New-York tribune., 1909-03-14
RTAME ITALIAN POLICE
RFTRAYAL OF PETROSINO.
pnobabIe Successor BeHeUeS There
Has Plot at Palermo.

7ts,,tenant Antonio Vachris, head Of the Ital-
,sn detective service IN Brooklyn, and now re-
.srded as the leading police authority Ital-
-, criminals IN the city, believes Lieutenant
retrosino was betrayed by the Palermo police
rho had assisted him in his work and led him
,,to an ambush. The two New York officers
hsd been close friends for years and had worked
tozether on many famous cases.
sTt is sure" said Lieutenant vachris yester-
ssv that Petrosino was not working down IN
siciIv alone He consulted with the officials
everywhere he went, and always had detectives
+,o7o the local force TO help him. He told me in
+. talk lust tefore going away he would do that
said TO him then: Joe. you may be safe and
all right I'D in the North, but look out for your
self es you never did before when you get down
g. .he Notch You know who is there And
he replfed: I'm no fool Tony. and III be
ready for anything that happens down there
..Ps Ierrno is the worst hole in Southern Italy
<7r the Malta There are at least hundred
criminals Of the most desperate type there who
knew Petrosino. many of them having been de-
ported from this country because OF his work
Because Of the peculiar Sicilian police condi-
tons il would not be surprising to learn that
men outside the department who wanted his
life could find out where to expect him at a
certain hour if he was escorted about the city
by a detective or two.
of course, nothing definite can be said about
II until later dispatches tell more fully Of the
manner Of his death. He was a brave man. a
hne officer. and wouldn't have died without a
fight There's more in this than appears, I
think. and the machinery has been set in motion
to find out what's behind it all
Lieutenant Vachris said that Petrosino had
not laid anything aside for his family al
though he received a good salary said the
Brooklyn officer, ''he had large expenses and
spent freely
Lieutenant Vschris who has made many enc
mics and has been threatened with death as
often as Petrosino was, may be selected TO com
rlete the work which the shooting interrupted
that Of obtaining information Of the criminals
and police methods OF Italy
Assistant District Attorney F. / Carrao Of
Kings County. who, with District Attorney John
?. Clarke completed two months ago a tour of
Italy. made for the same purpose which sent
lieutenant Petrosino abroad, said last night at
the St George Hotel. Brooklyn. that he be
ueved the detectives death had been decreed
in the United States
The Italian government" said MI Carrao.
himself an Italian, must be held largely re-
sponsible for the assassination of Lieutenant
Petrosino in Palermo. I knew him intimately
as fine type Of Italian-American citizen and
as a good officer. There cannot be any doubt
that his death was Planneo ana decreeu mere III
New York City. and the decree was executed in
Palermo with military obedience by the Maia-
IN league with the Italian criminals Of New
York
The important personality and mission Of MI
Petrosino should have dictated 70 the Italian
Consul General Of New York the propriety Of
Informing the Ministry Of the Interior of his
coming. thus insuring protection for the officer
during the entire trip But il seems from eX-
periences I had while in Italy last summer that
the officials look on the Italian American citizen
when over there more as a curiosity. especially
when ne Is studying the question OF Italian
crfminaIity
There is no question that the officials in
Sicily are in league with the Malta The reign
II the Nsfa in Sicily will not cease until the
government destroys the community os interest
between its leaders and the police and soldiery."