In this sixth installment of Tales from the Archives, we uncover three unforgettable — and unsettling — stories pulled straight from old newspapers that reveal the complex, often dark realities of Italian American history .

We begin with Rosa DeCicco, an Italian immigrant whose obsession with reclaiming her children led to repeated arrests, courtroom drama, and violent confrontations that shocked early-1900s Portland. Her story raises difficult questions about motherhood, custody, and mental health at a time when women had few protections.

Next, we travel to Castle Garden in 1878, where immigration officials uncovered a disturbing case involving a young Italian girl allegedly sold by her own father and brought to America under suspicious circumstances — a chilling glimpse into the exploitation and trafficking that haunted many immigrant families.

We close with the remarkable life of Michael Bochino, a deeply devout Italian immigrant in Baltimore whose backyard shrine to the Virgin Mary became a place of pilgrimage for decades. Revered by many yet plagued by personal controversy, Bino’s life reveals the complicated intersection of faith, temper, devotion, and legacy.

These stories remind us that Italian American history is not just one of triumph — but also of struggle, sacrifice, and survival.

In this fifth installment of Tales from the Archives, we uncover three haunting, unfinished stories pulled straight from early 20th-century newspapers — stories where Italian immigrants were remembered in headlines, but forgotten in history.

We begin in 1911 Southern Colorado, where an Italian rancher is found murdered on a lonely county road near Aguilar. A former business partner is arrested, a posse is formed, and newspapers eagerly report the violence — but the story abruptly disappears, leaving unanswered questions about justice and what became of those involved.

Next, we turn to a national scandal involving the son of President William Howard Taft. After a tragic automobile accident in Massachusetts leaves an Italian laborer with a fractured skull, newspapers focus almost entirely on the president’s distress and his son’s remorse — while the injured immigrant himself fades into the background. His name appears misspelled, his identity obscured, and his fate ultimately unknown.

Finally, we travel to Pueblo’s Italian community in 1925, where a groom vanishes just days before his long-awaited church wedding. Accusations of kidnapping, jealousy, poisoning, and scandal swirl through the press, but conflicting reports and misspelled names make it impossible to determine what truly happened — or whether the groom disappeared by force or by choice.

These are stories of violence, love, jealousy, power, and erasure, told through the imperfect lens of old newspapers. Tales from the Archives explores not just what was reported — but what was left out.

If you’re drawn to historical true crime, Italian American history, forgotten headlines, and mysteries lost to time, this episode is for you.

This episode is a rerelease from our archives, originally published on New Year’s Eve, and shared again as we ring in the new year.

On December 31, 1915, in Douglas, Alaska, a shocking murder took place in broad daylight—one that newspapers at the time described as “one of the most cold-blooded murders to ever occur in the North.” The victim was Mike Defino, an Italian immigrant whose life ended outside a saloon after a bitter dispute over money turned deadly.

In this archival episode of Italian American Stories Podcast, we revisit the tragic story of Defino’s murder, the dramatic manhunt that followed through the snow, and the disturbing details revealed during a rare early-20th-century autopsy. The case ultimately took a strange turn when the accused killer was declared mentally unfit to stand trial, leaving justice unresolved.

This episode explores:

• The New Year’s Eve murder of Mike Defino in 1915

• Italian immigrants working in Alaska’s mining communities

• Early territorial laws, arrests, and life in remote Alaska

• Graphic autopsy reporting from historical newspapers

• A murder case that ended without a trial

This rerelease is part of our effort to bring important stories from the archives back into focus—stories that remind us how much history can be hidden in a single headline.

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