The New York herald., 1922-06-24
MARINO IS GUILTY
IN VAROTTA MURDER
Jury Out Eight Hours in Case
of Five -Year-Old Kid
naped Boy
SENTENCED WEDNESDAY
Jury Apparently Paid Little
Heed to Alibi Presented
by Defendant.

Antonio Marino was round guilty OF
murder In the first degree by jury in
General Sessions before Judge Alfred j.
Talley at IL: 40 last night. The jury
had been out eight hours and twenty
five minutes.
Marino was tried for the murder Of
five-year-old Giuseppe Varotta In June.
1921, after the child had been kidnapped.
He was remanded to the Tombs Until
next Wednesday for sentence.
Judge Talley congratulated the jury
on its verdict. saying:
This has been long, trying case.
The crime was as serious and as das-
tardly as has been committed in this
city in the memory of us here. The
law recognizes the seriousness of kid
naping child from his parents by Ak
ing the penalty at fifty years imprison-
nlent and nothing could be more das-
tardly than what happened in this case
not only the kidnapping, but the taking
OF the life of the child that ne might
not be a witness against those who kid
naped him. Your verdict is amply JUS
tifled by the evidence, and you are
thanked by the court"
Jury stood II to / From start.
The jury had stood eleven to one for
conviction from the start.
When he left the court room. Marino
lighted his pipe and began to smoke.
While crossing the Bridge of Signs. he
declared he was innocent
Twenty-four points raised by Robert
L. Levinson. attorney for Marino, after
Judge Alfred ]. Talley had finished his
address to the jury. which were admitted
and became part Of the charge. helped to
clarity the case for the jurymen. They
touched upon the testimony of Roberto
Raffaelle the youth condemned to die
for his part in the murder, and as to
whether the Varotta child really was
slain or was drowned accidentally by
falling into the Hudson River where
his body was found.
"If in your elaboration you conclude
that the testimony Of Raffaelle Is not
worthy of belief and reject it, Judge
Talley said, then you must acquit.
THE other evidence in the case Is OF
itself not sufficient to convict of the
crime as charged as matter Of law"
In the opinion of lawyers. that left
the jurymen in the position where they
could hold that since Raffaelle had ad-
mitted in his testimony that he had COM
mitted wholesale perjury during his own
trial it could follow that he again might
have perjured himself In an effort to
escape the death chair through a COM
mutation Of sentence.
Raffaelle's perjury admissions were
not touched upon in. the points handed
up to Judge Talley when he completed
his charge. When the jury came back
again for instruction, after they had
been out an hour and twenty minutes.
Mr.. Levinson made them the subject Of
another point. which was presented to
the jury by the Judge as follows:
"Raffaelle's admissions that he COM
mitted perjury in his own defense must
be considered as to his credibility as a
Witness"
The jury returned to the court room to
have the points raised by the defense
read to them again. This was an indi-
cation to persons who had followed the
tIial closely that they considered the
points of the greatest importance and
that they stood deadlocked. Opinion in
the court room as the Jury retired again
was that they were deadlocked with
every indication of disagreement.
Mr.. Levinson felt confident that
the jury's interest in the points he
had raised meant q verdict favorable for
his client.
Points to Discover Yet.
George n. Brothers, Assistant Dis
trict Attorney. declared in his summa-
tion that Marino was the arch-con-
spirator of the band that kidnapped and
murdered the Varotta boy. This case
is not closed yet. gentlemen" he said
We have yet to find the man or woman
who drowned the boy. We are working
to find this person and we intend to
keep on trying until we do find him
and maybe with your assistance we will
be able to do so. II the police had not
arrested the right man in Marino the
rest would not have gone to the trouble
of drowning the child"
Mr.. Brothers described the kidnapping
as 'neighborhood job" and said that
Marino and his coconspirators. Raj
faelle, Santo Cassamano, James Rug
gieri and John Melchione. were actuated
by avarice and a desire to get hold of
money they thought the varottas pos
sessed.