Charles Griffin is Under Arrest Charged with Arson in
First Degree, Confessions of Italian Firebugs
Norwich Sun, December 30, 1914
"We've got them coming now," said Chief of Police Silas W. Berry in the editorial rooms of this paper Wednesday morning when he came in to report the progress on the arson case which has been under investigation since early October.
Charles Griffin, whose shoe store caught on fire in the early morning of September 29, was arrested at his saloon on Lackawanna avenue by Detectives Quinn and Grande on a warrant charging him with arson in the first degree. He was taken to the county jail where Jerry Rossi, Josie Rossi and Rocco Rose identified him as the man who came to the Cottage hotel in Binghamton on two occasions previous to the East Main street fire and for the last time on the 28th of September, and according to their sworn statements hired Rossi for a hundred dollars to fire his store.
Following the large and disastrous fires which seemed to be of suspicious origin, Mayor Berry and his efficient corps of policemen began a careful investigation of the circumstances surrounding each fire. Soon Mayor Berry was convinced that in at least one instance that the fire was of incendiary origin, and he thereupon wrote to the Drummond detective agency of 1 Ann street, New York city, stating the case briefly and asking that a fully competent detective be sent here to place the responsibility and ferret out the firebugs.
On November 15, Detective Quinn came to this city [Norwich, NY] and after a conference with Mayor Berry he went to work. He has been assisted by Jerome B. Lewis of the local department and John B. Grande, head of the Italian detective staff of the Utica department. As the case progressed the Binghamton police department assisted in locating those who had knowledge of the fire prior to its starting. They hindered the progress of the case, in the eyes of the local police and Detective Quinn, by giving sensational facts to the press of that city, which, it is claimed drove the parties wanted out of Binghamton and from the state, making the search a more expensive and lengthy one.
On the 30th of November Josie Rossi was brought to this city, charged with arson in the first degree. She according to the deposition of Detective Quinn was present at the time of the hiring of Rossi for $100 to fire the Griffin store and this conversation was alleged to have been overheard by some member of the Binghamton police department. Mrs. Rossi was held for the grand jury. Later she made a confession of the facts which she knew in connection with the case and this confession will be given to the grand jury when it meets next week.
On December 23, Annie Millar and Rocco Rose of Binghamton were brought before judge Hill and held, upon examination, as material witnesses in the case which was then beginning to shape rapidly out of theory and vague speculation. Rocco and Annie Millar are both supposed to have admitted certain facts which are not incriminating to them but which involve others. They are now at the Chenango county jail, unable to get bail in the sum of $2,500 each.
On the strength of the admissions and other testimony gathered, Quinn went to Albany the evening of the 23d and obtained extradition papers for Jerry Rossi who was being held by the Passaic police on the arson charge. He was brought here on Sunday and his examination has been postponed for a few days pending other developments. Rossi told his story Tuesday evening and then Griffin's arrest followed.
Rossi tells how after being interviewed by Griffin he came to this city on the night of September 28 and fired the store in the early morning. Then he ran down the Lackawanna tracks out of the city, walked to Oxford, where he got breakfast in one of the restaurants or hotels and took the morning train back to his home in Binghamton, where he remained until the first "investigation" story was published in the Binghamton papers. Then he went to Passaic where he was hidden away by members of the gang, until Josie came to him. Fortunately for the people, Josie was shadowed by a detective and Jerry's arrest followed, while Josie was brought back here.
An interesting sidelight on the case is the identifying of Mr. Griffin Tuesday afternoon by Rocco Rose. Rose was taken to the police station and allowed to look out of the windows at the passers by, at the hour when Mr. Griffin usually goes to his home. As he passed the windows of the station Rose immediately stated to the police that the man going by was the one who had been at the Cottage hotel in Binghamton for the purposes previously stated.
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Gets New Trial
Charles Griffin, Norwich Shoe Dealer, Who Was Sentenced for Arson
Utica Saturday Globe, February 2016
Charles Griffin
Norwich [Chenango Co., NY]: The Court of Appeals has reversed the judgment of conviction in the case of Bartolo Taranto, better known by his adopted name of Charles Griffin, and has ordered a new trial. Griffin was found guilty of arson in the first degree and sentenced to Auburn for an indeterminate term of from 14 to 21 years, for hiring two men to fire his shoe store in this city in September, [1914].
Since his trail and conviction in March, 1915, his attorney, David F. Lee, has maintained that his client was the victim of blackmail and has left no legal stone unturned to secure a retrial of the case, with the possibility of a release. he has carried the case through every court to the one of last resort in the State and the reversal of the judgment is a worthy tribute to his persistence as well as the alleged merits of the client's case. Mr. Lee appeared single handed in the matter, the people's interests being safeguarded by District Attorney M.C. Lewis and Hon. H.C. Stratton.
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Acquitted in Arson Trial
The Otsego Farmer, March 24, 1916
After an hour and thirty minutes of deliberation the jury in the case of the People vs. Charles Griffin, charged with arson in the first degree, came back to the court room Saturday afternoon, at Norwich, a few minutes after 5 o'clock, with a verdict of "not guilty." Griffin, who is an expert shoemaker, it is understood, will endeavor at once to find a location at Norwich, and start cobbling shoes.
It was in the early morning of September 29, 1914, that Bruno Meduri, upon his own confession, came to Norwich from Binghamton in company with Jerry Rossi, after having first visited the store with John Pignatelli of Binghamton, and throwing gasoline on the floor, ignited it, setting fire to the repair shop in connection with Griffin's store. The fire spread through the shoe store, the Norwich Dairy store, and the wagon supply house of Cary & Son, sweeping out all the wooden structures to the Flanagan building. Meduri asserted that he was hired by the defendant and Charles Griffin staunchly maintained that he was blackmailed and from fear paid to Bruno and Jerry $200 upon their visit to the saloon after the fire, and another $100 in Binghamton the following Sunday, having borrowed that amount from George Pignatelli.
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