The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1911-03-25
AL|EN|sTS To
GIVE EVIDENCE
Camorrists Claim Abbatemag-
giO, Governments Star Wit
ness, Is Insane.
HIS TESTIMONY NOT
VITALITY IMPORTANT
Prosecution Claims to Be Able
to Prove Its Case by Other
Witnesses.

VITERBO, Italy, March 24.-This
was the day set for the interrogation
of Gennaro Abbatemaggio. the Cannon
rist informer about whose confession
the state has built up the evidence ON
which it is hoped to rid the country or
the criminal organization that for years
has exacted tribute from rich and poor,
robbing and numbering with practica!
immunity.
In anticipation of witnessing what
may cost him his life, great crowds
gathered early in the vicinity of the
court of assizes and when the session
opened the room was packed 10 Its ca
pacity,
The defense. so far as Abbatemagglo
is concerned, will be that the man is in.
sane, theory strengthened by his des'
perate boldness. Professor Ottoienghl,
an alienist from the University OF Rome,
has been retained to examine tho In
former and as the professor was not IL
court during the morning hours Abbate-
maggie s questioning was deferred un.
til the afternoon, and President Biauchl
opened the proceedings with the examl-
nation of Gennaro lbelG, following this
with the questioning of Luigi Arena.
Tbelli Head of Band.
Ibelli is said TO be the head Of that
branch of the Camorra which oper
ates IN the Fesuvian villages He was
one of the party that dined with Enrico
AIfano on the night that Gennaro
Cuoccolo and his wife were murdered.
He was arrested soon afterward but
released en- the false representations
of the priest, Giro VitrozZi. According
to Abbatemaggio, one of the olfenses
OF Cuoccolo was his defiance of Ibelh.
He is charged with having been one
Of those who instigated the murders
This he denied today and he also
denied that he had dined with the
other leaders Of the Camorra on the
night In question, He said that he
knew Alamo and Giuseppe de Ma
rinis, another Of the chiefs, only III a
business way
Luigi Arena was then called Arena
is the man who is charged with having
called on his brother Camorrists to
kill Cuoccolo In revenge for his own
betrayal. Abbatemaggio says that Gu
occoo wished a portion of tho spoils
of a robbery committed by Arena aud
a few companions. This was refused,
whereupon Cuoccolo' denounced the
robbers to the police and they were
imprisoned. From his cell Arena sent
a postal card to one of the leaders ask
ing for Cuoccolo's death as a traitor
TO the Camorra.
Proof of Vengeance.
The carabineers claim TO have found
this postcard and also Cuoccolo' g ring,
which was TO have been sent to Arena
in proof that vengeance had been done.
Replying to the president, Arena said:
''rhis story of Abbatemaggio IS
false | am not Camorrist. While
in prison | was a Camorrist, it is true,
for in prison all men are Camorrists.
challenge any one to produce the post
card which / am said to have written
to De Marines. Abbatemaggio In sup
port of his own romance related to the
police, made up this story of the post
card. The pretended witness who saw
1t is a myth. ! am innocent of this
crime and Abbatemaggio,s statement
that I asked for Cuoccolo's death and
was responsible for his murder is
false
Abbatemaggio is fast becoming the
most conspicuous figure In the trial. He
has been openly threatened with death
so many times that he appears to have
nothing to lose now either if he holds
TO his confession or repudiates it.
- Plenty of Evidence.
His Indifference, however, is being
used TO bloster up the claim that he is
mentally irresponsible and has ina gined
the story which be tells. Should this
defense be established it would be of
great importance TO the prisoners and
It's effect ultimately on the case can
not be safely predicted. However, the
state claims to have gathered sufficient
evidence to prove the truth of the
mans assertion, even should his testi-
mony be declared incompetent
Abbatemaggio was led into his rev.
elations by the police spy, Marcial
Capzzuti, Of the legion of carabineers
in Naples. The latter gave the in.
former money with which TO be mar
ried and to set himself up in business
in return for information which the
marcial said he wished to get in order
TO use it as means of securing mem
bership in the Camorra.
When Abbatemaggio learned that he
had been trickcd he made the best of it
by becoming police spy. The de.
Tense asserted that the informer has
never been right mentally; that as an
infant he was subject TO fits and that
from his youth he has been a vicious
person. They describe him as having
been an incorrigible child who was in
the habit of striking his own mother,
an offense which. they point out should