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Wrongly Executed? - The Long-forgotten Context of Charles Sberna's 1939 Electrocution
Sing Sing Warden Lewis Lawes had no doubt on the evening of January 5, 1939: He had just presided over the electric-chair-execution of an innocent man. The prison chaplain and many guards also felt that convicted cop-killer Charles Sberna had been sent to his death unjustly.
Lawes made his feelings known in a published book a short time later. Syndicated Broadway columnist Walter Winchell also called attention to the flawed case against Sberna in the summer of 1939 and again early in 1942. According to Winchell, the government knew it had killed an innocent man and was providing "hush money" payments to Sberna relatives. Since then, opponents of capital punishment have included Sberna's name in collections of those deemed "wrongly executed" and have used the case as a somewhat vague example of the possibility of death penalty error. Still, little is known about Sberna or the circumstances that led him to the electric chair.
The story is a complex and controversial one, involving celebrity attorneys, Mafia bosses, violent political radicals, media giants and ruthless establishment figures, all set in a period in which Americans sought stability and government-imposed order after years of political upheaval, economic depression and Prohibition Era lawlessness.
The story of Charles Sberna first came to author Thomas Hunt's attention during research into capital punishment errors. Archived newspaper columns by Winchell revealed a story worthy of retelling. Conversations with publisher Rick Mattix relating to the startup of the On the Spot Journal of "gangster era" crime history led Hunt to assemble an article on the Sberna case for the journal's December 2006 issue.
That first article noted the relation by marriage of Charles Sberna and the Morello-Lupo-Terranova clan, which had been a major influence in early New York organized crime. Sberna's own family background was unknown until later research into Amedeo Polignani of the NYPD shed light on the involvement by Charles Sberna's father Giuseppe in the anarchist-terrorist bombings of the 1910s. The decision to fully explore the Sberna case soon followed.
Lawes made his feelings known in a published book a short time later. Syndicated Broadway columnist Walter Winchell also called attention to the flawed case against Sberna in the summer of 1939 and again early in 1942. According to Winchell, the government knew it had killed an innocent man and was providing "hush money" payments to Sberna relatives. Since then, opponents of capital punishment have included Sberna's name in collections of those deemed "wrongly executed" and have used the case as a somewhat vague example of the possibility of death penalty error. Still, little is known about Sberna or the circumstances that led him to the electric chair.
The story is a complex and controversial one, involving celebrity attorneys, Mafia bosses, violent political radicals, media giants and ruthless establishment figures, all set in a period in which Americans sought stability and government-imposed order after years of political upheaval, economic depression and Prohibition Era lawlessness.
The story of Charles Sberna first came to author Thomas Hunt's attention during research into capital punishment errors. Archived newspaper columns by Winchell revealed a story worthy of retelling. Conversations with publisher Rick Mattix relating to the startup of the On the Spot Journal of "gangster era" crime history led Hunt to assemble an article on the Sberna case for the journal's December 2006 issue.
That first article noted the relation by marriage of Charles Sberna and the Morello-Lupo-Terranova clan, which had been a major influence in early New York organized crime. Sberna's own family background was unknown until later research into Amedeo Polignani of the NYPD shed light on the involvement by Charles Sberna's father Giuseppe in the anarchist-terrorist bombings of the 1910s. The decision to fully explore the Sberna case soon followed.
262 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 1, 2016
324 people want to read
About the author
Thomas Hunt
87 books32 followersI am a writer/researcher on the subject of organized crime (American Mafia). I most recently authored, Wrongly Executed? The Long-forgotten Context of Charles Sberna's 1939 Electrocution. I publish a quarterly true crime journal, Informer, and The American Mafia history website as well as a number of blogs. I co-wrote DiCarlo: Buffalo's First Family of Crime with Michael A. Tona and Deep Water: Joseph P. Macheca and the Birth of the American Mafia with Martha Macheca Sheldon. I contributed the American Mafia history sections to the Australian published, Mafia: The Necessary Reference to Organized Crime. I moderate Mafiahistory.us and Facebook discussion groups on Mafia history. Previously, I served as editor of several dmoz.org categories related to organized crime.
Married with three children and (too) numerous pets, I live and work in the Middlebury VT area.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 20, 2017
Spoiler Alert: The title of the book, while rhetorical, gives away much of the story. Deeply researched, clearly presented, logical examination of an 80 year old crime and punishment cycle. Author Thomas Hunt presents a comprehensive body of evidence to present this case in question, with deep details on why he suggests there may have been judicial prejudice in this case.
A well-written read, valuable for Mafia historians, social justice proponents, and crime aficionados alike. Hunt's prose is accessible, logical and well crafted. His final confrontation of the titular question speaks back to the entire context of the case, leading the reader to consider the question in much the same way as the author himself.
Disclaimer: Wrongly Executed was received as a free ARC copy from the author through goodreads. I have received no compensation or consideration for this review, and offer it as my opinion only.
A well-written read, valuable for Mafia historians, social justice proponents, and crime aficionados alike. Hunt's prose is accessible, logical and well crafted. His final confrontation of the titular question speaks back to the entire context of the case, leading the reader to consider the question in much the same way as the author himself.
Disclaimer: Wrongly Executed was received as a free ARC copy from the author through goodreads. I have received no compensation or consideration for this review, and offer it as my opinion only.
Displaying 1 of 1 review