On Jan. 14, 1919, the jury in the trial of Rita Cortopassi for the murder of her husband, Abdenago (Tony) Cortopassi, returned with a verdict of not guilty.
Rita and Tony were newlyweds in the summer of 1918 just before he was drafted and shipped off to Camp Lewis in Washington State for basic training in the Army and later to Camp Fremont in Palo Alto, California.
Tony, an Italian immigrant, owned the Orleans Hotel in Auburn and became a U.S. citizen in 1916. Rita, who was also from Italy, struggled to operate the hotel and bar in Tony’s absence. She didn’t like the man Tony left in charge of the bar, Rodolfo Giraldini, so she fired him and hired John Pieroni to replace him. She urged Tony to take a furlough and return to Auburn before going overseas to fight in the Great War. She wanted him to sell the business and for them to move to a new city because salacious rumors were circulating about her.
Tony returned to Auburn on Oct. 8. Rita prepared a nice dinner, but Tony invited his friend, Rodolfo over. This incensed her and when Tony tried to give a violin to Rodolfo (that Rita claimed was hers), she had enough. Rita picked up a pistol and pointed it. It’s unclear if she pointed at Rodolfo or Tony, but Tony reached for the gun, and it went off. The bullet pierced his heart. The defense argued, successfully, that Tony’s death was accidental.
During the trial, it was revealed Rita was five months pregnant. We don’t know what happened to Rita or her baby after the trial except that she left Auburn. Tony is buried in the Old Auburn Cemetery and will likely be memorialized in a future Old Auburn Cemetery Tour.
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