Thirdly, the government sought to bolster its testimony by evolving a far-fetched and intangible theory of “consciousness of guilt” at the time of arrest, which in turn brought into the limelight the circumstances of the arrest and the defendants’ unpopular social views. There are also a number of other points which consumed much time, clouded the issues, and really had no bearing upon the case.
Testimony contradicting that of Mary Eva Splaine and Frances Devlin was given by Frank Burke, lecturer, who observed the bandits escape from a much better vantage point than either woman. He was on Pearl street near the New Haven tracks and in the immediate path of the escaping car.
He stood within ten feet of the automobile. He saw two men in it, both dark. The bandit leaning out of the rear seat pointed an automatic pistol at him and pulled the trigger, but there was no explosion. Burke got a full view of the man who the prosecution claimed was Sacco. He described him as very full-faced—flat, and a broad, heavy jaw; needed a shave badly, “dark complexioned, looked rather a desperate type of man.”
But Burke declared that neither bandit was Sacco nor Vanzetti. He had an unobstructed view of the car as it fled, while the view of Miss Splaine and Miss Devlin was cut off by the cobbler shop. From a distance of ten feet instead of 80 as in the case of Misses Splaine and Devlin he described the man on the right side front seat who the government claims was Sacco.
Winfred Pierce and Laurence Ferguson, shoe-workers on third floor of Hampton House, saw bandit-car escape from a window directly above where Miss Splaine and Miss Devlin observed the car. Pierce saw one bandit shoot at his friend, Carl Knipps. Both described the bandit leaning out of the car and shooting, but declared neither Sacco nor Vanzetti was that man.
Barbara Liscomb, a woman of about thirty, of good personality, employed as a heeler, on the third floor of the Rice and Hutchins factory. She looked from a window directly above the room in which Pelser worked. She had heard shots, ran to the window; saw two men lying on the ground; a dark man with a pistol in hand standing over Berardelli. He wheeled around and pointed the pistol at her. She fainted, but in the instant of observation, she declared the image of the bandit was firmly implanted in her mind. “I shall remember that face all my life. That man was neither of the defendants. Of that I am positive.”
Mrs. Jennie Novelli, trained nurse, saw a big touring car drive slowly up the street shortly before the murder occurred and took particular notice of the chauffeur and the man beside him, whom she thought at first she recognized. Asked if either of these men were Sacco or Vanzetti she answered, “No, they were not.”
Albert Frantello, worker in Slater and Morrill plant. Passed from one factory building to another at 2:55 p. m. Saw two men leaning on fence in front of Rice and Hutchins factory. Was close enough to touch them. Frantello, who is American of Italian descent, is certain Sacco and Vanzetti are not those two men. Was interviewed by state police officers, and was not summoned by prosecution.
One of the men whom Frantello described was the bandit with whom it was sought to identify Sacco.
Daniel J. O’Neil, 19 years old, a business school graduate, got off the train from Boston and was sitting in a taxi-cab with a Mr. Gilman when he heard the shooting. He got a distinct impression of at least one of the bandits at a distance of 155 to 170 feet from the automobile. He said positively that neither of the defendants was the man he saw.