The man was disheveled and distraught when he showed up at the firehouse in South San Francisco. The fire chief said: "I could not make out what he was saying the first time… He said it over, and then I caught his words which were the same as before: 'I've just shot my sweetheart.'"
The man, later identified as Umberto Giusti, thus confessed to killing rising opera star Emilia da Prato on December 19, 1933.
They were semi-luminaries of the opera world in San Mateo County. She was proclaimed by the San Mateo Times as a "beautiful South San Francisco girl, internationally known as a singer." She was the winner of the prestigious Atwater Kent competition in 1927, and a radio competition proclaimed her as the "second best girl singer in the United States." He was a former impresario with the Civic Opera Company in Hollywood.
He began as her manager but soon wanted a more personal relationship – and she seemed to respond at first – but she eventually cooled towards the man.
The estrangement escalated until the fateful day when Giusti appeared unannounced at the da Prado house on Commercial Avenue. Everybody was gone except for Emilia and a neighbor woman who was sitting in the kitchen while the two principals were in the back of the house.
Guisti outlined the tense conversation: "I did it because she told me she was all through, that she would go out with others if she pleased," and "her people wanted her to give all her time to her beautiful voice." He told the authorities that he intended to kill himself in front of her, but when he showed her his gun, she grabbed his arm, and the two struggled until the gun accidentally fired into her chest. This suicide claim is contradicted by the neighbor in the kitchen who, upon hearing the shot, ran towards the hallway to see the young woman bleeding from a chest wound and running towards the front door. Giusti chased her as da Prato ran outside, where he fired three more shots into the prone woman, killing her instantly.
The Times reported, "the slayer ran from the house by a rear door, tossed his empty gun into the yard and dashed two blocks to…the South San Francisco City Hall."
It turns out he was not safe there. More than 100 men quickly gathered in front of the building with the intent of lynching Giusti. Authorities quickly moved the man to the more secure jail at Redwood City.
In February of 1934, at his subsequent trial in Redwood City, Giusti had no leg to stand on. Considering his confession to the fire chief and the neighbor's testimony, he could not deny he was solely responsible for the murder. He unsuccessfully attempted an insanity defense.
The verdict was swift; he was convicted of first-degree murder, received a life sentence, and was incarcerated in San Quentin prison. The crime was reported throughout the country, bringing an unwanted spotlight on our county.
Was this a premeditated murder or an impulsive crime of passion? Leave your ideas in the Comments section below.
