The barrel murder was a method of execution used by gangsters and serial killers since the 1800s.The victims, usually would be found stuffed inside a barrel after being shot, stabbed, or strangled to death and chopped up.usually the hands are crossed and tied tightly together with the legs,which are bent back at straight angles with the body. The legs are usually cut off with an axe or a saw which are used in decapitating victim's.Sometimes the barrles can be found in back alleys,shipped to a nonexistent address in another city or country or dumped in the deep lakes or in the ocean.Also sometimes the barrel with alive victim inside can be filled with cement.Imagine a death more horrific by getting sealed in concrete,in some way to prevent you from moving too much before you get stuffed in and had gooey concrete glide down your skin.Also in present times,the barrels can be filled with acid.The acid thing began in the 50's and early 60's.

In the early 1900's,in American organized crime the Morello crime family in New York,would frequently employ the notorious barrel murder system wich it was the Mafia's favorite method of disposing of a dead corpse.Lupo the Wolf,member and ruthless killer of the Morello gang ,was fond of stuffing his victims in a barrel.The Morello family utilized the barrel method. It has been estimated that the Morellos disposed of as many as 100 people with the barrel method.In 1903 there was the infamous “Barrel Murder”.It was the murder of a man named Benedetto Madonia by stuffing him into a barrel and leaving the barrel on the street.Famous policeman Joe Petrosino first achieved prominence when he investigated the infamous case.Petrosino knew the man who ordered the murder was Joe Morello and on Wednesday 15th,eight members of the Morello gang were arrested.The arrested men were:Giuseppe Morello,Tommaso Petto,Joseph Fanaro ,Antonio ‘Messina’ Genova,Lorenzo LoBido,Vito LoBido,Dominico Pecoraro and Pietro Inzerillo.On Monday 20th April, the police had run out of time to hold the prisoners any longer and they were again arraigned at Jefferson Market Court. Joseph Fanaro was dismissed due to lack of evidence, then called as a witness, he claimed to never have seen Madonia before. He was dismissed from court but then arrested again for perjury. Exactly the same process happened to Lorenzo LoBido. Ignazio Lupo was dismissed due to lack of evidence and immediately re-arrested on a counterfeiting charge and held on $2500 bail. The other men were held on the original charge and returned to Jefferson Market jail. Lupo was taken to Ludlow Street jail.But karma is a bitch and so most of the gang members involved with the murder were killed in later years. They were likely murdered through through unrelated gang activities, but the press would always recall the famous Barrel Murder of 1903 when writing up their stories.Also according to Secret Service informants, the one killing definitely linked to the legacy of the Barrel Murder was the 1912 shooting of Colagero Morello, Giuseppe Morello’s only son.

Also one of the earliest stories was the barrel murder of a Rochester mafioso.Francesco Manzello was a member of “The Black Hand” (or Mano Nera in Italian).On October 30, 1911, (about 9am Monday morning) a barrel containing Francesco’s body was discovered in a gully along old Webster State Road by 18 year old Frank C. Smith.Francesco was chopped up, stuffed into the barrel, driven out and tossed near Irondequoit Bay.The hands,lower part of the trunk and upper ends of the legs were visible first. The unfortunate victim had been decapitated and the head placed at the bottom of the barrel.The head of the victim rested on a new soft hat. A bruise on the forehead showed where the victim had been hit on the head, rendering him unconscious before the human butchering took place. The head had been severed from the body by one stroke of a heavy axe or cleaver. The right eye was slightly discolored, and that discoloration and a small bruise on the back of the right hand were the only marks of previous violence on the body.Police theorized that Francesco was killed in revenge.

In the 1970's the method was again used in Johnny Roselli's death when he was found chopped up in a 55-gallon oil drum off the coast of Florida in 76.On July 16 Roselli, along with his sister and her husband, went to dinner with known bigtime Mafia don Santo Trafficante. On July 27 a mob-connected lawyer called Roselli from Los Angeles and told him to get out of Miami immediately. The next day, July 28th, Roselli disappeared on the way to play golf.The barrel resurfaced later when gases emanating from the corpse caused the drum to float.The barrel was punched full of holes and wrapped in chains.Roselli had been killed because he knew and talked too much.

Also theres a another rumour that Jimmy Hoffa had been killed, put in a barrel, placed into a car and than shipped overseas.And i also think that Kuklinski said that but who knows?!

In 2009,a woman dared to cooperate with police in the fight against the Italian mob,wich got her murdered and her body was dumped in a barrel of acid in the countryside near Milan,Italy.Later her 17 year old daughter steped forward and testified against six mafiosi and they all went to prison for life.

Other criminal gangs use this method as well.For example,there was a report from Mexico published on October 20, 2005 about two men stuffed in oil drums filled with concrete. One of them was Jesus Portillo Madrid, an Interpol commander from Ciudad Juarez, the other one was his lawyer Gerardo Jaramillo Romo. They were found in Villas del Sol, Chihuahua. According to the report, the men were suffocated with plastic bags before they were stuffed into the barrels and sealed with concrete.

Recent example was in 2013 when the body of a Russian lawmaker missing for nearly a week was found stuffed in a barrel of cement in a private garage in Moscow,Russia.

If any1 has any additional info or knows any other example please contribute.This article is completed from various sources and infos that can be found on the internet.Cheers

On September 28, 1978 Joseph Scorney was murdered, although the motives never became clear to the participants in the murder, or later on to the defense team when Arena was questioned at the 1985 Mafia Commission Trial. Arena and Richard stuffed Scorney's body into a fifty-gallon oil barrel and filled it with cement and rolled it off a pier in Center Moriches, New York. The body was recovered in 1982. In 1985 Vito Arena was sentenced to eighteen years for the murder of Scorney.

Cesere bonventre was also stuffed in two seperate barrels wen he crossed rusty rastelli and joey massino

What a terrible way to go. Charlie Carneglia is alleged to have practiced this method. He liked to use acid which was apparently readily available in his junkyard business

The cartels use a method called "el Guiso" translated "the stew" where they force people into drums then pour gasoline on them and burn them alive.

Here is link to an article on the "Barrel Murder" in Rochester.

Pretty cool with photos!

http://www.rochestersubway.com/topics/2013/09/rochester-mafia-and-the-infamous-barrel-murder/

Thanks a lot guys for the great additional infos.

A less know fact is that Bill Cutolo was indicted for the murder of James Nagi in 1975. Nagi was found in an oil drum pulled out of East River. He and his mob sponsor George Tropiano, also indicted in the case, pleaded innocent. I guess they were aquitted or the case never went on trial because I never heard of Cutolo being in prison for murder.

John Roselli was clipped and found floating in a bay near Miami in a barrel. Loose lipped, and thought he could just "walk away" from the life.

Hey eric, any inside scoop on the outfit for us?

Of course why do you think I'm here.

I have read every thread on the board lurking for a few months. Some funny stuff.

Although I have to admit I read some total BS the other day posted by someone saying that NY forced Capone to give up prostitution to become part of LCN. LMAO

Guess he's never been here on Mannheim Road, or Cicero in the 80's into the 90's. Not to mention some other places. Sure the Outfit gave up pimping out women. LOL

But this seems like a pretty good site.

You can find on numerous sites those cartel guys are always video taping their exploits. I think one had them clipping a bunch of people then dumping them in the barrels. When the cameras focused on the barrels they had smoke fuming out of them so I assume it was some type of acid.

Don't look up the videos if you are the weak of heart, they don't exactly edit those down south of the border.....

Ya man hope ya stick around. Haha ya im not sure where that idea about giving up prostitution came from, ive never heard that before.

Well, believe it or not, just because you´ve never heard of it before, doesn´t mean it never happened.

I have no clue what and who the outfit pimped out in the 1980s and the 1990s. Frankly, I don´t care. I suppose you´re not old ennugh to know what happened in 1931. Neither am I god thanks. But that´s why we use Gentile, for example, as reference of what happened. Gentile´s manuscript provides interesting facts of the Mafia and other stuff that went down from apr 1920 to mid 1930s.

Whatever you say. Just finished reading the book on the Chicago Heights crew (who I knew nothing about since I grew up on the northwest side). BTW - Pretty good book, not as good as 5 families or The Outfit however.

Suffice it to say, that crew ran gambling joints and brothels, along with a taxi cab company to shuttle you back and forth to take your money all 3 ways. From the beginning of the whole thing. So maybe the outfit didn't actually comply with this supposed demand?

Glad I found this place, some good info and interesting characters. Like I said I've been here lurking probably 6 months and have read it all for the most part.

Thanks for the welcome Dellacroce.

eric, wasn't roselli called to testify behind closed doors in Washington relating to the cia mafia ties. as was giancana before he was hit. seems like trafficante wanted to shut roselli up.