Cascio Ferro is considered to be the mastermind behind the murder of New York policeman and head of the Italian Squad, Joseph Petrosino, on 12 March 1909. He was shot and killed in Piazza Marina in Palermo; two men were seen running from the crime scene. Petrosino had gone to Sicily to gather information from local police files to help deport Italian gangsters from New York as illegal immigrants. The two men were very much aware of the danger to each other's survival; Petrosino carried a note describing Cascio Ferro as “a terrible criminal”, while Cascio Ferro had a photograph of the police officer.