Vito Casciofero was a prominent Sicilian Mafia boss and also known as Don Vito. Some say he was the ‘Chief of Chiefs’ and a legend. He was born on January 22, 1862 into a very poor family. He grew up in a rural town called Bisacquino but his actual birthplace is Palermo. His father and his mother were illiterate and his father worked as an armed guard in Bisacquino. He started out as a rent collector but in addition to this character he started criminal activities such as threats, kidnappings, etc.
Cascioferro was recruited into a Sicilian League by Bernardino Verro and Cascioferro became the president of that League. Punished for kidnapping and escaping from the police, he sailed for America in 1901. He worked as a fruit importer for two and a half years in New York.
He joined the Morello Mafia gang in the US, but returned to Sicily in 1904 when the US police sergeant ordered his arrest. A journalist named Luigi Barzini described Don Vito as highly intelligent. He governed his area with great qualities. He always started a trip dressed in the best clothes and was loved by all, generous by nature and very helpful.
Joe Petrosino, a US police officer and Italian police chief, described Cascioferro as a “terrible criminal.” Joe was shot to death and Cascioferro is considered a murderer. Cascioferro was about to join a noble party. He excused himself and had gone to Piazza Marina and killed Joe Petrosino and returned to the party. Joe described Cascioferro as a ‘terrible criminal’.
Due to lack of evidence, Joe’s murder case was never solved and the Court of Appeals sends Cascioferro to trial. In his life he was arrested many times but not convicted. According to some writers, he agreed that he had killed the policeman, but a police commissioner concluded that this murder was probably organized by other people under Cascioferro’s direction.
In 1926, the fascist leader Mussolini ordered the prefect Cesare Mori to destroy the mafia. Mori arrested Cascioferro and 150 other members were also arrested. His godson asked an owner to help Cascioferro, but the owner replied that ‘time has changed’. Cascioferro was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1930. During his life in prison he died of natural causes. An Italian author claimed that he probably died of dehydration in 1943. Some say he was transferred to another prison. Historians consider Cascioferro to be a great leader in mafia history.