New-York Tribune, 20 February 1910, page 3: sentencing story continued, with press speculation

Page 3 of the New-York Tribune, Sunday, 20 February 1910, continues the sentencing story from the front page, under portraits of Lupo, Cina and Cecala captioned “Italians sentenced for counterfeiting.” It quotes Morello begging the court to suspend sentence, and reports United States Attorney Wise as saying “the sentences were the most severe for counterfeiters in recent years.” It says the crime of conviction was “the making, at Highland, N. Y., of counterfeit bills and their circulation and sale,” and credits “the chief of the Secret Service here, William J. Flynn, and his men.”

Flagged speculation. Under the subhead “Suspected of other crimes,” the paper says detectives and Secret Service agents regarded Lupo and Morello as “the most dangerous men in this country,” that they were “the last men seen with Benedetto Madonia,” and that “It is believed” by those working on the case “that in Morello and Lupo, and the men who looked to them for leadership, they have those responsible for the murder of Detective Petrosino in Palermo.” The paper says the belief rested on “a remark made by one of the convicted men in the presence of a government witness.” This is unproven press speculation. No record filed here supports or tests it, no one was charged in any record filed here with either killing, and the Second Circuit wrote of the barrel case that “The arrest of Morelio for the murder proved nothing” (189 F. 305). The page also places the barrel “in 16th street and Avenue A,” which conflicts with the 1903 reports of Eleventh Street near Avenue D.

The nicknames “The Wolf” and “gray fox” are the paper’s. No scan of this page is stored: the Library of Congress image service was unavailable when the page was filed.