1920's Law and Justice | The Sacco and Vanzetti Case

Armed Robbery.

On 15 April 1920 in South Brain-tree, Massachusetts, Frederick Parmenter, the paymaster of the Slater-Merrill Shoe Company, was about to enter the factory grounds with two metal boxes containing slightly more than $15,000 in cash when he and a security guard were accosted by two armed robbers. After fatally wounding Parmenter and his companion, the bandits seized the payroll boxes and were seen driving away with a third man in a Buick touring car. Onlookers described the gunmen as "short, dark, foreign types." The getaway vehicle was later found in the nearby town of Brockton.

Arrests of Suspects.

The next month state police officers raided a private dwelling in Staughton, Massachusetts, that was suspected of being a "safe house" for fugitive political terrorists. Among those taken into custody were Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, two Italian immigrants. Both men were outspoken advocates of...