The Life and Times of the Sicilian Robin Hood

There were more than acts of kindness that contributed to the legend.� The entire village of Montelepre supported Giuliano, and refused to provide information to the hundreds of caribineri who occupied the town.� A few of its citizens dared to inform on him.� One, a seventeen-year-old who joined Giuliano's band on occasion, was caught listening at the door for scraps of information that he could sell to the local captain of police.� Giuliano warned the boy that he was engaged in a risky business: "Never again to do anything so dangerous without my orders; you are a baby playing with the affairs of men."�� A week later, the boy once more tried to pass information to the captain.� Giuliano dragged the boy against a village wall and shot him.

Such executions of informers and traitors had an established ritual.� The condemned was forced to say his prayers before being shot.� After each execution, Giuliano pinned a note to the body of the traitor:� "So Giuliano will deal with all those who spy against him."� Sometimes the note would be in the form of a poem.

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