The murder of poor Albert Snyder had one other unusual feature: the people responsible were caught. That didn't actually happen much in America in the 1920s. New York recorded 372 murders in 1927; in 115 of those cases no one was arrested. Where arrests were made, the conviction rate was less than 20 percent. Nationally, according to a survey made by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company-and it is notable that the best records were kept by insurers, not police authorities-two-thirds of America's murders were unsolved in 1927.
The murder of Albert Snyder stood out in the 1920s, a period when many killings went unsolved. In New York, out of 372 murders in 1927, 115 cases saw no arrests, and where there were arrests, convictions were rare, with fewer than 20 percent resulting in guilty verdicts. This illustrates the difficulties faced by law enforcement in effectively managing violent crime during that era.
