The Sacco and Vanzetti Trial Olivia Daniel

April 15th, 1920Frederick Parmenter and Alesandro Baradelli arrive at the Slatter & Morrill office around 3 in the afternoon to collect over $15,000 in payroll. As the men leave the office, two gunmen began firing shots, killing both Parmenter and Baradelli. The two gunmen take the money and a .38 caliber revolver that was on Baradelli’s person. They escape in the backseat of a dark blue touring car speeding down Pearl Street.

There were many witnesses to the crime and the two men left behind four bullet shells and a felt cap

The Suspects On May 5th two Italian Radicals, Nicola Sacco, a 32-year-old shoemaker, and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, a 29-year-old fish peddler, were arrested for the murder of Parmenter and Baradelli. They were questioned by Bridgewater Police Chief, Michael Stewart and District Attorney, Frederick Katzmann.

Sacco and Vanzetti hired Fred H. Moore as their defense attorney. Moore had the idea to change this trial from an ordinary criminal case to a closely-watched political case because of the two men’s immigration status and political beliefs

The Evidence - Nicola Sacco

Prosecution’s Evidence

1. Sacco is placed in or around Braintree on April 15th by seven eyewitnesses.

2. A bullet found at the scene

3. The felt cap

4. The blue car

5. Sacco did not show up to work on April 15th

6. Sacco lied when he was first questioned

Defense’s Response

1. None of the eyewitnesses were certain of their identification.

2. The bullet could not have been fired from Sacco’s gun

3. Sacco denied ever owning the hat

4. Sacco and Vanzetti left the car because they discovered it did not have 1920 plates

5. Sacco claimed he was in Boston to get a passport

6. He lied in fear of being deported about his radical beliefs

The Evidence - Bartolomeo Vanzetti

Prosecution’s Evidence

1. Vanzetti was placed near the scene of the crime by four eyewitnesses

2. .38 Caliber Revolver

3. Vanzetti lied when he was first questioned

Defense’s Response

1. None of the witnesses saw Vanzetti during the actual shooting

2. Vanzetti bought the gun from a friend a few months before his arrest

3. Vanzetti feared for his safety because of his anarchist beliefs during the red scare

The Verdict “I know the sentence will be between two classes, the oppressed class and the rich class, and there will be always collision between one and the other. We fraternize the people with the books, with the literature. You persecute the people, tyrannize them and kill them. We try the education of people always. You try to put a path between us and some other nationality that hates each other. That is why I am here today on this bench, for having been of the oppressed class. Well, you are the oppressor.”

- Nicola Sacco

July 14th, 1921 Sacco and Vanzetti were found guilty and received the death sentence.

The World Reacts Protests against Sacco and Vanzetti’s sentence were held all over the world including cities in the United States, Europe, and South America. The largest rallies were held in France and Italy. A bomb was set off at the American Embassy in Paris and another was intercepted in Lisbon.

November 16th, 1965 a letter from Dedham Jail is discovered stating:

Sacco and Vanzetti are denied their motion for a new trial even with this new evidence which caused rallies to increase

Dear Editor I hear by confess to being in the shoe company crime at south Braintree on April 15 1920 and that Sacco and Vanzetti were not there Celestino F. Madeiros

The World Reacts Despite the many protests and rallies Sacco and Vanzetti are sent to the electric chair on August 23, 1927

Upton Sinclair’s BostonSinclair’s novel, Boston, was published in 1928 and is thought of as the most complete and convincing documentary written about the Sacco and Vanzetti Trial. However in 2005 a personal letter written by Sinclair was discovered. It stated:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5245754

"Alone in a hotel room with Fred, I begged him to tell me the full truth. He then told me that the men were guilty and he told me in every detail how he had framed a set of alibis for them."

Work Cited "Sacco and Vanzetti: Guilty After All?" Npr.org. N.p., 4 Mar. 2006. Web.

"Sacco and Vanzetti." Digital History. N.p., n.d. Web.

"The Trial of Sacco and Vanzetti 1921." Law2.umkc.edu. N.p., 2001. Web

Linder, Douglas. "The Trial of Sacco and Vanzetti." Law2.umkc.edu. N.p., 2001. Web.

http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/SaccoV/SaccoV.htm