Violent Deaths of Heist Associates
When Jimmy Burke realized that the robbery had netted $6 million, three times the amount that he expected, he knew that a robbery of this magnitude would attract the intense attention of the police at every level (local, state, and federal), causing a lot of problems for everyone involved as well as organized crime in New York in general. Burke became increasingly concerned that there were too many witnesses who knew of his involvement, and too many who became greedy once learning the true amount of money stolen in the heist.
When Jimmy Burke realized that Edwards' failure to properly dispose of the van had allowed the police to catch on to his crew, he resolved to kill anyone who could implicate him in the heist. The first to be murdered, just 7 days after the heist, would be Edwards - shot and killed in his apartment on December 18, 1978 by Tommy DeSimone and Angelo Sepe. This was the first in a series of players, or their acquaintances, who were murdered after the heist at Burke's orders:
| Victim(s) | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Parnell Steven "Stacks" Edwards | 1978 Dec. 18 | Blues musician, credit card theft expert and getaway truck driver. Shot by DeSimone and Sepe for failing to dispose of the truck, pointing the authorities to the Burke organization, and out of concern that he would inform if captured. In Goodfellas, he is shown being shot in the head at point-blank range and then being shot several more times in the chest. |
| Martin Krugman | 1979 Jan 6 | A Russian-Jewish associate of the Burke and Hill. He owned a wig shop and mens hair saloon both named "For Men Only" in Queens. Krugman was the first to tip off Burke (via Hill) about the potential for a major heist at the Lufthansa terminal. He was eventually murdered and dismembered by Burke and Angelo Sepe in Bonanno crime family capo Vincent Asaro's fence factory after his increasingly nervous and angry demands for his $500,000 cut from the robbery convinced Burke he was about to inform to the FBI. Krugman was later discovered buried in the Robert's Lounge club along with Jimmy Burke's hijacker friend "Remo" and Michael Gianco who worked there as a waiter. Krugman and his death is depicted in the 1990 movie Goodfellas; he was portrayed by Chuck Low. |
| Richard Eaton | 1979 Jan. 17 | Fort Lauderdale, Florida Associate of Tom Monteleone, Burke front man, consummate grifter and con-artist. Uninvolved with the actual heist, he was personally tortured and murdered by Burke after absconding with $250,000 of Burke's money in a fake cocaine scam, and skimming some of the money from the heist while it was laundered through various legitimate establishments, including Monteleone's club. His body was discovered hogtied and hanging in a meat freezer truck. The actual circumstances of his death were depicted as those of Angelo Sepe in the movie Goodfellas, though the real Sepe was not a victim and actually carried out most of the murders during Burke's witness elimination program of 1978 and 1979. |
| Ferrara, TheresaTheresa Ferrara | 1979 Feb. 10 | Occasional mistress of Tommy DeSimone and associate of both Richard Eaton and Tom Monteleone, murdered because of her knowledge of the heist and suspicion she conspired with Eaton and Monteleone to skim part of the money taken during the Lufthansa heist. |
| Tom Monteleone | 1979 March | Fort Lauderdale, Florida Restaurateur and mobster. Associate of Richard Eaton, Monteleone owned The Players Club, a local bar frequented by Burke gang members, and was accused by Burke of conspiring with Eaton and Ferrara on a fake cocaine deal and skimming of part of the heist money while laundering it through his club. |
| Louis Cafora | 1979 March | Downtown Brooklyn Parking lot owner and money launderer. Cafora had been Jimmy Burke's cellmate during his time in prison, and was contracted by Burke to launder some of the money from the heist through his collection of legitimate lots. Cafora's indiscreet, gaudy lifestyle and insistence on informing his wife Joanna about gang business, including the heist, eventually led to Burke ordering both to be murdered. Within days of the heist and against Jimmy Burke's orders, Cafora bought his wife a custom pink Cadillac Fleetwood with his share of the heist and brazenly drove it to a gang meeting just blocks from the JFK Air Cargo Center where the FBI was still investigating, an incident that was reproduced in Goodfellas. His body was never found, though in the film, a few young kids playing in a parking lot find Cafora's and his wife's bodies in their car. |
| Joanna Cafora | 1979 March | Louis Cafora's wife, presumably murdered along with him. |
| Joe "Buddha" Manri | 1979 May 16 | Night-shift Air France cargo supervisor. A long time Burke gang associate, Manri's inside information helped plan the heist. Like fellow Air France/JFK Airport inside man Robert McMahon, Manri was repeatedly offered the opportunity to turn state's evidence and enter the Witness Protection Program, an offer which both refused. He was found dead in a parked car alongside McMahon five months after the heist, shot execution-style in the back of the head. |
| Robert McMahon | 1979 May 16 | Air France night shift supervisor at John F. Kennedy International Airport involved in the similar Air France Robbery (1967) with Jimmy Burke associate Henry Hill. Suspected of helping Joe Manri plan the Lufthansa heist. He was found dead in a parked car alongside Manri five months after the heist, shot execution-style in the back of the head. |
| LiCastri, PaoloPaolo LiCastri | 1979 June 13 | Illegal immigrant, Sicilian-born Pizza Connection drug trafficker, and Gambino crime family associate. Uninvolved in the actual heist, he was a liaison from the Gambino family whose job was to oversee the plans and ensure the Gambinos received their $200,000 cut. His naked and bullet-riddled corpse was discovered on a burning trash heap six months after the heist. |
Others involved in the planning, execution or followup of the heist were not killed in Burke's witness elimination program of 1978-79, but did suffer other violent ends.
| Victim(s) | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| DeSimone, Thomas "Tommy"Thomas "Tommy" DeSimone | 1978 Dec to 1979 Jan | Was involved in the similar Air France Robbery of 1967 with Jimmy Burke associate Henry Hill. A particularly close, loyal and trustworthy friend of Burke, not involved in the Lufthansa heist until Edwards' murder. Was murdered after the execution of Edwards and no later than January 14, 1979, for having carried out the unrelated murders of two made Gambino crime family members and Gotti associates: William 'Billy Batts' DeVino, and Ronald Jerothe - similar to the fate of the Joe Pesci character in Goodfellas. |
| Angelo Sepe | 1984 July 18 | Lucchese crime family member, a particularly close, loyal and trustworthy friend of DeSimone, Tony Rodriguez and Burke. Sepe was responsible for most of the murders for Burke's witness elimination program of 1978-79. Sepe and his girlfriend were murdered by unknown members of a Lucchese hit squad, reportedly a week after robbing a Lucchese-affiliated drug trafficker of thousands of dollars in cocaine and cash earmarked for the organization. |
| Joanna Lombardo | 1984 July 18 | Angelo Sepe's girlfriend. |
| Burke, Frank JamesFrank James Burke | 1987 May 18 | Son of Jimmy Burke and believed to be involved in the heist, was murdered by his drug dealer over a botched heroin deal. |
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