4243, 4546; Ehrmann, pp. [51], The defense case went badly and Vanzetti did not testify in his own defense. The two men were anarchists and had avoided serving in World War One. Parmenter, paymaster of a shoe factory, and Alessandro Berardelli, the guard accompanying him, in order to secure the payroll that they were carrying. They assessed the charges against Thayer as well. Two days after the robbery, police located the robbers' Buick; several 12-gauge shotgun shells were found on the ground nearby. Their arrests were announced in anarchist and leftist communities nationally and internationally and protests were immediately planned, one of which led to the US embassy being bombed in Paris. In the early 1920s, mainstream America developed a fear of communism. In 1925 Joe Morelli denied any involvement in the Braintree robbery-murders (Watson, pp. Sacco and Vanzetti, Guilty After All? - New England Historical Society It sent speakers to Italian communities in factory towns and mining camps. Screen Shot 2023-04-29 at 11.19.01 AM.png - 6. What did the The Governor's Committee, however, was not a judicial proceeding, so Judge Thayer's comments outside the courtroom could be used to demonstrate his bias. The case of Sacco and Vanzetti drew international attention and is still debated today. As details of the trial and the men's suspected innocence became known, Sacco and Vanzetti became the center of one of the largest causes clbres in modern history. [66][74][78] The defense also called two expert witnesses, a Mr. Burns and a Mr. Fitzgerald, who each testified that no new spring and hammer had ever been installed in the revolver found in Vanzetti's possession. By 1923, bullet-comparison technology had improved somewhat, and Van Amburgh submitted photos of the bullets fired from Sacco's .32 Colt in support of the argument that they matched the bullet that killed Berardelli. Sacco and Vanzetti, still maintaining their innocence, were executed on August 23, 1927. [213] The report also dismissed the argument that the trial had been subject to judicial review, noting that "the system for reviewing murder cases at the time failed to provide the safeguards now present. [25] But, he said that unclaimed guns were sold by Iver Johnson at the end of each year, and the shop had no record of an unclaimed gun sale of Berardelli's revolver. the prosecutor asked. [189][192] Faced with a secretive underground group whose members resisted interrogation and believed in their cause, Federal and local officials using conventional law enforcement tactics had been repeatedly stymied in their efforts to identify all members of the group or to collect enough evidence for a prosecution. Bridgewater police chief Michael E. Stewart suspected that known Italian anarchist Ferruccio Coacci was involved. When searched by police, both denied owning any guns, but were found to be holding loaded pistols. Marion Denman Frankfurter and Gardner Jackson, eds.. Whipple, Charles L., "A Reporter Illuminates Shady Evidence in Sacco-Vanzetti Testimony", Thomas, Jack, "A Story of Trickery Told Much Too Late,". "These two greaseballs Sacco and Vanzetti took it on the chin. Sacco Y Vanzetti By Mauricio Kartun - erp.flagtheory