| Maria Barbella | |
|---|---|
Portrait of Maria Barbella |
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| Born | October 24, 1868 Ferrandina, Italy |
| Died | Unknown |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Other names | Maria Barberi[1] |
| Known for | First woman sentenced to die in the electric chair |
Maria Barbella (Born October 24, 1868[2]) was the first woman sentenced to die in the electric chair. She was convicted of killing her lover in 1895; however, the ruling was overturned in 1896 and she was freed.
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Maria Barbella was born in Ferrandina, Italy. Her family immigrated to Mulberry Bend, New York in 1892. After living in the United States for nearly a year, Maria Barbella met Domenico Cataldo, who was from her same region of Italy. She worked in a factory and every day she would pass by Cataldo’s shoeshine booth. They spent lots of time together but these meetings were kept a secret from Michele Barbella, Maria's overprotective father. Michele found out about Domenico and he forbade Maria from ever seeing or speaking to him again. Domenico continued to pursue Maria until she finally gave in and agreed to meet with him again.
One day Cataldo took her to a boarding house, where he seemingly drugged her with the drink he bought her, and took advantage of her. Because of her very strong morals about intimacy and marriage, Barbella said that they would have to get married to make everything right. He promised they would marry in several months, but they never did because he was already married to a woman in Italy, with whom he had children. Domenico said he was going back to Italy so he wouldn’t be able to marry her, leaving her devastated. Maria told her mother about the situation. Her mother confronted Domenico and insisted he marry Maria but he said the only way he would do that was if they paid him $200. On April 26, 1895, Maria killed him by cutting his throat with a razor.[3]
She was arrested and put in The New York Halls of Justice and House of Detention (otherwise known as "The Tombs") for 2.5 months. Her appointed attorneys were Amos Evans and Henry Sedgwick. The trial began on July 11. This case stirred up controversy because Italians felt that the verdict was unjust since there were no Italians in the jury. At the time of the trial, Maria was unable to speak or understand English.[1] Maria admitted everything: how she slit his throat and how he ran after her, but couldn’t reach her and had dropped dead. The jury was shown to have felt sympathy for her case; however, according to Recorder Goff, "The verdict was in accordance with the facts, and no other verdict could, in view of the evidence, have been considered."[1] The jury declared Maria guilty and she was sent to Sing Sing prison where she was sentenced to death by electric chair occurring on August 19, 1895.[1] She was the second woman sentenced to death in New York and the first woman to be sentenced to execution by electric chair.[1] After 1902 nothing is known about her life.
Many complained to the Governor about how the situation was handled, but it seemed nothing could be done. On November 16, 1896, she was given a second trial at the criminal branch of the New York Supreme Court.[3] She was granted an appeal when she was suddenly said to be epileptic and mentally ill because of everything that had happened. She was found not guilty, remarried and had a son named Frederick. Her husband left her and remarried in Italy in 1902.