SACCO & VANZETTI
The Sacco and Vanzetti Case was an extremely controversial murder trial held in Massachusetts from 1921-1927. The two defendants were Nicola Sacco who was a shoemaker, and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, a self-employed fish-peddler. While both men did want to earn a living, neither of them seem to have been overly preoccupied with achieving wealth. They were generous, and just wanted, as Vanzetti said, a little land to grow, a roof, some books. Neither of the men had any kind of prior criminal record. Both of these men were supporters of the political philosophy of anarchism. This was during a time of national paranoia, because of the Red Scare and the Russian revolution.
The South Braintree Holdup and Murders were committed on April 15,1920 at 3:00 in the afternoon. The victims of the crime were Frederick Parmenter, a paymaster, and also Alessandro Berardelli, who was the guard. They were in the process of carrying the payroll from the shoe factory of Slater and Morill from the company office building to the factory. As the paymaster and his guard walked down Pearl Street, they passed a group of laborers excavating for a new restaurant. Standing near there were two other men with dark clothes and caps. As Parmenter and Beradelli passed the two men, one of them grabbed at Beradelli. The second man started firing, putting three bullets into Beradelli and one into Parmenter. As Parmenter staggered towards the workmen, he was shot again. Beradelli, on his knees in the gutter, was shot twice more as the gunman stood over him. The two men stole the boxes containing the payroll, which amounted to $15,776.51. While the murder was being committed a car with several other men in it came to the scene. The murderers jumped into the car and sped away. The car was found two days later abandoned in the woods.
The police chief, Stewart was trying to connect this crime with one in the nearby town of Bridgewater. His suspects were men named Coacci and Boda. His only reasons for suspecting them were because they were Italians and Boda was said to own a Buick or an Overland which was said to be the type of car driven away from the crime. Stewart found that Boda had his car taken to the shop for repairs. When Boda and Coacci went to pick up the car Sacco and Vanzetti met them there. When the police came to make arrests Boda and Coacci had already left, and only Sacco and Vanzetti were still around so they were arrested. Vanzetti was carrying a loaded .38 Harrington and Richardson revolver. At the police station, Sacco was found to have a .32 Colt automatic, fully loaded which was the same caliber of gun used in the murder. Both men lied about where they were and how they got their guns. They were vague in their responses to questions about their political beliefs. In reality, Sacco and Vanzetti thought that their arrests were connected to their anarchism or their draft-dodging, since neither the Bridgewater assault nor the South Braintree killings were mentioned. They were locked up for the night.
The trial began the day after Memorial Day, May 31, 1921. Sacco was represented by Fred H. Moore, a lawyer from California noted for his defense of radicals. Vanzetti's counsel was Jeremiah McAnarney, an associate of Moore's.
It took over a month to select a jury. The press talked a lot about Moores out-of-state origins, and his willingness to defend unpopular radicals.
The case for the prosecution was developed along three principal lines. First, Katzmann produced eyewitnesses that placed Sacco in the area of the killings. Four identified Vanzetti, seven recognized Sacco. Of these eleven witnesses, only one, Lewis Pelzer, testified that he had seen the shooting, although prior to the trial he had told the defense that he had ducked under the table when the shooting began and had seen nothing. After further questioning it was found that these prosecuting eyewitnesses really were making most of their stories up.
To justify their possession of firearms the defense explained that they were for self-defense because of the way radicals were being treated at this time. And also Sacco was a night watchman and Vanzetti carried large sums of money while peddling fish.
The defense built up the alibis of both men. Sacco had been in Boston, seeking a passport to return to Italy. This was supported by several witnesses, including a member of the Italian consulate. Witnesses also testified that Vanzetti had been selling fish and talking with friends.
On July 14, 1921, after a little more than half a day's deliberation, the jury found both Sacco and Vanzetti guilty and sentenced them to death.
This case has been and will be a great topic of discussion for a long time. It is thought by many people that the trial was unfair and there was a great lack of evidence to sentence a them to death. Many people believe that Sacco and Vanzetti were convicted because of their belief in anarchy and because of their race.
LONG LIVE ANARCHY!~SACCO
Bibliography
THE WORLD BOOK ENCYCLOPEDIA
COPYWRIGHT 1994 VOLUME 17
THE CASE OF SACCO AND VANZETTI
BY FELIX FRANKFURTER
UNIVERSAL LIBRARY, NEW YORK COPYWRIGHT, COPYWRIGHT 1961
SACCO AND VANZETTI
BY RUSSELL AIUTO
http://www.crimelibrary.com/sacco/saccomain.htm
Word Count: 854
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