Maria Barbella

Maria Barbella (born October 24, 1868) was the second 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.

Maria Barbella was born in Ferrandina, Basilicata, 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 the 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 allegedy drugged her with the drink he bought her, and took advantage of her. Because of her very strong morals about intimacy and marriage, Maria became upset afterwards and demanded that he marry her. Cataldo showed her a savings book with a $400 deposit and promised to marry her. She continued to meet with him at the boarding house in the hopes that he would consent to marrying her. However, he continued to put the marriage off for several months. In fact he was already married to a woman in Italy, with whom he had children. Barbella was devastated when Cataldo told her that he was returning to Italy and was ending the relationship. Barbella then told her mother about the situation. Her mother confronted Cataldo and insisted he marry Barbella but he said the only way he would do that was if they paid him $200. In New York City on April 26, 1895 at approximately 9:30 AM, Domenico Cataldo was playing cards in a saloon on East 13th Street, and had planned to board a ship leaving for Italy that afternoon. Barbella entered the bar and there was a brief exchange. "Only a pig can marry you!" were his last words. Barbella produced a straight razor and slashed his neck so swiftly Cataldo had no chance to scream. He staggered out the door, clutching his throat with both hands, knocking Barbella over, spraying blood everywhere. Finally, as he reached Avenue A, he lurched off the curb and fell twitching into the gutter, where he died.

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. 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." 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. She was the second woman sentenced to be executed by electric chair (after serial killer Lizzie Halliday's commuted 1894 conviction).

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. 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. After her release from prison, Maria married an Italian immigrant named Francesco Bruno on November 4, 1897. In 1899, she had a son named Frederick. In 1902, she was living with her parents, and her husband had returned to Italy and remarried. Nothing is known of her life after this time.