 17 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:10,320 Speaker 5: Who is this guy that she was killed? 18 00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:14,000 Speaker 1: What the fuck? That was? Last time? 19 00:01:14,319 --> 00:01:19,319 Speaker 5: On the Sicilian Inheritance this week the scene of the 20 00:01:19,400 --> 00:01:44,160 Speaker 5: crime from Kaleidoscope and iHeart I'm Joe Piazza. Picture it. 21 00:01:44,680 --> 00:01:48,160 Speaker 5: Here we are in Sicily. We've just had our Columbo 22 00:01:48,280 --> 00:01:52,400 Speaker 5: moment where we say to the town clerk in Cultaboa. 23 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:53,680 Speaker 1: Just one more thing? 24 00:01:54,320 --> 00:01:57,640 Speaker 5: Can you do just one more thing for us? Will 25 00:01:57,680 --> 00:02:01,640 Speaker 5: you look for any more deaths? Or just after my 26 00:02:01,720 --> 00:02:06,440 Speaker 5: great great grandmother Lorenzo Marsala's death, and what there's this 27 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:10,519 Speaker 5: other guy right there in the book of Deaths. Niccolo 28 00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:15,560 Speaker 5: Martino a stranger who died on the very same day 29 00:02:16,120 --> 00:02:21,280 Speaker 5: in the exact same spot, and he may have been 30 00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:25,440 Speaker 5: her brother in law. Now we're looking to investigate a 31 00:02:25,560 --> 00:02:29,000 Speaker 5: double homicide. I actually had to sit down. 32 00:02:29,840 --> 00:02:30,080 Speaker 1: Now. 33 00:02:30,200 --> 00:02:33,520 Speaker 5: You'd think that the Big Book of Deaths would contain 34 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:40,120 Speaker 5: actual information about the death, something about what actually happened 35 00:02:40,240 --> 00:02:44,400 Speaker 5: to a person. But no, there is zero information in 36 00:02:44,440 --> 00:02:47,960 Speaker 5: there about the cause of death. All we have in 37 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:52,959 Speaker 5: this entry is an insane amount of information about where 38 00:02:53,520 --> 00:02:57,560 Speaker 5: it happened. I guess in nineteen sixteen, the record keepers 39 00:02:57,680 --> 00:02:59,880 Speaker 5: were just very invested. 40 00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:06,519 Speaker 2: In the world, says the area fight kilometers before entering 41 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:08,600 Speaker 2: on the left side of the road. 42 00:03:09,320 --> 00:03:13,480 Speaker 5: The area where she died five kilometers outside of town, 43 00:03:14,160 --> 00:03:18,320 Speaker 5: around a bend near the Monument of the Fallen Masses, 44 00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:22,280 Speaker 5: right next to a place where there may have been 45 00:03:22,280 --> 00:03:23,079 Speaker 5: a landslide. 46 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:26,080 Speaker 2: He suggested to stop in a place where she probably 47 00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:28,600 Speaker 2: died that area, But why she does that matter? 48 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:31,639 Speaker 1: He thinks that she could have something could have happened. 49 00:03:32,639 --> 00:03:33,480 Speaker 3: No, he's not. 50 00:03:33,560 --> 00:03:35,240 Speaker 5: He's not sure, but he's just trying to show us 51 00:03:35,240 --> 00:03:38,680 Speaker 5: where she died. We should stop and see where she died. No, 52 00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:40,520 Speaker 5: of course, we've got to go to the place where 53 00:03:40,520 --> 00:03:43,840 Speaker 5: it happened. Because we are running down every lead, every 54 00:03:43,880 --> 00:03:49,560 Speaker 5: half baked theory, and every single potential clue. I'm gonna 55 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:52,680 Speaker 5: warn you we will be in the car on poorly 56 00:03:52,800 --> 00:03:56,480 Speaker 5: paved hairpins switchbacks that take us down the side of 57 00:03:56,560 --> 00:04:00,720 Speaker 5: this ridiculously steep mountain. I had to take an arama mean, 58 00:04:01,320 --> 00:04:05,080 Speaker 5: so you might want to too. The road is tiny, 59 00:04:05,480 --> 00:04:08,320 Speaker 5: it's super narrow, and only one car can pass at 60 00:04:08,320 --> 00:04:11,640 Speaker 5: a time. In most places there's no guardrail at all, 61 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:15,200 Speaker 5: So one false turn of the wheel and that's it. 62 00:04:15,480 --> 00:04:16,680 Speaker 5: You're going over the edge. 63 00:04:17,120 --> 00:04:17,440 Speaker 1: All right. 64 00:04:17,520 --> 00:04:20,719 Speaker 5: So now now we're searching for the spot where she 65 00:04:20,839 --> 00:04:25,400 Speaker 5: was murdered. Signor Grotto was very specific about where it was. 66 00:04:25,480 --> 00:04:29,040 Speaker 5: What did detail by detail? So what did he tell us? 67 00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:34,400 Speaker 4: Yes, it's all about this place where there's this fountain, 68 00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:38,559 Speaker 4: kind of fountain where the caddles horses is to drink. 69 00:04:39,240 --> 00:04:42,560 Speaker 1: Okay, five kilometers five kilometers outside of the side. 70 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:45,960 Speaker 4: Yeah, there's a small hallway in the middle of the 71 00:04:47,240 --> 00:04:49,920 Speaker 4: and there's also an house. I asked him, is it 72 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:53,160 Speaker 4: abandoned house? No, there's some hunters leaves. 73 00:04:52,920 --> 00:04:55,720 Speaker 1: There, so some hunters that live there. What do people 74 00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:58,080 Speaker 1: hunt here and four boars. 75 00:04:58,360 --> 00:05:02,560 Speaker 5: That's e Torre. He's translator, who's driving, and he's answering 76 00:05:02,680 --> 00:05:05,400 Speaker 5: every single inane question that I have. 77 00:05:05,880 --> 00:05:08,039 Speaker 3: There's just one thing we could do to solve the mystery. 78 00:05:08,600 --> 00:05:10,839 Speaker 3: Take take time machine back in time. 79 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:12,480 Speaker 5: No no, no, no no. 80 00:05:12,960 --> 00:05:15,039 Speaker 1: You have to hire a medium, a psychic to talk 81 00:05:15,080 --> 00:05:15,520 Speaker 1: to the dead. 82 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:18,960 Speaker 3: Oh yeah, it will be too easy. 83 00:05:18,960 --> 00:05:21,159 Speaker 5: Right, So I watch you Torre cut the wheel from 84 00:05:21,160 --> 00:05:24,039 Speaker 5: one direction to the other. I can't help but think 85 00:05:24,040 --> 00:05:27,560 Speaker 5: about this land that we're traveling across. You can see 86 00:05:27,600 --> 00:05:32,360 Speaker 5: olive fields and vineyards and the ocean. It's freaking gorgeous. 87 00:05:32,760 --> 00:05:36,320 Speaker 5: But the roads are perilous, mostly because the mountain is 88 00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:39,080 Speaker 5: steep and the top of it is covered in these 89 00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:42,920 Speaker 5: massive rocks that are filled with caves. The cliffs are 90 00:05:42,960 --> 00:05:49,159 Speaker 5: majestic but also imposing. And there's history here, history that 91 00:05:49,200 --> 00:05:53,159 Speaker 5: I only discovered while I was reporting this podcast. At 92 00:05:53,200 --> 00:05:57,080 Speaker 5: one point, these caves were actually filled with hundreds of 93 00:05:57,160 --> 00:06:00,279 Speaker 5: criminal bandits who use them as a hideout and a 94 00:06:00,400 --> 00:06:04,480 Speaker 5: layer over one hundred years of past since Lorenzo Marsala 95 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:08,600 Speaker 5: died from what we now know is unnatural causes. 96 00:06:09,520 --> 00:06:10,520 Speaker 1: The book told us that. 97 00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:14,800 Speaker 5: But the description also has us looking for landmarks that 98 00:06:14,839 --> 00:06:18,479 Speaker 5: are one hundred years old, and no matter how good 99 00:06:18,680 --> 00:06:23,640 Speaker 5: that description is, obviously things have changed since then, or 100 00:06:23,640 --> 00:06:27,000 Speaker 5: at least that's what I'm imagining. It makes me think 101 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:29,240 Speaker 5: of those pictures of New York City where there used 102 00:06:29,279 --> 00:06:32,640 Speaker 5: to be beautiful buildings in a town square and now 103 00:06:33,040 --> 00:06:36,719 Speaker 5: it's a panera. And that's what I was expecting, except 104 00:06:36,839 --> 00:06:40,919 Speaker 5: Caltabalota really has barely changed in a century. 105 00:06:41,240 --> 00:06:44,600 Speaker 1: Oh oh, okay, here's here's the cattle. Yes, here's the cattle. 106 00:06:45,440 --> 00:06:49,000 Speaker 5: The fountain that the Book of Death described, the lean cattle, 107 00:06:49,279 --> 00:06:53,120 Speaker 5: the road that winds passed an outpost, they're all still there. 108 00:06:54,279 --> 00:07:01,000 Speaker 5: The pastures are not condos, they're still pastures. Stone cottages 109 00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:06,919 Speaker 5: are completely untouched. And that's part of the charm. But 110 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:09,400 Speaker 5: it also makes it easier to see why so many 111 00:07:09,440 --> 00:07:14,720 Speaker 5: Sicilians had to leave here. When Antonino Piazza left Lorenza 112 00:07:14,760 --> 00:07:18,320 Speaker 5: to go to America, it was a very difficult time 113 00:07:18,400 --> 00:07:21,520 Speaker 5: to be living in Sicily. In fact, more than a 114 00:07:21,600 --> 00:07:25,000 Speaker 5: million Sicilians fled because it was impossible to make a 115 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:28,920 Speaker 5: living wage and support a family, and most peasants and 116 00:07:29,040 --> 00:07:34,320 Speaker 5: wage workers had absolutely no rights. The people who lived 117 00:07:34,360 --> 00:07:37,760 Speaker 5: and worked the land. Here were small scale farmers who 118 00:07:37,920 --> 00:07:42,040 Speaker 5: usually grew just enough to feed their families, and as 119 00:07:42,120 --> 00:07:45,520 Speaker 5: Chiro likes to point out as our family tour guide, 120 00:07:45,960 --> 00:07:50,160 Speaker 5: life has never been easy for Sicilians. This is an 121 00:07:50,160 --> 00:07:54,200 Speaker 5: island that has been conquered over and over again ever 122 00:07:54,280 --> 00:07:56,640 Speaker 5: since ancient times. 123 00:07:57,000 --> 00:08:01,600 Speaker 6: The Greek surviving city in the sixth century before cry So, 124 00:08:01,960 --> 00:08:06,680 Speaker 6: our culture basically came from the Greeks, but then we 125 00:08:06,760 --> 00:08:10,600 Speaker 6: have had a lot of other population, the Roman, the 126 00:08:10,640 --> 00:08:16,560 Speaker 6: Arabs for the seventh century, the Spanish, the Norman, the French. 127 00:08:16,800 --> 00:08:21,240 Speaker 6: That's why all our culture, in the architecture, in the food, 128 00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:26,800 Speaker 6: it's a mix of all this population. Also our DNA. 129 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:34,640 Speaker 5: It's kind of what makes Sicily Sicily. As we drive, 130 00:08:34,800 --> 00:08:39,080 Speaker 5: I imagine myself in the landscape of Lorenzo's time. The 131 00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:41,280 Speaker 5: one thing that snaps me back to the twenty first 132 00:08:41,320 --> 00:08:43,640 Speaker 5: century is the wind turbines. 133 00:08:44,040 --> 00:08:45,720 Speaker 1: There are these massive. 134 00:08:45,360 --> 00:08:49,560 Speaker 5: White structures just whirring along the top of the mountain side. 135 00:08:49,640 --> 00:08:54,800 Speaker 6: So many wind farms has been one of the big 136 00:08:54,920 --> 00:09:00,319 Speaker 6: big business where the mafia put today ends since about 137 00:09:00,360 --> 00:09:01,720 Speaker 6: the Pentias. 138 00:09:01,800 --> 00:09:02,480 Speaker 1: There's the mafia. 139 00:09:02,679 --> 00:09:04,959 Speaker 6: They call it lot No, but you know it's a 140 00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:09,760 Speaker 6: big business, so also immediate expensive. 141 00:09:10,640 --> 00:09:11,040 Speaker 1: Mm hmm. 142 00:09:11,320 --> 00:09:14,520 Speaker 5: There are wind turbines truly everywhere, like more wind turbines 143 00:09:14,520 --> 00:09:18,400 Speaker 5: than I've ever seen. And yes, what Chiro just said 144 00:09:18,559 --> 00:09:21,559 Speaker 5: caught me by surprise to could it be that the 145 00:09:21,679 --> 00:09:24,719 Speaker 5: Mafia has dipped its shiny shoes into the world of 146 00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:30,000 Speaker 5: renewable energy. The Mafia today is very different than it 147 00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:33,920 Speaker 5: was when Lorenzo was alive, and it's not so much 148 00:09:34,040 --> 00:09:36,920 Speaker 5: Tony Soprano or Don Corleone either. 149 00:09:37,160 --> 00:09:41,480 Speaker 1: But the Mafia still exists, right, It's just there like 150 00:09:42,600 --> 00:09:43,680 Speaker 1: it's very. 151 00:09:45,520 --> 00:09:51,319 Speaker 6: Connecting with the Russia Mafia, with the Calibris Mafia, the 152 00:09:51,320 --> 00:09:53,360 Speaker 6: American right, right. 153 00:09:53,840 --> 00:09:58,280 Speaker 5: I read the story about the forestry that they burned 154 00:09:58,360 --> 00:09:59,959 Speaker 5: down part of the Madoni Mountain. 155 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:06,360 Speaker 6: Yes see, but it's just it's not big, big business, 156 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:09,520 Speaker 6: the big busy of the mafia, or the public constraction 157 00:10:09,720 --> 00:10:15,559 Speaker 6: or the wind the means the big public construction. 158 00:10:17,760 --> 00:10:18,520 Speaker 1: They do. Drugs. 159 00:10:19,679 --> 00:10:22,280 Speaker 6: Drugs, yes, of course, drug is always. 160 00:10:22,840 --> 00:10:26,120 Speaker 5: As we drive, we cannot seem to outrun the topic 161 00:10:26,280 --> 00:10:29,560 Speaker 5: of the mafia. Just a few years ago, the Mafia 162 00:10:29,720 --> 00:10:33,960 Speaker 5: was actually accused of setting massive forest fires by tying 163 00:10:34,120 --> 00:10:39,360 Speaker 5: petrol soaked burning rags to cats and releasing them in 164 00:10:39,600 --> 00:10:43,880 Speaker 5: national parks. Apparently this was all part of a scam 165 00:10:44,040 --> 00:10:45,520 Speaker 5: of European Union funds. 166 00:10:46,040 --> 00:10:53,520 Speaker 6: What's Therano is the town or the last? All the 167 00:10:53,640 --> 00:10:56,679 Speaker 6: style of big mafia boss. It was arrested a few 168 00:10:56,760 --> 00:10:57,439 Speaker 6: months ago. 169 00:10:57,920 --> 00:11:01,000 Speaker 1: After forty years. He was hiding a pizza shop. 170 00:11:00,880 --> 00:11:03,600 Speaker 6: Right Matteo Messina, Dan, I don't know. He was arrested 171 00:11:03,640 --> 00:11:06,560 Speaker 6: in the hospital in Palermo because he is a concert. 172 00:11:08,440 --> 00:11:09,439 Speaker 1: Don't you love that? 173 00:11:09,559 --> 00:11:11,439 Speaker 5: I thought it was a pizza shop, that one of 174 00:11:11,480 --> 00:11:14,679 Speaker 5: the very last Sicilian dawns was arrested that and in 175 00:11:14,800 --> 00:11:18,520 Speaker 5: my head it still is either way. Matteo Messina was 176 00:11:18,600 --> 00:11:22,319 Speaker 5: considered the last godfather of Sicily, and he'd been in 177 00:11:22,440 --> 00:11:26,720 Speaker 5: hiding since the early nineteen nineties. While he was at large, 178 00:11:26,840 --> 00:11:32,720 Speaker 5: he infamously claimed to have filled a cemetery all by himself. 179 00:11:33,559 --> 00:11:37,000 Speaker 5: He evaded capture for decades, and when they got him, 180 00:11:37,200 --> 00:11:39,160 Speaker 5: it turned out that he'd spent most of his life 181 00:11:39,320 --> 00:11:42,560 Speaker 5: in a small town near his mother's house. Sicilian men 182 00:11:42,960 --> 00:11:46,719 Speaker 5: love staying close to their mamas. I was explaining all 183 00:11:46,760 --> 00:11:49,520 Speaker 5: of this to Kate as we nearly flew off the 184 00:11:49,640 --> 00:11:52,439 Speaker 5: side of the cliff during one of the ridiculous turns 185 00:11:52,520 --> 00:11:58,640 Speaker 5: around the side of the mountain and suddenly we'd arrived. Oh, 186 00:11:58,679 --> 00:12:02,120 Speaker 5: here's a fountain. Oh my gosh, there's a guy peeing 187 00:12:02,240 --> 00:12:08,120 Speaker 5: right there, just taking a pie and gathering some water, 188 00:12:08,360 --> 00:12:12,760 Speaker 5: getting some water. Wait, there's a like memorial here. 189 00:12:12,920 --> 00:12:16,840 Speaker 3: If you have numbers of ste there's some pictures. 190 00:12:17,480 --> 00:12:21,760 Speaker 1: There's some pictures. That's guys, what would you do if 191 00:12:21,960 --> 00:12:34,480 Speaker 1: she was in a picture? Oh, I'm gonna ask this man. 192 00:12:36,640 --> 00:12:37,320 Speaker 1: That's the question. 193 00:12:37,720 --> 00:12:40,439 Speaker 2: The same wist the Virgin Jesus on. 194 00:12:40,480 --> 00:12:43,120 Speaker 5: These are what this memorial is for. 195 00:12:44,360 --> 00:12:50,000 Speaker 2: Do you want to ask westerlementary for. 196 00:12:54,280 --> 00:13:02,199 Speaker 1: That's literally not quick mar next one, the next one, okay, 197 00:13:02,320 --> 00:13:21,720 Speaker 1: the next it's it's not another fountain, another fountain. 198 00:13:21,800 --> 00:13:23,600 Speaker 5: Or maybe we weren't at the scene of the crime 199 00:13:23,640 --> 00:13:30,360 Speaker 5: at all. I'm finding it very hard to be patient. 200 00:13:31,400 --> 00:13:34,200 Speaker 5: I mean, Colombo really would have wrapped this up by now. 201 00:13:35,240 --> 00:13:37,599 Speaker 6: They said it's a place where in the past we 202 00:13:37,800 --> 00:13:41,200 Speaker 6: may use it to came here to wash the bull 203 00:13:41,760 --> 00:13:42,480 Speaker 6: the other ship. 204 00:13:46,880 --> 00:13:49,800 Speaker 5: But as we pile back in the car, continuing on 205 00:13:49,880 --> 00:13:53,880 Speaker 5: our quest for Lorenza and mystery man Nicolo Martino's crime scene, 206 00:13:54,720 --> 00:13:59,319 Speaker 5: I can't get the mafia out of my head. I 207 00:13:59,400 --> 00:14:04,360 Speaker 5: mean it is Sicily, and the truth is you're never 208 00:14:04,480 --> 00:14:09,920 Speaker 5: that far from some mafia. More that's coming up after 209 00:14:10,000 --> 00:14:10,360 Speaker 5: the break. 210 00:14:25,000 --> 00:14:26,600 Speaker 1: Do you hear that? Do you hear that? 211 00:14:27,480 --> 00:14:30,440 Speaker 5: That's the gentle lapping of the Mediterranean Sea on the 212 00:14:30,640 --> 00:14:34,360 Speaker 5: fine golden sand. By the magic of podcasting, you can 213 00:14:34,480 --> 00:14:36,960 Speaker 5: almost feel the heat of the sun, the cool of 214 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:40,200 Speaker 5: the water, and the smell of the orange blossoms. 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Check the show notes for 224 00:15:16,800 --> 00:15:19,720 Speaker 5: the link and all the details to buy. It's not 225 00:15:19,880 --> 00:15:23,880 Speaker 5: only an incredible olive oil, but it will completely transport 226 00:15:24,000 --> 00:15:28,960 Speaker 5: you to the beautiful and sometimes dangerous island of Sicily. 227 00:15:29,840 --> 00:15:32,000 Speaker 5: So please do check out the show notes now and 228 00:15:32,600 --> 00:15:36,200 Speaker 5: thank you also enjoy with something delicious. 229 00:15:46,680 --> 00:15:49,760 Speaker 1: What do you think they were doing out here? Was this? 230 00:15:50,120 --> 00:15:51,760 Speaker 1: The farm had been out here? Well, that's what I 231 00:15:51,800 --> 00:15:53,360 Speaker 1: want to know. Do you think that was her land? 232 00:15:53,920 --> 00:15:54,080 Speaker 4: Oh? 233 00:15:54,160 --> 00:15:56,720 Speaker 1: My god? If she was killed on the land, then 234 00:15:56,800 --> 00:15:58,000 Speaker 1: there's a house down. 235 00:15:57,880 --> 00:16:02,840 Speaker 5: There spot as detailed as the description is from one 236 00:16:02,920 --> 00:16:06,560 Speaker 5: hundred years ago, and even though things haven't changed all 237 00:16:06,640 --> 00:16:10,200 Speaker 5: that much, it is not entirely easy to find my 238 00:16:10,320 --> 00:16:14,080 Speaker 5: great great grandmother's death site, which gives a bit of 239 00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:17,520 Speaker 5: an opportunity to take you down a mafia's side street, 240 00:16:18,320 --> 00:16:21,600 Speaker 5: to delve just a little bit deeper into what I'd 241 00:16:21,640 --> 00:16:26,480 Speaker 5: assumed was a family fantasy connecting Lorenza's death to the 242 00:16:26,600 --> 00:16:31,600 Speaker 5: Black Hand. Now, from what every family member has told me, 243 00:16:32,080 --> 00:16:34,920 Speaker 5: the Marsala Piazza clan were farmers. 244 00:16:35,600 --> 00:16:36,640 Speaker 1: They had maybe. 245 00:16:36,480 --> 00:16:41,320 Speaker 5: Olive groves or lemon trees, same as almost everyone else 246 00:16:41,600 --> 00:16:42,240 Speaker 5: in this region. 247 00:16:43,040 --> 00:16:44,280 Speaker 1: But it was tricky business. 248 00:16:45,080 --> 00:16:47,840 Speaker 5: If a family grew too much product, if they started 249 00:16:47,920 --> 00:16:51,120 Speaker 5: making any money off of that product, they were very 250 00:16:51,440 --> 00:16:56,120 Speaker 5: heavily taxed, and then the sales were often controlled by 251 00:16:56,120 --> 00:16:59,640 Speaker 5: the local criminal bandits. The beginnings of what we now 252 00:16:59,760 --> 00:17:03,600 Speaker 5: call the mafia. The thing is the mafia as we 253 00:17:03,880 --> 00:17:06,600 Speaker 5: like to think about it today, It didn't just appear 254 00:17:06,640 --> 00:17:10,480 Speaker 5: out of nowhere. There were lots and lots of political 255 00:17:10,600 --> 00:17:14,200 Speaker 5: and social and economic elements here in Sicily that led 256 00:17:14,240 --> 00:17:19,040 Speaker 5: to its formation, starting with the fact that Sicilians really 257 00:17:19,160 --> 00:17:23,000 Speaker 5: didn't have any form of self governance. They were constantly 258 00:17:23,080 --> 00:17:28,880 Speaker 5: being governed by conquering forces. As Chiro pointed out, Sicilians 259 00:17:28,880 --> 00:17:33,040 Speaker 5: were always controlled by a new power over and over again, 260 00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:36,359 Speaker 5: each one of them treating the peasants like total craft, 261 00:17:37,320 --> 00:17:42,440 Speaker 5: and over time the criminal bandits grew in number. In movies, 262 00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:45,359 Speaker 5: it often seems like the mafia is all part of 263 00:17:45,560 --> 00:17:50,399 Speaker 5: one large secret society. It's quote unquote organized crime for 264 00:17:50,600 --> 00:17:55,200 Speaker 5: a reason. But back then it really was many different 265 00:17:55,240 --> 00:18:00,560 Speaker 5: groups of peasants occasionally organizing together in criminal activities, often 266 00:18:00,640 --> 00:18:04,040 Speaker 5: referred to as the association. These bands of criminals were 267 00:18:04,080 --> 00:18:09,359 Speaker 5: opportunistic and they didn't always stay together long. But was 268 00:18:09,440 --> 00:18:14,119 Speaker 5: the mafia here during Lorenz's time, and if so, what 269 00:18:14,280 --> 00:18:15,320 Speaker 5: were they doing. 270 00:18:17,160 --> 00:18:19,000 Speaker 1: If she was killed on her land, that adds a 271 00:18:19,040 --> 00:18:20,119 Speaker 1: whole other layer to it. 272 00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:22,240 Speaker 5: So the next thing I think we need to figure 273 00:18:22,240 --> 00:18:24,600 Speaker 5: out is if we can do you think there would 274 00:18:24,640 --> 00:18:28,280 Speaker 5: be land records for what she owned or no loand 275 00:18:28,320 --> 00:18:32,040 Speaker 5: of records like records of whom what the family signed is. 276 00:18:32,080 --> 00:18:33,479 Speaker 3: To say, some office somewhere. 277 00:18:33,880 --> 00:18:38,960 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's still well if this, if this is her land, 278 00:18:39,400 --> 00:18:41,360 Speaker 1: like what is there? Is there a record of who 279 00:18:41,480 --> 00:18:43,080 Speaker 1: owned here's goots? 280 00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:48,119 Speaker 5: Go To get a better sense of the truth, I 281 00:18:48,359 --> 00:18:51,600 Speaker 5: had to do some research, so I got a copy 282 00:18:51,680 --> 00:18:55,320 Speaker 5: of the diary of a man named Caesar Maury, also 283 00:18:55,440 --> 00:18:59,200 Speaker 5: known as the Iron Prefect. Maury got that nickname because 284 00:18:59,200 --> 00:19:03,160 Speaker 5: of his iron campaigns against the mafia, of which there 285 00:19:03,200 --> 00:19:07,400 Speaker 5: were several. In his diary, Maury talks about being ordered 286 00:19:07,440 --> 00:19:09,880 Speaker 5: to go to Sicily in the spring of nineteen sixteen. 287 00:19:10,880 --> 00:19:11,679 Speaker 1: He wrote that he was. 288 00:19:11,760 --> 00:19:15,880 Speaker 5: Going there to quote assist in a special service which 289 00:19:15,960 --> 00:19:19,360 Speaker 5: was being organized with the aim of remedying the deplorable 290 00:19:19,440 --> 00:19:23,640 Speaker 5: state of public safety. According to accounts at the time, 291 00:19:23,920 --> 00:19:26,720 Speaker 5: the island, in the wake of World War One, had 292 00:19:26,760 --> 00:19:31,639 Speaker 5: become virtually lawless, with gangs of bandits operating with impunity. 293 00:19:32,880 --> 00:19:35,440 Speaker 5: Maury arrived with his men to stamp out a few 294 00:19:35,600 --> 00:19:39,680 Speaker 5: of these heavily armed gangs. One of Maury's very first 295 00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:45,679 Speaker 5: targets was Paolo Grisafi, Grisafi and his men worked on horseback, 296 00:19:46,200 --> 00:19:50,720 Speaker 5: plaguing the western part of the province of Agrigento, right 297 00:19:51,240 --> 00:19:58,040 Speaker 5: in Calta Balota. According to Maury's diary, Grisafi ruled like 298 00:19:58,160 --> 00:20:02,720 Speaker 5: a king and enjoyed tremendous local prestige. He fixed the 299 00:20:02,840 --> 00:20:07,520 Speaker 5: taxes and exacted tribute from everyone with any pretension of wealth. 300 00:20:08,720 --> 00:20:11,920 Speaker 5: Maury's diary is also quick to point out that Krisafi 301 00:20:12,240 --> 00:20:20,080 Speaker 5: was ferocious, ruthless, and cunning, and yeah, he was a Caltabalotan. 302 00:20:21,200 --> 00:20:26,560 Speaker 5: People around the village actually whispered that Paolo Grissafi was 303 00:20:26,800 --> 00:20:33,560 Speaker 5: mato or bewitched, but Maury wasn't intimidated, no, no. He 304 00:20:33,680 --> 00:20:37,520 Speaker 5: set up camp on quote the beach in Shaka, a charming, 305 00:20:37,640 --> 00:20:41,680 Speaker 5: hospitable little town. It was a savvy location because it's 306 00:20:41,680 --> 00:20:45,880 Speaker 5: about twenty kilometers away from Coultavalota, but it's pretty easy 307 00:20:45,920 --> 00:20:47,919 Speaker 5: from there to keep an eye on the three peaks 308 00:20:47,960 --> 00:20:52,159 Speaker 5: of the mountain. Before long, Maury was arresting anyone acquainted 309 00:20:52,200 --> 00:20:53,920 Speaker 5: with Grisafi, putting them. 310 00:20:53,840 --> 00:20:55,720 Speaker 1: On display, pressuring them to talk. 311 00:20:56,400 --> 00:20:59,359 Speaker 5: Maury hoped that the spectacle would cause the bandit king 312 00:20:59,480 --> 00:21:03,679 Speaker 5: to turn him in, but Grasafi had a different idea. 313 00:21:05,720 --> 00:21:08,760 Speaker 5: According to Maury's diary, on the dawn of the third 314 00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:12,359 Speaker 5: day after the arrests, a large black flag fixed to 315 00:21:12,480 --> 00:21:16,080 Speaker 5: a mast on the highest of the three peaks overlooking Kaltabalota, 316 00:21:16,640 --> 00:21:22,080 Speaker 5: appeared fluttering in the mountain breeze. The fight became openly declared. 317 00:21:23,920 --> 00:21:28,320 Speaker 5: It was a brazen declaration of war. Maury and his 318 00:21:28,480 --> 00:21:32,080 Speaker 5: men chased Grassafi across the caves, and ultimately they discovered 319 00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:35,320 Speaker 5: they had shifted their operations to a little cottage in town. 320 00:21:36,920 --> 00:21:39,800 Speaker 5: The cottage looked like a small fortress and was no 321 00:21:40,040 --> 00:21:42,960 Speaker 5: easy thing to get into. I ordered fire to be 322 00:21:43,040 --> 00:21:46,600 Speaker 5: opened simultaneously, so that a hail of bullets was poured 323 00:21:46,640 --> 00:21:49,520 Speaker 5: into the house from all sides. The bandits made a 324 00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:53,200 Speaker 5: vigorous reply, and the fight raged fiercely in full view 325 00:21:53,280 --> 00:21:57,440 Speaker 5: of the population. Realizing that the jig was up, the 326 00:21:57,520 --> 00:22:01,159 Speaker 5: bandits traded their black flag for a white one and 327 00:22:01,320 --> 00:22:06,880 Speaker 5: signaled surrender. As we rushed in. Grisafi, followed by four companions, 328 00:22:07,359 --> 00:22:11,040 Speaker 5: appeared unarmed with his hands up. It was the end 329 00:22:11,280 --> 00:22:16,679 Speaker 5: of a rain. Ultimately, Grisafi and many others were executed. 330 00:22:17,320 --> 00:22:20,200 Speaker 5: The press hailed the cleanup as a lethal blow to 331 00:22:20,280 --> 00:22:20,800 Speaker 5: the mafia. 332 00:22:21,640 --> 00:22:21,960 Speaker 1: Caesar. 333 00:22:22,080 --> 00:22:24,600 Speaker 5: Maury, on the other hand, felt that what he had 334 00:22:24,720 --> 00:22:29,080 Speaker 5: really done was due away with disparate foot soldiers and gangs. 335 00:22:30,160 --> 00:22:33,920 Speaker 5: He believed that the real mafia was much harder to see, 336 00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:41,040 Speaker 5: but also much more dangerous, seeping into business, government, and 337 00:22:41,160 --> 00:22:49,000 Speaker 5: even the local police. And here's the thing about that story. 338 00:22:49,240 --> 00:22:55,200 Speaker 5: It happened in nineteen sixteen, the very same year that 339 00:22:55,400 --> 00:23:00,040 Speaker 5: my Lorenza was killed. Maury was chasing mafia band and 340 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:04,920 Speaker 5: it's mere months after she was found dead. It must 341 00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:08,960 Speaker 5: mean something, right. For a long time I thought this 342 00:23:09,119 --> 00:23:15,240 Speaker 5: mafia story was complete bullshit, But they were here. The 343 00:23:15,359 --> 00:23:19,280 Speaker 5: bullet shells from this shootout are probably still buried in 344 00:23:19,400 --> 00:23:20,840 Speaker 5: the dirt of this mountain. 345 00:23:22,240 --> 00:23:31,920 Speaker 3: Oh, let me count three kilometers, three kilometers one point 346 00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:32,560 Speaker 3: six miles? 347 00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:37,640 Speaker 1: Means how far are we now? What's our kilometer count? 348 00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:40,520 Speaker 3: One and a half? 349 00:23:41,040 --> 00:23:43,879 Speaker 1: Okay? Oh, oh, there's another fountain. 350 00:23:45,840 --> 00:23:47,800 Speaker 4: No, it's close to the house. 351 00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:48,840 Speaker 1: Yeah, there's a house. 352 00:23:48,960 --> 00:23:53,240 Speaker 3: Details sell and set in place? Right, it should be 353 00:23:53,280 --> 00:23:53,560 Speaker 3: the other. 354 00:23:55,480 --> 00:23:57,880 Speaker 5: When you get out on these country roads, everything kind 355 00:23:57,920 --> 00:24:01,680 Speaker 5: of looks the same. They're gorgeous us, but it's very similar. 356 00:24:21,160 --> 00:24:22,200 Speaker 1: Do you have a contact? 357 00:24:22,320 --> 00:24:27,680 Speaker 6: So I think that the only way maybe to know 358 00:24:27,920 --> 00:24:32,000 Speaker 6: something is asking Grado if he can go to the 359 00:24:32,080 --> 00:24:37,040 Speaker 6: Caribbiniti station, because the only that could do have some report. 360 00:24:36,800 --> 00:24:37,040 Speaker 1: At the. 361 00:24:39,080 --> 00:24:42,959 Speaker 6: Has been all all over Italy, also the small village, 362 00:24:43,880 --> 00:24:46,240 Speaker 6: and usually they should have the report. 363 00:24:46,359 --> 00:24:49,639 Speaker 5: If you don't know what the carabinieri are, you're not alone. 364 00:24:50,240 --> 00:24:51,400 Speaker 5: Kate asked me the same thing. 365 00:24:54,240 --> 00:24:55,160 Speaker 1: The national place. 366 00:24:57,320 --> 00:24:59,680 Speaker 6: You an't sound that is non local. It is a 367 00:25:00,080 --> 00:25:03,879 Speaker 6: been any station all over this movie. So asking him, 368 00:25:04,119 --> 00:25:06,000 Speaker 6: you see that you can ask. We're gonna be if 369 00:25:06,160 --> 00:25:10,480 Speaker 6: they have records from the age giving a name and 370 00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:11,880 Speaker 6: so what can die? 371 00:25:12,040 --> 00:25:14,960 Speaker 1: Two people died, that seems like that's a big deal 372 00:25:15,119 --> 00:25:15,639 Speaker 1: they would have to have. 373 00:25:16,000 --> 00:25:18,080 Speaker 5: So that's another thing that we have to hunt down. 374 00:25:18,600 --> 00:25:23,080 Speaker 5: The police report. The carabinieri should have some record because 375 00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:26,600 Speaker 5: presumably they had to come out here when someone found 376 00:25:26,680 --> 00:25:27,920 Speaker 5: two dead bodies. 377 00:25:29,560 --> 00:25:33,360 Speaker 3: Mister said, there's a rock brought fully down. 378 00:25:33,760 --> 00:25:37,440 Speaker 5: And slide, there'side, there's a landslideide. 379 00:25:37,480 --> 00:25:38,240 Speaker 1: This is the Pikes. 380 00:25:39,760 --> 00:25:41,879 Speaker 3: We have the absolutely certainty, one hundred and ten percent. 381 00:25:44,520 --> 00:25:50,119 Speaker 1: Yeah, I recall this, okay, yeah, so why would they 382 00:25:50,200 --> 00:25:54,280 Speaker 1: be here. There's nobody wearing that house. They could have 383 00:25:54,320 --> 00:25:55,240 Speaker 1: been in that house. 384 00:25:55,240 --> 00:26:00,600 Speaker 5: Another traveling Okay, to keep the voices straight. We've got 385 00:26:00,640 --> 00:26:04,359 Speaker 5: a crew with us. It's me Kate of course, Torre 386 00:26:04,720 --> 00:26:09,119 Speaker 5: our translator, Cheero, our family guide. My cousin Laura and 387 00:26:09,200 --> 00:26:09,760 Speaker 5: her husband. 388 00:26:11,160 --> 00:26:14,720 Speaker 1: They were traveling on the mules. They stopped here to drink. 389 00:26:15,560 --> 00:26:19,280 Speaker 4: They were just together, they're just friends. He's helping her out. 390 00:26:19,680 --> 00:26:24,040 Speaker 1: They're going to Tropany to buy some salt and boom 391 00:26:24,080 --> 00:26:25,000 Speaker 1: the rocks rocks. 392 00:26:24,760 --> 00:26:27,480 Speaker 2: Slide elementary Watson Elementary. 393 00:26:27,600 --> 00:26:30,440 Speaker 1: The rocks fell on them here. When was the rock slide? 394 00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:31,400 Speaker 1: Because that is an accident. 395 00:26:32,320 --> 00:26:33,120 Speaker 6: That is an accident. 396 00:26:38,480 --> 00:26:41,760 Speaker 1: The stories that we have as if it was trying 397 00:26:41,800 --> 00:26:47,040 Speaker 1: to a landslide is a good story. They would say 398 00:26:47,119 --> 00:26:48,840 Speaker 1: she got killed by an act of God. 399 00:26:49,760 --> 00:26:56,720 Speaker 6: Yeah, maybe with the mule the don king. 400 00:26:56,880 --> 00:26:59,280 Speaker 1: They would say that. They wouldn't say, they wouldn't say yeah. 401 00:27:01,440 --> 00:27:03,720 Speaker 1: So I think that in that video these don't have 402 00:27:03,960 --> 00:27:04,399 Speaker 1: to tink. 403 00:27:04,640 --> 00:27:05,880 Speaker 6: There was this road. 404 00:27:07,200 --> 00:27:10,200 Speaker 5: So here's the scene. We're on the side of the 405 00:27:10,400 --> 00:27:16,200 Speaker 5: main paved modern road. There's a steady waterfall cascading into 406 00:27:16,240 --> 00:27:20,200 Speaker 5: a small pool among the rocks. Just over the side 407 00:27:20,200 --> 00:27:21,960 Speaker 5: of it, we can see what appears to be a 408 00:27:22,040 --> 00:27:25,639 Speaker 5: well traveled path in the fields. This might just be 409 00:27:25,720 --> 00:27:26,560 Speaker 5: the original road. 410 00:27:26,600 --> 00:27:27,359 Speaker 1: That they would have been on. 411 00:27:27,960 --> 00:27:31,800 Speaker 5: I try to picture them. Would they be walking, riding 412 00:27:31,840 --> 00:27:36,040 Speaker 5: a mule? Could they have been struck by a landslide here? 413 00:27:36,840 --> 00:27:38,240 Speaker 5: Waylaid by bandits? 414 00:27:40,040 --> 00:27:41,919 Speaker 1: This is it's only good land. 415 00:27:42,280 --> 00:27:45,360 Speaker 5: There's an olive grove right here, there's water right here, 416 00:27:46,040 --> 00:27:48,440 Speaker 5: or potentially caught in the ass. 417 00:27:48,520 --> 00:27:51,640 Speaker 6: Well, they just went a distant through the town, twaving 418 00:27:51,760 --> 00:27:52,920 Speaker 6: a romantic. 419 00:27:52,520 --> 00:27:56,520 Speaker 1: Spa Cher's end of the story. 420 00:27:57,280 --> 00:28:01,080 Speaker 5: Again, Cheiero is really pushing this hanky panky theory. It's 421 00:28:01,119 --> 00:28:04,480 Speaker 5: his favorite thing about this whole story, that maybe Lorenza 422 00:28:04,640 --> 00:28:08,640 Speaker 5: and her potential brother in law Nicolo Martino were doing 423 00:28:08,720 --> 00:28:10,439 Speaker 5: it and that's why someone killed them. 424 00:28:12,359 --> 00:28:18,680 Speaker 1: Maybe the spring beauty in the growth. Oh yeah, but 425 00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:22,480 Speaker 1: then who followed her and killed her? Somebody killed them though, 426 00:28:22,840 --> 00:28:25,159 Speaker 1: somebody killed both of them. And also he was an 427 00:28:25,240 --> 00:28:28,280 Speaker 1: old man, but not really Jill think about him. Yeah, 428 00:28:28,280 --> 00:28:30,239 Speaker 1: seventy one. I mean the men live here, live forever here. 429 00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:34,280 Speaker 1: He was seventy one and she was fifty four. I'm 430 00:28:34,320 --> 00:28:38,040 Speaker 1: going to be seventy one in six months, that's true. Yeah, 431 00:28:38,360 --> 00:28:40,080 Speaker 1: And she's going to be fifty four and you're going 432 00:28:40,120 --> 00:28:40,760 Speaker 1: to be fifty four. 433 00:28:41,600 --> 00:28:44,000 Speaker 5: It turns out that my cousin Laura and her husband 434 00:28:44,320 --> 00:28:48,400 Speaker 5: are the exact same ages as Lorenza and Nicolo Martina 435 00:28:48,520 --> 00:28:51,840 Speaker 5: were when they died right here on this spot. 436 00:28:53,320 --> 00:28:57,000 Speaker 1: So just saying, I think maybe it was the he 437 00:28:57,240 --> 00:29:00,160 Speaker 1: was in the wrong place and she was the and 438 00:29:00,280 --> 00:29:02,720 Speaker 1: she was the person they were trying to kill. I 439 00:29:02,880 --> 00:29:07,720 Speaker 1: think we don't know that's true. I think there's a 440 00:29:07,760 --> 00:29:10,040 Speaker 1: lot of theories right now. Guy, I think we don't know. Okay, 441 00:29:10,240 --> 00:29:12,120 Speaker 1: it's been this any way you want, we could send it. 442 00:29:12,720 --> 00:29:14,200 Speaker 1: As Mike White said, you just need to start with 443 00:29:14,240 --> 00:29:15,400 Speaker 1: the body. You can have a but. 444 00:29:17,760 --> 00:29:22,920 Speaker 5: It's true, everyone has a theory. Kate thinks that maybe 445 00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:26,760 Speaker 5: Lorenzo was the target and Nikolo just happened to be 446 00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:31,360 Speaker 5: with her. Chio keeps chirping about the affair. He's obsessed 447 00:29:31,440 --> 00:29:35,760 Speaker 5: with the affair. Laura and her husband are very concerned 448 00:29:35,800 --> 00:29:40,240 Speaker 5: about the value of the property. I mean, we don't 449 00:29:40,320 --> 00:29:41,000 Speaker 5: know what happened. 450 00:29:41,080 --> 00:29:41,880 Speaker 1: We still don't know. 451 00:29:42,400 --> 00:29:47,680 Speaker 5: We can't know, not yet at least, but the evidence 452 00:29:47,800 --> 00:29:51,560 Speaker 5: is finally starting to come together, and shock of all shocks, 453 00:29:51,960 --> 00:29:55,760 Speaker 5: my family's gossip is actually turning into pretty good intel. 454 00:29:56,800 --> 00:30:00,560 Speaker 5: The historic record does line up to suggest that Lorenza 455 00:30:00,720 --> 00:30:05,600 Speaker 5: could have been killed in mafia activity, But. 456 00:30:05,800 --> 00:30:06,560 Speaker 1: Why kill her? 457 00:30:07,160 --> 00:30:10,600 Speaker 5: Why kill a fifty year old mother of seven children 458 00:30:11,520 --> 00:30:17,280 Speaker 5: and him him? Why kill Nicolo Martino too? Something Cheerio 459 00:30:17,360 --> 00:30:20,400 Speaker 5: said earlier rings in my ears. Well, part of the 460 00:30:20,520 --> 00:30:24,520 Speaker 5: story is that she was murdered here and that it 461 00:30:24,680 --> 00:30:29,239 Speaker 5: might have been the mafia. But I don't know how 462 00:30:29,360 --> 00:30:31,960 Speaker 5: true that is, or if Americans. 463 00:30:31,520 --> 00:30:32,480 Speaker 1: Just like to talk about it. 464 00:30:32,560 --> 00:30:39,440 Speaker 6: You know, really, the mafia kill a woman is very unusual. 465 00:30:39,640 --> 00:30:44,360 Speaker 6: I never heard about that. I could be more if 466 00:30:44,520 --> 00:30:48,440 Speaker 6: she really was connected with some problem about some baby 467 00:30:48,600 --> 00:30:54,720 Speaker 6: or something. But the mafia usually they don't go to 468 00:30:54,920 --> 00:30:59,760 Speaker 6: kill the normal people. They They is a quilla the 469 00:31:00,120 --> 00:31:07,600 Speaker 6: between the you know, other families, other mafia family. But 470 00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:11,760 Speaker 6: I know if she was not part or some mafia family, 471 00:31:11,800 --> 00:31:14,800 Speaker 6: I don't think that could be, and I don't. 472 00:31:14,680 --> 00:31:15,360 Speaker 1: Think she was. 473 00:31:16,680 --> 00:31:18,800 Speaker 5: I said at the time that I do not think 474 00:31:19,080 --> 00:31:21,720 Speaker 5: that she was involved in the mafia. But when I 475 00:31:21,840 --> 00:31:26,320 Speaker 5: was researching for this episode, something stood out. About a 476 00:31:26,480 --> 00:31:30,200 Speaker 5: decade after his big sweep of mafioso bandits in Sicily, 477 00:31:30,720 --> 00:31:34,800 Speaker 5: Caesar Moury was sent back to the island. This time 478 00:31:34,920 --> 00:31:40,240 Speaker 5: it was by Elduque himself. Benito Mussolini Mussolini knew that 479 00:31:40,280 --> 00:31:41,880 Speaker 5: he had to get rid of the Cosa Nostra for 480 00:31:41,960 --> 00:31:44,840 Speaker 5: political reasons. It would bring a lot of support his way. 481 00:31:45,800 --> 00:31:49,280 Speaker 5: During an almost four year campaign starting in nineteen twenty five, 482 00:31:49,840 --> 00:31:53,160 Speaker 5: with Maury as the lead investigator, Mussolini was able to 483 00:31:53,200 --> 00:31:56,959 Speaker 5: claim credit for eradicating the mob in Italy. Morey's tactics 484 00:31:57,000 --> 00:32:01,240 Speaker 5: were harsh. He laid siege to entire tame hounds, dragged 485 00:32:01,280 --> 00:32:04,640 Speaker 5: people from their beds into the town squares, and obtained 486 00:32:04,680 --> 00:32:10,240 Speaker 5: information by torture. Eleven thousand arrests were made during his time, 487 00:32:11,280 --> 00:32:14,280 Speaker 5: and many of the mafiosi who evaded his capture were 488 00:32:14,360 --> 00:32:17,760 Speaker 5: said to have fled to the United States. Among those 489 00:32:17,840 --> 00:32:22,800 Speaker 5: thousands was one who caught my eye. I found this 490 00:32:22,920 --> 00:32:25,560 Speaker 5: story in a New York Times article from the nineteen twenties, 491 00:32:26,280 --> 00:32:30,120 Speaker 5: and it said, after a century of unobstructed lawlessness of 492 00:32:30,200 --> 00:32:34,360 Speaker 5: the mafia or black hand in Sicily has finally, at 493 00:32:34,440 --> 00:32:37,840 Speaker 5: last been brought to justice. One of the most defiant 494 00:32:37,960 --> 00:32:41,200 Speaker 5: of these bandits recently brought to justice was a woman 495 00:32:41,520 --> 00:32:46,840 Speaker 5: past sixty, known as the Queen of Guachi. She is 496 00:32:46,920 --> 00:32:50,800 Speaker 5: the mother of six children, has spent her life among outlaws, 497 00:32:51,120 --> 00:32:54,920 Speaker 5: and according to official reports, has not stopped at any 498 00:32:55,120 --> 00:32:59,400 Speaker 5: crime to gain her end the perpetuation of the mafia. 499 00:33:00,400 --> 00:33:06,400 Speaker 5: Her name, which the Times didn't even print, is Lorenza Marsala. 500 00:33:07,520 --> 00:33:08,800 Speaker 1: No, I'm kidding. I'm kidding. 501 00:33:08,960 --> 00:33:11,080 Speaker 5: That would be amazing, though, wouldn't it. It's not that 502 00:33:11,320 --> 00:33:16,480 Speaker 5: it's not that Queen of Guachi's name was Giuseppa Salvo, 503 00:33:17,360 --> 00:33:22,120 Speaker 5: the queen bandit, mother of a ferocious brood of six. 504 00:33:23,440 --> 00:33:27,080 Speaker 5: Just like Lorenza, Juseppa apparently spent a good part of 505 00:33:27,120 --> 00:33:31,400 Speaker 5: her life in the saddle dressed in men's clothes. Her 506 00:33:31,560 --> 00:33:35,040 Speaker 5: entire life was spent among the outlaws. Her father, her husband, 507 00:33:35,120 --> 00:33:38,920 Speaker 5: and then her eldest son led the Guatchy Gang. It's 508 00:33:38,920 --> 00:33:42,120 Speaker 5: said that at times she even commanded the gang, meeting 509 00:33:42,160 --> 00:33:45,240 Speaker 5: out judgments and fixing the price of ransoms. When they 510 00:33:45,320 --> 00:33:48,480 Speaker 5: arrested her, she was sixty two with snow white hair, 511 00:33:49,320 --> 00:33:53,680 Speaker 5: but age hadn't softened her. As the article reads, she 512 00:33:53,960 --> 00:33:57,800 Speaker 5: was quote not devoid of a certain dignity of bearing, 513 00:33:58,440 --> 00:34:02,920 Speaker 5: yet her sinister look and the evil leer permanently distorted 514 00:34:02,960 --> 00:34:08,480 Speaker 5: her features to make your blood run cold. Jesseppa apparently 515 00:34:08,600 --> 00:34:12,839 Speaker 5: listened to her sentence with perfect composure. Letting on only 516 00:34:12,880 --> 00:34:16,080 Speaker 5: a ferocious leer at the judge as he announced prison 517 00:34:16,200 --> 00:34:20,680 Speaker 5: sentences that totalled two thousand years for her and her 518 00:34:20,760 --> 00:34:24,200 Speaker 5: posse of bandits. It's got to make you wonder, right, 519 00:34:25,120 --> 00:34:28,440 Speaker 5: Men are the ones who are always written into history books. 520 00:34:29,320 --> 00:34:32,640 Speaker 5: Men are the ones they make movies about. But that 521 00:34:32,800 --> 00:34:36,120 Speaker 5: doesn't mean they were the only ones at it. What 522 00:34:36,440 --> 00:34:39,440 Speaker 5: was Lorenza up to at the turn of the century 523 00:34:40,880 --> 00:34:45,040 Speaker 5: and could she have been involved in what these bandits 524 00:34:45,080 --> 00:34:48,719 Speaker 5: were doing? Was it dangerous for women to do this? 525 00:34:49,400 --> 00:34:53,480 Speaker 1: And that? Yes, very dangerous. 526 00:34:54,200 --> 00:35:03,840 Speaker 5: That's next time. The Sicilian Inheritance is a Kaleidoscope production 527 00:35:04,040 --> 00:35:08,560 Speaker 5: in partnership with iHeart Podcasts. The series is produced by Jenkinney, 528 00:35:08,800 --> 00:35:13,200 Speaker 5: Kate Osborne, Dara Potts and me Joe Piazza, with key 529 00:35:13,320 --> 00:35:15,799 Speaker 5: help from Laura Lee Watson of Digging Up Your Roots 530 00:35:15,840 --> 00:35:19,439 Speaker 5: in the Boot and Chiro Grilow of Sicily Roots. Many 531 00:35:19,560 --> 00:35:24,240 Speaker 5: thanks to Julia Paravaccini and the Ancestry dot com research department. 532 00:35:24,600 --> 00:35:27,000 Speaker 5: You can get your copy of The Sicilian Inheritance the 533 00:35:27,160 --> 00:35:31,400 Speaker 5: novel right now at truly anywhere that you get your books, 534 00:35:31,760 --> 00:35:34,000 Speaker 5: anywhere you get your books. It's got the same name 535 00:35:34,040 --> 00:35:38,360 Speaker 5: as the podcast, but with more food, wine, and sucks. Also, 536 00:35:38,520 --> 00:35:40,960 Speaker 5: do not forget to get a taste of Sicily in 537 00:35:41,040 --> 00:35:45,080 Speaker 5: the form of delicious Sicilian olive oil at Cardena's tap room. 538 00:35:45,600 --> 00:35:47,520 Speaker 5: Make sure to check out our show notes for a 539 00:35:47,600 --> 00:35:50,200 Speaker 5: link to buy it, or if you find yourself in 540 00:35:50,239 --> 00:35:54,640 Speaker 5: Philly just stop by. Our Executive producers are Kate Osborne 541 00:35:54,880 --> 00:36:01,440 Speaker 5: Manga Chetikador costas Lino's and Oz Walloshan from iHeart. Executive 542 00:36:01,440 --> 00:36:04,800 Speaker 5: producers are Katrina Norvelle and Nikki Etore. 543 00:36:05,520 --> 00:36:06,120 Speaker 1: We also want to 544 00:36:06,160 --> 00:36:10,719 Speaker 5: Thank Will Pearson, connel Byrne, Bob Pittman, and John Mary 545 00:36:10,800 --> 00:36:11,280 Speaker 5: Napolis