 Herman and Paul Petrillo were cousins.Herman was an expert counterfeiter and arsonist, with contacts in the criminal world, while Paul ran an insurance scam business from the back of his tailor's shop and aspired to a paid consultancy in 'la fattura', a magic believed in and resorted to by many in South Philadelphia's Italian community.The murders began in 1931, with Herman enlisting associate thugs to kill men he had arranged to insure, to collect on the double indemnity accident insurance.