Giovanni Zarcone (c. 1864 - July 27, 1909)

I've been gathering information on one of the lesser known characters to become involved with the Morello Mob.

Giovanni Zarcone (right), a Brooklyn resident, was arrested in connection with the 1903 "Barrel Murder." His arrest seems to have been due to his ownership of a Manhattan butcher shop used by the Morello gang as a meeting place. Authorities also believed Zarcone's wagon was used to haul the barrel containing the remains of Benedetto Madonia. (New York Times, May 9, 1903, p. 6, and July 29, 1909, p. 2.)

Zarcone was released on $5,000 bail. Charges against him were later dropped. (NYT July 29, 1909, p. 2.)

There was no mention of Zarcone for several years. His son Pietro made the papers in September 1906, when he was arrested for a Connecticut "blue law" violation. Pietro shot at a snake one Sunday on his father's farm near Danbury, CT. The law prohibited even the carrying of a firearm on Sunday. Pietro was fined $10 plus court costs. The story was so unusual that it drew the attention of newspapers around the country. If the Zarcones had moved to Danbury to hide out from the Morello Mob, their plan was foiled. (Statesville NC Landmark, Sept. 25, 1906; Oakland CA Tribune, Sept. 27, 1906, p. 7.)

Giovanni Zarcone was found shot to death outside his Danbury home on July 27, 1909. The killing was apparently performed along the road a short distance from the home, with Zarcone's remains dragged and left at his doorstep. Authorities immediately identified him as one of the accused in the Barrel Murder case and decided that he was killed to keep him quiet about the details of that case. Zarcone's son claimed he saw a gang of seven men flee from the scene. (Fitchburg MA Daily Sentinel, July 28, 1909, p. 7; Reno NV Evening Gazette, July 28, 1909, p. 1; NYT, July 29, 1909, p. 2; Nebraska State Journal, July 29, 1909, p. 1.)

Zarcone had come to the U.S. from Bagheria, Sicily.