On December 18, 1928, Marco Pasco was shot while walking to work in Scranton, resulting in his death shortly after arrival at the hospital. Known for his violent past, Pasco left behind a large family. Despite police investigations and multiple suspects, his murder remains unsolved to this day.
In 1928, Italian immigrants in Scranton were particularly violent. Dynamite was the weapon of choice used to intimidate and exact revenge of their targets and ideological enemies. The Black Hand, present for decades, was now joined by fascists and anti-fascists during Mussolini's reign in Italy. Read about how the city was rocked by attacks leading up to the Great Depression.
Vittorio "Victor" Giacometti, an Italian immigrant from Gubbio, made a new life in the US, opening a restaurant and becoming a US citizen. His mysterious death led to speculations of suicide or murder, with rumors of gang involvement and love affairs. While it's considered a closed case, so many questions remain unanswered.
Scranton, PA. In the early days of this blue-collar city, a well-known doctor is murdered and a manhunt follows. A man is first convicted, then later acquitted. Does his wife's outburst in court thirty years later finally reveal the true killer?
I've previously written about the violence that emanated from the Bull's Head section of Scranton. Between the notorious actions of the Black Hand and the fact that the early Italian settlers were known to imbibe far too much alcohol on occasion, there was plenty of violence in this section of the then-booming blue-collar city. And... Continue Reading →
Exploring historic crimes in NEPA 