GIUSEPPE MORELLO, head of New York’s Morello crime family, was the first mafioso to hold the title of Capo dei Capi: Boss of Bosses. His unique nickname, The Clutch Hand, came from a birth defect that left him with a single claw-like finger on his right hand. 

Born in Sicily, Morello became involved with the local mafia at a young age. Wanted for murder and counterfeiting, he fled to New York in 1892.  Soon after, he founded the 107th Street Mob, a local gang that would evolve under his ruthless, violent leadership into the Morello Crime Family. Morello had the revolutionary idea to funnel Illicit profits from operations such as extortion, loan sharking, and robbery through a network of legitimate businesses that he owned, making them the first crime family to practice widespread money laundering. By 1905, Morello ran the largest, most powerful organized crime group in New York, and other Mafia leaders began recognizing him as Boss of Bosses.

The Clutch Hand’s downfall came after his extensive, sophisticated counterfeiting ring drew the interest of the Secret Service, who arrested him in 1910 after nearly a decade of pursuit. Sentenced to 25 years in prison, Morello was paroled for good behavior after serving 10 and returned to home to reclaim his empire.

By then, a rival faction led by his former captain had seized control in New York, and viewing the former boss’s return as a threat to their power, ordered Morello’s death on arrival. Morello fled to Sicily, returning to New York after his ally “Joe the Boss” Masseria prevailed in a power struggle that installed him as the new Boss of Bosses.

Joe the Boss’s empire absorbed Morello Family operations, and The Clutch Hand wisely relinquished his power to become Joe’s senior advisor and right-hand man, a role he thrived in throughout the Prohibition years. Eventually, rival bosses challenged Joe for control of the Mafia in a power struggle known as the Castellammarese War, one of the bloodiest conflicts in mob history. Morello was one of the war’s earliest casualties, targeted as one of Joe’s key allies and gunned down in 1930.