James Joyce found guilty of murder
One hundred years ago today … In Queens County Court at Court Square, Long Island City, James Joyce was convicted of murder. (No, not that James Joyce, of course.)
New York Court of Appeals. Records and Briefs. Vol. 40, 1922, p. 8. The complete trial transcript is available here.
James Joyce, 22, of 4 E. 30 St., Manhattan, was convicted of murder in the first degree at 1 a.m. today by a jury in the Queens County Court. Joyce was found guilty of having shot and killed Adam Zittel, delicatessen dealer. of 604 Broadway, Astoria, on July 1, 1920. He was indicted last December, and this was his second trial. Judge Humphrey will sentence him Tuesday.
Joyce was arrested shortly after the murder, when a druggist next door to Zittel's place identified him as having been in his store on the night of the killing. Another man, known as "Tony," and now at large, was with Joyce at the time, Joyce was identified by the fact that he is cross-eyed. His first trial two weeks ago resulted in a disagreement.
(“JOYCE CONVICTED OF KILLING ZITTEL,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 27 May, 1921, p. 9. )
Joyce was sentenced to death by electrocution for killing Zittel.
“Adam Zittel.” FindAGrave.com.
Here is the Queens Courthouse in a 1908 postcard.
It is now called Long Island City Courthouse.
– Jonathan Goldman, May 27, 2021
TAGS: crime, murder, law, legal, court, Queens, deli