Pezzulich & Sgelirrach
New York
County, New York
Date of Crime: March 22, 1919
Frank Pezzulich and Frank Sgelirrach were convicted of armed
robbery charges. On Mar. 22, 1919, seven pistol-wielding masked men
robbed a rooming house at 36 Beach St. occupied by nine Croatians. The
victims were robbed of $1728, $85, $13, and $15. One victim, Mike Zic,
followed a group of robbers that went towards Varick St. He caught one
of the robbers, Frank Strolich, and held him for police. Strolich
denied his participation in the robbery and gave his address as 408 W. 24th
St. A detective went to the address, a rooming house, along with Frank
Zic, the heaviest loser in the robbery. There they met two Austrians,
Frank Pezzulich and Frank Sgelirrach. Zic identified both as robbers. During the robbery two robbers' masks had allegedly slipped, allowing them
to be identified. Both Austrians admitted knowing Strolich, but denied
being robbers.
Strolich was tried first and convicted. Then an assistant DA, Owen
Bohan, questioned him with the idea of using him as a witness against
Pezzulich and Sgelirrach. For the first time, Strolich denied the two
had been involved in the robbery, and to substantiate his statement, he gave
Bohan the names of all the others who took part. Police began a search
for these men. In the meantime Pezzulich and Sgelirrach were tried. Three of the victims identified the defendants as robbers, though the other
six victims were unable to do so. The defendants had seven alibi
witnesses, but were convicted. Each was sentenced to 8 to 16 years in
prison.
By December, Lino DePiero, a man named by Strolich as one of his
accomplices, was arrested and tried. However, the judge felt that the
evidence was insufficient, and directed a verdict of acquittal. In
January 1920, three other men named by Strolich were arrested in Milwaukee. The men initially confessed, naming their accomplices, but said nothing
about Pezzulich and Sgelirrach. One jumped bail, but the other two
were tried and convicted despite repudiating their confessions.
Bohan, impressed by the Milwaukee confessions, became doubtful of Pezzulich
and Sgelirrach's guilt. He tried to get the Milwaukee convicts to
repeat their confessions. With the help of Father Cashin, the Catholic
Chaplin at Sing Sing prison, he got the convicts to admit their guilt. Both denied emphatically that Pezzulich and Sgelirrach had participated in
the crime. With these admissions Bohan initiated proceedings that
freed Pezzulich and Sgelirrach. Both had served about 14 months of
imprisonment. [11/07]
________________________________
Reference: Convicting
the Innocent
Posted in:
Victims of the State,
Manhattan-Bronx Cases,
Masked Assailant ID
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