The Gaslight - Part 2: The Marfeo/Melei Murder Trial

Lara:

Welcome back everyone! We’re finally making our way into the 1970s!

Nina:

It’s only taken us 5 episodes to get there! Now we have to manage to cover two decades before the end of the season! 

Lara:

Well if we weren’t so detailed that might not take us a year!

Nina:

Hey, it's part of our charm!

Lara:

At least we think so! 

I want to thank everyone who’s helped us by subscribing to our YouTube channel! And of course everyone who listens in and shares our episodes.

Nina:

Speaking of listeners, are the US, Saudi Arabia and Ireland still in our top download locations?

Lara:

Yes. Dublin specifically is our number 8 spot! We have quite a few listeners in the UK too. I wonder if any of our Scottish listeners are Gaelic speakers.

Nina:

You and your Gaelic!

Lara:

Don’t be jealous! I was just thinking one of our listeners might want to help me practice speaking Gaelic since you’re not interested!

Nina:

I’m interested in finally getting started with the Marfeo/Melei murder trial! But first I have something I want to say!

Lara:

Such a party pooper!

Nina:

Listen, I actually heard back from the FBI about our FOIA request for Howie Winter’s stuff! 9,437 pages worth of information.

Lara:

Wow, that's fantastic. I have some fantasy that one of our listeners is a Fed or former Fed and pulled some strings for us. If that’s true can you please ask them to shake a leg and assign dad’s file to an agent! For a year and a half it’s been heldup in the same status.

Nina:

That’s so frustrating, but I can’t wait for the Howie papers!

Lara:

Me too! Ok enough of all of that! 

When we left off last week, the RI State Court had set the Marfeo/Melei murder trial date for January 5th, 1970. 

Nina:

Before the trial started, RI Deputy AG Richard Israel requested that SA Robert Sheehan testify at trial since he and Rico interviewed Jack. They were the only two agents to have had that opportunity and therefore in Israel’s mind Sheehan’s testimony was crucial. It was Sheehan who drew the diagrams of the getaway routes per Jack’s descriptions. The Boston SAC agreed to allow Sheehan to take the stand during the trial. 

Israel also requested that SA Sean McWeeney sit with him “during this important trial.” 

The Boston SAC agreed to that request as well, stating, “...since we did the investigation, we could be of valuable service in connection with this important prosecution.” 

Lara:

I am so sick of the people, especially former law enforcement , who have told me that the Feds have never had anything to do with murder cases! What, none of these cases from the ‘60s count?

Jury selection was scheduled to begin on January 6th. Six attorneys, two of which were Raymond’s, submitted motions to dismiss the charges, The judge rejected them immediately. The defense was also concerned that the courtroom was on the first floor and would leave their clients vulnerable to attack. Everyone entering the court was subjected to search and metal detectors which was unusual in those days. One daily spectator in particular, stood out, Robert Almonte!

Nina:

I still think he was involved in the murders, but we’ll save that for later in the season. Jury selection did not begin as planned with the various motions eating up most of the day. The following day the defense submitted a request to subpoena radio show transcripts from several popular stations. They were of the opinion that it would be impossible to empanel a jury that hadn’t been prejudiced by the press coverage. A motion was also submitted requesting the future jury be sequestered for the duration of the trial.

Lara:

Things continued to go downhill and by January 9th, Judge James C. Bulman not only found it necessary to scold the press, but also postponed the trial until February 17th after a motion was filed by the defense because of the publicity.

Nina:

In the meantime, the FBI decided to create more publicity by placing Louis Manocchio on their Top Ten Most Wanted List, and asking the Boston Field Office for any additional information that they had on Louis and his potential whereabouts. 

Lara:

Boston replied by suggesting that the FBI really push the prosecution’s narrative about the double homicide, naming Rossi, Fairbrothers, and Lerner in the pamphlet, and noting that Vendi was also still at large. The Feds also prepared a press release with five paragraphs about the Marfeo/Melei murders and the men already in custody awaiting trial. 

Nina:

The impending murder trial wasn’t the only thing Raymond Patriarca had to be concerned about. Angelo DeCarlo was on trial in New Jersey for the theft of a million dollars worth of Bonds from a Boston Bank, and Raymond’s name was being tossed around regularly. Gerald Zelmanowitz, an insurance broker, identified Raymond as part of DeCarlo’s criminal empire. Zelmanowitz’s partner Louis Saperstein had been beaten by DeCarlo for unpaid loans and later poisoned with arsenic. Saperstein turned up dead on November 26, 1968.

Lara:

Zelmanowitz admitted his role in the theft, along with Raymond’s chauffeur who he only knew as Butchy, who we know was Butchy Miceli, a man named Joe Green, Mr. Silverman of New Jersey, someone calling himself “Gil Beckley” from New York and my favorite “Fatoni Salerno!” One has to assume he meant Fat Tony Salerno!

Nina:

Oh please, it was probably Vinnie Teresa masquerading as Salerno. 

Lara:

Probably, considering this was Vinnie and Butchie’s handiwork in the first place. 

Nina:

Gil Beckley was real enough, though he was already reportedly dead at this point. But my favorite part of that saga was Raymond’s supposed Swiss bank account!

Lara:

You know you’ve spent far too many years mapping offshore accounts, dummy corporations and Russians?

Nina:

Like you weren’t an active participant in that before you discovered bagpipes and Gaelic!

Lara:

Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today!

Nina:

I’m going to ignore you! I don’t want to get into the rest of the bond story and Raymond’s potential Swiss bank account today. When we cover Vinnie Teresa a little later in the season we’ll go down that rabbit hole. 

Lara:

The DeCarlo trial wasn’t the only distraction. You might recall from our last episode that back in late 1968 Louis the Fox Taglianetti was charged with the murder of Jackie Nazarian seven years after Jackie’s slaying. Rudy Sciarra was tried in ‘63 and cleared. The late Willie Marfeo was charged, but the authorities were unable to obtain an indictment. Louis The Fox had been convicted by the Feds on income tax evasion charges. That trial brought the wiretaps at the Coin-o-Matic into the public eye. For the first time the average citizen got a look into Raymond’s world. 

The latest trial against Louis the Fox was scheduled to begin when he was gunned down as he left his girlfriend’s apartment in Cranston, RI at 10pm on Friday, February 6th. At least two men fired a pump-action 16-gauge shotgun and a .38 caliber pistol at him. His girlfriend was also murdered. A roll of cash totalling $1143 was found in his shirt pocket, and a silver medal of St. Jude, the patron saint of lost causes, was found in his other pocket.

Nina:

11 days after Louis the Fox was murdered, jury selection began again, this time from a pool of 45. The defense attorneys were Ronnie Chisholm for Pro Lerner, Carmine Rao for Patriarca, Angelo Rossi for Sciarra, Robert Ciresi for Fairbrothers, and John Sheehan for John E Rossi.

Jury selection was still not complete a week later, February 24th, when all the prospective alternate jurors were disqualified. The law stated that there needed to be two alternates, so more wrangling had to take place. The trial was scheduled to begin on Monday March 2nd, two months after the initial scheduled date. 

Lara:

In the meantime, Joe Schiavone, Guido D’Arezzo and the RI Kennel Club President, Louis Iacobucci were charged on February 27th with conspiring to Kill Raymond, Louis Manocchio and Dickie Callei. 

Nina:

Who wasn’t accused of conspiring to kill Dickie Callie? That number has to be as high as who Rudy Sciarra was accused of killing.

Lara:

Definitely wasn’t a short list. We’ll get into Callei’s demise later in the season.

Nina:

At last on Monday, March 2nd the trial began! The first day of testimony, Police officer Messore testified that the radio transcripts from the two calls that came into the station immediately following the shootings were destroyed. They contained the two sets of license plate numbers from the getaway vehicles, which were now also missing. Screams of the Teddy Deegan case!

Day two of the trial saw the blood stained clothing of the two victims admitted into evidence. The acting chief state medical examiner testified about the damage to the clothing and the consistency of the damage with the fatal wounds that the victims suffered. 

Lara:

By the way the license plates weren’t actually missing. The Feds had them and were still trying to match the prints but no one told the Providence PD that!

Meanwhile,the SAC in Boston was sending airtels to Hoover every day, keeping him informed about the progress of the trial. The March 3rd airtel reported that Richard Israel’s colleague at the AG’s office had contacted Judge Bulman and informed him that one of the jurors was the sister of Diamond Tagliatella, who had helped bail Robert Almonte out when he’d first been arrested for the same double homicide. 

They expected the judge to do something about the potential conflict of interest, but the only thing that happened was that the information was leaked to the press. The Boston Sunday Herald Traveler reported a few days later that Margaret Moretti had gone to school with Rudy Sciarra. When the press tracked down Diamond Tagliatella and asked him about it, he denied the relationship, noting that his sister and Rudy were three years apart in age. 

Nina:

He questioned the journalists as to whether or not the attorneys asked about the relationships between the jurors and either of the two victims or the defendants.

Lara:

That’s what I want to know! It was Providence and the population was small and tight knit. It would be extremely difficult to find jurors who weren't connected.

Nina:

That’s what I was saying to you the other day. I’m shocked they even tried to have the trial there. And she wasn’t the only “connected” juror. A few days later the Boston SAC informed Hoover that another juror was the sister of Frank Vendi’s good friend, Al Jamiel. You might remember Jamiel from the second episode of this season. Assistant AG Israel was informed, but he apparently did nothing with this revelation either. And the trial continued.

Lara:

After a week of defense witnesses ranging from local police to forensic experts, they finally rolled out the big gun, Jack Kelley.

Nina:

Big gun! He should have been a Pulitzer Prize winner!

Lara:

Jack would have given Faulkner a run for his money.

On Monday, March 9th Jack began his testimony. He named Pro as the one who approached him in early 1968 about taking Rudy Marfeo out. Marfeo was causing problems for George, a name that was often used to refer to Raymond, and Raymond was “all upset over it.” Specifically, Marfeo’s gambling operations were cutting in on Raymond’s and Marfeo was insulting him any chance he got. By the way, that was the same story spread about Jackie Nazarian after he was killed. Jack said he went along with the idea and met with Pro and other defendants at the Holiday Inn in Seekonk, delivered guns and equipment to them and planned the murder of Rudy Marfeo for them.

Nina:

Note that Jack’s eyes and head were down for almost all of the testimony. At one point, Patriarca stood up and asked the judge to make Jack speak more clearly.

Jack continued his testimony stating that the day after he mapped out the route, he returned to the Holiday Inn in Seekonk with Pro, Sciarra, John Doe and Richard Roe. I assume people thought that Jack was referring to Venditouli and Manocchio as they were still on the lam, but this is an important part of Jack’s testimony that will surface again and eventually lead to Pro being freed in the 1980s. 

Lara:

Jack also testified that he provided the men with Halloween masks, ammunition, a carbine and a sawed off shotgun. Remember the detail about the shotgun as that will also come back to haunt the government’s case. Jack specifically testified that he had the weapon doctored for the hit. When questioned by assistant AG Israel about the ammunition Jack provided, he told Israel that it was “Double O” buckshot as it was “the most effective shot at a short distance.” Israel asked “effective for what”, to which Jack responded, “for killing.” 

Nina:

That just reminds me of Raymond’s comment after the first failed attempt on Punchy McLaughlin. About how the shooters should have used “Double O” buckshot.

Jack’s testimony continued, and he gave details about what he was doing the morning Marfeo and Melei were assassinated. He said that he and Frank Vendituoli, who drove him to the golf course that day, were bouncing golf balls in the parking lot in order to appear to people as if they were going to go golfing. Again this is another detail that will come back to haunt the prosecution. Jack also explained how Pro, Fairbrothers and Rossi left that same lot to carry out the hit. 

My favorite quote that day was Jack referring to what Raymond said about killing Rudy. “I don’t want to hear anymore stories, I just want him killed.” 

And one more detail was revealed by Jack that day, the location where he had supposedly met Raymond to discuss the hit, The Gaslight.

Lara:

Another statement that no one bothered to check and would later rear its ugly head.

Jack’s testimony went into a third day. Ronnie Chisholm, Pro’s attorney cross examined Jack. Jack coyly claimed he spent 20 years of his life planning roughly 25 heists of which 12 to 15 of them were carried out. He admitted that the plotting took weeks, months and sometimes years. Ronnie asked if he was planning any robberies while he was plotting the murders of Marfeo and Melei. Jack said yes, one Brinks truck, and two Skelley trucks. Jack conceded on the stand that he only spent two or three days planning the hit. Jack described Raymond as “happy” after the hits took place. During that day's testimony Jack identified Doe and Roe as Vendi and Manocchio, but like we said that story would change years down the road.

Nina:

On March 9th an Airtel from the Boston SAC to Hoover: 

“John J. Kelley is presently under cross-examination by the defendant's lawyer in this case. Assistant Attorney General, who is prosecuting this case, advised that Kelley is making a superb witness and is standing up excellently under cross-examination.” 

During that third day, Jack also claimed that he had been introduced to Raymond by Wimpy Bennett in 1964. Under cross examination by Raymond’s Defense Attorney Carmine Rao, Jack stated that he had been planning to rob Bigelow Kennard and that Wimpy had brought him to Raymond in Providence to negotiate the purchase of the stolen loot.

Bigelow just makes me think of Bo Bigelow from Joe Barboza’s testimony which he also says took place in 1947. Were they all just cribbing from one another?

Lara:

Oh I didn’t even connect Barboza’s testimony about the nonexistent Bo Bigelow, but you’re right. Barboza probably created Bo from the Bigelow Kennard robbery like Frankie Salemme cooked up the hitmen dressed as rabbis story!

Nina:

Stop! I am not letting you go on that tirade again!

Lara:

Ok, I’ll behave!

Nina:

Our longtime listeners might remember that Bigelow Kennard Jewelers had been robbed in 1934, 1935, and again in 1947. But it had also been robbed in either late 1964 or early 1965. The only record I can find on the job is that part of the loot was recovered in 1965 and three cops were rewarded for it. 

But we’ve spent hours combing through every single page provided by the Feds of that wiretap at Raymond’s in Providence and this alleged meeting never took place. Wimpy was down there often enough. But he did not drag Jack there with him.

Lara:

Here’s my theory and I think you at least partially agree with me, Jack had an ax to grind with Raymond and Ben Tilley no question. He probably also did with Wimpy. Jack was an elephant who never forgot anything! I think he told the Bigelow Kennard story to let Raymond know why Raymond was sitting in the courtroom and why Jack was framing him.

Nina:

I wouldn’t put it past Jack and it does make sense as to why Jack had it in for Tilley and Patriarca. Most likely they went ahead with the 1947 heist and cut Jack out of his end. For more about that heist listen to our first episode on Raymond, Disorganized Crime.

Lara:

We’ll discuss Tilley next week when we cover his trial for the VA Hospital robbery.

When it was Ronnie’s chance to question Jack again, he asked what deal Jack had made with the Feds. Jack told Ronnie that he made no deals with the government. When he was arrested for the December 1968 Brinks robbery and posted bail, he decided to place himself in the custody of the US Justice department! That is an outright lie! 

Nina:

Another one!

Lara:

He also claimed the Feds made him no promises and offered him nothing in return for his testimony except for protection for him and his family. Another detail that would come back to haunt the Feds later. A security detail of at least 20 Marshals were on hand at all times during Jack’s testimony.

Nina:

Jack also claimed that he only spoke to the Feds for a total of three hours! We’ve read all of his statements. Three hours? More like three weeks! 

When asked if he planned the Plymouth Mail Robbery, Jack said, “I’d rather not answer that.” Not that he was worried about perjury clearly.

Lara:

But that wasn’t the most exciting part of Jack’s third day on the stand! Raymond’s rage made the day! Interestingly enough not one of Raymond’s outbursts while Jack was on the stand drew any reprimand from the judge.

Nina:

“He’s a rat!” Patriarca complained to the press sitting around him in the courtroom, “Look at him. He won’t even look you in the face!”

Lara:

“When did you last see Bennett?” Patriarca’s lawyer Carmine Rao asked Jack after consulting with his client.

“A few years ago,” Jack replied.

“Where is Bennett now?”

“I have no idea.”

“Well, if you wanted to get in touch with him, how would you reach him?”

“I understand he’s not available.”

Nina:

“He’s a dead man,” Patriarca muttered. “Ask him where Bennett is again. He’s the one who was last seen with him, and ask him about Tommy Richards!” 

Lara:

Of course, no one asked Jack either question. 

“He’s a liar, he’s getting away with $6 million,” Patriarca complained as Jack left the courtroom.

And with that spectacle, Jack’s testimony came to an end.

Nina:

With Jack’s performance behind them the prosecutor called SA Robert Sheehan to the stand on March 11th.  Sheehan testified about the mugshot array Jack was shown during his interview by the Feds in the summer of 1969. 

The owner of the Holiday Inn in Seekonk also testified that Frank Venditouli had been staying there on the dates that Jack claimed to have met Manocchio and Sciarra there.

Lara: 

On March 13th Assistant AG Israel requested that SA Comen be made available because the prosecution wanted the weapons that Gerard had found in Pro’s closet to be admitted as evidence against Pro. At that point, the FBI had to admit that they’d driven Gerard out of the FBI and Boston. Israel replied that he would attempt to find another way to get the weapons admitted, and that he’d be willing to use another agent who was present when Comen found the weapons in the closet.

Nina:

But there hadn’t been any other agents present! They had sent poor Gerard in there alone! Alone! With a man they all believed was a serial killer.

In his airtel to DC, the Boston SAC reported, “It is believed significant in this case that Comen should be kept off the stand, if possible, due to the fact that former SA John B. Greene, who because of positions held in the Bureau, is well acquainted with the Bureau’s policies and procedures, could and believed would attempt to embarrass Comen and the Bureau.”

Lara:

Embarrass! They broke protocol and sent Comen in there solo. Rico knew that dad would be popping up in the next 24 hours to regale them with the Rico assassination plot details.

And Greene probably knew what they’d done to Comen because dad probably told him!

Nina:

What a circus!

Another witness was supposed to testify on Friday the 13th, but Rudy Marfeo’s daughter, Lucille Hasney went missing after leaving her house that morning. She was supposed to meet with Israel at 8:30am but never showed up.

When she finally surfaced the following day she had a tale to tell. Hasney said she was approached by Joe Badway and John Greene and asked to interview her at Carmine Rao’s office. According to Hasney, the men told her that they wanted her to testify against the other men, but not against Pro and Raymond, because “they wanted to protect Patriarca and his image.” She claimed that she had agreed to their proposal and they had hidden her away in a secret location. But then she changed her mind and called Israel and arranged to meet him. Israel placed her in protective custody.

A 302 recounting the incident noted:

“Former SA John B. Greene had long tenure in our Boston office and was engaged in and thoroughly familiar with investigations of Patriarca and other hoodlum figures. Because of Greene’s representation of and association with hoodlums in the Boston area since his retirement, he has been removed from the Special Correspondents List as well as other Bureau mailing lists.”

Lara:

Hasney had changed her story drastically from the initial interviews she gave the Feds immediately after her father, Rudy’s slaying. We went into some detail about that in Gaslit - Part 1 last season.  Initially she claimed that her father, her late uncle and Raymond had no quarrel. She told the Feds about a meeting that took place at Rudy’s house on Tabor Drive in late 1967 where they agreed to let the games continue but not on Sundays. 

However, she did say that Rudy Sciarra and Louis Manocchio were jealous of her father’s successful gambling operation. Hasney had intimate knowledge of the operation as she assisted her father in running it, and was still running it as late as February of 1969 when the police raided the house. Now why she changed her testimony is not known, but I’ll speculate that she was pressured into it by the authorities. She had children, lived in public housing, was on assistance and was herself a convicted felon. You have to assume that she was threatened with losing custody of her kids, benefits or something along those lines.

Nina:

No question. On March 16th  Lucille testified that Raymond had told her late father, “if you’re going to be a gangster, you’re going to have to learn to die like a gangster.”

On the stand, Hasney testified against all the accused except for Pro, who she said she didn’t know. That was probably one of the only true things she said under oath! I want to note that the judge took no action against Badway or Greene for their actions regarding Lucille Hasney.

Lara:

But wait! As she was leaving the courtroom, Rudy Sciarra’s sister Mary Constantino threatened Lucille’s life. One of the court officers that was escorting her overheard the threat.

The following day the judge sentenced Sciarra’s sister to 60 days for threatening Hasney. She screamed “you’re gonna die” as the court officers removed her from the courtroom. 

The prosecution rested after Lucille’s testimony.

Nina:

They were all so trashy! It’s going to be great in a movie! Earlier that morning at about 1:00 AM, Ronnie Chisholm arrived at ACI to meet with Pro with two unidentified men. The AG deSimone was not pleased with this, and was working to get Ronnie barred from more late night visits.

Lara:

What was going on with the late night prison visits back in those days?

Nina:

Who knows, Rudy must have gotten wind of it! He had to be taken to the prison hospital where he was diagnosed with a nervous condition! And the trial had to be postponed a day.

Lara:

At last it was time for the defense to present their case. Louis Melei who testified at the first trial that the man he saw driving the getaway car was Robert Almonte was once again to take the stand. He stated John E. Rossi was not the driver. Israel was so concerned about Melei’s testimony that a request was made for SAs Charles Reppucci and Francis Murphy to testify that Melei had previously stated that he could not identify the driver of the getaway car. The SAC agreed and the SAs did testify rebutting Melei’s testimony.

Nina:

On Friday March 20th, the Federal government placed a lien on two pieces of property that Raymond owned in Rhode Island in order to secure payment of the $10,000 fine that had been levied against him when he was convicted of conspiring to kill Willie Marfeo. Of course it had to be announced as his defense was taking place.

Lara:

That same day Patriarca’s lawyers rested their case after providing evidence that Raymond was no where near the scene of the murder that day. John Barbato a corrections officer and Fairbrother’s brother-in-law testified that day that Bobby Fairbrother’s was at home when the murders took place. He said they were watching a ball game on TV and heard the emergency announcement that two men had been killed. Bobby’s wife also testified that they were home all day and that a priest was there to console her as her son had accidentally shot and killed Barbato’s son at Rudy Sciarra’s house the week before the murders of Marfeo and Melei. The fact that the shooting between the children happened at Sciarra’s house with a gun that Rudy had left in a cardboard box in the backyard somehow didn't come out in the testimony. The priest also testified that Bobby was home that day.

Nina:

The hit, according to Jack, was supposed to take place the weekend before but had to be postponed because of the accidental shooting at Sciarra’s. Sciarra tried to claim that there was no way Jack could have known about the shooting but it was all over the Providence Journal. And it reminds me of the poor Melei boy getting shot in the head in Rudy Marfeo’s apartment and then the kids dumping his body on the sidewalk to make it look like it didn’t happen in the apartment.

Lara:

Beyond disgusting!

On Monday the 23rd, a Providence Patrolman testified that the boulders which blocked the exit that Jack claimed they used wouldn’t be a deterrent to exiting through that road as Jack claimed they did and that he himself drove that route many times. Previously the manager of the golf course said the boulders were in place for the purpose of restricting patrons using it as an exit. He stated it was later replaced by a gate.

Also part of the prosecution’s counter arguments was calling Thomas Marfeo, brother of the late Rudy and Wille, to the stand. He testified that there were ill feelings between Raymond and his brothers. This testimony was also in contradiction to his statements to the Feds the previous August after the arrests had been made. At no time did Thomas mention any ill will between Rudy and Raymond in that conversation with SA Reppucci. But like Hasney, he said that Sciarra and Manocchio were jealous of their lucrative gambling business.

And while the trial was winding to a close, Carlo Gambino, Butchy Micelli, Pro Lerner and Louis Manocchio were being charged with conspiring to rob an armored car thanks to Jack’s testimony. We’ll get to that next week.

Nina:

Closing arguments took place on the 24th. Attorney Rao said that if it wasn’t for Jack’s cooperation with the Feds the case would have never come to fruition. Finally the following day the jury began deliberations. Some 3500 pages of testimony had been introduced during the trial!

The jury deliberated for 30 hours and still had difficulty reaching a verdict. Judge Bulman was not about to allow a hung jury at his heavily publicized trial, and had already dismissed a defense motion for mistrial. He sent the jury back for another round of wrangling.

On Friday March 27th, the jury returned its verdict. Patriarca, Sciarra, Fairbrothers, and Rossi were convicted on conspiracy charges which carried a maximum ten year prison sentence. Pro Lerner was the only member of the group convicted of murder. The jury couldn’t reach an agreement on convicting Fairbrothers and Rossi on the same charge. They also couldn’t agree on charges against Raymond for being an accessory before the fact. 

Lara

The Rhode Island AG Herbert deSimone was of course elated and called the verdict: “the greatest blow ever struck against organized crime in Rhode Island.”

Nina:

Can I make my snarky comments now?

Lara:

No! Save it for mid-season.

Nina:

Meh!

On April 8th, the Attorney General wrote a thank you note to J Edgar Hoover. And forgive me if I choke while I’m reading it:

“Special Agents H. Paul Rico and Robert Sheehan, of the Boston office were of immeasurable assistance during the investigation, and presented their evidence at trial in a manner most befitting a law enforcement agency like the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 

“The assistance of Special Agents Charles Reppucci, Thomas Lardner, Martin Conley and Sean McWeeney of the Providence Office also was most invaluable and was rendered at all times in the finest spirit of cooperation. 

“The people of the State and Nation are grateful for the services of these men and all the others in your Bureau who have rendered assistance and cooperation, not only in this case but through the years.”

Lara:

Glad you read that dreck because I wouldn’t have made it through without an outburst.

A defense motion for a new trial was denied by Judge Bulman on July 10, 1970

Sentencing didn’t take place until August. Patriarca and the others were given the maximum sentence of ten years. Patriarca’s sentence was set to run concurrent with the 5 year sentence he was already serving for conspiracy to murder charges for the slaying of Willie Marfeo (federal charges).

At the sentencing, the men were allowed to speak. Raymond stated, “the only thing I’ve got to say, your honor, is that I have never been down to the Gas Light Cafe in my life.” As I mentioned earlier, the Gaslight would become part of the case’s undoing.

Next came Rudy Sciarra’s statement, “Who needed Kelley to tell us how to get out of our own backyard? That would be tantamount to having the Queen of England call me up and ask how to get out of Buckingham Palace.” Oh that is probably my favorite of all time!

Nina:

Mine too! I love the three syllable plus words they throw out! 

Pro was not sentenced at that time because his attorney was out of the country. 

Two weeks later, Judge Bulman sentenced Pro to two life sentences for the double homicide and ten years on the conspiracy charge. All the sentences were set to run concurrently.

In the meantime, the Assistant Attorney General Israel had informed the press that he was planning on re-trials against Patriarca, Rossi, Sciarra, and Fairbrothers on the murder charges.

The Federal indictments on the same charges were quietly dismissed as the year was coming to a close. That story doesn’t seem to have made the newspapers.

Lara:

They got what they wanted and were not going to risk a second trial.

Ok, let’s leave it there for today. Next week we’ll be discussing the other two trials that Jack’s testimony led to, the Gambino arrest and the immediate aftermath of the Marfeo/Melei trial.

As always, thanks for listening. Hope you join us next week!

Nina & Lara:

BYE!!!!