Ah, the old Black Hand gangs of the city of Chicago, one of the most unorganized, bloodthirsty and ruthless criminal groups that the world has ever witnessed. It has long been the cheerful assumption of the old generations that the Black Hand society was the invention of some joker with a defective sense of humour. But in time it has been proved that in fact the so-called Black Hand society really existed and that it was as bad as it has been reported to be. This wasn’t some big organized group but instead it was the opposite because most of these guys worked for themselves and cooperated with dozen of guys at most. But all of these small Italian criminal groups had only two things in common and was the extortion racket and above all murder. They didn’t care about children or women getting killed, because they only cared about their money. They didn’t have hierarchy or discipline or any kind of rules. There was just one ruthless leader with few followers, same as a pack of wolves. They usually fed on their own people and treated every honest businessman as potential target. In fact, the Black Hand was a method of extortion which was practiced mainly by the Italian population. Obviously the purpose of the existence of these so-called independent groups was to gain money unlawfully and offered more serious difficulties such as bombing whole houses or killing whole families.
Now in the old days the Italian population of Chicago was settled in four well defined regions, and the Black Hand extortion method was present in each of these. Most of the old Italian immigrants were hard working people and saved their money for their future generations which was the main cause that attracted an unduly large proportion of the criminal classes of their compatriots. One especially difficult feature of the campaign against the Black Hand was that the recipients of the threatening letters who were so terrified that they were unwilling to tell the police. In consequence, the authorities usually knew nothing about the threats until the damage was done. So through the years, the Black Hand extortionists killed a lot of innocent, wealthy and poor people and by the beginning of the 20th century they were responsible for large numbers of murders in the Chicago area. They even fought between themselves for territories and “false honour”. In Chicago, Black Hand operations were mostly seen in Italian neighbourhoods along Taylor Street and Grand Avenue on the West Side, Wentworth Avenue on the South Side and Chicago’s Little Italy on the North Side.
One of the most infamous, deadly and at the same time darkly mysterious Black Hand group was the Cardinella gang which was headed by Salvatore “Sam” Cardinella. This guy’s nickname was II Diavolo, or "the Devil", probably because of his un-human viciousness and animalistic behaviour. Born in Italy in 1868, Cardinella came to Chicago somewhere around the late 1900’s and in those days this swarthy, thick-chested Italian with such a satanic nickname quickly became one of the toughest street criminals. He was known for organizing bands of mislead and youthful individuals thus showing them the way of crime and so they started targeting mostly the wealthy and powerful people within the Italian community, with brutal violence and no remorse. Cardinella was a spinner of death, with a huge collection of assassinations, who lurked in the shadows while younger men, some of them hardly more than boys, carried out his fatal instructions. And very soon everybody realized that there were only two choices if one crossed paths with the Cardinella gang, and those were “pay or die”. It was that simple.
Salvatore “The Devil” Cardinella
Cardinella was a very greedy and illiterate individual and so he always asked for more and more money and placed a lot of pressure over his underlings. He usually took the loot from the young criminals and got most of the money for himself, if not all. The youngsters would be smacked around and in the end they would come back and do other jobs for him because they obviously feared him. Some times they got rewarded and even then Cardinella would try to steal their money by defrauding them with dice games. The “profitable” lesson that they had learned from him was that he taught them on how to do stick ups and steal and so according to some accounts, in a 6 month period, they have done over 400 holdups.
The main “desperadoes” who were involved in Cardinella’s web of crime were Frank Campione, Thomas Errico, Leonard Crapo, Sam Ferrara, Tony Sansone, Antonio Lopez, Frank Gibbia, Joe Costanza and Nicholas Viana. The crew mostly hung around a poolroom which was located at 22d and Clark streets, and from there the gang whispered softly to other young Italians who came from homes in "The Valley," a slum area west of the river, or from the Oak street district on the North Side, where the Italian secret criminal society ruled supreme. They came as if the college of crime, and Cardinella taught them well. Under his instructions the gang ravaged the dark streets of the west and north sides, and each of their crimes was as baffling in itself as a single piece of a jig-saw puzzle. One of the youngest triggermen was Nick Viana, nicknamed "the Choir Boy," because of his alleged participation in a West Side church choir. This was not the typical Mafia organization, but instead it was more like a group of secret cult killers who slew anyone who did not lift his hands quickly enough at their bidding. By using the Black Hand methods of extortion, and with the help of these young, brainless and psychotic killers, “The Devil” became a real enemy of society with at least 20 murders, 1000 holdups, and over 150 burglaries on his “wall of proudness”.
Now during the 1910’s a lot of Black Hand extortionists were killed mostly by other rival extortionists of same kind, or some were killed by the rising and more sophisticated organized crime gangs. From this point the first on the top of food chain stood the gangsters who were politically connected, controlled gambling and prostitution and killed mainly because of business differences. As for the second place, it was reserved for the more primitive gangs such as the Cardinella mob. I really can’t figure it out on why nobody took on the Cardinella gang but I presume that the main reason was their huge “membership” and of course their ruthlessness, which caused many of the racketeers to be afraid and story goes that some of them even paid “street tax” to the gang.
Now you ask yourself on why these powerful racketeers with strong political connection couldn’t handle a street gang such as the Cardinellas. I mean the politicians controlled the police right? Well the answer is simple because the gang was so ruthless that even some of the cops were shaking in their boots usually when they heard the name of the gang. Like this one time, four gang members, including young Nick Viana, were accosted by two police officers at 21st and Indiana Avenue. While the cops searched some of the young criminals’ pockets, Viana pulled out a pistol and shot one of the cops in the groin and the other in the leg. While the cops bled on the street, the young devils quickly ran off with devilish smiles on their faces.
On another occasion or incident, Thomas Errico allegedly planned the robbery of a poolroom which was located on Chicago’s South Side. During the late 1910’s the South Side was filled with brothels, gambling dens and saloons so Errico knew that during the weekends, this particular saloon was filled with gamblers who played the cards and made high bets. For the job he recruited Frank Campione, Tony Sansone and Nick Viana, gave them guns and told them about the plan. Now the plan was for Errico to get in the saloon as a regular guest and follow the amount of money on the tables. When the place was packed, Errico gave a signal to his friends outside to get in the joint and start robbing. So Campione, Sansone and Viana entered the joint, while waving with their pistols, and robbed 15 people out of their cash and jewelry but something which was known as a “clean robbery” wasn’t in the gang’s book. One of the hostages foolishly reached for his pocket, and Frank Campione pumped one bullet straight into the guy’s heart, thus killing him instantly. After that the murderous trio had fled the scene but Errico remained long enough just to avert any suspicion.
Frank Campione
If there wasn’t anything out there to rob, the gang usually turned to extortion. Like on June 24, 1919, saloon owners Andrew Bowman and Ben Wendell were shot and killed because they didn’t want to pay up. And that was that. Even though many people lost their lives during these so-called criminal actions made by the Cardinellas, by the end of the day most of the cases the individual shares from the loot were ridiculously small considering the chances taken. In fact, the Cardinella gang was no different than some of today’s bloodthirsty and drug fuelled street gangs.
The gang became so ruthless that they even started killing their own. For example, on October 14, 1919, several months previously the “police accident”, five gang members of the gang, again including Viana, entered a saloon at 4420 West 63rd Street and in the course of a holdup, killed the owner Martin (or Albert) Kublanza and one costumer. When they asked the victims for their wallets, Frank Campione shot both men. Then the gang quickly got out of the joint and hopped into a car and sped off down the road. Later the cops found that same car and also found out that it was registered on one of the members of the gang known as Santo Orlando, who in fact drove the getaway car.
Now Orlando didn’t fully belonged to the Cardinella mob but instead he was a member of another North Side Italian faction who was sent to help Cardinella in the job. You see previously Cardinella received word that Kublanza kept a lot of money at his joint and so he needed a plan for the operation but the problem was that every plan always ended up with somebody getting killed. Back at their headquarters, the head of the gang Sam Cardinella heard about the bad news on Orlando and so ten days later, Orlando’s body was found in a drainage canal with more than several bullets in his head and body. Cardinella was obviously afraid from the expected arrest of Orlando and the high chances for his confession and so he gave the murder contract to Frank Gibbia. Now Gibbia was the one in big trouble because Orlando’s associates, who I believe were the Gloriana gang, were looking to kill him in revenge. Cardinelli warned Gibbia about the “price on his head” and advised him to abandon the city. In no time Gibbia fled Chicago and went to New Orleans but after a while, he returned to Chicago to see his sister. That same day his sister received a phone call saying in Italian “You will find your brother dead at Chicago Heights. Gibbia has been shot. Orlando is avenged.” Sadly the information was accurate because Gibbia’s body, bearing the cruel marks of a “ride” slaying, was picked up on a lonely stretch of the Ridge Line Road, four miles south of Chicago Heights.
Frank Gibbia
In just one year the Cardinella gang was responsible for at least five or six murders, but as always, every story of that kind has its own gruesome end. By the end of 1919, the government prosecutors wanted justice regarding the murders of Andrew Bowman, Ben Wendell and Martin (or Albert) Kublanza and so warrants for the arrest of Sam Cardinella, Tom Errico, Nick Viana, Frank Campione and the rest of the gang members, were issued. When the cops arrested Cardinella in November, 1919, “someone” immediately posted his bond and he was released until trial. There’s not much info out there on whether Cardinelli had any political connections but for a criminal “caveman” such as himself, he certainly knew his ways around the law.
Now the first trio that went on trial were Errico, Campione and Viana for the Kublanza murder. It became a very long trial because Campione decided to fake insanity by constantly interrupting the proceedings like screaming in the courtroom while holding the pillow from his jail cell. A special commission of three medical physicians was brought in and they declared Campione quite sane but even with that he still continued with the alleged sham. For example, when his attorney was fighting for the case, Campione was singing songs for more than 30 minutes. Both Viana and Errico sat calmly beside him and without a flinch they looked at their allegedly crazy partner. Also there were detectives all over the courtroom because there was a rumour for possible outbreak by other members from the Cardinella gang.
After three months, when the trial ended, the jury was out for nearly four hours and when they returned, on May 9, 1920, the verdict was death by hanging. When Campione heard the bad news about his faith, he collapsed on the bailiff’s arm right there in the courtroom. Also Viana and Errico started crying like little boys when they heard the terrible news and after all Viana was only 18 and Errico 19 years old. So one of the young boys, Tom Errico decided to “sing” in an obvious attempt to save his skin and told the prosecutors that all of these murders and robberies were in fact masterminded by Sam Cardinella himself and that they were forced by his hand to commit the evil deeds and so in no time Cardinella was arrested by the authorities and was immediately placed on trial.
Now Cardinella, together with, Antonio Lopez, Sam Ferrara and Joe Costanzo, was accused for the murders of Andrew Bowman and Ben Wendell and another killing which was committed by his partners on the trial. The first witness who took the stand was the late Bowman’s wife Nettie. She testified that her deceased husband knew Nick Viana and she also said that she saw Cardinelli coming around more than couple of times, few days before the shooting. She added that she recognized him by his unusually large neck. On cross-examination, she testified that she recognized Errico and Crapo as the shooters. I believe that by now Cardinella started sweating because the air in the room became hotter since Tom Errico took the stand as a witness. Errico confessed the Bowman and Wendell murders and again, gave the same information that Cardinella was behind the operation. Now all of the “Devil’s minions” turned against their dark master. At first Leonard Crapo insisted that Cardinella had nothing to do with the gang but later he changed his mind into testifying about the same accounts which Errico already gave the prosecutors. But later Errico and Capo were given life sentences because of their cooperation in helping with the case. You see in the old days the laws were more decent rather than today. I mean in the old days when a killer started talking about his terrible actions, he wasn’t given a new identity, or new home location or even money to be supported. No sir, that individual was given a life sentence, such a “grateful gift” since his life was spared.
Leonard Crapo
As for the “Devil” himself, Cardinella denied that he ever set foot in Bowman’s joint, and claimed that his business was mainly conducted with Italians or Sicilians because he didn’t understood English so well. He even denied that he conducted a place for highwaymen and he also denied that Errico, Crapo and Viana requented his place but instead they were there only few times but he told them to stay out because of their bad reputation. Normally no one ever believed on what Cardinelli told the prosecutors but by the end of the trail, his youngest former companion Nick Viana decided to close the trial with his own statement. This is what Viana allegedly told the Judge and the jury:
“I was 14 when I first entered his poolroom. Returning from choir practice, I saw many boys my age in his place and finally entered. I entered Cardinella’s poolroom in short trousers, and in a week I was a criminal. I met Tom Errico and Leonard Crapo there. They inducted me to help rob a drug store. Then they reported to Cardinella that I was “game”. After that I was a regular. Then we were arrested. A policeman at the Deering station caught us after we had held up a woman at 22nd and Archer Avenue. He took us to the station, took $400 from us, and told us to forget all about it and let us out the back way. If he had only had me sent to prison or reform school then I’d have learned my lesson. If I had only taken my mother’s advice, but Cardinella warned us never to trust a woman, even our own mothers and sisters. Cardinella always warned us about talking. ”The first one who squawks will be bumped off” he told us after every job. Cardinella will get out of it. He has money. He’ll beat the case yet. If he gets a new trial, there’ll be none left to testify against him. Campione and I will be dead and the rest won’t dare talk. Cardinella was the leader and instigator of everything we did. I’d die willingly if he would only hang with me. He led me astray.”
Nick Viana (mysteriouschicago.com)
