Case file
Sacco and Vanzetti
On April 15, 1920, two men, security guard Alessandro Berardelli and paymaster Frederick Parmenter, were shot and killed during an armed robbery of the Slater and Morrill Shoe Company payroll in Braintree, Massachusetts. Berardelli was shot four times as he reached for his revolver, which was never recovered from the scene; Parmenter, unarmed, was shot twice, fatally in the back while fleeing. The robbers escaped with the payroll boxes in a stolen Buick.
Investigators, already probing an earlier unsuccessful December 1919 payroll robbery attempt in Bridgewater, traced leads to Italian anarchists associated with Mario Buda. On May 5, 1920, police arrested Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, along with Buda and Riccardo Orciani, after they came to a garage linked to the investigation. Sacco and Vanzetti were found carrying loaded firearms and ammunition; both were charged with murder that day and indicted on September 14, 1920. Vanzetti was first tried and convicted in 1920 for the Bridgewater attempted robbery, receiving a 12-to-15-year sentence; a related murder count from that case was declared a mistrial after jurors were found to have tampered with evidence during deliberation.
Sacco and Vanzetti were tried together for the Braintree murders beginning May 31, 1921, in Dedham, Massachusetts, before Judge Webster Thayer, with Frederick Katzmann prosecuting. The prosecution presented ballistics testimony linking a bullet recovered from Berardelli's body to Sacco's pistol, eyewitness identifications placing the defendants near the crime scene and getaway car, and a cap allegedly belonging to Sacco found at the scene. The defense called alibi and rebuttal witnesses, challenged the ballistics conclusions, and put both defendants on the stand, where their testimony about anarchist activities and evading a feared deportation raid was used against them by the prosecution. On July 14, 1921 (after deliberation reported by Wikipedia as occurring on that date), the jury convicted both men of first-degree murder, and they were sentenced to death.
Multiple defense motions for a new trial, including ones based on a jury foreman's alleged prejudicial remarks, a prosecution ballistics expert's later equivocation, and a 1925 confession by Celestino Medeiros that implicated a different gang and absolved Sacco and Vanzetti, were all denied by Judge Thayer between 1924 and 1926. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court unanimously upheld Thayer's procedural rulings on May 12, 1926, without reviewing the fairness of the trial as a whole.
The case drew international attention and protest, with demonstrations held across North America, Europe, Latin America, and elsewhere, and public appeals from figures including Harvard law professor Felix Frankfurter and author Anatole France. Massachusetts Governor Alvan T. Fuller appointed a three-member commission that, after interviews with the judge, lawyers, and witnesses, upheld the verdict. Sacco and Vanzetti were executed in the electric chair at Charlestown State Prison just after midnight on August 23, 1927. A 1961 ballistic re-examination suggested Sacco's pistol may have fired the fatal bullet, though later commentators questioned the reliability of that test given chain-of-custody concerns. On August 23, 1977, Governor Michael Dukakis proclaimed that the men had been unfairly tried and convicted, though the proclamation did not constitute a pardon.
Key facts
- Victims
- Frederick Parmenter, Alessandro Berardelli
- Date
- 1927
- Location
- Braintree, Massachusetts, United States
- Case status
- solved
Case timeline
1919-12-24
Unsuccessful attempted armed robbery of a shoe factory payroll occurs in Bridgewater, Massachusetts.
1920-04-15
Alessandro Berardelli and Frederick Parmenter are shot and killed during an armed payroll robbery in Braintree, Massachusetts.
1920-05-05
Sacco and Vanzetti are arrested; both are charged with murder the same day.
1920-09-14
Sacco and Vanzetti are indicted for the Braintree murders.
1920-06-22
Bridgewater crimes trial against Vanzetti begins.
1920-07-01
Jury convicts Vanzetti in the Bridgewater case; murder count later declared a mistrial due to jury tampering with evidence.
1920-08-16
Vanzetti is sentenced to 12 to 15 years for the Bridgewater armed robbery.
1921-05-31
Braintree murder trial of Sacco and Vanzetti begins in Dedham, Massachusetts.
1921-07-14
Jury convicts Sacco and Vanzetti of first-degree murder; both are later sentenced to death.
1924-10-01
Judge Thayer denies motions for a new trial following Hamilton-Proctor ballistics hearings.
1925-11
Celestino Medeiros confesses to the Braintree crimes and absolves Sacco and Vanzetti.
1926-05-26
Defense files a new motion for trial based on the Medeiros confession.
1926-05-12
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court unanimously upholds Judge Thayer's rulings.
1926-10-23
Judge Thayer denies the motion for a new trial based on the Medeiros confession.
1927-04-09
Vanzetti is sentenced for the Braintree crimes and denounces his former Bridgewater-case attorney.
1927-08-23
Sacco and Vanzetti are executed by electric chair at Charlestown State Prison.
1961
A ballistic test is performed suggesting the pistol found on Sacco was used in the killings; later commentators question its reliability.
1977-08-23
Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis proclaims that Sacco and Vanzetti were unfairly tried and convicted, without issuing a pardon.
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People
Frederick Parmenter
VICTIMPaymaster shot and killed during the April 15, 1920 Braintree payroll robbery.
Webster Thayer
LAW ENFORCEMENTTrial judge who presided over both the Bridgewater and Braintree trials and denied all defense motions for a new trial.
Bartolomeo Vanzetti
CONVICTEDConvicted of first-degree murder on July 14, 1921 for the Braintree robbery-murders and earlier convicted of armed robbery in the Bridgewater case; executed August 23, 1927.
Frederick G. Katzmann
LAW ENFORCEMENTNorfolk and Plymouth County District Attorney who prosecuted both the Bridgewater and Braintree cases.
Nicola Sacco
CONVICTEDConvicted of first-degree murder on July 14, 1921 for the Braintree robbery-murders; executed August 23, 1927.
Alessandro Berardelli
VICTIMSecurity guard shot and killed during the April 15, 1920 Braintree payroll robbery.
Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.
Archival records
archival location
Mario Buda
Credit: Unknown authorUnknown author · Public domain · Source
archival location
Memorial to victims
Credit: EdJF · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
archival location
NorfolkCoCourt
Credit: Biruitorul · Public domain · Source
newspaper
Protesta Umana, June 1926
Credit: Sacco-Vanzetti Defense Committee · Public domain · Source
other document
Sacco and Vanzetti Poster
Credit: EdJF · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
archival location
Sacco and Vanzetti mural at Syracuse University (Ben Shahn)
Credit: Kenneth C. Zirkel · Public domain · Source
archival location
Sacco and Vanzetti trial memorial 1
Credit: Briancua · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source
archival location
State prison 1900
Credit: Daderot · Public domain · Source
Places
Common questions
- What happened to the victim?
- Italian immigrant anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were convicted in 1921 of murdering a guard and a paymaster during a 1920 Massachusetts payroll robbery; despite worldwide protest over alleged bias and disputed evidence, both were executed in 1927, and in 1977 the state proclaimed their trial unfair.
- Where did the crime happen?
- Braintree, Massachusetts, United States.
- Who was convicted?
- Bartolomeo Vanzetti (Convicted of first-degree murder on July 14, 1921 for the Braintree robbery-murders and earlier convicted of armed robbery in the Bridgewater case; executed August 23, 1927.) and Nicola Sacco (Convicted of first-degree murder on July 14, 1921 for the Braintree robbery-murders; executed August 23, 1927.).
- What is the current status of the case?
- Status: solved. Last verified July 2026.
Related cases
View all cases
Sources
- ENCYCLOPEDICSacco and VanzettiWikipedia · 2026-07-07
- PRESSContemporaneous coverage — The New York TimesThe New York Times · 2026-07-07
- OFFICIAL / AGENCYContemporaneous coverage — lccn.loc.govlccn.loc.gov · 2026-07-07
Record history
- First published
- JUL 07, 2026
- Last verified against sources
- JUL 07, 2026