November
19, 1903 – The body of Salvadore Battalia was found lying in a
pool of blood on the Franklin Avenue bridge in Minneapolis shortly after
midnight this morning by J. D. Donahue, a miller, who was crossing the bridge.
Donahue notified the police immediately.
Battalia was hurried to the county morgue, where an examination showed 21 vicious knife thrusts in the body. It was evident that the murdered man had engaged in a ferocious fight for his life, and had at last fallen beneath the vicious knife blows of someone determined to put him out of the way.
Robbery was clearly not the motive, as Battalia still had $65 in his pocket.
The police believe it was a murder purely from motives of revenge.
A receipt was found on the victim’s body, showing that he had recently applied for membership in the Masonic order.
Was It the Mafia?
The instigation of the Mafia is suggested by the authorities as a possible accounting for the murder.
One of the most brutal and sensational murders seen by local police, it is said that unless the assassins have covered their tracks well, and the affair was carefully planned, it is thought that this murder will be solved without much difficulty.
Antonio Cesto, a shoemaker at 2389 University avenue, St. Anthony Park, is being held at police headquarters under suspicion that he knows something about Battalia’s murder. It is not believed he was connected with the actual murder, as he had an established alibi, but a trail of blood leading from the side of the murdered man lead directly to his door, and the door knob was smeared with blood.
St. Paul Dispatch; “Foul Crime Discovered,
Horrible Murder of an Italian on the Franklin Ave. Bridge in Minneapolis,
Twenty-one Wounds on Head and Body, Man is Identified as a Fruit Peddler in the
Mill City.”; Nov. 19, 1903; P. 1.Battalia was hurried to the county morgue, where an examination showed 21 vicious knife thrusts in the body. It was evident that the murdered man had engaged in a ferocious fight for his life, and had at last fallen beneath the vicious knife blows of someone determined to put him out of the way.
Robbery was clearly not the motive, as Battalia still had $65 in his pocket.
The police believe it was a murder purely from motives of revenge.
A receipt was found on the victim’s body, showing that he had recently applied for membership in the Masonic order.
Was It the Mafia?
The instigation of the Mafia is suggested by the authorities as a possible accounting for the murder.
One of the most brutal and sensational murders seen by local police, it is said that unless the assassins have covered their tracks well, and the affair was carefully planned, it is thought that this murder will be solved without much difficulty.
Antonio Cesto, a shoemaker at 2389 University avenue, St. Anthony Park, is being held at police headquarters under suspicion that he knows something about Battalia’s murder. It is not believed he was connected with the actual murder, as he had an established alibi, but a trail of blood leading from the side of the murdered man lead directly to his door, and the door knob was smeared with blood.
Franklin Avenue
Bridge Today
(New Bridge Dedicated Dec. 7, 1923)
Photos taken by Pamela J. Erickson.
Released into the public domain November 19, 2013,
as long as
acknowledgement included.
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