411.65 Palumbo, Rosolino/1
The Italian Ambassador (Martina) to the Secretary of State
Mr. Secretary of State: On May 10, 1932, at 2 A.M. the police arrested on a street of New Orleans, Louisiana, one Rosolino Palumbo, an Italian subject, aged 33, generally known under the name of Ross Palumbo. He was taken to jail and, later, at 4 P.M. of the same day, he was found dead in his cell.
An inquiry was ordered concerning the causes of his death. Herewith I am sending the procès-verbal of autopsy (Enclosure 1)25 and the Coroner’s statement (Enclosure 2),25 both of which documents show unquestionably that Palumbo’s death was the result of shock interabdominal hemorrhage following traumatic rupture of mesenteric vessel.
The inquiry was pursued by taking numerous affidavits from witnesses copies of which are annexed (Enclosures from N.3 to N.24).25 All of these depositions prove beyond any possible doubt that, at the moment of his arrest, Palumbo was in normal physical condition; and several among them show that death was due to violent blows to which the deceased was subjected while in jail; and that the parties guilty of such barbarous proceeding are the two detectives who repeatedly visited Palumbo in his cell, namely, William Grosch and William Vandervort.
This is in fact the conclusion reached by the six jurors called in the case (Enclosure N.25).25
The occurrence appeared so serious to the District Attorney of New Orleans that he ordered an investigation of his own, summoned witnesses and finally filed a bill with the Grand Jury against the two detectives named above for the murder of said Palumbo.
Notwithstanding the testimonies and the results of the inquiry as shown by the documents here enclosed, the Grand Jury (by secret proceedings) returned a “no-true bill”.
In the presence of such an outcome and of facts of such extreme seriousness as the ones indicated, Your Excellency will recognize that this [Page 593] appears to be a case of gross miscarriage of justice. The Attorney who, on behalf of the Italian Consul at New Orleans, attended to the case, declares that no hope is to be entertained of arriving locally at any practical results. I therefore must have recourse to Your Excellency asking for the State Department’s intervention so that this wrong may have adequate redress. Justice demands that the parties guilty of the brutal conduct receive exemplary punishment. Justice demands also that the widow and child of the murdered man receive due indemnity for the loss of their husband and father respectively.
That this case has caused a wave of indignation and horror to rise in New Orleans is shown by the newspaper clippings collected in the annexed scrap-book. (Enclosure 26).26
That the Grand Jury, in rendering their verdict, have proven to be in a frame of mind incompatible with administration of justice one can unfortunately appreciate when one reads the inconceivable utterances attributed by the newspaper New Orleans States in its issue of May 12, 1932, to Judge Alexander C. O’Donnell, who presides in one of the criminal Courts of New Orleans, and who appears to come openly in defense of third degree methods. (Your Excellency will find these utterances reproduced on page 10 of the accompanying scrap-book.)
In the presence of a case like the one in question, the consequence of which was the death of the Italian subject Rosolino Palumbo, it is my duty to request the intervention of the State Department to the end that redress be made, the punishment of the guilty ones assured and a just indemnity accorded to the widow and child of the murdered man.
Accept [etc.]