WEBVTT - S05 Episode 12 Extra: La Mano Nera 0:00:10.880 --> 0:00:15.080 Welcome to Unexplained Extra with me Richard McClain Smith, where 0:00:15.080 --> 0:00:17.280 for the weeks in between episodes, we look at stories 0:00:17.280 --> 0:00:19.800 and ideas that, for one reason or other, didn't make 0:00:19.840 --> 0:00:23.280 it into the previous show. In our last episode, Profit 0:00:23.320 --> 0:00:26.320 and Loss, we looked at the brutal and disturbing murder 0:00:26.440 --> 0:00:29.960 of the Evangelista family in Detroit in nineteen twenty nine. 0:00:31.000 --> 0:00:34.400 With so many separate elements to this extraordinary story, I 0:00:34.520 --> 0:00:37.160 must confess that in the chaos of it all, as 0:00:37.200 --> 0:00:39.640 was pointed out to me by one listener last week, 0:00:40.080 --> 0:00:42.040 I actually forgot to wrap up one of the more 0:00:42.159 --> 0:00:46.199 mysterious aspects of the crime. I mentioned early on in 0:00:46.240 --> 0:00:50.120 the story that when police found Benny Evangelista's head, it 0:00:50.200 --> 0:00:53.320 was surrounded by three pictures of a child lying dead 0:00:53.360 --> 0:00:56.000 in a coffin that, as far as we can tell 0:00:56.080 --> 0:01:01.120 from the reports, appear to have been deliberately placed there. Sadly, however, 0:01:01.440 --> 0:01:04.920 and possibly why I so carelessly neglected to elaborate on this, 0:01:05.520 --> 0:01:10.280 the significance of these photos was never actually established. It's 0:01:10.280 --> 0:01:13.480 been speculated that the child was either another of the 0:01:13.520 --> 0:01:18.200 Evangelist's children who died, or it was someone related to 0:01:18.240 --> 0:01:21.800 the killer. Who'd possibly once been a patient of Benny's 0:01:21.840 --> 0:01:25.560 but had died despite Benny's self proclaimed powers of healing. 0:01:26.600 --> 0:01:30.240 If it was the latter, determining the child's identity would 0:01:30.240 --> 0:01:32.600 have gone some way to revealing the identity of the 0:01:32.640 --> 0:01:37.000 culprit and possibly their motive, but sadly, nothing to that 0:01:37.080 --> 0:01:41.760 effect seems to have been established. One possible reason for 0:01:41.800 --> 0:01:45.120 this was because so few people in the local community 0:01:45.520 --> 0:01:49.200 were willing to come forward with information to help the investigation. 0:01:50.280 --> 0:01:53.000 Some have suggested this was largely due to fear of 0:01:53.040 --> 0:01:57.320 reprisal from the culprit, or more pertinently, fear of reprisal 0:01:57.440 --> 0:02:01.800 from the supposed organized crime group known as Lumano Neera 0:02:01.960 --> 0:02:06.120 or the Black Hand, who some suspected were ultimately responsible 0:02:06.160 --> 0:02:10.440 for the murders. But who were the Black Hand and 0:02:10.520 --> 0:02:20.760 were they even real at all? On the afternoon of Wednesday, 0:02:20.800 --> 0:02:25.080 May thirteenth, nineteen fourteen, at the intersection of Bleaker Street 0:02:25.080 --> 0:02:29.280 and Sixth Avenue in Manhattan, a deeply troubled Maria Longo 0:02:29.720 --> 0:02:33.320 was pacing the streets outside her home. Her six year 0:02:33.360 --> 0:02:36.920 old son, Francesco, who attended the local public school at 0:02:37.000 --> 0:02:40.200 Grove and Hudson less than ten minutes walk away, who 0:02:40.320 --> 0:02:46.640 yet to return home despite school ending hours ago. Maria's husband, Frank, 0:02:47.000 --> 0:02:50.200 who ran the family's bakery located on the ground floor 0:02:50.240 --> 0:02:53.120 of their home on Bleaker Street, did his best to 0:02:53.160 --> 0:02:56.480 calm her down, believing the boy was probably just playing 0:02:56.520 --> 0:03:00.120 with friends in the street and would return unscathed any moment. 0:03:01.120 --> 0:03:04.200 But as evening began to descend, with none of his 0:03:04.320 --> 0:03:08.079 usual companions having seen him since lunch, the boy had 0:03:08.160 --> 0:03:13.000 yet to appear. Unable to wait any longer, Maria was 0:03:13.040 --> 0:03:15.960 about to call the police when a letter arrived at 0:03:15.960 --> 0:03:21.679 the bakery addressed to Frank, sent special delivery from Brooklyn 0:03:21.800 --> 0:03:27.400 earlier that afternoon. It read, dear friend, beware not to 0:03:27.440 --> 0:03:30.919 seek your son Francesco. He will be found in good 0:03:30.960 --> 0:03:33.800 hands and we want the sum of five thousand dollars. 0:03:34.440 --> 0:03:37.080 Beware not to have anything to do with the police, 0:03:37.480 --> 0:03:39.440 because it will be worse for you and your son 0:03:40.280 --> 0:03:42.800 if this comes to the attention of the police. You 0:03:42.840 --> 0:03:45.720 will receive the body of your son by parcel post. 0:03:46.600 --> 0:03:51.760 Wait and keep your eyes open, Signed the Black Hand. 0:03:54.160 --> 0:03:57.800 Maria's worst fears had been realized, and she had good 0:03:57.840 --> 0:04:01.600 reason to be worried. As many as five children had 0:04:01.600 --> 0:04:05.320 been kidnapped and killed under similar circumstances in the last 0:04:05.360 --> 0:04:10.720 few years. In fact, only two years ago, Maria's brother 0:04:11.000 --> 0:04:14.320 Felippo di Fiore, had been a victim of the exact 0:04:14.400 --> 0:04:17.880 same crime, when his four year old son, Giuseppe, was 0:04:17.920 --> 0:04:22.000 abducted and held for ransom. Despite a commitment from the 0:04:22.040 --> 0:04:25.440 police to help locate the boy, Felippo was too scared 0:04:25.480 --> 0:04:28.400 to wait and wasted little time in paying the money. 0:04:29.120 --> 0:04:34.120 His son was immediately returned unharmed. Not one to be 0:04:34.160 --> 0:04:39.040 messed with, Maria's husband, Frank stormed to Filippo's house and 0:04:39.120 --> 0:04:42.840 scolded him for paying Giuseppe's ransom, believing that had now 0:04:42.920 --> 0:04:47.760 made their family an easy target. Frank, who couldn't possibly 0:04:47.760 --> 0:04:52.039 pay the ransom, then marched Felippo to nearby McDougall Street 0:04:52.080 --> 0:04:55.120 police station and demanded he tell them everything he knew 0:04:55.320 --> 0:04:58.240 about the people who abducted Giuseppe in the hope it 0:04:58.320 --> 0:05:06.960 might help them find frances. Here's something you don't know 0:05:07.000 --> 0:05:10.159 about me. I often have trouble sleeping. Though I might 0:05:10.200 --> 0:05:13.080 get to sleep easily enough, within a few hours, I 0:05:13.080 --> 0:05:16.159 could be wide awake as my mind races through everything 0:05:16.200 --> 0:05:18.960 I didn't do everything I still need to do, or 0:05:18.960 --> 0:05:21.560 even just to some embarrassing thing I said years ago 0:05:21.760 --> 0:05:26.880 that no one else even remembers relatable. Yeah, it sucks. Fortunately, 0:05:27.040 --> 0:05:30.680 I was introduced to Sunday Scaries, who make products specifically 0:05:30.720 --> 0:05:34.320 for overthinkers and night hours like me, CBD gummies to 0:05:34.400 --> 0:05:38.160 help you decompress, clear your head, and fall asleep so 0:05:38.200 --> 0:05:40.960 you can actually wake up a fully functioning human being. 0:05:41.279 --> 0:05:43.680 I thought I was alone in dealing with everyday's stress 0:05:43.680 --> 0:05:46.960 related issues, but Sunday Scaries reminded me that I'm not. 0:05:47.360 --> 0:05:50.320 Whether it's a racing mind, lying awake at night, or 0:05:50.360 --> 0:05:53.599 feeling on the verge of a nervous breakdown, Sunday Scaries 0:05:53.680 --> 0:05:56.000 is the perfect tonic, and I got you twenty five 0:05:56.040 --> 0:05:59.320 percent off To prove it. Visit Sunday Scaries dot com 0:05:59.440 --> 0:06:03.000 and use my promo code unexplained for your discount. That's 0:06:03.080 --> 0:06:06.640 promo code unexplained for twenty five percent off at Sunday 0:06:06.640 --> 0:06:09.680 Scaris dot com. Please note Sunday Scary should not be 0:06:09.839 --> 0:06:12.760 used of your pregnant or nursing Consult with a physician 0:06:12.839 --> 0:06:15.640 before use. If you have a serious medical condition, or 0:06:15.760 --> 0:06:22.800 use prescription medications at the station. Maria and Frank were 0:06:22.839 --> 0:06:26.480 fortunate to be met by Lieutenant Rocco Cavoni, who'd worked 0:06:26.480 --> 0:06:29.800 at Giuseppe's ransom case two years before and had been 0:06:29.839 --> 0:06:33.320 left disappointed not to have found the culprits. Though he 0:06:33.320 --> 0:06:35.880 couldn't be sure it was the same people, there was 0:06:35.920 --> 0:06:39.560 good reason to suspect it was. He was also well 0:06:39.640 --> 0:06:42.480 versed in the workings of the apparent Black Hand group 0:06:42.920 --> 0:06:46.920 who'd been terrorizing the Italian immigrant community for years with 0:06:46.960 --> 0:06:52.680 their sinister letters. Though mainly focused on extortion, child abduction 0:06:52.760 --> 0:06:55.919 for ransom, had become somewhat of a growing trend in 0:06:56.000 --> 0:07:01.680 recent months. Lieutenant Cavonie, the first Italians in New York 0:07:01.920 --> 0:07:04.440 to become a member of the New York Police Department, 0:07:04.960 --> 0:07:08.680 had once been a colleague of Joseph Petrocino, the former 0:07:08.720 --> 0:07:13.600 head of the NYPD's Italian Squad. The squad had been 0:07:13.640 --> 0:07:16.640 set up to deal with a rise in organized crime 0:07:16.760 --> 0:07:20.160 among the Italian communities that had emerged in a number 0:07:20.160 --> 0:07:24.320 of major US cities over the last few years. With 0:07:24.440 --> 0:07:28.119 as many as three million Italians moving to America since 0:07:28.160 --> 0:07:31.160 the turn of the century, with the majority coming from 0:07:31.200 --> 0:07:34.480 the south of Italy, it was becoming apparent that some 0:07:34.600 --> 0:07:39.280 of the South's leading crime organizations, specifically the Sicilian Matthia 0:07:39.360 --> 0:07:42.960 and the Camorra from the region of Campania, had also 0:07:43.240 --> 0:07:49.720 come too. The Black Hand, however, was something new, with 0:07:49.800 --> 0:07:54.160 the Italian Squad formed in nineteen oh eight. Joseph Petrocino, 0:07:54.200 --> 0:07:57.160 who in eighteen eighty eight became the first Italian Speaker 0:07:57.320 --> 0:08:00.800 to join the NYPD and had since establist himself as 0:08:00.800 --> 0:08:05.040 an uncompromising enforcer of the law, was promptly appointed as 0:08:05.080 --> 0:08:10.080 its head the following year, while on an intelligence gathering 0:08:10.120 --> 0:08:16.440 trip to Palermo in Sicily, Petrosino was assassinated. The next day, 0:08:17.000 --> 0:08:20.480 an anonymous letter was sent to the Italian Squad headquarters 0:08:20.920 --> 0:08:24.760 stating that the New York Black Hand had arranged the murder. 0:08:26.040 --> 0:08:30.280 By nineteen fourteen, this enigmatic group appeared to have established 0:08:30.280 --> 0:08:34.079 itself as a serious challenger to the better known crime families. 0:08:35.000 --> 0:08:38.719 Apart from the occasional arrest, however, little progress had been 0:08:38.720 --> 0:08:42.160 made in getting to the heart of the organization. With 0:08:42.240 --> 0:08:47.200 the abduction of Francesco Longo, Lieutenant Cavoni was determined to 0:08:47.240 --> 0:08:58.160 get his men. After initial investigations, the police soon turned 0:08:58.160 --> 0:09:02.880 their attention to local green Francesco Macaluso, who, along with 0:09:02.920 --> 0:09:05.960 the network of twenty or so individuals, appeared to be 0:09:06.000 --> 0:09:10.240 at the center of the case. Finally, after forty nine 0:09:10.360 --> 0:09:14.800 days of stakeouts and close police surveillance, Cavoni orchestrated a 0:09:14.840 --> 0:09:19.400 pretend deal in exchange for the young boy. When Francesco 0:09:19.480 --> 0:09:23.719 Longo was finally returned to his family, the NYPD swept in, 0:09:24.240 --> 0:09:27.199 arresting everyone they believed to be involved in the crime, 0:09:28.240 --> 0:09:32.359 although some were able to escape prosecution. The grocer Macaluso 0:09:32.720 --> 0:09:35.920 was convicted and sent down for twenty five years, with 0:09:36.040 --> 0:09:39.160 the individual who'd kept the boy prisoner all that time 0:09:39.600 --> 0:09:45.400 receiving fifty years. And Yet, despite the clear criminal intentions 0:09:45.440 --> 0:09:48.439 of those claiming to be representatives of the Black Hand, 0:09:49.160 --> 0:09:53.120 as it turned out, none of the individuals involved actually 0:09:53.120 --> 0:09:57.360 belonged to any such organization. The men had merely used 0:09:57.360 --> 0:10:02.640 the name as a tactic to instill fear in their victims. Incredibly, 0:10:03.040 --> 0:10:07.240 despite hundreds of seemingly Black Hand related crimes and extortion 0:10:07.320 --> 0:10:11.200 demands occurring each year, it is thought this might be 0:10:11.280 --> 0:10:16.280 all it ever was. Though, a loose criminal organization known 0:10:16.320 --> 0:10:18.920 as the Society of the Black Hand is said to 0:10:18.920 --> 0:10:22.400 have existed in Spain in the late nineteenth century. Its 0:10:22.440 --> 0:10:26.880 association with the Italian immigrant community in America is thought 0:10:26.920 --> 0:10:30.440 to have been simply invented by an overzealous journalist back 0:10:30.480 --> 0:10:34.040 in nineteen oh eight, writing about the murder of an 0:10:34.080 --> 0:10:38.240 Italian man in New York's The Herald newspaper. The journalist 0:10:38.280 --> 0:10:40.959 appears to have plucked the apparent involvement of a black 0:10:41.000 --> 0:10:44.600 Hand organization out of thin air, using the name of 0:10:44.600 --> 0:10:49.640 the Spanish group as inspiration. From that moment, however, the 0:10:49.720 --> 0:10:54.200 phrase and all its sinister connotations, was gleefully lapped up 0:10:54.240 --> 0:10:57.559 by the press looking for a quick way to sensationalize 0:10:57.600 --> 0:11:02.320 stories relating to the new arrivals from Italy. Amazingly, it 0:11:02.440 --> 0:11:06.280 seems that precisely due to the hysteria drummed up around 0:11:06.280 --> 0:11:09.520 the notion of this secretive band of criminals, a number 0:11:09.520 --> 0:11:14.199 of opportunistic individuals quickly began to take advantage, with only 0:11:14.200 --> 0:11:18.040 a pen, some paper and the name being required to 0:11:18.040 --> 0:11:23.319 strike immediate fear into their victims, and before long, suddenly 0:11:23.480 --> 0:11:28.040 the Black Hand was seemingly everywhere. In the year after 0:11:28.080 --> 0:11:30.679 the Herald article alone, there were said to have been 0:11:30.720 --> 0:11:33.720 as many as four hundred and twenty four reported cases 0:11:33.840 --> 0:11:37.440 involving the Black Hand throughout the major cities where Italian 0:11:37.440 --> 0:11:40.840 immigrants had settled, from New York all the way to 0:11:40.920 --> 0:11:45.240 San Francisco. It had become such a powerful tool even 0:11:45.360 --> 0:11:49.199 established mafia leaders such as Giuseppe Morello in New York 0:11:49.480 --> 0:11:53.960 had taken to using it in their extortion enterprises. In 0:11:54.040 --> 0:11:57.880 the end, however, due to a zero tolerance policy adopted 0:11:57.920 --> 0:12:01.360 by local police forces on any one claiming association with 0:12:01.440 --> 0:12:04.480 the group, with no reason to remain loyal to it 0:12:04.720 --> 0:12:07.760 since it never truly existed in the first place, the 0:12:07.840 --> 0:12:12.160 Black Hand soon evaporated back into the air from where 0:12:12.640 --> 0:12:18.240 it had once come. If you enjoy Unexplained and would 0:12:18.240 --> 0:12:21.240 like to help supporters, you can now do so via Patreon. 0:12:21.800 --> 0:12:24.800 To receive access to add three episodes. Just go to 0:12:24.880 --> 0:12:28.439 patron dot com, forward Slash Unexplained Pod to sign up, 0:12:29.080 --> 0:12:31.080 or if you'd like to make a one time donation, 0:12:31.480 --> 0:12:35.360 you can go to Unexplained podcast dot com Forward Slash Support. 0:12:35.920 --> 0:12:40.520 All donations, no matter how large or small, are greatly appreciated. Unexplained. 0:12:40.520 --> 0:12:43.800 The book and audiobook, featuring ten stories that have never 0:12:43.840 --> 0:12:46.640 before been covered on the show, is now available to 0:12:46.679 --> 0:12:50.640 buy worldwide. You can purchase through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, 0:12:50.760 --> 0:12:55.920 and Waterstones, among other bookstores. All elements have Unexplained, including 0:12:55.960 --> 0:12:59.080 the show's music, are produced by me Richard McClain smith. 0:12:59.480 --> 0:13:02.600 Please scribe and rate the show wherever you listen to podcasts, 0:13:02.840 --> 0:13:05.080 and feel free to get in touch with any thoughts 0:13:05.160 --> 0:13:07.720 or ideas regarding the stories you've heard on the show. 0:13:08.320 --> 0:13:10.440 Perhaps you have an explanation of your own you'd like 0:13:10.520 --> 0:13:13.880 to share. You can reach us online at Unexplained podcast 0:13:13.920 --> 0:13:18.760 dot com or Twitter at Unexplained Pod and Facebook at 0:13:18.800 --> 0:13:22.600 Facebook dot com, Forward Slash Unexplained Podcast