This week in 1935

“I want to give out a message to the people of Albany. They double-crossed me, but I’m a better man than they are. I thank you, warden.”

— Leonard Scarnici, convicted of murder, electric chair, New York.
Executed June 27, 1935

Scarnici and five of his gang held up a Rensselaer County Bank with a machine gun and a slew of pistols. Unbeknownst to the robbers, they had tripped the silent alarm, which brought two police detectives running to the scene. Detective James A. Stevens was gunned down the instant he passed through the bank doors, and a deafening exchange of fire ensued. Two of Scarnici’s men were shot dead and the rest escaped with two thousand dollars.