Indicted but Never Convicted: The Murder of Antonio Di Simone

In 1919, Italian immigrant Antonio Di Simone was murdered near Dennison, Ohio—two suspects were arrested, but justice never came.

I have chosen to use the surname Di Simone as opposed to the others that appear in the historical record. It was the surname under which Antonio Di Simone was buried by his friends and it is what is found on his headstone.

The historical record is unclear as to when Antonio Di Simone (1895-1919) arrived in the United States from his native Italy. What is clear is that he was living in Lafferty in Belmont County, Ohio at the time that he registered for the World War One draft in June 1917. A year later he was drafted, assigned to the 158th Depot Brigade, and was discharged in November 1918 never having left the country. Antonio then moved to Dennison, Ohio where he found night work in the railroad shops. During the day he also worked as a fish seller on the streets of Dennison.

Di Simone’s life in the United States was cut short when, in November 1919, he was murdered near the Healey School House northeast of Dennison, Ohio. His body was discovered by the son of local farmer Samuel H. Work (1875-1964) after neighbors reported hearing a gunshot. Di Simone was found shot in the neck, the bullet severed his spinal cord, and he was left crumpled under a roadside fence. Blood on the road and around his face suggested he either fell or was pushed over an embankment.

The authorities arrived and began their investigation. They quickly determined robbery was likely the motive. Di Simone’s friends said he carried $75 that morning, but when his body was recovered his pockets were turned inside out, with only small coins left nearby. Later evidence indicated that Di Simone had saved a much larger sum of money and may have had that on his person at the time of the murder. Bloodhounds where brought in and trailed the murderer’s scent to a nearby streetcar line, where it was believed the possible suspect escaped.

Investigators interviewed members of the Dennison Italian community and suspicion quickly turned to Francesco Rasize (1891-?) and Fortunata Rolletta (1885-1926), both of Dennison. They were arrested without resistance by Marshal Albert H. Maxwell (1873-1935) and Sheriff George W. Shonk (1880-1953). Police found incriminating evidence at Rasize’s residence, including recently washed muddy shoes that matched tracks from the murder scene and money that aligned with the amount Di Simone was seen carrying. A waitress also identified one of the men as an individual she saw fleeing the area immediately after the shooting.

Further witness statements implicated them as well. Samuel Work’s son saw three men pass his house before the gunshot, but afterward only two sets of tracks left the scene. Police also confirmed that Di Simone was seen earlier the morning of the murder with the suspects. The arrests of Rasize and Rolletta marked the beginning of the legal proceedings to decide the fate of the two men accused of murdering Di Simone. They were quickly indicted by a grand jury and charged with first degree murder but their case dragged into the spring of 1920.

The prosecutor’s office brought in a private detective to work on the case in an effort to build a stronger evidentiary case against the pair. So far, according to the prosecutor, all they had was circumstantial evidence to tie the men to the crime. When the private investigator failed to turn up anything new, the prosecutor decided the drop the case entirely. Both men walked free in March 1920. Fortunata Rolletta was murdered six years later in Steubenville, Ohio and what became of Francesco Rasize is unclear. Either way, neither man was convicted of the murder of Antonio Di Simone and his case remains unsolved.

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© Noel B. Poirier, 2025.