Paolo LiCastri

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Paolo LiCastri (born June 5, 1935 in Castellammare del Golfo , Italy, † June 13, 1979 in Flatlands , Brooklyn ) was a member of the mafia in the New York criminal family Gambino . He worked under Carlo Gambino and Carmine Galante .

Life

LiCastri was born in Castellammare del Golfo , Sicily, where he became a full member of the Mafia (so-called "man of honor" ) in Palermo. His rank was initially soldato in the gang of Enzo Napoli and Carmine Galante . Paolo LiCastri was "smuggled" into the USA by Carlo Gambino's cousin, Paolo. There he first worked as a pizza maker in Bushwick , Brooklyn. He then went into the drug business and worked under John Rosario and Giuseppe Gambino. However, he kept his disguise as a pizza maker. In addition to smuggling and selling heroin, burglaries, armed robberies and contract killings were part of everyday life for him. Paolo is said to have jokingly said to other mafiosi that he was in the air conditioning business because he made holes in people. ( "Put holes in people" )

From 1976 he worked for Cesare Bonventre and Baldassare Amato . Paolo evaded identification by US authorities because many illegal immigrants worked in restaurants. LiCastri's fingerprints were not known to the authorities. In 1978 the criminal James Burke planned the so-called Lufthansa robbery ( Lufthansa heist ). Burke, part of a crew around Paul Vario, was part of the Lucchese family . The Lucchese and Gambino families had divided the JFK International Airport among themselves and the Lucchese family had to share the Gambinos with the booty from the robbery. Burke reckoned with a loot of 2 million (it was later 6 million) US dollars, the share of the Gambinos would have been 10%, i.e. 200,000. Paolo LiCastri was supposed to join the robbery and make sure Burke paid the money.

death

Following the robbery, a series of murders began against those involved, because the mastermind, James Burke, wanted to cut the connection between himself and the robbery. On June 13, 1979, in the Flatlands, Brooklyn, police found a half-naked, bullet-riddled body in a smoldering heap of rubbish. The body was so charred and decayed that the police could not determine age, race or even gender. On the basis of dental examinations it could be determined that it must have been LiCastri.

Representation in art

  • In the TV movie The Big Heist , the character "Paolo Falcone" is played by Joe Maruzzo. "Paolo Falcone" is based on LiCastri.
  • The Lufthansa robbery and the ensuing series of murders play an important role in Martin Scorsese's film " Goodfellas ".

swell

personal data
SURNAME LiCastri, Paolo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American mafioso
DATE OF BIRTH June 5, 1935
PLACE OF BIRTH Castellammare del Golfo , Italy
DATE OF DEATH June 13, 1979
Place of death Flatlands , Brooklyn