Sacco and Vanzetti Trials

SACCO & VANZETTI The Sacco and Vanzetti Case was an extremely controversial murder trial held in Massachusetts from 1921-1927. The two defendants were Nicola Sacco who was a shoemaker, and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, a self-employed fish-peddler. While both men did want to earn a living, neither of them seem to have been overly preoccupied with achieving wealth. They were generous, and just wanted, as Vanzetti said, "a little land to grow, a roof, some books." Neither of the men had any kind of prior criminal record. Both of these men were supporters of the political philosophy of anarchism. This was during a time of national paranoia, because of the "Red Scare" and the Russian revolution. The South Braintree Holdup and Murders were committed on April 15,1920 at 3:00 in the afternoon. The victims of the crime were Frederick Parmenter, a paymaster, and also Alessandro Berardelli, who was the guard. They were in the process of carrying the payroll from the shoe factory of Slater and Morill from the company office building to the factory. As the paymaster and his guard walked down Pearl Street, they passed a group of laborers excavating for a new restaurant. Standing near there were two other men with dark clothes and caps. As Parmenter and Beradelli passed the two men, one of them grabbed at Beradelli. The second man started firing, putting three bullets into Beradelli and one into Parmenter. As Parmenter staggered towards the workmen, he was shot again. Beradelli, on his knees in the gutter, was shot twice more as the gunman stood over him. The two men stole the boxes containing the payroll, which amounted to $15,776.51. While the murder was being committed a car with several other men in it came to the scene. The murderers jumped into the car and sped away. The car was found two days later abandoned in the woods. The police chief, Stewart was trying to connect this crime with one in the nearby town of Bridgewater.