Before dawn on September 21, 1872, a man was found dead in a pool of blood near a place known as Fellows’ Corners in Hyde Park. His skull had been crushed. His killer was never found. Who was James Monaghan? And what really happened that night in the early days of Scranton?
Scranton's Red Light DIstrict was alive and well in the early 1900s, and Mary Gregory was one of its more well-known characters.
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.
Exploring historic crimes in NEPA 