David Hennessy - Aftermath

Aftermath

Hennessy's killing was the first widely publicized Mafia incident in the United States. The city's first response was to arrest 250 Italians in a broad sweep. On October 18, the mayor appointed a "Committee of Fifty" to investigate the crime. This group sent a threatening letter to the Italian community and established a "system of secret and anonymous denunciation." Some accusations may have been motivated by the desire to obtain reward money offered by the mayor. A Pinkerton detective posed as a prisoner charged with counterfeiting so that the prisoners would talk to him candidly. One of the prisoners, Emanuele Polizzi, told the detective that Macheca and Charles Mantranga, boss of the Matranga gang, were the ringleaders of the plot.

Newspaper accounts at the time painted Macheca as the mastermind and claimed that Hennessy was about to expose Macheca's supposed counterfeiting and other rackets when he was killed. Even Macheca's former allies in the Ring faction, such as machine boss James Houston, fell silent lest they be suspected as co-conspirators. On December 13, a grand jury indicted 19 Italians. Six of these were associated with the Matranga gang, including Matranga and Macheca. The other 13 had no known criminal connections. Many of the names had been suggested by the Committee of Fifty. The grand jury foreman and one other juror were also members and financial contributors to this group.

A trial for nine of the suspects took place February 16–March 13, 1891, with Judge Joshua G. Baker presiding. At the trial, it appeared that Polizzi was mentally deranged, so his testimony was discredited. Polizzi also tried to dive through the window of the sheriff's office, possibly in an attempt to avoid testifying. Both O'Connor and Hennessy's bodyguard refused to testify. Mistrials were declared for three defendants: Antonio Scaffidi, Emmanuelle Polizzi, Pietro Monasterio. Not guilty verdicts were delivered for four: Joseph Macheca, Antonio Bagnetto, and Antonio Marchesi and Gasperi Marchesi. Matranga and Bastian Incardona, boss and second in command of the Matranga gang, were found not guilty by directed verdict, as no evidence had been presented against them. Newspapers at the time blamed the outcome on bribery and jury tampering, although afterward the jurors themselves defended the verdicts and explained how they were based on evidence presented at trial.

William Parkerson, head of the Bourbon political machine, and several other members of the Committee of Fifty, responded to the verdicts by calling for a mass meeting at the city's statue of Henry Clay. No longer silent on this issue, Houston, as well as the pro-Ring Times-Democrat, fully participated in the incitement. While expressing the hope that the meeting would not turn into a mob, the newspaper editorialized, "Rise, outraged citizens of New Orleans!... Peaceably if you can, forcibly if you must!" An extra edition distributed at the meeting featured the headline, "Who bribed the jury?" Parkerson told the crowd that they needed to "remedy the failure of justice" that resulted from bribery of the jury. Shouting "Kill the Dagoes," a large crowd stormed Parish Prison. Eleven of the 19 men who had been indicted for Hennessy's murder were lynched. According to witnesses, the "cheers were deafening."

Although the thousands of demonstrators outside gave the sense that the event was a spontaneous outburst, the killings were in fact carried out by a relatively small, disciplined group organized by community leaders. There were probably about 150 vigilantes, and the actual killings were carried out by a 12-man "Execution Squad" led by Parkerson. Those lynched were Polizzi (mistrial), Scaffidi (mistrial), Monasterio (mistrial), Macheca (acquitted), Antonio Marchesi (acquitted), Bagnetto (acquitted), Rocco Geraci (not tried), Frank Romero (not tried), Charles Traina (not tried), Loretto Comitz (not tried), and James Caruso (not tried). Matranga later claimed that he escaped the vigilantes by hiding under his mattress. Incardona also survived. The six who had been tried were selected because it was believed their jury was bribed. The other five victims were apparently just unlucky enough to be handy. Gasperi Marchesi, 14, had been tried and acquitted as the lookout, but was spared on the grounds that he was a boy following his father's orders.

The headline in The New York Times read, "Chief Hennessy avenged...Italian murderers shot down." "The Italians had taken the law into their own hands and we had no choice but to do the same," said Mayor Shakspeare. A survey of U.S. newspapers showed 42 in favor of the lynchings and another 58 opposed. Opinion in the East and Midwest was strongly critical. A grand jury refused to indict any individuals on the grounds that responsibility was collective because so many had participated.

Following the lynching, American newspapers reported that Italy might retaliate with a naval attack on the United States. Thousands of Americans volunteered for military service in response. It was first time that popular feeling in North and South united on an issue since the Civil War. The matter was eventually settled with the payment of a $25,000 indemnity. Shakspeare was narrowly defeated for reelection in 1892, with the Italian vote a decisive factor.