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© Copyright 2001, Jim Loy
On April 15, 1920, outside a shoe factory in South Braintree, Massachussetts, two security guards (Frederick Parmenter and Alessandro Berardelli) were brutally murdered, and the factory payroll ($15,777) was stolen. There were eye-witnesses. At a suspected hideout, two armed men were arrested; they were Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti. Both were anarchists who believed in violent overthrow of any government. Vanzetti was convicted of another robbery. The public, in the grips of anti-communist hysteria, clammored for Sacco and Vanzetti's conviction and execution. It is widely believed that they did not receive a fair trial. But strong ballistics evidence pointed to their guilt. They were convicted and on August 23, 1927, despite world-wide protest, both men were executed, by electric chair. In 1961, further tests of the bullets and guns confirmed their guilt. In 1977, Governor Dukakis officially proclaimed Sacco and Vanzetti's innocence. In 1983, tests again confirmed their guilt.