131 yrs ago today: Two cousins named Hennessy - members of the New Orleans detective force - captured Giuseppe Esposito, alias Vincenzo Rebello. Esposito had escaped Italian authorities while headed to trial for homicide and other crimes. Late in the 1870s, he crossed the Atlantic and settled briefly in New York before moving on to New Orleans, where he became recognized leader of the Sicilian underworld. His July 5, 1881, apprehension and the legal maneuvers that followed it were international news.
Though the Hennessys became instantly famous for the incident, both of them were murdered within a decade of Esposito's capture.
