Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1913-04-26

Mrs Maddalena C1ccone Tor the muir
der of the womans hubbard in
March. 1912, must go to a fellow
townsman of theirs from the little
village of Teora, Italy.
County Detective Antonio De Ro-
gatis is the man, and 1t was through
his work. assisted by Joseph Federico,
Italian interpreter of the county
courts, that a mass of evidence was
built around Mrs. Ciccone that re-
suited in her making a confession in
which she admitted poisoning her
husband, alleging that she did SO
through fear of injury to herself at
Flores hands, she being infatuated
with him and under his domination.
Back of the strenuous efforts made
| by De Rogatis, Federico and the
prosecutors office to convict Fiore
lies the tale of another murder COM
mitted by Fiore, and in which the
evidence was far stronger than in
the Ciccone case. In this case Fiore
escaped with a term of eighteen
months In the county penitentiary.
While the prosecutors office was
more than anxious to convict Mrs.
Ciccone for the murder of her hus-
band and succeeded In doing so, the
person they really wanted to get was
Fiore for the previous murder, for II
ever a conviction was taken away
from under the eyes of a prosecutor
| II was in that instance.
On August 10, 1909, Fiore and An
CELLO M. Caprlo got into a quarrel
with Salvatore Borreccio In a Cutler
| street saloon. Borreccio was lured
! to a. hallway outside the saloon, and
II is alleged that while Caprio held
him Fiore stabbed him twice in the
breast. Fiore fled the city, going to
Pittsfield, Mass, but Caprio re-
NAMED here and was captured.
He was taken before Borreccio at
the City Hospital and Identified by
Borreccio, the latter saying: "Caprio
held me and Tony Fiore stabbed me-
With this evidence against him Ca
prio broke down and confessed. In
the meantime Borreccio had died from
his wounds. The Identification and
statement in the hospital had not
been taken as an ante-mortem state
ment, and, therefore. could not be
used against Fiore as he was not
present when it was made.
But the confession of Caprio could
be and hunt for Fiore began. At
that time 1t was known that he was
on intimate terms with Mrs. Ciccone.
and De Rogatis was finally able to
intercept a letter from Fiore writ
ten from Pittsfield, Mass, in which
he urged Mrs. Ciccone to join him
there.
Instead of Mrs. Ciccone joining him
there De Rogatis did and placed him
under arrest and brought him back
to this city, On August 9, 1910, while
awaiting trial in the county jail,
Caprio made an attempt to Kill a
couple of keepers as he was being
transferred from one cell~to another.
He made a weapon out of long
bolt used to brace a campstool, and
had sharpened 1t to a needle ike
point by scraping 1t on the stone floor
of his cell.
In the attempt to kill his keepers
and escape Caprio stabbed and cut
Indian Jack" Bryan with his i'm
provised dagger in such shape that
Bryan today is almost a helpless
cripple. 1t looked as if Bryan would
be killed when Hugh Corby another
keeper, came to his assistance. Caprio
turned on him and in self-defense
Corby shot and killed Caprio.
And thus through the trail of two
deaths went the evidence against
Fiore for the Staying of Borreccio.
Death sealed the lips of Borreccio be-
fore he had a chance to identify
Fiore, and death again interviewed
before Caprios confession had
chance to be used against him.
AS a result there was no evidence
on which Fiore could be convicted,
and he got off with an eighteen
months sentence for assault and bat
terry, when, according to the positive
statement of Borreccio and Caprio
he was a murderer.
For the reason that Fiore escaped
with such slight punishment in the
former murder his conviction in this
case was pleasing to the prosecutors
office, especially to the officers who
had worked up the evidence in the
first case only to see 1t go for
naught.
BY the way, the long steel dagger
made out of a stool bolt which Ca
prio used in his murderous assault
on the jail keepers, and the camp |
stool from which it was taken, are
now part of Chief County Detective |
Fred Weimer's collection of crime
souvenirs in his office at the Court |
House.
Judge William p. Martin done away |
with one old custom at the Court |
House this week that was as useless |
as 1t was foolish. That was the Gus
tom of compelling a talesman being
to keep his right hand on the Bible
ali during the period he was under
examination as TO his qualifications.
Judge Martin, in the Antonio Fiore
trial, had the talesmen keep their
hands on the Bible only during the
time they were actually taking the
oath.
In the Fiore trial there were sew
eral instances where Anthony r.
Fnelli, counsel for Flore, and Court
Interpreter Joseph Federico had argu-
ments over the exact words used by
Italian witnesses. On one occasion
the argument was over whether the