Were Sacco and Vanzetti really guilty?

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Scarred by World War I, the United States experienced hard, troubled, and frightening times from 1918-1920. The government imprisoned and deported hundreds of communists and agitators entering the country. Bombs attributed to immigrants were frequently mailed to the homes of public officials, including U.S. Attorney General Alexander Mitchell Palmer.

At about 3 p.m. on April 15, 1920, two men — paymaster Frederick A. Parmenter and guard Allesandro Berardelli — were killed during a payroll robbery of more than $15,000 (that’s nearly a quarter of a million dollars today) at the Slater and Morrill Shoe Company in the town of Braintree, Massachusetts.

After a police investigation, two Italian immigrants — Nicola Sacco, a 32-year-old shoemaker, and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, a 29-year-old fish peddler — became suspects. On May 5, 1920, at around 10:00 p.m., they were arrested on a streetcar in Brockton, Massachusetts. When questioned by police, Sacco and Vanzetti gave answers that caused the police to suspect guilt. The pair was charged with the murders.

Sacco and Vanzetti had met in 1916 at a factory strike and became friends, sharing their support for workers. Both were affiliated with radical groups calling for the overthrow of the United States. At the time of their arrest, both were armed with guns. Vanzetti’s gun was loaded, and he was also carrying a notice of an anarchist rally. Sacco was reportedly absent from work on the day of the murder.

Immigrant groups and supporters—locally, nationwide, and around the world—began to express support for the defendants. Demonstrations ensued with outpourings of sympathy.

A defense team was created, and a long-haired radical lawyer from California was retained. Prior to the trial, he worked diligently to garner support for the defendants.

The trial commenced in Dedham, Massachusetts, on May 21, 1921, with Judge Webster Thayer presiding. Thayer was an outspoken critic of immigrants, having presented numerous speeches of criticism. (After the trial, his home was bombed and destroyed, and his wife was injured.)

The cornerstone of the defense was that the defendants were not present at the crime scene. Although numerous witnesses were called to testify for the prosecution that both Sacco and Vanzetti were present, the defense, in turn, called witnesses who testified the defendants were not present at the scene of the crime. For example, numerous witnesses testified that on the day of the crime Vanzetti was in Plymouth selling fish.

The prosecution also called ballistics experts to testify that the bullet that killed one of the victims came from Sacco’s gun, and it was noted that he was absent from work the day of the crime. Moreover, it was pointed out that a cap found at the scene was owned by Sacco, and that he told lies at the time of his arrest. Interestingly, while Sacco was identified as being at the scene and a gunman, Vanzetti was not.

However, the gun that Vanzetti was carrying when he was arrested was a Colt automatic — the same type of gun used to fire a bullet recovered from the scene. When Sacco and Vanzetti took the stand, they proclaimed their innocence. Sacco testified that on the day of the crime he was in Boston trying to get a passport from the Italian Consulate.

But they also both talked in their own words about poor treatment of laborers by the capitalists and their prejudice against the working class.

Defense counsel was optimistic for a not guilty verdict for Vanzetti, considering the evidence presented at trial was stronger against Sacco. But after the jury deliberated for five hours, it returned a verdict of guilty against both defendants. Seven years later, even as protest demonstrations continued, the two were executed in the electric chair in Boston.

Throughout the years, the case of Sacco and Vanzetti has remained intriguing. Legal scholars continued to debate their guilt or innocence. Folk singer Joan Baez created lyrics explicitly condemning the guilty verdict and execution.

It has been reported by the author Upton Sinclair that he had a private talk with the defendants’ trial counsel in 1929. Counsel told him both his clients were guilty. In 1941, an anarchist leader advised Sacco was guilty, but Vanzetti was innocent. In 1961, ballistics tests were taken using Sacco’s gun. The test revealed Sacco was guilty.

While there is no reliable source beyond the trial that reveals definitively the guilt or innocence, the debate continues to this day. The truth will never be known whether Sacco and Vanzetti were really guilty. Court decisions even after appeals do not always represent the truth. Courts and lawyers are the palladium of truth and justice, and they must be ever vigilant.

(Sources: “The Trial of Sacco and Vanzetti” by Doug Linder, University of Missouri. “Sacco and Vanzetti: The Men, the Murders, and the Judgment of Mankind” by Bruce Watson.)

Paul Mark Sandler, trial attorney and author, can be reached at [email protected].