Bolber-Petrillo Murder Ring, The

America's most prolific team of killers-for-profit were active in Philadelphia during the 1930s, claiming an estimated 30 to 50 victims before the ring's various members were apprehended.

Students of the case, in retrospect, are prone to cite the gang's activities as evidence that modern homicide statistics may be woefully inaccurate. If 20,000 murders are reported in a given year, they say, it is entirely possible that 20,000 more go unreported, overlooked by the authorities.

The basic murder method was conceived in 1932, by Dr. Morris Bolber and his good friend, Paul Petrillo. After one of Bolber's female patients aired complaints about her husband's infidelity, the doctor and Petrillo planned for Paul to woo the lonely lady, gaining her cooperation in a plan to kill her wayward spouse and split $10,000 in insurance benefits.

The victim, Anthony Giscobbe, was a heavy drinker, and it proved a simple matter for his wife to strip him as he lay unconscious, leaving him beside an open window in the dead of winter while he caught his death of cold. The grieving widow split her cash with Bolber and Petrillo, whereupon her "lover" promptly went in search of other restless, greedy wives. It soon became apparent that Italian husbands, caught up in the middle of the Great Depression, carried little life insurance on their own.

Petrillo called upon his cousin Herman, an accomplished local actor, to impersonate potential victims and apply for heavy policies. Once several payments had been made, the husbands were eliminated swiftly and efficiently through "accidents" or "natural causes."

Dr. Bolber's favorite methods included poison and blows to the head with a sandbag, producing cerebral hemorrhage, but methods were varied according to victims. One target, a roofer named Lorenzo, was hurled to his death from an eight-story building, the Petrillo cousins first handing him some French post cards to explain his careless distraction. After roughly a dozen murders, the gang recruited faith healer Carino Favato, known as the Witch in her home neighborhood. Favato had dispatched three of her own husbands before going into business full-time as a "marriage consultant," poisoning unwanted husbands for a fee.

Impressed by Dr. Bolber's explanation of the life insurance scam, Favato came on board and brought the gang a list of her prospective clients. By the latter part of 1937, Bolber's ring polished off 50 victims, at least 30 of which were fairly well documented by subsequent investigation. The roof fell in when an ex-convict approached Herman Petrillo, pushing a new get-rich scheme.

Unimpressed, Petrillo countered with a pitch for his acquaintance to secure potential murder victims, and the felon panicked, running to police. As members of the gang were rounded up, they "squealed" on one another in the hope of finding leniency, their clients chiming in as ripples spread throughout a stunned community. While several wives were sent to prison, most escaped by testifying for the state. The two Petrillos were condemned and put to death, while Bolber and Favato each drew terms of life imprisonment.

Michael Newton - An Encyclopedia of Modern Serial Killers - Hunting Humans

Philadelphia's Poison Ring

By David Lohr

The D.A. and the Informant

The assistant district attorney of Philadelphia during the late 1930s was Vincent McDevitt. A blithe Irish lad, McDevitt grew up in the dense streetcar suburb of West Philadelphia. Being the second oldest of four brothers brought him hardship after the death of his father when he was 14 years old.

McDevitts mother worked as a seamstress, but the money was not nearly enough to support the family of five. McDevitt and his older brother began working to help put food on the table. As the years went by and the familys financial burdens became lighter, Mrs. McDevitt urged her sons to further their education. It was important to her that her children have a better life than the one she was able to provide for them. McDevitt studied hard and, much to his mothers delight, was eventually awarded a partial state senatorial scholarship, which enabled him to attend night classes at Temple Law School. Finally, in 1929, 28-year-old McDevitt completed his education and qualified for the bar.

Within three years, he married and shortly thereafter became a father. Building a law practice during the Depression was no easy task, but McDevitt was a determined man and he promised himself that his family would never have to live as he did within the homogeneous clusters of row houses that made up most of West Philadelphia. In January 1938, the struggling attorneys hard work finally paid off when he obtained an appointment as an assistant district attorney.

Shortly after settling into his new office, McDevitts boss, district attorney Charles Kelley, assigned McDevitt to a recent homicide case. Three months prior, on October 27, 1938, Ferdinando Alfonsi, 38, died under mysterious circumstances and a government informer had recently provided the Secret Service with details relating to the case.

Kelley had heard rumors that a cult was involved and was reluctant to become personally involved in such a bizarre case. So it was that McDevitt was assigned to handle it. Later that day, a Secret Service agent, known only as Agent Landvoight (due to his undercover work), filled McDevitt in on the case.

Landvoight said the informer told him of a group of individuals based in Philadelphia, who ran a murder ring to collect insurance money. According to Poison Widows, by George Cooper, the informer, George Meyer (a.k.a. Newmeyer), ran an upholstery cleaning company, which had recently fallen on hard times.

When he sought money for his business, he was referred to the ringleader, Herman Petrillo. Agent Landvoight was already familiar with Petrillo. He tried for years to arrest him for counterfeiting five and ten dollar bills. Landvoight had a file three inches thick on him, but every time the authorities served a warrant or attempted a sting operation, they came up empty handed.

Meyer knew about Petrillos money-making scams and told Landvoight that Petrillo had offered him $500 in legal tender and $2,500 in counterfeit bills, if Meyer could organize a hit on Ferdinando Alfonsi. He then handed him an 18-inch piece of pipe. You do it in his house, Petrillo said. Hit him with the pipe. Then carry him up the steps and throw him down. Itll look like an accident. Meyer had no intention of carrying out the crime, but played along hoping that Petrillo would offer him an advance.

Nonetheless, Petrillo would not pay a dime up front and in the end Meyer decided to make some quick cash by selling the information to the Secret Service. Landvoight was more interested in the counterfeit bills than he was in any murder conspiracy and offered to pay Meyer if he would continue to play along with Petrillos scheme. The down and out businessman had little choice and reluctantly agreed.

Counterfeiters and Insurance Frauds

Herman Petrillo was born in 1899, in the Neapolitan province of Campania. After his immigration to the United States in 1910, he worked as a barber, but eventually opted for easier ways to make money. In the beginning his schemes consisted of arson and insurance fraud, but a person can only burn down so many buildings before the police and insurance companies become suspicious. During one fateful trip to the seedier side of town, he ran into a group of men selling counterfeit five-dollar bills for half the face value. Petrillo was so impressed by the quality of the bills that he began to study the criminal art and was soon making his own.

Herman Petrillo's cousin, Paul Petrillo, emigrated from Naples to Philadelphia in 1910. He married shortly after his arrival in the states and before long opened a tailor shop, Paul Petrillo, Custom Tailor to the Classy Dressers, on East Passyunk Avenue. According to later reports in The Philadelphia Inquirer, the business quickly prospered, however, when the Depression came, he barely survived financially.

To support his family, Paul got into the life insurance racket. He sold cheap policies with weekly premiums of 50 cents or a dollar. The insurance company he worked with did not require a medical examination, so Paul would sell policies to sickly, middle-aged men. While the prospect may have sounded alluring to those wanting to ensure their families well being, Paul had his own agenda.

More times than not, Paul would list himself, without the policy holders knowledge, as brother or cousin of the insured, thus making himself the sole beneficiary. Basically, he was playing the lottery, but this was no ordinary game and it required the death of a human participant in order to get the big payoff.

Paul was fascinated by magic and was interested in healers and individuals who claimed the power to take away a person's pain. When discussing this interest with a local masseur, Paul was excited to learn that the man often attended sessions where various healers discussed their practices and was overjoyed when the man invited him to attend one. It was there that Paul met a man named Morris Bolber.

A Russian Jewish immigrant, Bolber was a middle-aged man, known around town as Louie the Rabbi. Born in Tordobis, Russia during the late 1800s, he was raised by his grandparents and entered Grodno State University at age nine. Upon his graduation at 12, he began to tutor children. During this time, he became interested in the Kabbalah, an ancient book of magic. His fascination eventually turned into obsession and in 1905 he took a ship to China and sought out a legendary sorceress named Rino. Bolber lived with the old woman for five years, during which time she taught him how to make potions and use healing spirits.

In 1911, Bolber immigrated to New York City. He eventually married and settled down on the lower East side. He worked as a teacher, saved his money earnestly, and soon thereafter, opened a grocery store, which prospered for many years.

However, in 1931, as with so many other businesses of that era, the Depression forced him to close his doors. When money became short, Bolber packed up his wife and four children and moved to Philadelphia to get a fresh start. Upon their arrival, he began teaching and preparing Jewish boys for their bar mitzvahs. He also sent out handbills announcing his new practice as a faith healer.

Their meeting was important to Petrillo. Paul Petrillo was awe struck by Bolber and gradually the two became close friends.

Undercover Agents

Agent Landvoight arranged for Stanly Phillips, a street-wise agent of the Secret Service, to work with Meyer. On August 1, 1938, Meyer and Phillips met with Herman Petrillo at a local diner. Petrillo was uncomfortable discussing the plans in public, so the three men went outside and sat in his Dodge sedan. Meyer introduced Phillips as Johnny Phillips, a friend of his that was fresh out of prison after serving time for murder.

Herman Petrillo didnt seem to mind and the conversation soon turned to Alfonsi. He suggested that they take him to the Jersey coast and drown him. They could leave his clothing at the scene and it would look like an accident. Phillips was not interested in the murder plot and wanted to get his hands on some of Petrillos counterfeit money. In order to work this in, he suggested that Petrillo give them some money to buy a car. They could use the car to transport the victim to a dark country road, where they could then run him over with the car and leave his body along side of the road. Petrillo liked the idea, but suggested they steal a car, rather than purchase one for the job. Phillips decided not to press the matter and the men decided to think the crime over.

According to Poison Widows, the cat-and-mouse games continued for the next several weeks and on August 22, 1938, the men convened at a local eatery on Thayer Street. Petrillo still did not want to give the men money to buy a car but did, much to Phillips' delight, offer to sell them some fake bills.

Petrillo reached into his wallet and pulled out a counterfeit five-dollar bill. Phillips was awestruck by the quality of the bill and quickly started making arrangements to buy $200 worth of the bogus bills. Petrillo, initially reluctant to deal, finally agreed and said he would need two weeks to deliver.

Phillips was ecstatic about the possibility of finally arresting Herman Petrillo. After years of undercover work and sting operations, he now had his man right where he wanted him. Or so he thought. When the two-week time period arrived, and then passed, he began to worry that Petrillo might have gotten wind of their plan and asked Meyer to try and find out what was going on. Petrillo was nowhere to be found. No one had seen him in over a week and he could not be found at any of his usual haunts.

Meyer was getting increasingly nervous and decided to check on Ferdinando Alfonsi, the man Petrillo wanted dead. He knew where the man lived and drove over to his house on Ann Street. Posing as a construction worker, Meyer knocked on the door and waited anxiously. Finally, just when he was about to turn and walk away, a middle-aged woman opened the door. Meyer pretended to be interested in doing some work on the home and asked to speak with the man of the house. However, to his immediate dismay, the woman informed him that her husband was very ill and could not get out of bed. As quickly and politely as he could, Meyer apologized for having disturbed them and made his way back to his car.

Agent Phillips got a sick feeling in his stomach when Meyer explained the situation to him. Perhaps they had spent too much time focusing on the bogus bills and not enough time protecting the intended victim. Phillips called together several agents and the group, posing as insurance representatives, went to check on Alfonsis condition. While they had no problem getting inside, they were shocked when they saw Alfonsi. His pupils were bulging and he could neither move nor speak. The agents then contacted the Philadelphia police.

Meanwhile, Petrillo contacted Meyer and told him he had their money. A meeting was arranged at a local bus stop and later that day Meyer and Phillips met him there. Petrillo gave the man an envelope, which contained 40 counterfeit five-dollar bills. Philips was happy to finally get the money, but was also concerned about Alfonsi and decided to see what he could find out. Pretending the men still wanted the job, Phillips asked Petrillo if he still wanted Alfonsi taken out. Petrillo grinned and said that they did not have to worry about it. He is in the hospital, and he is not coming out, he said.

The Poison Ring

Philadelphia investigators ordered a urine specimen from Alfonsis doctors, which later revealed large quantities of arsenic. According to Stedman's Medical Dictionary, arsenic could cause heat and irritation in throat and stomach; vomiting, purging with rice-water stools; cramps in calf muscles, restlessness, even convulsions, prostration, fainting, somnolence, dizziness, delirium, extreme prostration, coma. While some cases, if caught in a timely manner, can be treated, the majority of victims succumb to the poison and die.

It was now up to the assistant district attorney. According to Michael Newton, author of Hunting Humans, McDevitt wasted little time in arresting Petrillo on charges of attempted murder, but when Alfonsi died a few weeks later, the charge was changed to homicide. When McDevitt questioned Petrillo, he was skeptical that he would walk away with anything he could use. After all, this was the same man that the Secret Service had worked for so many years to arrest.

However, to McDevitts amazement, Petrillo would not shut up. He provided the D.A. with a mind-boggling list of victims and conspirators, claiming that his cousin, Paul Petrillo, along with Morris Bolber, were the masterminds behind the entire operation.

McDevitt was really surprised as Petrillo named one victim after another: Luigi LaVecchio, late husband of Sophie LaVecchio; Charles Ingrao, late common-law husband of Maria Favato; Mollie Starace, a friend of Paul Petrillo; Antonio Romualdo, late husband of Josephine Romualdo; John Woloshyn, late husband of Marie Woloshyn; Dominic Carina, Prospero Lisi, and Peter Stea, all late husbands of Rose Carina; Joseph Arena, late husband of Anna Arena; Romaine Mandiuk, late husband of Agnes Mandiuk; Pietro Pirolli, late husband of Grace Pirolli; Salvatore Carilli, late husband of Rose Carilli; Jennifer Pino, late wife of Thomas Pino; Antonio Giacobbe, late husband of Millie Giacobbe; Guiseppi DiMartino, late husband of Susie DiMartino; Ralph Caruso, late tenant of Christine Cerrone; Philip Ingrao, late stepson of Maria Favato; Lena Winkleman, late mother-in-law of Joseph Swartz; Jennie Cassetti, late wife of Dominick Cassetti; and lastly, Ferdinando Alfonsi, late husband of Stella Alfonsi.

Petrillo said that all but three of the victims had been killed with arsenic.

Investigators now had the daunting task of proving Petrillos allegations. The only way they could get solid proof would be to exhume every victim. McDevitt already had Ferdinando Alfonsis urine test results and decided to proceed with that case. He knew that he could always file charges regarding the other cases later and wanted to get started on the prosecution for Alfonsis murder.

On February 2, 1939, the grand jury indicted Herman and Paul Petrillo, Stella Alfonsi, and Maria Favato. Marias husband was the first to be exhumed and her late husbands autopsy revealed large quantities of arsenic in his system. The New York Times reported on February 17, 1939, that the grand jury reached its verdict in only seven and a half minutes. The defendants would be going to trial.

Judgment

Herman Petrillos trial began on March 13, 1939 in Philadelphia's City Hall. The presiding judge, Harry McDevitt (no relation to D.A. Vincent McDevitt), was one of the most feared judges in all of Pennsylvania. A defense attorneys worst nightmare, the judge was known in legal circles as Hanging Harry. Even though Petrillos lawyer, Milton Leidner, was a close friend of the judge, the defense attorney did not expect any leniency.

The March 13, 1939 edition of The Ledger reported that Thomas Shearn, an agent for John Hancock Mutual Life, was the first to testify. He told the jury how Petrillo had taken him to see Ferdinando Alfonsi on February 9, 1939. Shearn testified that when Alfonsi refused to sign the policy, Petrillo instructed the agent, against company policy, to leave the paperwork with him.

Following Shearns testimony, Luigi Cissone, an agent for Monumental Life Insurance, told the jury he had also helped Petrillo get insurance on the ailing Alfonsi. Afterwards, Secret Service informant Meyer and undercover agent Stanly Philips consecutively took the stand and testified about Petrillo's attempts to have them kill Alfonsi. A druggist then testified that Petrillo approached him on numerous occasions in an attempt to purchase typhoid germs and similar poisons. Next, a physician gave testimony in regards to the quantities of arsenic found during an autopsy of Alfonsi.

When the prosecution rested their case, the defense had little to offer. Attorney Leidner briefly attempted to discredit the states witnesses, but quickly relented when he realized he was only furthering the damage done by D.A. McDevitt. Petrillo then took the stand and spent three hours and 15 minutes denying all of the states accusations.

On March 21, 1939, the jury foreman, 42-year-old Margaret Skeen, read the verdict to the court. Guilty, with a recommendation for death, she announced. According to Poison Widows, the defendant became enraged. You lousy bitch, Petrillo snarled as he lunged toward the jury foreman. However, before he could reach Mrs. Skeen, guards quickly restrained him and the judge banged his gavel in an attempt to bring order back to the courtroom.

When the courtroom settled down, Judge McDevitt congratulated the jurors. You can see how mean and vicious this man is, he told the jurors. You now realize that was the only verdict you could have returned. He then sentenced Herman Petrillo to die in Pennsylvania's electric chair. Following the verdict, defense attorney Leidner stood up and apologized to the court. I'm sorry, he said. I wouldn't have defended this man if I had known he was such scum.

There would be further justice carried out. Upon the conclusion of the trial, investigators announced to the press that 70 bodies would be exhumed and examined for signs of arsenic.

Epilogue

Maria Favato was the next member of the media-dubbed Poison Ring to go to trial. However, in a shocking move, she halted her own trial and pleaded guilty to three counts of murder, which included both her stepson and her own husband.

Woman Poisoner Confesses at Trial, blared The New York Times on April 22, 1939. Included within the article were excerpts of Marias unexpected confession. I might just as well get it over with, she said. Let them send me to the chair. What have I got to live for?"

Shortly after Marias change in plea, Herman Petrillo, in an effort to escape the electric chair, agreed to cooperate with the prosecution. By May 21, 1939, 21 arrests were made in connection with the poison ring. As the investigation continued, detectives discovered that Herman Petrillo and Bolber ran a matrimonial agency, which was apparently created in order to find new husbands for widows of their victims. Upon finding a new mate, the widows would marry and then take out life insurance policies on their new spouses. Afterwards, it was up to the members of the ring to do away with the insured and collect the money.

On May 25, 1939, Morris Bolber pled guilty to murder, possibly hoping that his plea would earn him a lesser sentence. His plan worked and he was eventually sentenced to life imprisonment. A few months later, in September 1939, Paul Petrillo also pled guilty. Nevertheless, Paul was not quite as lucky as Bolber and was sentenced to die in the electric chair. The last major player in the poison ring, Rose Carina, the media-dubbed Rose of Death, was found not guilty following a brief jury trial.

In the end, 13 men and women besides Bolber and the Petrillos were either convicted of or pled guilty to first-degree murder. All of these convicted killers served long sentences, the shortest being not less than 14 years in prison.

On March 31, 1941, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania electrocuted Paul Petrillo. Seven months later, on October 20, 1941, Herman Petrillo met with the same fate. Thirteen years later, on February 15, 1954, Morris Bolber died of natural causes while awaiting his third parole petition.

Following the poison ring trials, District Attorney Vincent McDevitt went on to build a solid and lucrative career. He finally left public service in 1947, and later became vice president of the Philadelphia Electric Company.

It is interesting to note that many written accounts of the poison ring mention witchcraft and describe the Petrillos and Morris Bolber as witchdoctors or cult leaders. However, these allegations hold little merit and were probably invented by reporters of the time. The sole purpose of the poison ring was money, obtained by means of murder and insurance fraud. It was later estimated that the group netted at least $100,000 prior to the arrest of its members.

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