The Gianolla brothers first came to the attention of authorities in late 1911 when their grocery store was raided and police confiscated $2,000 worth of stolen olive oil. Weeks later the mutilated corpse of a former Gianolla associate by the name of Sam Beundo was found charred and left in a field. Beundo had allegedly tipped off law enforcement to the stolen merchandise found in the basement of the Gianolla store. The gruesome murder of Beundo established the Gianolla brothers as a feared force within the Italian underworld.