Commonwealth v. Mazarella

Opinion by

Mr. Justice Walling,

On the morning of February 24, 1922, the dead body of Sylvester Carlisi, a coal miner, was discovered at Florence, Jefferson County, in the back yard of James Puglise. There was a small rope around the neck by which the body was suspended from the limb of an apple tree with the knees touching the ground. Some eighteen days thereafter Puglise and Vincenzo Mazarella, the defendant, were arrested and jointly charged with the murder of Carlisi. They were tried separately and Puglise was twice convicted of first degree murder; his first conviction having been set…