Sacco and Vanzetti

Nicola Sacco (April 22, 1891 – August 23, 1927) and Bartolomeo Vanzetti (June 11, 1888 – August 23, 1927) were two Italian anarchists, who were arrested, tried, and electrocuted in Massachusetts in 1927 on charges of murder of a shoe factory paymaster named Frederick Parmenter and a security guard named Alessandro Berardelli, and of robbery of $15,766.51 from the factory's payroll, although there was much doubt regarding their guilt. The murders and robbery occurred in April of 1920, with three robbers. Both Sacco and Vanzetti had alibis, but they were the only people accused of the crime. Judge Webster Thayer, who heard the case, allegedly described the two as "anarchist bastards". Sacco was a shoe-maker born in Torremaggiore, Foggia, Puglia. Vanzetti was a fish seller born in Villafalletto, Cuneo, Piemonte.

Later Investigations

One piece of evidence supporting the possibility of Sacco's guilt arose in 1941 when anarchist leader Carlo Tresca told Max Eastman, "Sacco was guilty but Vanzetti was innocent." Eastman published an article recounting his conversation with Tresca in National Review in 1961. Later, others would confirm being told the same information by Tresca.

Related Topics:
1941 - Carlo Tresca - Max Eastman - National Review - 1961

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In addition, in October 1961, ballistics tests were run using Sacco's Colt automatic. The results suggested that the bullet that killed Berardelli in 1920 came from Sacco's gun. The relevance of this evidence was cast in doubt in 1988, when Charlie Whipple, a former Globe editorial page editor, revealed a conversation he had with Sergeant Edward J. Seibolt when he worked as a reporter in 1937. According to Whipple, Seibolt admitted that the police ballistics experts had switched the murder weapon, but Seibolt indicated that he would deny this if Whipple ever printed it. The gun is also said to have gone in and out of police custody and been dismantled several times between 1927 and 1961.

Related Topics:
October - 1961 - Colt - Automatic

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Evidence against Sacco's involvement included testimony by Celestino Madeiros who confessed to the crime and indicated that neither Sacco nor Vanzetti took part. Madeiros was also in possession of a large amount of money ($2800) immediately following the robbery, whereas no links to the stolen money were ever found with Sacco or Vanzetti. Judge Thayer rejected this testimony as a basis for a retrial, calling it "unreliable, untrustworthy, and untrue."

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Further evidence on the Sacco and Vanzetti case came in November, 1982 in a letter from Ideale Gambera to Francis Russell. In it, Gambera revealed that his father, Giovanni Gambera, who had died in June 1982, was a member of the four-person team of anarchist leaders that met shortly after the arrest of Sacco and Vanzetti to plan for their defense. In his letter to Russell, Gambera claimed, "everyone knew that Sacco was guilty and that Vanzetti was innocent as far as the actual participation in killing."

Related Topics:
November - 1982 - Giovanni Gambera - June

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On August 23, 1977, exactly fifty years after their execution, Governor of Massachusetts Michael Dukakis issued a proclamation stating that Sacco and Vanzetti had not been treated justly and that "any disgrace should be forever removed from their names".

Related Topics:
1977 - Governor - Michael Dukakis

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