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Sacco's grandson Spencer believes that Mussolini told President Coolidge that he did not want Sacco and Vanzetti returned to Italy.

I am not sure what part of the sentence is "returned" in my example. Is it the attribute? Is it possible to rewrite my sentence without a change of the meaning in this way:

Sacco's grandson Spencer believes that Mussolini told President Coolidge that he did not want Sacco and Vanzetti to return to Italy.

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    He did not want to have them returned to Italy. The meaning is, they would have been "returned by somebody", by US state officials, say. Not just "return" on their own will. Compare: "He did not want to have his barn painted yellow".
    – CowperKettle
    Apr 29, 2016 at 18:07
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    I believe it's a past participle, used in a passive construction. You could read it as "He did not want them to be returned to Italy by anyone."
    – stangdon
    Apr 29, 2016 at 18:31
  • @CowperKettle I was going to write an answer but yours is essentially the same. You should write an answer.
    – user3169
    Apr 29, 2016 at 19:55

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If someone returns a dog, the dog moves because of the person's action. If a dog returns, it moves because of its own action. Therefore, I would guess that Sacco and Vanzetti are Italian prisoners that Mussolini does not want Coolidge to give back to Italy. Your second sentence, however, would imply that Mussolini would be displeased if Sacco and Vanzetti decided (their own decision) to go back to Italy.

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