THE STORY OF THE
SACCO-VANZETTI CASE
Francis Russell
McGRAW-HILL BOOK COMPANY, INC.
TRAGEDY IN DEDHAM
COPYRIGHT © 1962 BY FRANCIS RUSSELL.
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS BOOK OR PARTS THEREOF
MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED IN ANY FORM WITHOUT
WRITTEN PERMISSION OF THE PUBLISHER.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 62-13822
54340
CONTENTS
| CHRONOLOGY | [vii] | |
| MAPS | [xii] | |
| ONE | THE TRAGEDY IN DEDHAM | [1] |
| TWO | HISTORY, WRITTEN AND OTHERWISE | [10] |
| THREE | APRIL 15, 1920 | [28] |
| FOUR | BRIDGEWATER AND WEST BRIDGEWATER | [49] |
| FIVE | THE NIGHT OF MAY 5 | [60] |
| SIX | THE MEN AND THE TIMES | [71] |
| SEVEN | THE PLYMOUTH TRIAL | [93] |
| EIGHT | THE YEAR BETWEEN | [107] |
| NINE | THE TRIAL—I | [129] |
| TEN | THE TRIAL—II | [158] |
| ELEVEN | THE TRIAL—III | [176] |
| TWELVE | POST-TRIAL—I | [216] |
| THIRTEEN | POST-TRIAL—II | [237] |
| FOURTEEN | THE CONFESSIONS | [270] |
| FIFTEEN | MORE HISTORY, WRITTEN AND OTHERWISE | [302] |
| SIXTEEN | 1926 | [326] |
| SEVENTEEN | 1927 | [349] |
| EIGHTEEN | THE PUBLIC AND THE LOWELL COMMITTEE | [380] |
| NINETEEN | AUGUST 1927 | [404] |
| TWENTY | AFTERMATH | [451] |
| SOURCES AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS | [467] | |
| INDEX | [471] |
CHRONOLOGY
| 1919 | |
| June 2. | Attorney General Palmer’s house bombed, Washington, D.C. |
| November 7. | First of the Palmer Red raids. |
| November 23. | Buick belonging to F. J. Murphy stolen in Needham. |
| December 22. | License plates stolen from Hassam’s garage, Needham. |
| December 24. | Bridgewater holdup. |
1920 | |
| January 2. | Red raids in thirty-three cities. |
| January 6-7. | License plates stolen from car, Needham. |
| February 25. | Elia and Salsedo detained in New York by Department of Justice. |
| April 15. | Holdup and murders in South Braintree. |
| April 17. | Discovery of abandoned Murphy Buick. |
| April 20. | Stewart interviews Boda. |
| April 25. | Vanzetti goes to New York. |
| May 5. | Sacco and Vanzetti arrested. |
| May 6. | Orciani arrested. Katzmann questions Sacco and Vanzetti. Sacco’s preliminary hearing on South Braintree charge. |
| May 11. | Orciani released. |
| May 18. | Vanzetti’s preliminary hearing on South Braintree charge. |
| June 11. | Vanzetti indicted for Bridgewater holdup. |
| June 22-July 1. | Vanzetti tried for Bridgewater holdup. |
| August 16. | Vanzetti sentenced. |
| August 19. | Fred Moore takes up defense of Sacco and Vanzetti. |
| September 16. | Wall Street bomb explosion. |
1921 | |
| January. | Negotiations between Angelina DeFalco and Defense Committee. |
| May 31-July 14. | Trial of Sacco and Vanzetti. |
| October. | Mass demonstrations in Europe against verdict. |
| October 29, November 5. | Motion for new trial argued. |
| November 8. | First supplementary (Ripley) motion filed. |
| December 24. | Thayer denies motion for new trial. |
1922 | |
| May 4. | Second supplementary (Gould-Pelser) motion filed. |
| July 22. | Third supplementary (Goodridge) motion filed. |
| September 11. | Fourth supplementary (Andrews) motion filed. |
1923 | |
| March 8. | William Thompson agrees to argue supplementary motions. |
| April 23. | Sacco committed to Bridgewater State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. |
| April 30. | Fifth supplementary (Hamilton-Proctor) motion filed. |
| September 29. | Sacco discharged from Bridgewater Hospital. |
| October 1-November 8. | Hearings on the supplementary motions. |
1924 | |
| August. | Moore withdraws from case. |
| October 1. | Thayer denies all five supplementary motions. |
1925 | |
| January 2-May 28. | Vanzetti committed to Bridgewater Hospital. |
| June. | International Labor Defense takes up case. |
| November 18. | Madeiros confesses. |
1926 | |
| February. | Renewed demonstrations overseas. |
| May 12. | Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court rejects Thompson’s appeal from Thayer’s denial of the supplementary motions; convictions of Sacco and Vanzetti confirmed. |
| May 15-20. | Madeiros’ second trial. |
| May 22. | Herbert Ehrmann finds trail of Morelli gang. |
| May 26. | Motion based on Madeiros confession filed. |
| June 2. | Samuel Johnson’s house bombed. |
| September 13-17. | Thompson argues Madeiros motion before Thayer. |
| October 23. | Thayer denies Madeiros motion. |
1927 | |
| January 27, 28. | Thompson appeals Thayer’s denial of October 23 to Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. |
| March. | Frankfurter’s Atlantic Monthly article. |
| April 5. | Supreme Court affirms Thayer’s denial of October 23. |
| April 9. | Sacco and Vanzetti sentenced. |
| May 4. | Governor Fuller receives Vanzetti’s clemency petition. |
| June 1. | Fuller appoints Advisory (“Lowell”) Committee. |
| June 3. | Calvin Goddard tests shells and bullets. |
| July 27. | Lowell Committee reports findings to Governor Fuller. |
| August 3. | Fuller refuses clemency. |
| August 5. | Bombings in New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore. |
| August 7. | Lowell Committee report made public. |
| August 15. | Juror McHardy’s house dynamited. |
| August 23. | Madeiros, Sacco, and Vanzetti executed. |
1932 | |
| September 27. | Thayer’s house bombed. |
1959 | |
| April 2. | Massachusetts Legislature Committee hearing on posthumous pardon for Sacco and Vanzetti. |
1961 | |
| October 11. | Re-examination of ballistics evidence by Jac Weller and Frank Jury. |
| BEFORE THE SHOOTING: | |
| 1 | Neal |
| 2 | Tracey |
| 3 | Heron |
| 4 | Novelli |
| 5 | Behrsin |
DURING THE SHOOTING: | |
| 6 | Where Buick waited |
| 7 | Where Berardelli fell |
| 8 | Where Parmenter fell |
| 9 | Bostock |
| 10 | Wade |
| 11 | Nichols |
| 12 | McGlone |
| 13 | Langlois |
| 14 | Pelser |
| 15 | Liscomb |
| 16 | Laborers at excavation |
AFTER THE SHOOTING: | |
| 17 | Kennedy, Hayes |
| 18 | Splaine, Devlin |
| 19 | Carrigan |
| 20 | Pierce, Ferguson |
| 21 | Levangie |
| 22 | Workers on railroad |
| 23 | Gould |
| 24 | Burke |
| 25 | DeBeradinis |
| 26 | Goodridge |
| 27 | Damato |