Hide the corpse in the trunk

The jury acquitted 80-year-old mafiosi in the case of the largest robbery in the United States

On December 11, 1978, one of the most impudent robberies in the history of the United States was committed. Mask people took five million dollars in cash from John Kennedy and another million jewelry (in terms of today's prices - more than $ 23 million). The first and only suspect in this case was detained 35 years later. After another and a half, the jury lifted all the charges from him. "Medusa" tells how the matter, which was prepared for three and a half decades, fell apart in three weeks.

The robbery of the Lufthansa cargo terminal at the Kennedy New York Airport is the largest crime of this kind committed in the United States. The organizers learned that large quantities for military personnel in West Germany were sent from the United States monthly. Money was delivered by Lufthansa flights and waited for sending in the storage of the company right at the airport. The attackers were able to penetrate the storage and hide with the van of cash dollars, which the authorities could not track in any way.

In 1990, Martin Scorsese made the film “Glorious Guys” with Robert de Niro based on this story. By this time, the American authorities have unsuccessfully tried to find criminals for 12 years. Both the police and the FBI had every reason to believe that at least one of the five largest families that were part of the New York goat of Nostra could not be in the case. However, it was not possible to prove the involvement of at least one person in robbery.

The first and only arrest on the most high-profile robbery in the history of the United States was overgrown after another 13 years: in January 2014, 78-year-old Vincent Azaro, a hereditary gangster and an influential mafiosi associated with the families of Gambino and Bonanno was detained in New York. Azaro managed to arrest thanks to the testimony of his cousin - Gaspara Valenti. In 2008, Valenti began to cooperate with the FBI and from 2010 to 2013 recorded conversations from Azaro on film.

Gaspara Valenti told the investigation that the robbery of the Lufthansa terminal was planned by the famous gangster Jimmy Burca together with Vincent Azaro. According to Valenti, on the night of December 11, 1978, the attackers drove up to the terminal, neutralized the guards, forced one of the guards to open the doors to them and broke into the storage. “They hoped to find two million in cash there, but there were five million, as well as emeralds, diamonds and gold chains,” said Gaspara Valenti.

Valenti accused Kuzen and other crimes. As a result, Vincer Azaro was judged by 14 episodes of banditry, including murder, and several more episodes of extortion.

Along with Gaspara Valenti, the accusation attracted other witnesses - retreats of detectives and FBI agents, as well as numerous informants who collaborated with investigations in other cases related to the mafia. In the case, photographs taken during the surveillance of the mafiosi in the 1970s were used. However, Valenti’s testimony were key: only they allowed the arrested with a loud robbery of 1978.

This is what managed to use the protection of Vincent Azaro. Elizabeth Macedonio lawyer in her appeal to the jury indicated that Azaro does nothing reprehensible in any of the pictures attached to the case. Other materials of the case also do not prove his guilt. All the accusation is built on the testimony of Gaspar Valenti, who cannot be considered a reliable witness: he is not just a criminal, but also an “experienced liar” who went to cooperate with the FBI for money and personal revenge.

The process over Vinent Azaro lasted only three weeks, the jury decided in less than two days. Azaro was recognized as innocent on all points of charge.

Vincent Azaro was clearly pleased with this outcome: as The New York Times writes, he met the verdict with applause and sincerely thanked the judge. Leaving the court building and sitting down in the White Mercedes who arrived after him, Azaro told reporters: “Do not believe everything that is shown in the cinema. And do not let anyone find a corpse in the trunk. ”

Konstantin Benyumov

Riga