Petrosino worked really hard and his work payed off with success. His carrier had an important turning point with the case of the ” man in the barrel”. In 1903 a cadaver of a man was found in barrel, the man died after being stabbed and was found with his genitals in his mouth. The police had no idea of who the dead man was. The case was given to Petrosino to solve since he was one of the best investigators in circulation.

He accepted the job with enthusiasm. After several attemps and clues he managed to find out the identity of the dead man, the place where the murder had taken place and who did it. He descovered that the italian immigrants in America had created a criminal organization that was leaded by Vito Cascio Ferro, a very powerfull mafia boss. Even if the suspects had been incarcerated, they were released shortly after through bail, plus their charges dropped due to insufficient proof.

Shortly Joe Petrosino became sergeant and the lieutenant. His successes were many. He was renound for treating criminals in a harsh way. His superiors tollerated his methods giving him all the power during the arrests.
He often got injured during the arrests. He was well shielded and protected so he always resulted unbeaten in the physical fights against criminals. He was very strong and had  great courage and determination. Only in one circumstance his instinct and suggetions got underestimated.