Maurice "Pro" Lerner - Not Your Average Hitter"

Transcript

Lara:

Hi All! First, we want to thank those of you who have emailed us with comments and questions. Special shoutout to Joe. Thank you for sharing with us. We’re glad you’re enjoying our podcast!

Nina:

Keep the fan mail coming!

Lara:

Yes!

If you’ve been listening to the past few episodes, you knew this one was coming. We’re releasing them in somewhat of a chronological order, so today’s episode about Pro will only cover through 1963. In the second half of the season, we’ll have several episodes that lead up to Pro being convicted of a double murder.

Nina:

And in season 2 we’ll be covering the events that lead to his release, and the unravelling of H. Paul Rico’s world.

Let’s start with the basics about Pro. He was born Maurice Richard Lerner on December 20, 1935. There are some documents that say 1936, but 1935 appears to be the accurate date. His parents were Dorothy Winer and Samuel Lerner, and at the time of his birth they resided in Cambridge, MA. By 1940 they were living comfortably in Brookline. To most people he was known as Maury, although due to his good grades and love of studying he earned the nickname Pro, short for professor. That nickname would stick and was often misattributed to his skill as a baseball player or as a hitman. He also had the nickname Reno which appears in multiple FBI records. The first one being in a 302 that reported on information provided by Vinnie Teresa.

Lara:

Fucking Vinnie! You dredge him up every time just to get my goat!

Nina:

Hey, you like it!

Lara:

Well… Anyhow in that 302 Vinnie pleads with the FBI not to look into “Reno” as Pro will know it was him who gave him up. But that didn’t stop Vinnie from feeding the Feds info on Pro throughout the 1960s. Much of it fantastical and fraudulent.

Nina:

Enough of your Vinnie tirade. Back to Pro’s early life. He seems to have had a perfectly normal childhood. Besides his excellent grades, he played baseball at Brookline High School, batting .364 his senior year. Immediately after highschool, he played one season with the minor league team the Erie Senators before joining the Marines, where he served for two years. On his return to civilian life he started playing minor league baseball again. Over the course of his 482 game career, Pro compiled a batting average of .308 with 24 home runs and 225 RBI.

Lara:

After he completed his 2 year stint in the Marines, the Milwaukee Braves signed him and sent him to the farm league to play for the Atlanta Crackers in March of 1957 as a third baseman. The press described him as a tall, rangy lad who possessed a good arm. Mid-season he transferred to the Idaho Braves and finished out the season there making the newspapers every time he played.

Nina:

In 1958 he was back playing for the Atlanta Crackers in the pre-season. The regular season he was with the Yakima, Washington team. He broke both of his hands in two separate incidents that season while playing, and then re-injured them both that year because he returned to play too soon. He was even playing with a cast on at one point. Despite those injuries, his batting average was .348. That year he began weightlifting and focusing on fitness. In March of 1959 the Atlanta Constitution ran an article titled “Lerner’s Hot Bat Eyes Atlanta Home” chronicling his adventures over the prior year. The article said “Lerner is fast, throws well and appears to be a very fine hitter.” He started out the ‘59 season in Yakima, but didn’t finish there.

Lara:

During a game on June 12th in Salem, Oregon Pro was tagged out when sliding into homebase. Pro and his teammates didn’t agree with the call and a brawl broke out. When he returned to home plate the following night, the fans booed him. He had an altercation with his manager, and stole the team station wagon, going AWOL to Portland. This stunt earned him a suspension. One of many in his baseball career. He returned for a handful of games before being transferred to the Carolina league, and landing with the Capitals.

Nina:

Later that year, Pro found himself in Nicaragua for the winter season. He was ranked number 2 in the league with a batting average of .352. Johnny Pesky was interviewed in February 1960 and credited Pro for beating the team he was managing in the league. But there was no shortage of fistcufs. Pro attacked a Cuban umpire and pitcher who he claimed was throwing balls too close to him. The manager of the team quit after the incident. But that wasn’t enough. Pro smuggled a baby wild cat back to the States in his bag. Shortly after that the league was disbanded due to the political situation in Central America. At the beginning of the 1960 baseball season, Pro was signed by the Miami Marlins. As in the prior seasons his performance on the mound and his antics were making the news. Years later the rumor was that Pro was actually down in Central America hunting Nazis.

Lara:

Well between dad and Vinnie Teresa informing on Pro, I suspect there wasn’t any truth to that rumor. I can hear dad telling the tale, “You know when he was down in Nicaruaga taking out Nazis.”

Nina:

I can only imagine. Then Vinnie not wanting to feel left out, corroborated the whole story.

But out of all of their tall tales, that’s the one I would hope had some truth to it.

Lara:

Me too, but highly doubtful.

Anyhow, by April of that year, he was dropped by both the Marlins and Chattanooga. He was picked up by the team in Savannah, Georgia. But Pro’s stay in Savannah wouldn't be a long one. Although he started the ‘61 season with Savannah, he was soon transferred to the Macon Peaches. The man once dubbed “the bad boy of the northwest league” was doing everything he could to maintain his reputation. During an April game he was dinged by a pitcher, and of course a brawl broke out. By May he was playing for the Charlotte Hornets. His performance at the plate wasn’t an issue, but his behavior was and he was expected to be cut from the team. On May 20th, he was placed on the DL.

Nina:

Back in Brookline, baseball appeared to be the last thing on his mind. Pro was arrested for the first time on July 24, 1961. Two armed men robbed a furniture store in Roxbury of $2400 in cash, after herding three employees into an office at gunpoint. Pro was the getaway driver, but he was caught by the police in just seven minutes. One of his accomplices, Gerald Baker, was picked up a few days later, but the second one, Tom Priestes, disappeared. Pro was later released on $5000 bail, and eventually given three years probation.

Lara:

Less than six months later, Pro was arrested again. This time the charges were for conspiracy and carrying a gun in a motor vehicle. The conspiracy charge stemmed from a tip to a cop that Pro and Tom Priestes had planned to rob Neal Goldstein. Priestes, a shortstop in Tampa, but who was now back in the Boston area, was also arrested. Tom had learned to play baseball while he was serving in the Army. Their alleged victim, Neal, was the son of the late Philip Goldstein, a Charlestown shop owner. This is another one of those twisted stories, but I think we have to tell it. We mentioned Philip Goldstein’s murder briefly in Episode 13 when we listed out the murders in the Boston area before Bernie McLaughlin was murdered by Buddy McLean.

Nina:

Philip “Goldie” Goldstein’s body was found in the trunk of a stolen bullet-ridden sedan in New Hampshire on May 5, 1959. The autopsy showed death by asphyxiation. A length of brand new rope was looped around Goldstein’s neck in two places, stretched down his back and knotted around his ankles. His naked body was wrapped in a sleeping bag and more cord was used to bind the outer covering securely. The authorities believed that it was likely that Goldstein had been murdered in Massachusetts at about 9pm on May 4th, and his body transported across the border. Philip’s brother said the last time he had seen him was at noon the day he was murdered. He had last been seen six hours later in a cocktail lounge in the Back Bay. His car was found nearby.

Lara:

The stolen sedan belonged to a man named Alexander Rizzo. He reported that the vehicle had been stolen from Bellingham Square in Chelsea between 3 and 4 am while he was in an all-night restaurant. The neighbors in New Hampshire reported the sounds of gunfire at about 15 minutes after midnight on May 5. The bullet-ridden car was found 30 minutes later. But the authorities didn’t find Goldstein’s body at first because there was no blood or other evidence of violence. The key to the car was still in the ignition, but the key to the trunk was missing. A locksmith had to be sent for. They finally got the trunk opened at noon and found Goldstein.

Nina:

It would have been impossible for Pro to have committed the murder as he was in Atlanta at the time. His team finally won a game after a six game losing streak on May 2nd, and they won again on May 5th.

Lara:

There had been a prior attempt on Goldstein, and the hit could have been carried out by quite a list of suspects. In December of 1957, Tommy Ballou had tried and failed to rob Goldstein in Chelsea. Ballou, who had just finished a 30 day stretch in Deer Island on a drunkenness charge, held the muzzle of a .45 to Goldstein’s head, and demanded money. Goldstein ignored the weapon, leaped from his car and fled on foot. A policeman chased Ballou down, but not before he had tossed what was later described as an “Army-type weapon” away. Goldstein was scheduled to testify against Ballou at trial in January, but he never showed. The judge ordered the case continued indefinitely when the FBI said they needed more time to investigate the weapon’s origins. Ballou was held on $50,000 bail, double surety. A bench warrant was issued for Goldstein. Ballou was indicted on the attempted robbery charge five days later. He was later found innocent of the attempted robbery charges, but meanwhile he was still out on $10,000 bail on charges stemming from his involvement in the Brink’s case.

Nina:

Back to Pro. Both Lerner and Priestes pleaded innocent and were held on $2500 bail. Their case was sent to the Norfolk County Grand Jury on December 15, 1961. Nothing seems to have come of it since by March, Pro was back to playing ball in Hawaii.

But in June of 1962 he was transferred to The Raleigh Capitals. Staying true to form, his performance with a bat kept him in the news. As we mentioned in episode 16, Pro didn’t and could not have participated in the Plymouth Mail Robbery. There have been so many articles written about his alleged participation most of which I assume were based on Vinnie Teresa’s fictionalized recounting of mob events. Had anyone bothered to check news articles and or his team roster, that tall tale could have been put to rest long ago.

Lara:

Please, fucking Vinnie. Even the New England historical site has Pro listed as a likely participant. Make intel laundering a felony!

Nina:

A felony?! Make it a capital crime!

Lara:

Definitely a dangerous practice.

By late August Pro was picked up for disorderly conduct in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. On August 26th, he was fined $9.25 by the local court. He played his final game that year for the Caps on September 9th. After that game he returned to Brookline and finally met up with Jack Kelley. If you've listened to the past two episodes then you know that Billie Aggie came across Pro hanging in the Scene in Brighton. Nina and I both have our suspicions about Pro’s mini crime spree in the summer of ‘61.

Nina:

In addition to his two arrests in 1961, he was also escorted out of the Elliot House at Harvard after he hustled some college students shooting pool for money in May of ‘62. He lost the first couple of games, but then made a miraculous comeback, and finally won enough that the students owed him $400. The kids didn’t want to pay up, so they called the cops on Pro instead.

We both think Pro deliberately got caught in order to gain a little street cred. The question of course is why. Personally, I think Jack met Pro prior to Billie and that Jack used Pro to draw in Billie to find out what he was up to with the Postals and the Feds.

Lara:

The pool story is still my favorite story. It’s definitely a possibility that Pro met Jack prior to September of ‘62. I agree with you that Pro committed those crimes and most likely deliberately got caught in order to put himself on the radar to get noticed. But I also think he had a bit of a reckless streak looking at his performance on the ball field and the antics, stealing his coach’s car and smuggling a wild cat for instance. Either way, Pro was now on Jack’s radar. If you listened to our last episode, you know that Billie showed up with Pro for a “surprise” meeting with Jack and dad at Anthony’s Pier 4 with the Feds and Postals in tow. Oh and let's not forget wearing his handy tape recorder courtesy of the postal inspectors.

Nina:

From that night on, Pro gradually entered the fold. Jack used him for the first time to pick him and Richie up after they moved the money from Tommy’s house. When it came time to move the money once more, Pro was in the mix. After Richie and Jack buried the money at a nursery in Dover, they dumped the decoy vehicle that was identical to Tommy Richards’ wife’s in Dedham. Jack chose Pro to pick them up because he wasn’t on any law enforcement agencies’ radar. He was an unknown entity. This first mission made Pro a member of Jack’s dream team. When it came time to move the money once again, Jack recruited Pro for the task. Jack had decided to give $40,000 to each of them including himself and $10,000 to Pro for his assistance. $300,000 was going to Sonny and Mello to launder through their business. $350,000 was to be delivered to Bailey’s office which would make its way to Vegas to earn more money for Jack.

Lara:

Jack, Pro and dad made their way to the nursery in the middle of the night minus Jack’s constant surveillance. Roy had coordinated with Sonny and Mello and Bailey. Sonny and Mello were at a card game in the North End. The money was loaded into Pro’s car. There were three smaller canvas bags that contained $100,000 each that Jack directed dad and Pro to keep separate from the rest. They were in and out of the nursery in 10 minutes. From there they headed to Boston. While Jack drove, Pro and dad removed an additional $100,000 from the bags. Jack found the 1960 Plymouth that was parked near the club where Sonny and Mello were gambling. An employee of the garage had parked it earlier in the day with a delivery sign attached to the pulled down sun visor. The trunk was unlocked. Dad and Pro dumped the three bags containing $100,000 each. Sonny and Mello were to run the money through the garage and gas station, and exchange the smaller bills for larger ones.

Nina:

From there they headed to Bailey’s office to drop off the $350,000 bound for Vegas which would be collected by couriers over the next couple of days. Bailey had obtained five cheap suitcases to transfer the money to.

Eddie, Jack’s car thief, would meet them downstairs and take the remaining mailbags from the heist to be burnt. But first Jack had to get rid of the night watchman at Bailey’s office building. He slipped him $40 and told him to get 4 hamburgers and coffee for them. The three of them loaded the money onto the elevator, placed it in four of the suitcases and the empty bags into the remaining suitcase. By the time they exited the elevator into the lobby, the guard had returned with the burgers and coffee. Jack told him to enjoy his dinner, keep the change and forget they were there. The look Pro gave him made the guard forget all about his late night guests.

Lara:

In the meantime Sonny drove the cash laden Plymouth back to his neighborhood, but not his home. He and Mello had rented an apartment across from Sonny’s house. The very same building where the authorities would soon set up their surveillance of Sonny. After transferring the money, he drove the Plymouth back to the gas station and picked up his own car. Pro dropped Jack first to collect his Cadillac, then dad at his apartment on the Jamaica Way. Pro continued back to his apartment where he would hold the remaining money until the split would be made the following day.

Nina:

The aftermath of that evening's choices, will come back to haunt all of them a few years down the road. What was Pro up to next?

Lara:

Well it seems like he couldn’t shake his TV fetish. Pro was arrested again on January 7, 1963 for larceny over $100. Pro stole a TV from his hotel room at the 1200 Motor Hotel in Brookline. This was not his first time stealing a TV from a hotel room. Who knows what was up with that fixation. By March he was in training camp in Florida. On March 28th the York Dispatch ran a piece on him describing him as the best hitter in the camp and compared him to Ted Williams. Pro’s weightlifting and strength training were highlighted along with his strong wrists and hand speed. He continued to play for York through May 30th. That would be his final performance as a baseball player going out with a win. Later that year, Pro was placed on the suspended list either for not showing up for training or some infraction of the club’s rules.

Nina:

And back to Brookline Pro went. By that point, he was on the radar of local law enforcement. The Feds and locals had Pro, Billie and Albert Giorgio under surveillance and listed as armed and dangerous. They were named as suspects along with Christopher Mustone in the Boston Five Cent Savings bank heist in Roxbury that took place at 11am on August 27, 1963. The thieves made away with $15,000.

Witnesses told the cops that three men, one of them carrying a sawed-off shotgun, the two revolvers, rushed into the bank and yelled, “keep your heads down.” The witnesses said that the men vaulted the bank counter, scooped up the cash from the open safe, and then rifled through the teller’s drawers on their way out. Because of the order to keep their heads down, the witnesses were only able to furnish police with descriptions of two of the four robbers.

One was described as 26 years, 5 feet 7, light complexion, wearing a brown soft hat, and carrying a silver plated revolver.

Lara:

The second was described as about 28 years old, six feet, very slim, wearing a cap and a black jacket with white designs on the sleeves. He also carried a revolver.

No description was given of the third holdup man, who was said to be carrying the sawed-off shotgun. The getaway driver was also unidentifiable. Their vehicle was found a short time later abandoned at the rear of 110 Queensbury Street. Police said it was stolen just before the holdup from an employee of the hospital near the bank.

Nina:

That same crew were also suspected of the Suburban National Bank heist in Arlington on November 7th, 1963. In that robbery only $6,100 was taken.

A bachelor party of sorts considering Pro got married 10 days later!

Lara:

I still think that robbery was dad, Mello and Sonny, but hey maybe they were raising funds for the bachelor party! God forbid they reached in their own kicks. They were all very generous when throwing other people’s coin around.

Nina:

Both gunmen wore flesh colored masks. One was armed with a revolver, the other with a shotgun. There were no customers in the bank, just five tellers. One teller tried to sound the alarm but his foot missed the button located near his foot, and he was too scared to try again. He did manage to sound another alarm after the thieves left, and the cops arrived in minutes, but by that time, the thieves were long gone.

The local police chief later told journalists that after robbing the bank, the pair ran onto Churchill Ave., jumped into the sedan that was being driven by a third man and sped onto Gray St. They made their way through the exclusive residential section to Park Circle, and onto Wachusetts Ave.

Lara:

The men abandoned the car on Wachusetts Ave near the Florence School. But the police were unable to get any clues from it, except that it had been stolen in Brighton on October 31st. Though the Feds did manage to later get some partial prints, but couldn’t match them to Pro, Billie, or Al. The plates, of course, did not belong to the car, but had been taken off another vehicle in Dorchester on November 4th.

Nina:

The police believed that the robbers had changed cars and drove out onto the Concord Turnpike, but nobody had actually seen them change cars.

The timing of the crime was actually perfect because the cops in the area were distracted by a massive manhunt for a killer who was on the loose. A robbery attempt on the 6th had gone wrong and a cop had been murdered. There were thirty-four major holdups in Massachusetts that year, with losses totaling nearly $400,000.

Lara:

In a 302 dated one month later, SA William T Boland noted that “investigation failed to show that there was a third man involved in this robbery.”

A neighbor lady reported to the FBI that a few days before the robbery, she had witnessed two men drive up Churchill Street from Massachusetts Ave and park on the wrong side of the street directly opposite the bank. After staying in the car for several minutes, two men got out of the car and walked toward the bank and out of her range of vision. After several minutes, they walked back to the car and drove off quickly. She described the car as a couple of years old but not well maintained. She thought that the car might be a two-toned blue Chevy, but she wasn’t certain.

She further described the two men:

One was light complected with blonde hair, stocky build, and about six feet tall. He wore very tight pants and was bare-headed.

The second man was shorter, about five feet ten, and had a darker complexion. She said she believed both individuals to be in their early 20s.

But when the witness was shown photos of Billie, Pro, and Giorgio, she was unable to identify any of them.

Nina:

Her neighbor was also questioned, and told a similar story. About ten days before the robbery, she noticed a late model sedan parked illegally directly across from the bank. The car remained parked for several minutes before two men got out and walked toward the bank. Within a few minutes, one of the men returned to the car alone and got back in. She described him as in his late twenties, blonde, heavy-set, and “nice appearing”.

Lara:

Definitely dad!

Nina:

Approximately ten minutes later, the second man, who she described as being in his late twenties with dark hair, smaller and a little stooped, returned and the car drove off.

Lara:

Definitely Mello!

Nina:

The neighbor lady was also shown photos of Billie, Pro, and Giorgio, but she too was unable to match them to the men that she had observed.

Lara:

Because it wasn’t them!

Nina:

I just don’t buy that the Feds didn’t know it was Richie and Mello. The two women’s descriptions were so spot on. They would have been able to identify photos of Richie and Mello almost immediately. But because of Richie’s informant status, the Feds were protecting him.

Lara:

But good old Vinnie Teresa told the Feds that it was Billie and Albert who pulled it off. Vinnie said that Albert lost $2500 in a barboot game in Revere shortly after the robbery.

Vinnie also told the Feds that The Boston Five Cent Savings Bank robbery on August 27th was Billie and Pro. Well, he didn’t say “Pro”, but rather Reno which was another nickname. They all had nicknames. Richie was Herschel, Roy was Conrad and so on. Again Vinnie stated that the Feds shouldn’t contact Pro as he would know that Vinnie gave him up.

Nina:

By November of 1963, Billie Aggie became a frequent visitor at Pro’s new apartment located at 19 Winchester St in Brookline. The janitor at the building was interviewed on several occasions to verify that it was Billie who was visiting. The building manager was also interviewed. He informed the FBI that Pro had married on November 17th, and was away on his honeymoon. The manager also told them that Pro was a baseball player for the Los Angeles Angels.

I highly doubt that Billie was running around robbing banks with all of the heat on him. After he outed himself as a double agent, he had almost as much surveillance on him as Jack. The authorities wanted to nail him for anything they could. As far as Giorgio goes, with all the surveillance on him, they could only come up with him going to work every morning.

Lara:

Vinnie probably fingered him because he owed him money. Billie was an easy target. Vinnie’s handler, John Kehoe, would have lapped up anything he fed them on Billie. His motive behind giving up Pro in some half assed way is beyond me. And that wasn’t the only story he told the Feds about Pro. We can thank Vinnie for creating the story that the CIA went to Raymond to whack Castro.

Nina:

Raymond didn’t even have a hitter of his own to deal with guys running an unsanctioned dice game! He had to go crying to Butchie Micelli. And Butchie was complaining to his own FBI handler that he didn’t want to do it! I won’t go on about that now since we’ll be covering that and the plot against Castro in episodes 20 through 23.

Lara:

Before we leave you all today, I want to briefly discuss my opinion about Pro’s hitman status at this stage in his criminal career. There were 5 gangland slayings in 1962, and those were all accounted for as far as who the murderers were, and there were no “missing” people that year.

Nina:

There was one gangland hit in March 1963 that is worth noting. The MO matched an earlier murder: Angie DeMarco’s in November 1959. DeMarco’s dead body had been found in the Everett dump with six bullet holes in the back of the head that could be covered with a half dollar. We know that Pro was in Nicaragua for the Winter Season when DeMarco was murdered.

Lara:

William Andreotes was a Watertown oil dealer. His family told the police that he had been out at a birthday party in the South End with his wife and some friends. When they returned home, he dropped off his wife, and took the babysitter to her own home. His intention was to go straight back home but he never made it. Instead his body was found slumped behind the wheel of his blue Cadillac hardtop parked on Huron Ave, across from Fresh Pond Golf Course in Cambridge. Six slugs had been fired in a small circle in the back of his head in a silver dollar ring pattern.

Andreotes had a match in one hand. In the other a cigarette had burned down to his fingers. The fact that he had rolled down his window, and had turned away to light a cigarette, led the investigators to believe that he knew and trusted the man who shot him.

Nina:

The Postals tried to say that Andreotes had worked with one man who was questioned in the Plymouth and was an associate of two others who were under surveillance. Obviously that would be referring to Billie, Jack and Tommy. They were desperate to link anyone or any event to the Plymouth Mail Robbery.

But again, it couldn’t have been Pro because it was the exact same MO as the DeMarco murder in 1959 and Pro wasn’t in town then.

Lara:

So prior to January 1965 there were no hits in the area that could be attributed to Pro.

Nina:

Obviously, informants were feeding misinformation to the Feds about Pro, either to distract them or as cover for someone else.

Lara:

The bottom line is, yes, he killed several gangsters, but not the ones they said he did. And hits that he did commit were credited to others. We’ll get deeper into that throughout the season.

Nina:

Next week, we will be discussing the creation of the Top Echelon informant program by the FBI on June 21, 1961. Of course, Vinnie Teresa, Lara’s favorite, and Jimmy Flemmi.

Lara:

And on the Fed’s side H. Paul Rico, Dennis Condon and John Kehoe. Thank you as always. Please share an episode with your friends, leave a review and subscribe.

Nina and Lara:

BYE!