The conviction of the Camorra mafia clan

Naples, located on the west coast of Italy at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, is not only the birthplace of pizza Margherita, but also of the Camorra, a criminal organization consisting of several clans. This clan was first made an example of in the Cuocolo trial between 1911 and 1912, in which 41 members of the Camorra were brought to trial and sentenced to a total of over 400 years in prison. The reason for the spectacular trial was the murder of Gennaro Cuocolo and his wife Maria Cutinelli. On the morning of June 6, 1906, street sweepers discovered the body of a man in the Contrada Calastro alley in Torre des Greco, not far from Naples, with over forty stab wounds and his head smashed in. The body was later identified as Gennaro Cuocolo. In the meantime, his wife Maria Cutinelli was found dead by her maid Felicetta Carusio, lying naked on the bed in the bedroom of their apartment with over 11 stab wounds to her abdomen. Who had murdered the couple so brutally? The Carabinieri’s investigation led to the Camorra, for whom Gennaro Cuocolo worked. He was a master thief who gained the trust of wealthy families in order to search their homes for valuables. He then informed his gang of thieves how best to break into the house and where to find the valuables. He then dealt in the stolen goods. But Cuocolo also worked with the Carabinieri and, out of greed, betrayed his accomplice Luigi Arena, who was banished to the street colony in Lampedusa. However, Cuocolo had to die not only because he was a traitor, but also because he was a major competitor of Giovanni Rapi, known as “Il professore,” who managed a casino and also ran a large-scale fencing operation. That is why Giovanni Rapi asked the head of the Camorra, Enrico Alfano, also known as Erricone, to have Gennaro Cuocolo and his wife, a former port prostitute, murdered. In early 1907, a man named Gennaro Abbatemaggio approached the police, wanting to testify as a key witness against the Camorra. Enrico Alfano then fled to New York, but was quickly tracked down and brought back to Naples. After four years and nine months of investigation, a total of 41 members of the Camorra were charged in 1911. Due to attempts at corruption, however, the trial did not take place in Naples, but before the jury court in Viterbo. The trial lasted over 16 months, during which 779 witnesses were heard, and was reported on by the whole world. From the outset, it was clear that the goal was to convict the Camorra. To this end, evidence was falsified, witnesses were intimidated, and even the prosecutor was replaced. A journalist named Alessando Loy, who had expressed criticism of the trial, lost his job at the newspaper “Roma” as a result. The sole purpose was to wage a crusade against the Camorra. On July 8, 1912, the two masterminds, Enrico Alfano and Giovanni Rapi, were sentenced to 30 years in prison and a total of over 400 years of imprisonment. Although the key witness, Gennaro Abbatemaggio, recanted his testimony after 15 years, this was swept under the rug because the verdict in the Cuocolo trial had already been handed down.