The herald., 1919-06-12

CONFESSES ROBB|NG
BANK
MONEY RECOVERED IN GROCERY
STORE HERE.

Joseph l.. Rosamano and A. J. Bag,
gese confessed Tuesday morning TO
robbing the Algiers branch of the In
| terstate Bank of more than $4,000
June ,. Frank T. Mooney, Superin-
tendent of Police, by relentlessIy ques.
/ tlonlng the two men all Monday night
, finally brought their admission of
guilt. approximately $500 of the
! money taken in the robbery and en-
beZZled previously by Rosamano still
remained to be accounted for. but the
principals in the case were unable to
proceed with the investigation. Before
going to his home Tuesday afternoon
Tor much-needed rest, Mr.. Mooney
turned over to bank officials S14,377.
all that was recovered OF the S16 .223
stolen from the bank.
The loot was found wrapped in an
old newspaper behind a showcase in
the grocery store of Anthony Labella.
, sol Elmira street, ROsamano's uncle
and godfather. The hiding place was
revealed to Mr.. Mooney by Rosamano
Tuesday afternoon. The package was
brought to his Office, where it was
counted in the presence of witnesses
and given to the bank for safekeeping
until the trial of the confessed thieves.
SUSPECTED "FRAME-UP."
From the moment young Rosamano
told the police his version of the
'hold-up' they believed it a frame
up" and an inside job"
At the start there was no clue point
ing to Rosamano, except that his story
seemed ''fishy,' as Mr.. Mooney ex-
pressed it.
We began by getting the names of
all Romano's friends and getting
line on his private life. We found
that his salary was $40 a month and
that he had been gambling and spend
ing money lavishly on clothes and au-
tomobiles. An examination of his ac-
counts at the bank finally revealed the
fictitious Tom Sneed' account, when
Frank Sicuro, his second cousin. called
up the Algiers branch from New Or
leans, represented himself as an en-
ployee af the main institution on this
side OF the river, and said that Tom
Sneed' had opened an account with
$3.50. We found that Rosamano had
been drawing on the 'Sneed' account"
This gave the police their first tan
gible clue Rosamano and Sicuro were
arrested early Monday afternoon and
taken to headquarters, where they
were closely questioned. Rosamano
/ FINALLY admitted embezzling more
| than $4,000, but he stuck to his orig
/ inal story of the robbery. 1t was
learned that regular monthly check
OF the banks books would have re-
vealed the false account not later than
June g.
His father, Marco Rosamano, 9O5
Verret street, pleaded with the boy be.
fore Mr.. Mooney to make a clean
breast of the whole affair if there was
anything he had not told. But the
son remained obdurate.
ROSAMANO CALM.
His calm assurance, amounting at
times to insolence, amazed officers who
talked with him. All during the in.
vestigation he was smoking expensive
cigars and smiling continually. Early
in the trying ordeal that began Mon
! day afternoon Mr. Mooney said to
| him:
| Joe, before you're through, you are
| going to tell me the whole story of
this affair."
What makes you think SOP" re-
turned Rosamano, laughing
D., Because | am physiclly, mentally
| and morally stronger than you are and
you've got to come through, the SUI
perintendent replied
The 1S-year-old youth tilted back his
chair, crossed one silkenclad ankle
over the other, knocked his cigar ash
off on the carpet and flicked an imag-
mary speck from his silk shirt with
insOlent hesitation
you've sure got some job on your
hands," he said
The beginning of the end was when
Sicuro told of Baggese, Rosamano's
brother-in-law, proposing to him one
night at the Young Mems Gymnastic
Club that they plan to rob the bank
in precisely the manner the crime was
accomplished about two weeks later
Sicuro said he refused to consider the
plan. In their later confessions Bag
gese and Rosamano both said he had
nothing to do with the subsequent
crime.
Baggese was brought in to hear ST.
curo's story. He said nothing, but
left the room laughing as much as to
say the idea was preposterous. From
then on developments were rapid
Rosamano was brought into the room
to hear what Sicuro had said. They
talked freely of defrauding the bank
out Of $4,000 by Rosamano's embezzle-
ment in manipulating accounts and
making incorrect entries in depositors'
pass books. They admitted gambling
heavily and squandering money on
clothes and automobiles, but would add
nothing to the robbery story.
NO REST PERMITTED.
Superintendent Mooney kept plying
them with questions, quietly and even
jokingly, but he always kept their
minds alert to keep from giving the
wrong answer. They were never al