Chapter
Using Physics:
Ri f l ing and
Bal l ist ics
O
n April 15, 1920, in South Braintree, Massachusetts, two men shot
and killed a paymaster and his guard in a robbery. They grabbed
more than $16,000 and fled in a dark touring car with several other
men.
The ground inside the bank was littered with spent shell casings. The get-
away car was soon found, abandoned nearby. Police believed the man behind
the killings and robbery was Mike Boda, but by the time they found where he
lived, he had fled for Italy.
The police arrested two of Boda’s friends, Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo
Vanzetti, men who matched physical descriptions of the killers. When arrested,
Sacco was carrying a .32 Colt automatic, and Vanzetti had a .38 Harrington
& Richardson in his possession. The gun Sacco carried matched the caliber of
the weapon used in the killings. Vanzetti’s gun matched the gun the paymaster
