1. Robert "Roxie" Vanella was an American crime figure of Italian descent.
11 Facts About Robert Vanella
1. 2.
Robert Vanella was associated with Johnny Torrio, Big Jim Colosimo, Frankie Yale and Al Capone during the Prohibition era.
3.
Robert Vanella was born and raised at 68 James Street in Manhattan to Giuseppe Robert Vanella and Gerarda Tramutola, both of whom hailed from Potenza in the Region of Basilicata, Italy.
4.
On October 13,1907, Robert Vanella was arrested in Laurel, Montana and charged with the shooting death two days earlier of his roommate and associate, Raffaele Orasio.
5.
Robert Vanella's trial began on January 22,1908, at which a witness testified to having seen Robert Vanella run down an alley with a coat over his arm after shots had been fired by police.
6.
On January 25,1908, Robert Vanella was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 50 years in prison at the Montana State Prison at Deer Lodge.
7.
However, a public campaign for Robert Vanella's release was launched by his mother in New York and by socialite Ethel Eppstein of San Francisco, claiming that Robert Vanella had been unfairly convicted entirely on circumstantial evidence.
8.
On December 24,1913, Vanella received a Christmas Eve commutation of his sentence from Governor Sam V Stewart to twelve years.
9.
The State's Attorney alleged that Robert Vanella, identified as "Rocco Venille," had been hired by local property owners in a botched attempt to assassinate a senior vice police inspector.
10.
Seven years after their wedding Robert Vanella died on May 10,1928, at the age of 48.
11.
Robert Vanella was interred at Vanella's Funeral Chapel and laid to rest at Calvary Cemetery in Queens following a funeral procession consisting of over 300 vehicles.