Mayor Shakspeare had given a speech a…
October 1890 CE
He has appointed a Committee of Fifty to investigate "the existence of secret societies or bands of oath-bound assassins...and to devise necessary means and the most effectual and speedy measures for the uprooting and total annihilation" of any such organizations.
On October 23, the committee publishes an open letter to the Italian community encouraging them to inform on each other anonymously.
The letter ends on a menacing note:
We hope this appeal will be met by you in the same spirit in which we issue it, and that this community will not be driven to harsh and stringent methods outside of the law, which may involve the innocent and guilty alike...Upon you and your willingness to give information depends which of these courses shall be pursued.
The letter is signed by the Committee's chairman, Edgar H. Farrar, who will later serve as president of the American Bar Association.
Other prominent members of the Committee include General Algernon S. Badger, Judge Robert C. Davey, politician Walter C. Flower, Colonel James Lewis, and architect Thomas Sully.
The Committee of Fifty hires two private detectives to pose as prisoners and try to get the defendants to talk about the murder.
Apparently the detectives will not obtain any useful information, because they will not be asked to testify at the trial.
Only Polizzi, who appears to be mentally ill, has said anything to incriminate himself, and his confession will be deemed inadmissible.
Meanwhile, the defendants are subject to extremely negative pretrial publicity.
Across the country, newspapers run headlines such as "Vast Mafia in New Orleans" and "1,100 Dago Criminals".
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