On Easter morning, March 27, 1932, the body of 30-year-old Salvatore Antonio, a Hispanic male, was discovered in a culvert just south of Albany, New York. He had been brutally attacked, sustaining five gunshot wounds and more than a dozen stab wounds. Antonio was found alive but succumbed to his injuries in the emergency room without identifying his assailants.
The investigation quickly centered on his wife, Anna Antonio.
Her lack of grief and vague statements to the New York State Police raised suspicions. It was soon alleged that Anna had hired two men, Vincent Saetta and Sam Feraci, to murder her husband. Investigators learned that Anna had promised the men $800 from her husband's insurance money as payment for the crime. The motive appeared to stem from years of abuse Anna had reportedly suffered at the hands of her husband.
On May 5, 1932, Anna Antonio, Vincent Saetta, and Sam Feraci were arrested and charged with the murder of Salvatore Antonio. After a lengthy 26-day trial in the spring of 1933, all three were found guilty of first-degree murder. On April 15, 1933, they were sentenced to death and sent to Sing Sing Prison. Just moments before his own scheduled execution, Vincent Saetta confessed to being the sole murderer, claiming he killed Salvatore over a $75 debt and that Anna was innocent. Despite this last-minute confession, and several stays of execution for Anna, both Saetta, Feraci, and ultimately Anna Antonio were executed for their roles in the murder.
