1 00:00:03,833 --> 00:00:06,667 - Tonight, the heist of the century. 2 00:00:06,667 --> 00:00:11,083 - [John] Over $5 million in cash and jewels disappears 3 00:00:11,083 --> 00:00:13,500 from one of the busiest airports in the country. 4 00:00:13,500 --> 00:00:15,583 - [Matthew] Within hours, it's international news. 5 00:00:15,583 --> 00:00:18,167 They're calling it the crime of the century. 6 00:00:18,167 --> 00:00:19,958 - [Laurence] Authorities have little to go on 7 00:00:19,958 --> 00:00:22,125 until the bodies start piling up. 8 00:00:22,125 --> 00:00:24,792 - [Lis] Every time police track down a suspect, 9 00:00:24,792 --> 00:00:28,250 that person ends up with a bullet in the back of his head. 10 00:00:28,250 --> 00:00:30,292 - [Scott] Over the next six months, you had 11 00:00:30,292 --> 00:00:31,583 eight bodies dropped. 12 00:00:31,750 --> 00:00:34,208 - [Laurence] Now, we'll explore the top theories 13 00:00:34,208 --> 00:00:38,333 as to who's responsible for the Lufthansa heist. 14 00:00:38,333 --> 00:00:39,958 - [Claire] The FBI gets a tip 15 00:00:39,958 --> 00:00:44,208 that someone deposited about $250,000 in a safe deposit box, 16 00:00:44,208 --> 00:00:46,625 but by the time that they're able to investigate, 17 00:00:46,625 --> 00:00:48,208 the money's gone. 18 00:00:48,208 --> 00:00:50,208 - [John] Before he could be brought in for questioning, 19 00:00:50,208 --> 00:00:52,708 his body is found riddled with bullets, 20 00:00:52,708 --> 00:00:54,917 one of them to the back of the head. 21 00:00:54,917 --> 00:00:58,500 - So who orchestrated the Lufthansa heist? 22 00:01:02,042 --> 00:01:04,750 [dramatic music] 23 00:01:13,250 --> 00:01:17,500 - [Laurence] Monday, December 11th, 1978. 24 00:01:17,500 --> 00:01:20,083 New York's John F. Kennedy Airport 25 00:01:20,083 --> 00:01:21,792 among America's busiest. 26 00:01:23,292 --> 00:01:27,417 Around 3:00am, A black van carrying eight masked men 27 00:01:27,417 --> 00:01:31,125 drives past the departure gates to the back of the airport. 28 00:01:32,458 --> 00:01:35,458 - [John] JFK is one of the country's biggest and 29 00:01:35,458 --> 00:01:40,083 busiest airports. But what the ordinary flyer would fail to 30 00:01:40,083 --> 00:01:42,000 notice is outside of the terminals, 31 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:45,042 there are a whole bunch of warehouses 32 00:01:45,042 --> 00:01:48,708 and those warehouses are used to store cargo 33 00:01:48,708 --> 00:01:51,625 that's bound for other destinations. 34 00:01:51,625 --> 00:01:56,417 If you've got electronics from Japan or wine from France, 35 00:01:56,417 --> 00:01:57,958 they're gonna be stored there 36 00:01:57,958 --> 00:02:00,792 until they can be shipped onward to their final destination. 37 00:02:02,250 --> 00:02:05,375 - [Claire] Lufthansa is essentially the unofficial 38 00:02:05,375 --> 00:02:06,958 airlines of European banks. 39 00:02:06,958 --> 00:02:10,708 They are bringing in American currency, European currency, 40 00:02:10,708 --> 00:02:12,125 security bonds, 41 00:02:12,125 --> 00:02:14,208 and on top of that luxury goods, 42 00:02:14,208 --> 00:02:17,250 furs, Swiss watches, fine jewelry, 43 00:02:17,250 --> 00:02:20,875 all of this stored at the Lufthansa warehouses. 44 00:02:20,875 --> 00:02:22,750 - [Mathew] This is the ramp up right before Christmas. 45 00:02:22,750 --> 00:02:24,917 So they're seeing an influx of merchandise, 46 00:02:24,917 --> 00:02:26,917 influx of cash, influx in jewels. 47 00:02:26,917 --> 00:02:28,542 So that high value room, 48 00:02:28,542 --> 00:02:30,000 which normally has a million, 49 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:33,292 now has $5 million at least in cash 50 00:02:33,292 --> 00:02:36,042 and about $800,000 in jewels. 51 00:02:36,042 --> 00:02:37,792 Today's value about $28 million 52 00:02:40,042 --> 00:02:41,583 - [Laurence] Later that morning, 53 00:02:41,583 --> 00:02:44,667 it's scheduled to be loaded onto armored Brinks trucks 54 00:02:44,667 --> 00:02:47,792 and delivered to points across Manhattan. 55 00:02:47,792 --> 00:02:52,458 Until then, everything remains under lock and key. 56 00:02:52,458 --> 00:02:55,208 - [Kavitha] The most valuable goods are kept on the third 57 00:02:55,208 --> 00:02:56,833 floor of building 261 58 00:02:56,833 --> 00:02:59,500 in a place called the high value room, 59 00:02:59,500 --> 00:03:02,042 which is always guarded by nighttime guards. 60 00:03:02,042 --> 00:03:05,542 Accessing the high value room is a pretty intricate process. 61 00:03:05,542 --> 00:03:09,667 There are two metal cages divided by a steel door. 62 00:03:11,500 --> 00:03:12,833 - [John] To get through the door, 63 00:03:12,833 --> 00:03:15,208 you first have to get through the first cage, 64 00:03:15,208 --> 00:03:16,833 that has to be closed 65 00:03:16,833 --> 00:03:18,708 and then locked using two keys 66 00:03:18,708 --> 00:03:21,375 that have to be turned simultaneously 67 00:03:21,375 --> 00:03:23,667 before you can even open the next door. 68 00:03:23,667 --> 00:03:27,417 And if this protocol is not strictly followed, 69 00:03:27,417 --> 00:03:30,667 if it is deviated from in even the slightest way, 70 00:03:30,667 --> 00:03:32,875 all sorts of alarms will start sounding 71 00:03:32,875 --> 00:03:36,500 and port authority police will be all over the place. 72 00:03:36,500 --> 00:03:39,375 - [Laurence] For decades, it's been an airtight system, 73 00:03:39,375 --> 00:03:42,208 no one has dared to try to breach it, 74 00:03:42,208 --> 00:03:45,792 but within the hour, all of that will change. 75 00:03:47,167 --> 00:03:50,500 - [Claire] The van drives up and six of the eight men get out. 76 00:03:50,500 --> 00:03:54,167 They cut off the padlock, run into the warehouse 77 00:03:54,167 --> 00:03:56,542 and they seem to have timed it perfectly 78 00:03:56,542 --> 00:04:00,333 because all of the employees are in the employee break room, 79 00:04:00,333 --> 00:04:01,875 all having a meal break. 80 00:04:01,875 --> 00:04:03,833 - [John] They hold all of them at gunpoint 81 00:04:03,833 --> 00:04:06,000 and handcuff them to one another, 82 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:07,500 and then they take their wallets 83 00:04:07,500 --> 00:04:09,000 and they're looking at their IDs 84 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:11,750 and they're checking it against a list of guards. 85 00:04:11,750 --> 00:04:15,042 So these guys know which guards are supposed to be there 86 00:04:15,042 --> 00:04:17,417 and they tell the guys while they're on the ground, 87 00:04:17,417 --> 00:04:20,292 "If you guys make any false moves, 88 00:04:20,292 --> 00:04:22,375 not only are we gonna shoot you, 89 00:04:22,375 --> 00:04:25,208 but then we're gonna go to the address on your ID 90 00:04:25,208 --> 00:04:27,542 and we're gonna kill your whole family." 91 00:04:27,542 --> 00:04:29,042 - [Laurence] Missing from the list, 92 00:04:29,042 --> 00:04:30,792 the nighttime supervisor 93 00:04:30,792 --> 00:04:33,625 with the keys to the high value room. 94 00:04:33,625 --> 00:04:36,208 He's still downstairs in his office. 95 00:04:36,208 --> 00:04:39,042 - [Kavitha] They can't actually just storm into his office 96 00:04:39,042 --> 00:04:41,333 because he's got a panic button under his desk 97 00:04:41,333 --> 00:04:43,708 and police would show up almost immediately. 98 00:04:43,708 --> 00:04:45,917 So they pull one of the guards off the floor 99 00:04:45,917 --> 00:04:47,208 with a gun to his head 100 00:04:47,208 --> 00:04:49,042 and they force him to call the supervisor 101 00:04:49,042 --> 00:04:53,208 and he tells him that Lufthansa is on the phone from Germany 102 00:04:53,208 --> 00:04:55,500 and they'll only talk to the person in charge. 103 00:04:55,500 --> 00:04:59,458 So the supervisor comes out to the floor with his keys. 104 00:05:01,208 --> 00:05:02,750 - [Laurence] Now all the thieves have to do 105 00:05:02,750 --> 00:05:05,542 is make sure that the manager turns both keys 106 00:05:05,542 --> 00:05:07,875 at exactly the same moment 107 00:05:07,875 --> 00:05:11,708 or the place will be swarming with cops. 108 00:05:11,708 --> 00:05:13,167 - [John] One of these armed guys says, 109 00:05:13,167 --> 00:05:15,417 "We know how this system works. 110 00:05:15,417 --> 00:05:17,833 If you have a single slip up, you're a dead man." 111 00:05:17,833 --> 00:05:20,875 So he follows the protocol exactly, 112 00:05:20,875 --> 00:05:25,250 gets through the main door, gets into the high value room. 113 00:05:25,250 --> 00:05:29,375 - [Claire] They see more to steal than they could have ever 114 00:05:29,375 --> 00:05:31,875 imagined, and they are ready to take it all. 115 00:05:31,875 --> 00:05:35,458 They start stuffing all of this cash, jewels, watches 116 00:05:35,458 --> 00:05:37,625 into 40 burlap bags 117 00:05:37,625 --> 00:05:41,792 and dragging them meticulously out to the van. 118 00:05:41,792 --> 00:05:43,875 And by 4:16, 119 00:05:43,875 --> 00:05:47,708 they've completely cleaned out the high value room. 120 00:05:49,292 --> 00:05:51,208 - [Laurence] It's the perfect heist. 121 00:05:51,208 --> 00:05:53,000 In just 75 minutes, 122 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:55,625 the thieves pulled off the largest cash robbery 123 00:05:55,625 --> 00:05:58,125 in US history at the time, 124 00:05:58,125 --> 00:06:00,708 28 million in today's dollars. 125 00:06:02,042 --> 00:06:03,708 - [Kavitha] Usually with cash, 126 00:06:03,708 --> 00:06:05,917 you're able to look at the serial numbers 127 00:06:05,917 --> 00:06:07,667 and track the currency, 128 00:06:07,667 --> 00:06:09,750 but in this case, because it's older currency 129 00:06:09,750 --> 00:06:12,167 and because it's coming from overseas, 130 00:06:12,167 --> 00:06:13,500 there's no way to actually do that. 131 00:06:13,500 --> 00:06:15,458 The serial numbers aren't listed anywhere, 132 00:06:15,458 --> 00:06:18,375 so this money is actually untraceable. 133 00:06:18,375 --> 00:06:19,708 - [Matthew] They dust for fingerprints, 134 00:06:19,708 --> 00:06:21,542 but no forensic evidence is left behind. 135 00:06:21,542 --> 00:06:23,875 Within hours, it's international news. 136 00:06:23,875 --> 00:06:26,417 They're calling it the crime of the century. 137 00:06:26,417 --> 00:06:29,417 These guys just pulled off the perfect crime. 138 00:06:29,417 --> 00:06:31,667 - [Laurence] One thing seems highly probable 139 00:06:31,667 --> 00:06:34,333 that this was an inside job. 140 00:06:35,542 --> 00:06:37,208 - [John] They knew too much. 141 00:06:37,208 --> 00:06:38,500 They knew, for example, 142 00:06:38,500 --> 00:06:41,250 exactly which guards were gonna be on duty. 143 00:06:41,250 --> 00:06:43,708 They knew what time exactly, 144 00:06:43,708 --> 00:06:46,458 3:00am they'd be going on their break. 145 00:06:46,458 --> 00:06:48,417 They knew the protocol 146 00:06:48,417 --> 00:06:50,583 that was required to get through those doors 147 00:06:50,583 --> 00:06:52,583 and into the high value room. 148 00:06:52,583 --> 00:06:55,208 So at least one of the robbers 149 00:06:55,208 --> 00:06:57,625 had to be someone on the inside. 150 00:06:57,625 --> 00:07:01,042 - [Kavitha] Two days after the heist, the FBI gets an anonymous 151 00:07:01,042 --> 00:07:05,333 tip that a low level Lufthansa cargo agent 152 00:07:05,333 --> 00:07:08,000 named Peter Gruenewald might be involved. 153 00:07:14,542 --> 00:07:18,292 - [Eric] Peter Gruenewald is approached by the FBI 154 00:07:18,292 --> 00:07:20,208 and at first, he really rebuffs them. 155 00:07:20,208 --> 00:07:23,042 I don't know anything, I don't wanna be part of this. 156 00:07:23,042 --> 00:07:25,667 But they're pretty sure that he knows something. 157 00:07:25,667 --> 00:07:27,833 - [John] After the FBI questions him, 158 00:07:27,833 --> 00:07:30,667 He does something that makes him even more of a suspect. 159 00:07:31,917 --> 00:07:36,083 He uses his employee discount to buy airline tickets 160 00:07:36,083 --> 00:07:38,375 to five different locations. 161 00:07:38,375 --> 00:07:41,208 The Philippines, Tokyo, Hong Kong, 162 00:07:41,208 --> 00:07:43,542 Taiwan, and Bogota, Columbia. 163 00:07:44,542 --> 00:07:46,708 Obviously, he's buying multiple tickets 164 00:07:46,708 --> 00:07:49,208 because he doesn't want anyone who's on his tail 165 00:07:49,208 --> 00:07:50,875 to find him. 166 00:07:50,875 --> 00:07:53,083 However, all of these flights are leaving from JFK. 167 00:07:54,792 --> 00:07:56,208 - [Laurence] Gruenewald ultimately chooses 168 00:07:56,208 --> 00:07:57,792 the Bogota flight 169 00:07:57,792 --> 00:08:00,792 where agents are waiting for him at the departure gate. 170 00:08:01,875 --> 00:08:05,000 - [Claire] Peter Gruenewald folds entirely under pressure 171 00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:07,542 and what he says is, 172 00:08:07,542 --> 00:08:11,583 yes, technically I did organize this heist, 173 00:08:11,583 --> 00:08:14,667 but I did not know it was gonna happen, 174 00:08:14,667 --> 00:08:18,167 someone stole my plan. 175 00:08:18,167 --> 00:08:19,667 - [Eric] Peter Gruenewald is driving to work 176 00:08:19,667 --> 00:08:23,042 on the morning of Monday, December 11th, 1978 177 00:08:23,042 --> 00:08:25,333 when he hears that there's been this big heist 178 00:08:25,333 --> 00:08:27,667 at the Lufthansa cargo terminal 179 00:08:27,667 --> 00:08:30,375 and it sounds like exactly his idea 180 00:08:30,375 --> 00:08:33,125 and he thinks, Louis did it. 181 00:08:34,542 --> 00:08:35,833 - [Laurence] Louis Werner 182 00:08:35,833 --> 00:08:38,708 who had been with Lufthansa since 1968 183 00:08:38,708 --> 00:08:41,125 works as a cargo supervisor for the airline. 184 00:08:42,708 --> 00:08:44,708 - [Kavitha] He immediately went and confronted Louis Werner 185 00:08:44,708 --> 00:08:47,042 and accused him of stealing his plans 186 00:08:47,042 --> 00:08:49,042 and carrying the heist out without him. 187 00:08:49,042 --> 00:08:53,667 So he demands $300,000 from Werner to keep quiet. 188 00:08:53,667 --> 00:08:55,958 Werner, however, only gives him $10,000 189 00:08:55,958 --> 00:08:58,000 and basically tells him to keep that 190 00:08:58,000 --> 00:08:59,583 and that he would throw him more money 191 00:08:59,583 --> 00:09:01,250 once things cool down. 192 00:09:02,750 --> 00:09:04,083 - [Laurence] Using the information 193 00:09:04,083 --> 00:09:06,167 provided by Gruenewald, 194 00:09:06,167 --> 00:09:07,792 police quickly turned their attention 195 00:09:07,792 --> 00:09:10,167 to his would-be accomplice, Louis Werner. 196 00:09:11,375 --> 00:09:13,917 - [John] His job is to sign 197 00:09:13,917 --> 00:09:17,125 for the money that's been brought in by Lufthansa 198 00:09:17,125 --> 00:09:20,792 before it's taken away and placed in a secure bank. 199 00:09:20,792 --> 00:09:23,708 But on Friday, December 8th 200 00:09:23,708 --> 00:09:25,583 when this big shipment was there, 201 00:09:25,583 --> 00:09:27,125 he conveniently arranged 202 00:09:27,125 --> 00:09:30,375 to be away from his post for a full 90 minutes. 203 00:09:30,375 --> 00:09:32,583 So when the Brinks truck gets there, 204 00:09:32,583 --> 00:09:34,792 there's no one to sign for the money. 205 00:09:34,792 --> 00:09:38,000 That means it's going to be in the high value room 206 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:38,958 all weekend. 207 00:09:39,958 --> 00:09:41,917 - [Claire] The FBI starts trailing Werner 208 00:09:41,917 --> 00:09:44,708 and it confirms all of their suspicions. 209 00:09:44,708 --> 00:09:47,125 He's paid off all of his gambling debts 210 00:09:47,125 --> 00:09:49,333 and on top of that, he's bragging to everyone he can. 211 00:09:49,333 --> 00:09:52,292 He's bragging to his girlfriend and his estranged wife. 212 00:09:52,292 --> 00:09:55,625 He's telling everyone that he's involved in the heist. 213 00:09:56,708 --> 00:09:59,417 - [Matthew] So Werner not a seasoned criminal, 214 00:09:59,417 --> 00:10:01,042 makes a lot of mistakes. 215 00:10:01,042 --> 00:10:03,083 First thing he does, he spends a lot of money. 216 00:10:03,083 --> 00:10:05,542 He buys a brand new van, takes his girlfriend 217 00:10:05,542 --> 00:10:07,708 and her kids on a luxurious vacation. 218 00:10:07,708 --> 00:10:10,125 How do you get this money working a job 219 00:10:10,125 --> 00:10:12,125 where you're only getting paid 20 grand a year? 220 00:10:12,125 --> 00:10:14,333 He is the prime suspect at this point. 221 00:10:14,333 --> 00:10:16,750 So they grab him coming out of a bowling alley 222 00:10:16,750 --> 00:10:17,833 with his girlfriend. 223 00:10:18,833 --> 00:10:19,917 - [Laurence] The fed's pressure Werner 224 00:10:19,917 --> 00:10:21,625 to give up his accomplices, 225 00:10:21,625 --> 00:10:24,667 but he refuses to name names. 226 00:10:24,667 --> 00:10:28,333 A trial date is set for May 4th, 1979. 227 00:10:29,417 --> 00:10:31,542 - [Kavitha] With the help of Gruenewald's testimony, 228 00:10:31,542 --> 00:10:35,875 Werner is found guilty and sentenced to 15 years in prison. 229 00:10:35,875 --> 00:10:38,167 So basically within six months of the heist, 230 00:10:38,167 --> 00:10:40,208 authorities have their first conviction 231 00:10:40,208 --> 00:10:42,583 and the conviction of the potential architect 232 00:10:42,583 --> 00:10:43,750 of the whole plot. 233 00:10:45,333 --> 00:10:47,833 - [Laurence] But if Werner was one of the original planners 234 00:10:47,833 --> 00:10:49,750 and the key man inside, 235 00:10:49,750 --> 00:10:52,917 it doesn't explain what happens to the $5 million 236 00:10:52,917 --> 00:10:54,292 after he goes to jail. 237 00:10:55,458 --> 00:10:57,708 - [John] Werner says he never spoke 238 00:10:57,708 --> 00:11:00,333 with any of the other participants face to face. 239 00:11:00,333 --> 00:11:03,542 He simply got phone calls instructing him what to do 240 00:11:03,542 --> 00:11:05,208 and then, of course, he made phone calls 241 00:11:05,208 --> 00:11:06,958 passing information along 242 00:11:06,958 --> 00:11:08,708 and he didn't know any names. 243 00:11:08,708 --> 00:11:11,708 Even though he's the one who had the plan, 244 00:11:11,708 --> 00:11:14,208 he was not the one who was behind it. 245 00:11:14,208 --> 00:11:17,167 And in fact, that money was with whoever did. 246 00:11:23,833 --> 00:11:25,125 - [Laurence] In the months after the Lufthansa heist, 247 00:11:25,125 --> 00:11:27,583 feds that only someone in the New York mafia 248 00:11:27,583 --> 00:11:29,167 would be brazen enough 249 00:11:29,167 --> 00:11:31,417 to pull off a robbery of this magnitude. 250 00:11:32,958 --> 00:11:34,667 - [Ana] New York City in the '70s 251 00:11:34,667 --> 00:11:36,958 is pretty much run by the mob. 252 00:11:36,958 --> 00:11:38,667 There are five families 253 00:11:38,667 --> 00:11:40,875 and they each have their own district. 254 00:11:40,875 --> 00:11:44,667 JFK is controlled by the Lucchese family, 255 00:11:44,667 --> 00:11:47,208 but right around JFK and Queens, 256 00:11:47,208 --> 00:11:50,250 other mob families control that area. 257 00:11:50,250 --> 00:11:55,083 So there's a little bit of cooperation among the families. 258 00:11:55,083 --> 00:11:57,667 - [John] For much of the Lucchese family's existence, 259 00:11:57,667 --> 00:12:02,833 it was known as the least high profile of the five families. 260 00:12:04,042 --> 00:12:07,500 However, in the mid 1970s, a new Don took over 261 00:12:07,500 --> 00:12:09,125 and he was determined 262 00:12:09,125 --> 00:12:11,708 to make the Lucchese family more powerful 263 00:12:11,708 --> 00:12:13,042 and he did that by stealing 264 00:12:13,042 --> 00:12:15,375 just about anything he could get his hands on. 265 00:12:17,083 --> 00:12:19,375 - [Laurence] One of the Lucchese family's favorite hangouts 266 00:12:19,375 --> 00:12:20,708 is Robert's lounge. 267 00:12:21,875 --> 00:12:23,292 It's a run-of-the-mill bar 268 00:12:23,292 --> 00:12:25,750 in the working class Ozone Park neighborhood, 269 00:12:25,750 --> 00:12:28,083 a few miles from JFK airport. 270 00:12:30,167 --> 00:12:32,542 - Authorities start to track members of the Lucchese family 271 00:12:32,542 --> 00:12:34,875 and the activities around the lounge 272 00:12:34,875 --> 00:12:37,958 and they start to notice that one of the mafia members 273 00:12:37,958 --> 00:12:40,667 has been spending a lot of money recently 274 00:12:40,667 --> 00:12:43,583 as if he has suddenly come into some cash. 275 00:12:43,583 --> 00:12:45,875 His name is Angelo Sepe. 276 00:12:45,875 --> 00:12:48,125 He buys his girlfriend a brand new Cadillac 277 00:12:48,125 --> 00:12:51,083 and he drops $9,000 in cash 278 00:12:51,083 --> 00:12:54,417 on a brand new 1979 Ford Thunderbird. 279 00:13:00,125 --> 00:13:02,500 - [Lis] Authorities know Angelo Sepe 280 00:13:02,500 --> 00:13:05,292 as being affiliated with the Lucchese family 281 00:13:05,292 --> 00:13:08,875 as being sort of a muscle man for the Lucchese family. 282 00:13:08,875 --> 00:13:12,792 And here's this guy with his new T-Bird. 283 00:13:12,792 --> 00:13:16,667 So what they do is they put a bug in the T-Bird 284 00:13:16,667 --> 00:13:18,833 and they think they have great stuff 285 00:13:18,833 --> 00:13:21,833 because Angelo Sepe is talking about the heist 286 00:13:21,833 --> 00:13:23,042 in the T-Bird. 287 00:13:24,375 --> 00:13:26,375 - [John] They think they're onto something big. 288 00:13:26,375 --> 00:13:29,125 Okay, this is the big break in the case. 289 00:13:29,125 --> 00:13:33,042 Unfortunately, when they play the tape back later, 290 00:13:33,042 --> 00:13:35,375 the voices are muffled. 291 00:13:35,375 --> 00:13:38,208 Only bits and pieces can be picked up. 292 00:13:38,208 --> 00:13:41,833 - Angelo Sepe, as a way to combat the possibility 293 00:13:41,833 --> 00:13:43,708 that his car was bugged 294 00:13:43,708 --> 00:13:46,000 would turn up the radio when he'd have these conversations, 295 00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:48,792 which would jumble their surveillance. 296 00:13:48,792 --> 00:13:50,250 The people that were listening 297 00:13:50,250 --> 00:13:51,792 would have a difficult time deciphering 298 00:13:51,792 --> 00:13:54,458 between whether the participants 299 00:13:54,458 --> 00:13:55,875 in the conspiracy were talking 300 00:13:55,875 --> 00:13:57,375 or was it a disc jockey talking 301 00:13:57,375 --> 00:14:00,083 or was it a song that was playing on the radio. 302 00:14:02,250 --> 00:14:05,083 - [Laurence] Police know Sepe as an enforcer, 303 00:14:05,083 --> 00:14:08,917 mob muscle who collects debts and carries out hits. 304 00:14:08,917 --> 00:14:10,708 Lately there have been several murders 305 00:14:10,708 --> 00:14:13,417 of potential Lufthansa suspects, 306 00:14:13,417 --> 00:14:16,625 all frequent visitors to Robert's lounge. 307 00:14:16,625 --> 00:14:19,042 One is Stacks Edwards, 308 00:14:19,042 --> 00:14:22,417 who is known to have ties to the Lucchese family 309 00:14:22,417 --> 00:14:25,667 - [Ana] Stacks Edwards has one job in this heist 310 00:14:25,667 --> 00:14:28,833 and that is to make the black van 311 00:14:28,833 --> 00:14:31,583 used in the heist disappear. 312 00:14:31,583 --> 00:14:33,875 But rather than do as instructed, 313 00:14:33,875 --> 00:14:35,917 he parks it illegally. 314 00:14:35,917 --> 00:14:37,917 He partied all night with his girlfriend 315 00:14:37,917 --> 00:14:40,042 and he passed out. 316 00:14:40,042 --> 00:14:42,375 Forgot about the van. 317 00:14:42,375 --> 00:14:45,292 - [Lis] Meanwhile, the cops all over New York, 318 00:14:45,292 --> 00:14:46,917 I mean, this is the biggest thing going. 319 00:14:46,917 --> 00:14:48,375 They're looking for that van. 320 00:14:48,375 --> 00:14:51,917 And they find it right in front of a fire hydrant. 321 00:14:51,917 --> 00:14:54,083 They dust it for prints 322 00:14:54,083 --> 00:14:57,875 and lo and behold, they find Stack's prints on it. 323 00:14:57,875 --> 00:15:00,625 Immediately, he's on the watch list. 324 00:15:00,625 --> 00:15:03,042 And the FBI, law enforcement, 325 00:15:03,042 --> 00:15:05,875 everybody wants to speak to this guy 326 00:15:07,167 --> 00:15:09,083 - [John] Before he could be brought in for questioning, 327 00:15:09,083 --> 00:15:11,750 his body is found riddled with bullets. 328 00:15:11,750 --> 00:15:14,792 Five of them total, one of them to the back of the head, 329 00:15:14,792 --> 00:15:19,917 which is the calling card of a mob hit execution style. 330 00:15:20,417 --> 00:15:23,458 Within the week, two more Lucchese associates 331 00:15:23,458 --> 00:15:25,083 turn up dead. 332 00:15:25,083 --> 00:15:27,375 One of them is a bookmaker. 333 00:15:27,375 --> 00:15:30,333 His body is found in a Brooklyn garbage dump. 334 00:15:30,333 --> 00:15:33,667 Another Lucchese associate who's called the stick up man 335 00:15:33,667 --> 00:15:36,333 is found in his car slumped over the steering wheel, 336 00:15:36,333 --> 00:15:38,042 a bullet in the back of his head. 337 00:15:39,417 --> 00:15:42,208 - [Kavitha] It seems that whoever's carrying out these 338 00:15:42,208 --> 00:15:45,750 executions is going after potential Lufthansa perpetrators 339 00:15:45,750 --> 00:15:48,125 before authorities can question them. 340 00:15:48,125 --> 00:15:50,125 And if there's one suspect in all of these, 341 00:15:50,125 --> 00:15:51,458 it's Angelo Sepe. 342 00:15:54,167 --> 00:15:55,458 - [Laurence] Authorities are convinced 343 00:15:55,458 --> 00:15:59,292 that Sepe is somehow connected to all three murders. 344 00:15:59,292 --> 00:16:01,708 It's possible he's killing off fellow mobsters 345 00:16:01,708 --> 00:16:03,208 either to shut them up 346 00:16:03,208 --> 00:16:05,625 or to prevent them from claiming their share 347 00:16:05,625 --> 00:16:07,833 of the Lufthansa loot. 348 00:16:07,833 --> 00:16:11,208 - [Lis] Lucky for law enforcement, they can bring Sepe 349 00:16:11,208 --> 00:16:13,875 in for an unrelated drug charge. 350 00:16:13,875 --> 00:16:15,250 Now, when they bring him in, 351 00:16:15,250 --> 00:16:16,875 they ask him about the heist, 352 00:16:16,875 --> 00:16:18,417 he says nothing, I know nothing. 353 00:16:18,417 --> 00:16:20,875 It gives them time to go search his house. 354 00:16:20,875 --> 00:16:22,542 They find nothing. 355 00:16:22,542 --> 00:16:24,417 They know he's involved, 356 00:16:24,417 --> 00:16:26,542 but they just don't have enough. 357 00:16:26,542 --> 00:16:29,458 So he goes away for some time on a parole violation 358 00:16:29,458 --> 00:16:32,292 and they figure once he gets out from that, 359 00:16:32,292 --> 00:16:35,667 they will follow him until he screws up, makes an error. 360 00:16:37,708 --> 00:16:40,625 - [John] After 10 months in jail, Sepe goes free 361 00:16:40,625 --> 00:16:43,458 and the FBI start tailing him again. 362 00:16:43,458 --> 00:16:46,208 Then comes a twist in the investigation. 363 00:16:46,208 --> 00:16:50,125 Angelo Sepe, mob enforcer turns up dead. 364 00:16:50,125 --> 00:16:51,458 They find his body 365 00:16:51,458 --> 00:16:52,875 in the basement of his apartment building, 366 00:16:52,875 --> 00:16:54,667 three bullets in his head 367 00:16:54,667 --> 00:16:59,292 and his 19-year-old girlfriend dead, one shot to the mouth. 368 00:16:59,292 --> 00:17:02,958 Well now, it turns out Sepe himself is a victim. 369 00:17:02,958 --> 00:17:05,958 That means he isn't the guy behind the heist, 370 00:17:05,958 --> 00:17:08,208 he's working for someone else. 371 00:17:08,208 --> 00:17:11,708 And whoever that is, wants him to be silenced as well. 372 00:17:18,042 --> 00:17:20,167 - [Laurence] Though no one died during the Lufthansa heist, 373 00:17:20,167 --> 00:17:23,500 a trail of bodies has turned up in its wake. 374 00:17:23,500 --> 00:17:26,458 The FBI is now taking a long hard look 375 00:17:26,458 --> 00:17:28,875 at one man in the Lucchese family 376 00:17:28,875 --> 00:17:32,292 cold enough to murder his fellow conspirators. 377 00:17:33,417 --> 00:17:34,792 - [Kavitha] If there's any mobster 378 00:17:34,792 --> 00:17:36,750 who wouldn't think twice about shooting a friend 379 00:17:36,750 --> 00:17:39,708 in the back of the head, it's Jimmy the Gent. 380 00:17:39,708 --> 00:17:41,708 Most people probably know Jimmy the Gent 381 00:17:41,708 --> 00:17:44,042 from the character that Robert De Niro played 382 00:17:44,042 --> 00:17:45,833 in "Goodfellas." 383 00:17:45,833 --> 00:17:49,875 - In 1962, Jimmy Burke is set to marry his fiance 384 00:17:49,875 --> 00:17:51,667 and a few weeks before the wedding, 385 00:17:51,667 --> 00:17:55,042 he realizes that she's being stalked by an ex. 386 00:17:55,042 --> 00:17:57,375 The day of their wedding, 387 00:17:57,375 --> 00:18:00,208 that ex is found killed 388 00:18:00,208 --> 00:18:03,583 with his remains strewn about his car. 389 00:18:03,583 --> 00:18:06,333 - [Kavitha] Burke is never actually charged with the crime, 390 00:18:06,333 --> 00:18:11,000 but his reputation for bloody vengeance starts to spread. 391 00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:13,375 He gets a new job in the Lucchese family. 392 00:18:13,375 --> 00:18:16,542 They put him to work hijacking cargo trucks 393 00:18:16,542 --> 00:18:18,667 and he earns the nickname Jimmy the Gent 394 00:18:18,667 --> 00:18:21,875 because he said to politely offer $50 395 00:18:21,875 --> 00:18:23,500 to the drivers of these trucks 396 00:18:23,500 --> 00:18:25,375 in exchange for their contents. 397 00:18:27,375 --> 00:18:30,667 - [Laurence] By 1978, Burke has grown wealthy 398 00:18:30,667 --> 00:18:33,333 so much so that he buys Robert's Lounge, 399 00:18:33,333 --> 00:18:35,708 making it an official hangout for him 400 00:18:35,708 --> 00:18:37,250 and his fellow thieves. 401 00:18:38,500 --> 00:18:41,042 - [Claire] Because of Burke's role in Truck hijackings, 402 00:18:41,042 --> 00:18:42,708 his connection with the Lucchese family 403 00:18:42,708 --> 00:18:45,458 and his connection with the JFK rackets, 404 00:18:45,458 --> 00:18:47,667 law enforcement are pretty sure 405 00:18:47,667 --> 00:18:49,542 that he has his hands 406 00:18:49,542 --> 00:18:52,417 in some way connected to the Lufthansa heist. 407 00:18:52,417 --> 00:18:57,250 They just have to figure out how to prove this. 408 00:19:01,208 --> 00:19:02,500 - [John] In order to get Jimmy, 409 00:19:02,500 --> 00:19:05,125 they start arresting anyone they can 410 00:19:05,125 --> 00:19:07,542 who spends time in Robert's Lounge. 411 00:19:07,542 --> 00:19:10,333 These are people with parole violation, 412 00:19:10,333 --> 00:19:11,958 minor criminal records, 413 00:19:11,958 --> 00:19:15,667 and they offer pardons in exchange for information 414 00:19:15,667 --> 00:19:18,208 that might lead to the arrest of Jimmy. 415 00:19:18,208 --> 00:19:19,583 One low level bookie 416 00:19:19,583 --> 00:19:23,125 confesses that he is in Robert's Lounge 417 00:19:23,125 --> 00:19:25,375 the night after the heist 418 00:19:25,375 --> 00:19:28,208 and that Jimmy comes in, waving a bunch of cash around, 419 00:19:28,208 --> 00:19:30,917 saying, "Let's have a drink on Lufthansa." 420 00:19:32,250 --> 00:19:34,750 - [Kavitha] Jimmy is well aware that the cops are following him. 421 00:19:34,750 --> 00:19:37,750 There's one time where there's an undercover cop at the bar 422 00:19:37,750 --> 00:19:39,958 and Jimmy orders himself a round of drinks 423 00:19:39,958 --> 00:19:42,417 and a glass of milk for the cop. 424 00:19:42,417 --> 00:19:45,417 There's another time when they had bugged his car 425 00:19:45,417 --> 00:19:48,250 and he found it and shot it three times. 426 00:19:49,542 --> 00:19:53,542 - [Claire] He is so convinced that he's invincible, 427 00:19:53,542 --> 00:19:56,500 that he's really toying with law enforcement. 428 00:19:56,500 --> 00:19:58,917 He knows that there are people surveilling his house. 429 00:19:58,917 --> 00:20:00,583 So he gets up in the middle of the night 430 00:20:00,583 --> 00:20:02,375 and he will go on these little joy rides 431 00:20:02,375 --> 00:20:03,625 and he knows that these guys 432 00:20:03,625 --> 00:20:05,417 have to follow him wherever he goes. 433 00:20:05,417 --> 00:20:06,917 He just drives around the neighborhood 434 00:20:06,917 --> 00:20:08,542 and when he comes back, 435 00:20:08,542 --> 00:20:11,667 he waves and laughs and just heads back in and goes to bed. 436 00:20:13,125 --> 00:20:15,208 - [Laurence] Burke's cockiness may come from the fact that 437 00:20:15,208 --> 00:20:17,708 he appears to have an airtight alibi 438 00:20:17,708 --> 00:20:21,750 for the early hours of December 11th, 1978. 439 00:20:23,042 --> 00:20:26,125 - [John] He's arrested in Georgia for possession of 440 00:20:26,125 --> 00:20:29,375 cocaine and he's sentenced to three months in a rehab program. 441 00:20:29,375 --> 00:20:31,083 He does those three months 442 00:20:31,083 --> 00:20:33,042 in the community treatment program 443 00:20:33,042 --> 00:20:35,417 in Times Square in Manhattan. 444 00:20:35,417 --> 00:20:37,833 And he's supposed to be there all the time 445 00:20:37,833 --> 00:20:40,958 and he's checked on on regular intervals. 446 00:20:40,958 --> 00:20:43,375 That's where he is on the night of the heist. 447 00:20:43,375 --> 00:20:45,750 So how could he possibly be involved in it? 448 00:20:47,292 --> 00:20:48,917 - [Laurence] And every time authorities 449 00:20:48,917 --> 00:20:51,625 find a potential new witness to finger Burke, 450 00:20:52,417 --> 00:20:54,000 they end up dead. 451 00:20:55,125 --> 00:20:56,875 - [Kavitha] By the summer of 1979, 452 00:20:56,875 --> 00:20:59,042 nine more suspected people 453 00:20:59,042 --> 00:21:02,583 connected with the Lufthansa heist have been found dead. 454 00:21:02,583 --> 00:21:05,250 Authorities still find no clues left behind 455 00:21:05,250 --> 00:21:06,625 at these murder scenes, 456 00:21:06,625 --> 00:21:09,167 but because associates of the Lucchese family 457 00:21:09,167 --> 00:21:11,042 and of Burke's keep turning up dead, 458 00:21:11,042 --> 00:21:13,750 they think that maybe he's becoming paranoid 459 00:21:13,750 --> 00:21:16,250 and is continuing to cover his tracks. 460 00:21:17,292 --> 00:21:20,208 - [Laurence] Then in May, 1980, 461 00:21:20,208 --> 00:21:23,625 the Lufthansa case takes a dramatic turn. 462 00:21:23,625 --> 00:21:26,500 Longtime Burke associate Henry Hill 463 00:21:26,500 --> 00:21:29,625 is arrested on serious drug charges. 464 00:21:29,625 --> 00:21:33,375 Under interrogation, he offers to make a deal. 465 00:21:33,375 --> 00:21:35,625 - [John] According to Henry Hill, 466 00:21:35,625 --> 00:21:39,042 Burke is the guy who planned the heist, executed it 467 00:21:39,042 --> 00:21:40,458 and now has been bumping off 468 00:21:40,458 --> 00:21:42,917 anybody who might be associated with it. 469 00:21:42,917 --> 00:21:45,708 Hill is afraid that he is on Burke's hit list 470 00:21:45,708 --> 00:21:47,625 and that he's going to be next. 471 00:21:47,625 --> 00:21:51,542 So better that Burke get put away than he ends up dead. 472 00:21:51,542 --> 00:21:53,542 Burke isn't just knocking people off 473 00:21:53,542 --> 00:21:55,958 because he doesn't want them testifying against him, 474 00:21:55,958 --> 00:21:58,625 he's doing it because everyone who is killed, 475 00:21:58,625 --> 00:22:00,833 that's one less person to share the loot. 476 00:22:03,042 --> 00:22:06,542 - [Claire] Hill alleges that Burke snuck out of the treatment 477 00:22:06,542 --> 00:22:08,333 center in between the bed checks 478 00:22:08,333 --> 00:22:09,958 and on the night of the heist, 479 00:22:09,958 --> 00:22:12,708 he is in fact one of the six men there. 480 00:22:13,833 --> 00:22:15,042 - [Laurence] Hill's testimony syncs up 481 00:22:15,042 --> 00:22:18,208 with everything else the Feds have discovered. 482 00:22:18,208 --> 00:22:20,583 The trouble is, it's still not enough 483 00:22:20,583 --> 00:22:22,958 to pin the heist on Burke. 484 00:22:22,958 --> 00:22:25,208 - [John] Law enforcement can't find anyone 485 00:22:25,208 --> 00:22:27,375 to corroborate Hill's claims 486 00:22:27,375 --> 00:22:29,583 and added to that, Hill's doing this 487 00:22:29,583 --> 00:22:33,208 in exchange for a reduced sentence and federal protection. 488 00:22:33,208 --> 00:22:35,375 So this calls into question 489 00:22:35,375 --> 00:22:37,750 the sincerity of everything he says. 490 00:22:38,833 --> 00:22:40,667 - [Laurence] Still authorities are certain 491 00:22:40,667 --> 00:22:42,708 they have their man in Burke. 492 00:22:42,708 --> 00:22:47,042 They just need to find another way to bring him to justice. 493 00:22:47,042 --> 00:22:48,875 - [Kavitha] Authorities Start questioning Henry Hill 494 00:22:48,875 --> 00:22:51,375 about his own alibi for that night 495 00:22:51,375 --> 00:22:52,708 and he says he can't possibly 496 00:22:52,708 --> 00:22:53,917 have been involved in the heist 497 00:22:53,917 --> 00:22:56,292 because he was off at Boston College, 498 00:22:56,292 --> 00:22:58,250 conducting a point shaving scheme 499 00:22:58,250 --> 00:23:00,958 under the orders of Burke. 500 00:23:00,958 --> 00:23:03,208 As part of the scheme, Burke and Hill would pay players 501 00:23:03,208 --> 00:23:07,375 to throw certain plays or score a certain number of points 502 00:23:07,375 --> 00:23:11,333 in order to get within a certain scoring range. 503 00:23:11,333 --> 00:23:12,458 That allows gamblers to then 504 00:23:12,458 --> 00:23:14,708 place high value bets on these games 505 00:23:14,708 --> 00:23:17,000 and reap huge monetary benefits. 506 00:23:18,500 --> 00:23:21,708 - [Ana] In 1982, Jimmy Burke is convicted 507 00:23:21,708 --> 00:23:24,125 of racketeering and sports betting 508 00:23:24,125 --> 00:23:26,083 and he's sent away for 12 years. 509 00:23:26,083 --> 00:23:31,125 But 12 years isn't enough time for Henry Hill to feel safe, 510 00:23:31,125 --> 00:23:32,792 so he provides the authorities 511 00:23:32,792 --> 00:23:35,000 with more information on another crime 512 00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:38,208 to try and keep Jimmy Burke behind bars. 513 00:23:38,208 --> 00:23:41,542 'Cause the minute Jimmy gets out, Henry's a dead man. 514 00:23:43,958 --> 00:23:45,792 - [Claire] Burke is sent to prison, but not for the 515 00:23:45,792 --> 00:23:49,500 Lufthansa heist. It's a classic mob history story. 516 00:23:49,500 --> 00:23:52,083 You've got someone, you can't pin a crime on them, 517 00:23:52,083 --> 00:23:53,250 but you can pin other things. 518 00:23:53,250 --> 00:23:54,792 The problem is, 519 00:23:54,792 --> 00:23:57,750 still means that the original crime is unsolved. 520 00:23:57,750 --> 00:24:01,542 - [John] If all we have to go on is Henry Hill's testimony, 521 00:24:01,542 --> 00:24:04,667 it seems like the Lufthansa case is closed. 522 00:24:04,667 --> 00:24:07,375 But there's one nagging concern about this, 523 00:24:07,375 --> 00:24:10,667 Burke is not a mob heavyweight. 524 00:24:10,667 --> 00:24:13,583 Even if Burke is the one who plans the robbery 525 00:24:13,583 --> 00:24:15,458 and executes the robbery, 526 00:24:15,458 --> 00:24:16,917 he's gotta get the blessing 527 00:24:16,917 --> 00:24:19,542 of somebody higher up in the organization 528 00:24:19,542 --> 00:24:21,292 and whoever that is 529 00:24:21,292 --> 00:24:22,875 might be the one who's made off 530 00:24:22,875 --> 00:24:24,583 with the missing millions of dollars. 531 00:24:28,792 --> 00:24:29,792 - [Laurence] The Lucchese crime family 532 00:24:29,792 --> 00:24:31,375 rules over the borough of Queens 533 00:24:31,375 --> 00:24:33,542 and nothing happens on their turf 534 00:24:33,542 --> 00:24:36,292 unless it's sanctioned from the top. 535 00:24:36,292 --> 00:24:40,000 So after the Lufthansa heist in 1978, 536 00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:43,042 feds are convinced that while low-level mobsters 537 00:24:43,042 --> 00:24:45,875 might have carried out the actual robbery, 538 00:24:45,875 --> 00:24:48,542 the $5 million payload travels 539 00:24:48,542 --> 00:24:51,083 much further up the food chain. 540 00:24:51,083 --> 00:24:52,542 To get it back, 541 00:24:52,542 --> 00:24:55,708 they'll need to bring down the Godfather himself. 542 00:24:55,708 --> 00:24:58,958 - [Matthew] Crime families operate and are successful for 543 00:24:58,958 --> 00:25:01,250 so long because you have this separation. 544 00:25:01,250 --> 00:25:04,375 The guy that's ordering these crimes to be committed 545 00:25:04,375 --> 00:25:05,750 is so far separated 546 00:25:05,750 --> 00:25:07,542 from the people that actually committing crimes 547 00:25:07,542 --> 00:25:09,875 that when the FBI and the local police 548 00:25:09,875 --> 00:25:11,375 are making these arrests, 549 00:25:11,375 --> 00:25:13,458 they can only get this bottom level, 550 00:25:13,458 --> 00:25:17,375 but the people above them that are pulling the strings, 551 00:25:17,375 --> 00:25:19,042 they never go to jail. 552 00:25:19,042 --> 00:25:21,125 - [Kavitha] This time the feds have a secret weapon. 553 00:25:21,125 --> 00:25:23,750 They have Henry Hill who's turned informant 554 00:25:23,750 --> 00:25:25,917 and is in the witness protection program. 555 00:25:25,917 --> 00:25:28,417 And he's worked for the Lucchese family for decades. 556 00:25:28,417 --> 00:25:31,542 According to Hill, the Lucchese family have their hands in 557 00:25:31,542 --> 00:25:33,875 all kinds of industries across New York, 558 00:25:33,875 --> 00:25:36,792 trucking, construction, the garment industry, 559 00:25:36,792 --> 00:25:40,167 and they make a lot of money shipping stolen goods 560 00:25:40,167 --> 00:25:44,292 and shaking down transportation and union organizations. 561 00:25:44,292 --> 00:25:45,875 - The Lucchese family used to be 562 00:25:45,875 --> 00:25:47,625 one of the smaller families, 563 00:25:47,625 --> 00:25:49,208 but now under this Don, 564 00:25:49,208 --> 00:25:53,375 with the increased amount of smuggling and stealing, 565 00:25:53,375 --> 00:25:57,792 not just from JFK, but also from LaGuardia and Newark, 566 00:25:57,792 --> 00:25:59,750 they've become one of the strongest 567 00:25:59,750 --> 00:26:02,667 and most powerful families in the mob. 568 00:26:07,875 --> 00:26:11,708 - [John] The head of the Lucchese family is Don Antonio 569 00:26:11,708 --> 00:26:13,708 Corallo, better known as Tony Ducks. 570 00:26:13,708 --> 00:26:16,708 He's been in charge of the family since 1974 571 00:26:16,708 --> 00:26:18,208 and he gets his nickname 572 00:26:18,208 --> 00:26:22,208 because of his uncanny ability to duck law enforcement. 573 00:26:22,208 --> 00:26:24,208 Part of what makes him so hard to arrest 574 00:26:24,208 --> 00:26:27,208 is he's got 500 foot soldiers under his command. 575 00:26:27,208 --> 00:26:30,333 He also rarely leaves his mansion in Queens 576 00:26:30,333 --> 00:26:33,500 where he's surrounded by a two story brick wall, 577 00:26:33,500 --> 00:26:35,333 bodyguards and attack dogs. 578 00:26:37,042 --> 00:26:38,875 - [Kavitha] Authorities already pretty much know this, 579 00:26:38,875 --> 00:26:40,667 but Henry Hill confirms 580 00:26:40,667 --> 00:26:43,833 that while the Lufthansa heist might have been 581 00:26:43,833 --> 00:26:46,375 Jimmy Burke's idea or his brainchild, 582 00:26:46,375 --> 00:26:48,375 he still needs the Don's blessing 583 00:26:48,375 --> 00:26:49,917 and Hill confirms that Tony Ducks 584 00:26:49,917 --> 00:26:52,667 gave him his blessing to carry out the heist 585 00:26:52,667 --> 00:26:54,958 in exchange for 50% of the loot. 586 00:26:56,875 --> 00:26:58,542 - [Laurence] According to Hill, 587 00:26:58,542 --> 00:27:01,208 Tony Ducks isn't just doling out blessings 588 00:27:01,208 --> 00:27:02,708 and collecting money, 589 00:27:02,708 --> 00:27:06,250 he's organizing every detail of the operation. 590 00:27:06,250 --> 00:27:07,875 - [John] At the time of the heist, 591 00:27:07,875 --> 00:27:10,250 Jimmy Burke is serving time in the rehab center 592 00:27:10,250 --> 00:27:11,917 in Times Square in New York. 593 00:27:11,917 --> 00:27:15,208 The thing is, he should be serving that time in Georgia, 594 00:27:15,208 --> 00:27:16,458 because after all, 595 00:27:16,458 --> 00:27:19,083 that's where he was busted for cocaine possession. 596 00:27:19,083 --> 00:27:22,042 Agents are wondering whether it's Tony Ducks 597 00:27:22,042 --> 00:27:25,042 who managed to arrange to have Burke 598 00:27:25,042 --> 00:27:27,667 serve his time in New York rather than Georgia. 599 00:27:27,667 --> 00:27:29,708 So if that's the case, 600 00:27:29,708 --> 00:27:31,083 then really Tony Ducks is the one 601 00:27:31,083 --> 00:27:33,542 who's in control of this operation 602 00:27:33,542 --> 00:27:34,917 and not Jimmy the Gent. 603 00:27:36,208 --> 00:27:39,042 - [Lis] In addition to Hill's testimony, 604 00:27:39,042 --> 00:27:43,292 they also have the testimony of the Don's chauffer 605 00:27:43,292 --> 00:27:46,708 who says that just days after the heist, 606 00:27:46,708 --> 00:27:49,833 the Don was already planning the execution 607 00:27:49,833 --> 00:27:52,583 of many of the people involved. 608 00:27:52,583 --> 00:27:55,333 - [Kavitha] Nobody actually speaks to the Don himself 609 00:27:55,333 --> 00:27:57,583 directly except for his lieutenants. 610 00:27:57,583 --> 00:27:59,125 There are several levels of men 611 00:27:59,125 --> 00:28:02,417 before the order of a hit gets to the actual assassin, 612 00:28:02,417 --> 00:28:03,875 and that's by design. 613 00:28:03,875 --> 00:28:05,458 That's so that there are many levels of protection 614 00:28:05,458 --> 00:28:07,250 so that you can't trace that order 615 00:28:07,250 --> 00:28:08,875 directly back to the Don. 616 00:28:10,042 --> 00:28:11,708 - [Laurence] If the Feds can't nail Tony Ducks 617 00:28:11,708 --> 00:28:14,167 on the murders and the heist itself, 618 00:28:14,167 --> 00:28:16,833 there's only one other way authorities think 619 00:28:16,833 --> 00:28:18,750 they can bring him down. 620 00:28:18,750 --> 00:28:20,708 By finding the money. 621 00:28:21,875 --> 00:28:24,042 - [John] Authorities already know 622 00:28:24,042 --> 00:28:27,542 about the network that Tony Ducks uses to distribute money, 623 00:28:27,542 --> 00:28:31,333 but he seems to be behaving with more caution than usual. 624 00:28:31,333 --> 00:28:34,375 Understandable after a heist of this size. 625 00:28:34,375 --> 00:28:38,792 The way his network operates is that the cash first comes 626 00:28:38,792 --> 00:28:41,375 to his walled compound in Queens. 627 00:28:41,375 --> 00:28:43,000 Then he takes his cut, 628 00:28:43,000 --> 00:28:45,958 which is gonna be laundered through his various businesses, 629 00:28:45,958 --> 00:28:49,792 but the rest of it is parceled out in small quantities 630 00:28:49,792 --> 00:28:52,208 and carried via couriers 631 00:28:52,208 --> 00:28:55,083 to various locations in the United States. 632 00:28:56,000 --> 00:28:57,708 - [Kavitha] One of authorities major leads 633 00:28:57,708 --> 00:28:59,792 points them towards a lieutenant's house 634 00:28:59,792 --> 00:29:01,375 in Hollywood, Florida 635 00:29:01,375 --> 00:29:03,667 where they believe couriers have brought 636 00:29:03,667 --> 00:29:05,375 a lot of this money to 637 00:29:05,375 --> 00:29:08,750 and they're sent back to New York to make that run again. 638 00:29:08,750 --> 00:29:10,292 According to Henry Hill, 639 00:29:10,292 --> 00:29:13,708 once these couriers have either outlived their usefulness 640 00:29:13,708 --> 00:29:16,583 or might be getting too close and might turn, 641 00:29:16,583 --> 00:29:18,750 Tony Ducks orders their assassination. 642 00:29:20,875 --> 00:29:22,208 - [John] Once the money gets to Florida, 643 00:29:22,208 --> 00:29:24,667 where it goes is anyone's guess. 644 00:29:24,667 --> 00:29:28,167 The FBI gets a tip that 250,000 of it 645 00:29:28,167 --> 00:29:30,083 can be found in a safe deposit box 646 00:29:30,083 --> 00:29:32,083 in a Florida bank in Miami, 647 00:29:32,083 --> 00:29:35,500 but by the time the FBI gets there, it's been cleaned out. 648 00:29:35,500 --> 00:29:37,708 - [Lis] Law enforcement suspects at that point 649 00:29:37,708 --> 00:29:40,750 that Tony Ducks has laundered 650 00:29:40,750 --> 00:29:44,208 all of this money through legitimate businesses. 651 00:29:44,208 --> 00:29:47,458 He's got a flower shop, he's got taxi stands, 652 00:29:47,458 --> 00:29:49,375 he's got bars and restaurants, 653 00:29:49,375 --> 00:29:52,542 and that money was probably already laundered 654 00:29:52,542 --> 00:29:54,125 and will never be found. 655 00:29:55,375 --> 00:29:58,167 - [Matthew] At this point, the only person ever arrested 656 00:29:58,167 --> 00:30:01,583 and convicted of the Lufthansa heist is Louis Werner. 657 00:30:01,583 --> 00:30:03,208 Tony Ducks ducks another one here, 658 00:30:03,208 --> 00:30:05,042 and it's never pinned to him. 659 00:30:05,042 --> 00:30:06,375 They find none of the cash 660 00:30:06,375 --> 00:30:08,458 and no evidence to bring him into court. 661 00:30:13,958 --> 00:30:15,375 - [Laurence] It is been almost seven years, 662 00:30:15,375 --> 00:30:18,375 and the FBI is no closer to tracking down the Mastermind 663 00:30:18,375 --> 00:30:22,958 or the $5 million in cash from the Lufthansa heist of 1978. 664 00:30:24,958 --> 00:30:27,292 - [Claire] The trail has gone completely cold by the 665 00:30:27,292 --> 00:30:30,250 early 1980s. Not only can the Feds not find the money, 666 00:30:30,250 --> 00:30:33,583 but key witnesses refuse to talk. 667 00:30:33,583 --> 00:30:36,042 Pretty much every suspect that they have in mind 668 00:30:36,042 --> 00:30:37,625 has been killed, 669 00:30:37,625 --> 00:30:41,417 and there's really no way to connect the remaining players 670 00:30:41,417 --> 00:30:43,500 to the crime itself. 671 00:30:43,500 --> 00:30:45,125 Things start to change though, 672 00:30:45,125 --> 00:30:48,875 when in 1985, there's a new mob boss 673 00:30:48,875 --> 00:30:51,083 on the rise in the Gambino family, 674 00:30:51,083 --> 00:30:54,958 who Feds realize might have had a hand in Lufthansa as well. 675 00:30:56,292 --> 00:31:00,167 - [Scott] John Gotti killed his way to power in December of 1985 676 00:31:00,167 --> 00:31:04,292 by organizing the assassination of his predecessor, 677 00:31:04,292 --> 00:31:05,500 Paul Castellano, 678 00:31:05,500 --> 00:31:08,833 in a very high profile gangland execution 679 00:31:08,833 --> 00:31:10,875 carried out in midtown Manhattan 680 00:31:10,875 --> 00:31:13,708 during the Christmas shopping season. 681 00:31:13,708 --> 00:31:17,208 - [Kavitha] The reason Gotti felt that he had to murder his 682 00:31:17,208 --> 00:31:19,333 godfather is because he's totally anti-drugs 683 00:31:19,333 --> 00:31:21,125 and doesn't want the Gambino family 684 00:31:21,125 --> 00:31:23,333 involved in narcotics at all. 685 00:31:23,333 --> 00:31:26,542 Gotti and his crew had been indicted on a drug charge, 686 00:31:26,542 --> 00:31:28,917 so he's now afraid that when the Don finds out, 687 00:31:28,917 --> 00:31:30,375 he'll have him killed. 688 00:31:30,375 --> 00:31:32,292 So it's basically a situation where 689 00:31:32,292 --> 00:31:36,083 Gotti whacks godfather before he gets whacked himself. 690 00:31:36,083 --> 00:31:38,167 - [Laurence] Now, with narcotics sales 691 00:31:38,167 --> 00:31:40,167 sanctioned from the very top, 692 00:31:40,167 --> 00:31:43,167 the Gambino family becomes one of the most profitable 693 00:31:43,167 --> 00:31:46,000 and violent gangs in New York City. 694 00:31:47,542 --> 00:31:50,667 - [Matthew] Under the control now of John Gotti as the 695 00:31:50,667 --> 00:31:54,583 Godfather, the Lucchese family expand their criminal empire, 696 00:31:54,583 --> 00:31:57,375 this is the time where they start to make huge profits. 697 00:31:57,375 --> 00:32:01,792 But also, John Gotti is not a low-key under the radar guy. 698 00:32:01,792 --> 00:32:05,083 The Dapper John, like he's seen a newspaper all the time, 699 00:32:05,083 --> 00:32:08,042 he gets a second nickname and that's the Teflon Don 700 00:32:08,042 --> 00:32:10,042 because every time they came after him 701 00:32:10,042 --> 00:32:11,667 for these different crimes, 702 00:32:11,667 --> 00:32:13,833 it just kind of slid off of him. 703 00:32:13,833 --> 00:32:15,375 - [Claire] Gotti's flashy lifestyle 704 00:32:15,375 --> 00:32:17,708 definitely draws the attention of law enforcement, 705 00:32:17,708 --> 00:32:20,375 and almost immediately after coming to power, 706 00:32:20,375 --> 00:32:23,125 Feds start wiretapping, bugging his establishments, 707 00:32:23,125 --> 00:32:25,042 trying to get information about him 708 00:32:25,042 --> 00:32:28,458 in order to bring him and the Gambino family down. 709 00:32:28,458 --> 00:32:29,958 - [John] Thanks to those wiretaps, 710 00:32:29,958 --> 00:32:32,375 in 1986, Gotti is arrested 711 00:32:32,375 --> 00:32:35,292 on charges of racketeering and extortion. 712 00:32:35,292 --> 00:32:38,125 As authorities are building their case against Gotti, 713 00:32:38,125 --> 00:32:39,708 another thing comes up. 714 00:32:39,708 --> 00:32:43,000 It turns out that Gotti received a huge cut 715 00:32:43,000 --> 00:32:45,208 of the take from the Lufthansa heist. 716 00:32:50,542 --> 00:32:53,542 - [Laurence] This comes as a surprise to the FBI. 717 00:32:53,542 --> 00:32:56,958 The agency knows the Lucchese mob is behind the heist, 718 00:32:58,250 --> 00:33:00,792 but never suspected they could have been cooperating 719 00:33:00,792 --> 00:33:02,000 with a rival family. 720 00:33:03,083 --> 00:33:05,250 - [Kavitha] The Gambino family holds a lot of sway 721 00:33:05,250 --> 00:33:08,208 in parts of South Queens near JFK, 722 00:33:08,208 --> 00:33:10,875 which is territory that they basically share 723 00:33:10,875 --> 00:33:12,542 with the Lucchese family. 724 00:33:12,542 --> 00:33:14,708 So it would've been pretty natural 725 00:33:14,708 --> 00:33:16,375 for Gotti and the Gambino family 726 00:33:16,375 --> 00:33:19,042 to be key players in the Lufthansa heist. 727 00:33:20,500 --> 00:33:22,000 - [Matthew] During the course of the investigation, 728 00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:25,792 they find out that Gotti is integral as part of the heist. 729 00:33:25,792 --> 00:33:28,458 They use his garage as a way point 730 00:33:28,458 --> 00:33:31,583 to transfer the money from the robbery to a switch car. 731 00:33:31,583 --> 00:33:35,042 And then Gotti offers his other services to crush that van 732 00:33:35,042 --> 00:33:36,333 to destroy evidence. 733 00:33:37,708 --> 00:33:41,375 - [Scott] Stacks Edwards got delayed and the car got 734 00:33:41,375 --> 00:33:44,042 discovered. But initially the plan for John Gotti 735 00:33:44,042 --> 00:33:45,917 was that him and his crew 736 00:33:45,917 --> 00:33:48,000 were gonna get rid of the getaway vehicle. 737 00:33:49,167 --> 00:33:51,500 - [John] That scrap yard is owned by the Gambinos. 738 00:33:51,500 --> 00:33:53,875 This suggests that the Gambino family 739 00:33:53,875 --> 00:33:56,583 has been involved in the heist from the very beginning. 740 00:33:56,583 --> 00:33:59,750 Allegedly Gotti's take from the Lufthansa heist 741 00:33:59,750 --> 00:34:01,792 comes to around $200,000. 742 00:34:03,375 --> 00:34:05,250 - [Laurence] Considering that other participants 743 00:34:05,250 --> 00:34:08,333 collect only a small portion of the money they're owed, 744 00:34:08,333 --> 00:34:10,208 Gotti's whopping payout suggest 745 00:34:10,208 --> 00:34:13,417 he played a major role behind the scenes. 746 00:34:14,875 --> 00:34:18,125 - [Kavitha] If Gotti did help haul the Lufthansa Loot, 747 00:34:18,125 --> 00:34:19,750 it's likely that it was shuttled 748 00:34:19,750 --> 00:34:22,500 throughout the various Gambino family activities, 749 00:34:22,500 --> 00:34:24,625 including high level narcotics. 750 00:34:24,625 --> 00:34:28,125 So whether it's the Lucchese family or the Gambino family, 751 00:34:28,125 --> 00:34:29,333 the result is the same. 752 00:34:29,333 --> 00:34:31,708 The money is nowhere to be found. 753 00:34:31,708 --> 00:34:34,250 In 1992, Gotti is finally convicted 754 00:34:34,250 --> 00:34:36,375 not for the Lufthansa heist, 755 00:34:36,375 --> 00:34:38,958 but on various conspiracy charges. 756 00:34:38,958 --> 00:34:41,958 Agents continue to try to get him to confess to the heist, 757 00:34:41,958 --> 00:34:43,292 but he remains silent. 758 00:34:44,500 --> 00:34:46,583 - [John] With Gotti's death in 2002, 759 00:34:46,583 --> 00:34:48,708 the only one directly involved in the heist 760 00:34:48,708 --> 00:34:51,375 who goes to jail for it is Louis Werner. 761 00:34:51,375 --> 00:34:53,333 Everyone else either walks 762 00:34:53,333 --> 00:34:54,458 or takes the secret to their graves. 763 00:34:59,292 --> 00:35:00,125 - [Laurence] For nearly four decades 764 00:35:00,125 --> 00:35:01,500 after the Lufthansa heist, 765 00:35:01,500 --> 00:35:04,292 the investigation remains cold. 766 00:35:04,292 --> 00:35:07,917 Neither the mastermind nor the 5 million in stolen cash 767 00:35:07,917 --> 00:35:10,042 has ever been found. 768 00:35:10,042 --> 00:35:12,375 - In 2014, authorities make their first arrest 769 00:35:12,375 --> 00:35:16,083 in the Lufthansa case in over 35 years. 770 00:35:16,083 --> 00:35:18,250 They arrest 80-year-old Vincent Asaro, 771 00:35:18,250 --> 00:35:21,625 who's a made man and member of the Bonanno family. 772 00:35:21,625 --> 00:35:23,875 Authorities say that Asaro has been pretty entrenched 773 00:35:23,875 --> 00:35:26,583 in the Bonanno family syndicate for decades. 774 00:35:26,583 --> 00:35:28,958 - The FBI has suspected for many years 775 00:35:28,958 --> 00:35:32,000 that Asaro might have some connection to the case, 776 00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:35,583 but they never had any hard evidence to implicate him. 777 00:35:35,583 --> 00:35:38,500 However, in this new investigation and trial, 778 00:35:38,500 --> 00:35:40,708 the FBI thinks it's found enough 779 00:35:40,708 --> 00:35:43,667 to connect a third mob family to the heist. 780 00:35:50,875 --> 00:35:53,542 - [Claire] In 1978, at the time of the Lufthansa heist, 781 00:35:53,542 --> 00:35:56,208 the Bonanno crime family is essentially the smallest 782 00:35:56,208 --> 00:35:57,708 of the five families in New York. 783 00:35:57,708 --> 00:36:01,542 And this small size allows them to really partner up 784 00:36:01,542 --> 00:36:03,042 with the other four families 785 00:36:03,042 --> 00:36:06,125 to pull off heists in other crimes. 786 00:36:06,125 --> 00:36:08,833 Even though it's been decades since the Lufthansa heist, 787 00:36:08,833 --> 00:36:11,042 authorities still want to figure out 788 00:36:11,042 --> 00:36:13,375 where that $5 million went, 789 00:36:13,375 --> 00:36:15,500 and they're convinced that Vini Asaro 790 00:36:15,500 --> 00:36:17,250 and the Bonanno crime family 791 00:36:17,250 --> 00:36:19,417 might have the missing information they need 792 00:36:19,417 --> 00:36:21,167 to track down this money. 793 00:36:22,542 --> 00:36:25,583 - [Laurence] The key witness at the trial is Asaro's cousin, 794 00:36:25,583 --> 00:36:29,583 a longtime Bonanno associate turned FBI informant. 795 00:36:30,583 --> 00:36:31,875 - [Kavitha] At Asaro's trial, 796 00:36:31,875 --> 00:36:33,833 it becomes known that his cousin 797 00:36:33,833 --> 00:36:36,708 had secretly recorded conversations between them 798 00:36:36,708 --> 00:36:38,958 between 2010 and 2013 799 00:36:38,958 --> 00:36:40,583 and one of these recordings, 800 00:36:40,583 --> 00:36:44,125 Asaro allegedly confesses to the Lufthansa heist. 801 00:36:44,125 --> 00:36:46,583 The cousin gets Asaro to reminisce 802 00:36:46,583 --> 00:36:49,708 about that night in December, 1978 803 00:36:49,708 --> 00:36:51,542 when he showed up with burlap sacks 804 00:36:51,542 --> 00:36:53,708 filled with cash and gold coins 805 00:36:53,708 --> 00:36:57,042 and crates filled with watches and jewels. 806 00:36:57,042 --> 00:36:59,958 - [Claire] Asaro's cousin essentially gets Vinni Asaro 807 00:36:59,958 --> 00:37:02,250 to admit to the whole events 808 00:37:02,250 --> 00:37:04,542 of the evening of the Lufthansa heist, 809 00:37:04,542 --> 00:37:07,375 including how Asaro talked his cousin 810 00:37:07,375 --> 00:37:10,375 into being the person who would hide the money. 811 00:37:10,375 --> 00:37:12,042 According to this taped confession, 812 00:37:12,042 --> 00:37:15,167 a week later, someone shows up at his cousin's door, 813 00:37:15,167 --> 00:37:17,458 rings the doorbell, and takes all the loot. 814 00:37:18,708 --> 00:37:20,042 - [Laurence] When Asaro takes the stand 815 00:37:20,042 --> 00:37:22,708 and is forced to listen to the secret recordings, 816 00:37:22,708 --> 00:37:25,500 he dismisses them with a wave of his hand. 817 00:37:26,708 --> 00:37:29,208 - [John] Asaro takes the stand and is completely defiant. 818 00:37:29,208 --> 00:37:32,042 He accuses his cousin of simply being a rat 819 00:37:32,042 --> 00:37:33,375 who will say anything 820 00:37:33,375 --> 00:37:35,208 in order to have his own crimes pardoned. 821 00:37:35,208 --> 00:37:38,000 Asaro admits under cross-examination 822 00:37:38,000 --> 00:37:39,542 that he knew about the heist, 823 00:37:39,542 --> 00:37:41,167 but it was carried out 824 00:37:41,167 --> 00:37:43,792 by people he knew who hung out with him at Robert's Lounge. 825 00:37:43,792 --> 00:37:46,417 Asaro says, I was never really involved. 826 00:37:47,542 --> 00:37:49,875 - [Lis] Another witness corroborates the cousin 827 00:37:49,875 --> 00:37:53,417 by saying that he saw Asaro with an at attache case 828 00:37:53,417 --> 00:37:56,667 full of money and jewels, 829 00:37:56,667 --> 00:37:59,708 and he saw Asaro giving that attache case 830 00:37:59,708 --> 00:38:03,750 to a Bonanno leader sort of as a tribute. 831 00:38:03,750 --> 00:38:07,125 So, of course, he would've known about Lufthansa heist. 832 00:38:07,125 --> 00:38:09,500 - [Kavitha] Asaro claims that he was offered hush money 833 00:38:09,500 --> 00:38:10,958 from Jimmy the Gent 834 00:38:10,958 --> 00:38:12,625 to keep quiet about the heist, 835 00:38:12,625 --> 00:38:14,542 but that he never received it 836 00:38:14,542 --> 00:38:16,292 and he didn't go after that money 837 00:38:16,292 --> 00:38:18,208 because he says he knew better 838 00:38:18,208 --> 00:38:21,667 than to approach a man as violent as Jimmy. 839 00:38:21,667 --> 00:38:24,417 But another informant counters that claim. 840 00:38:24,417 --> 00:38:26,708 He says Asaro was suddenly able to pay off 841 00:38:26,708 --> 00:38:29,250 all of his gambling debts in just one day, 842 00:38:29,250 --> 00:38:33,167 and then he proceeded to place even more bets thereafter. 843 00:38:33,167 --> 00:38:36,583 - [Lis] By the 1990s, Asaro had really lost everything. 844 00:38:36,583 --> 00:38:38,917 He was a gambler, he was into drugs. 845 00:38:38,917 --> 00:38:41,833 He used to be a captain of the Bonanno family 846 00:38:41,833 --> 00:38:42,958 and they demoted him. 847 00:38:42,958 --> 00:38:44,792 He really was kind of nothing. 848 00:38:44,792 --> 00:38:47,708 He was living out in a small house in Queens, 849 00:38:47,708 --> 00:38:50,458 until 2014 when he was charged 850 00:38:50,458 --> 00:38:52,833 with being involved in the heist. 851 00:38:52,833 --> 00:38:55,208 - [Claire] Asaro is quite a character during his trial. 852 00:38:55,208 --> 00:38:58,458 He is very insistent 853 00:38:58,458 --> 00:39:00,458 that he needs to have a clear sight line 854 00:39:00,458 --> 00:39:02,083 to all of his accusers, 855 00:39:02,083 --> 00:39:05,000 and he essentially goes out of his way to threaten them. 856 00:39:05,000 --> 00:39:08,333 He even mouths obscenities while he's on the stand. 857 00:39:09,333 --> 00:39:11,250 - [John] Asaro's defense team 858 00:39:11,250 --> 00:39:13,542 plays along with these belittling tactics 859 00:39:13,542 --> 00:39:15,917 by portraying his cousin 860 00:39:15,917 --> 00:39:17,708 as just a desperate guy 861 00:39:17,708 --> 00:39:20,208 who is out to have his own crimes forgiven 862 00:39:20,208 --> 00:39:22,875 by making up stories about a member of the family. 863 00:39:23,875 --> 00:39:26,250 - [Laurence] The strategy seems to work. 864 00:39:26,250 --> 00:39:28,625 On November 12th, 2015, 865 00:39:28,625 --> 00:39:31,125 after just two days of deliberation, 866 00:39:31,125 --> 00:39:33,042 the jury announces its verdict. 867 00:39:34,208 --> 00:39:36,667 Not guilty on all charges. 868 00:39:37,833 --> 00:39:39,917 - [Kavitha] Prosecutors are just speechless. 869 00:39:39,917 --> 00:39:41,875 They've been working on this case for years 870 00:39:41,875 --> 00:39:45,375 and they had a dozen witnesses testifying 871 00:39:45,375 --> 00:39:46,875 that they thought that this would stick. 872 00:39:46,875 --> 00:39:49,708 Jurors don't offer any explanation for their verdict. 873 00:39:49,708 --> 00:39:52,875 But many do feel that the prosecutor's reliance 874 00:39:52,875 --> 00:39:55,750 on turned informants and witnesses 875 00:39:55,750 --> 00:39:59,417 who were trying to expunge their own records was unreliable. 876 00:40:00,667 --> 00:40:01,917 - [Laurence] It's yet another setback 877 00:40:01,917 --> 00:40:04,583 for the decades old criminal investigation 878 00:40:04,583 --> 00:40:07,875 and most likely, the government's last chance 879 00:40:07,875 --> 00:40:11,458 to try someone for the Lufthansa heist. 880 00:40:11,458 --> 00:40:13,083 - [John] Asaro walks free. 881 00:40:13,083 --> 00:40:16,667 He claps for the jurors, he hugs his lawyers. 882 00:40:16,667 --> 00:40:18,375 He thanks the judge, 883 00:40:18,375 --> 00:40:19,875 and then he goes to get into his car, 884 00:40:19,875 --> 00:40:22,750 and as he does so, he says to his lawyer 885 00:40:22,750 --> 00:40:25,375 a very mafia sounding quip, 886 00:40:25,375 --> 00:40:28,083 "Don't let them see the body in the trunk." 887 00:40:28,083 --> 00:40:30,292 - [Kavitha] Unfortunately, Asaro's full involvement 888 00:40:30,292 --> 00:40:34,083 in the Lufthansa heist and the whereabouts of the $5 million 889 00:40:34,083 --> 00:40:35,625 might never be fully known. 890 00:40:35,625 --> 00:40:39,542 He dies in 2023 in his modest house in Queens, 891 00:40:39,542 --> 00:40:41,875 just a few miles from JFK. 892 00:40:43,875 --> 00:40:46,708 - To this day, the only person 893 00:40:46,708 --> 00:40:49,833 actually convicted in the Lufthansa heist 894 00:40:49,833 --> 00:40:53,625 is low-level airline worker, Louis Werner. 895 00:40:53,625 --> 00:40:56,458 Jimmy Burke, the Lucchese, Gambino 896 00:40:56,458 --> 00:40:59,167 and Bonanno Family godfathers 897 00:40:59,167 --> 00:41:00,875 and other major players, 898 00:41:00,875 --> 00:41:04,833 all escaped charges related to the Lufthansa heist. 899 00:41:04,833 --> 00:41:06,833 And with all of them now dead, 900 00:41:06,833 --> 00:41:09,208 the secret of what happened to the missing millions 901 00:41:09,208 --> 00:41:10,750 may be gone forever, 902 00:41:10,750 --> 00:41:12,708 making it one of the most elusive 903 00:41:12,708 --> 00:41:15,792 and bloody open cases in American history. 904 00:41:15,792 --> 00:41:17,542 I'm Laurence Fishburne. 905 00:41:17,542 --> 00:41:21,042 Thank you for watching "History's Greatest Mysteries."