The Italians | TRIPLE EPISODE | The FBI Files

Biloxi Mississippi the quiet southern town with a burning core of corruption in 1987 its secret burst violently to the surface leaving two prominent citizens dead [Music] and ripping the top off a grand conspiracy [Music] [Applause] [Music] thank you [Music] on Mississippi's Gulf Coast a judge and his politician wife are murdered in their home the killer left few Clues it looked like a professional hit and the investigation LED nowhere but the FBI refused to give up I'm Jim calstrom former head of the FBI's New York office until we could prove that federal laws have been broken our hands were tied it would take years to break the conspiracy of silence and reveal the Tangled tale of corruption Biloxi Mississippi Monday September 14 1987. it was a typically warm summer night in this quiet Gulf Coast Town the work day was over and most residents had retreated to the Tranquility of their homes like most of their neighbors State circuit court judge Vincent Sherry and his wife Margaret were unwinding after a long day Vincent Sherry was a prominent judge in Biloxi Margaret was making plans to run for mayor book were fixtures at Biloxi's social and Community function Quest they were a happy couple who had raised three grown children tomorrow they plan to visit their daughter out of state your life together seemed ideal they were just settling in for the night when an unexpected visitor came to the door [Music] and brought their perfect world to an end the Sherrys were supposed to be with their daughter so no one realized anything was wrong until two days later when the judge failed to show up in court on Wednesday September 16th foreign calls to the Sherry's home went unanswered his colleagues at the court phoned Peter lat Circuit Courts online Vincent Sherry's friend and former law partner good morning Peter but he hadn't seen or heard from the judge either well he's supposed to be in court I don't know no wait you let me call him at home and I'll figure out where he is after he left a concerned message on the Sherry's answering machine hallat felt he'd better check on his friend personally I got the machine judge judge it's Pete they're looking for you in court is everything okay on his way out he asked his Junior partner Charles legere to ride with me I need some help so I figured we go together the two of us as they drove legere tried to make conversations perhaps concerned about the judge both of the Sherry's cars stood in the driveway hallat asked legere to go to the house while he asked the neighbor if she'd seen the couple as year rang the doorbell but no one answered he saw that the last two morning newspapers hadn't been picked up the neighbor told her that she hadn't seen the cherries for a couple of days which she thought was odd since both of their cars were in the driveway when legere tried the Sherry's door he found it unlocked something wasn't right yeah I was uh just knocking on him the door opened up valet concerned by the open door cautiously stepped inside a few steps in he made the gruesome Discovery judge Sherry had been gunned down in his own home oh I think what's wrong they called the police authorities arrived to find the body of Vincent Sherry at the front of the house in the back bedroom they discovered Margaret because the couple was so prominent the murder investigation became top priority detectives contacted the FBI's Biloxi field office though the FBI would not yet be officially involved they offered the use of their agents and forensic Laboratory foreign [Music] began scouring the crime scene for Clues they conducted blood spatter analysis to determine projectile angles if they could figure out where the murderer had stood when he fired the shots they might be able to reconstruct the crime inspector Robert Burris a crime technician with the Biloxi Police Department helped process the scene he discovered a possible clue in the den there was blood trailing from his feet actually going down between his legs a little ways back to where he was laying there was blood spatter on a double sliding glass door that was right Beyond his head and further examination in this room I found some small pieces of foam rubber Burris didn't see where the foam rubber could have come from the search of the house led him to one conclusion and this Farm Robert had to have been brought into the house We examined every piece of material in this house and every room of the house all pillows mattresses everything else there's no foam rubber tore up in this house it was brought into the house it does have gunshot residue on it and basically about the only way you can get there is for a bullet to be fired through it for Burris the significance of the foam rubber was obvious the killer had used a homemade silencer investigators dusted for fingerprints but found none of any value we found nine spent 22 caliber shell casings from a semi-automatic pistol as well as the bullets used to murder the Sherrys the position of the shells indicated that the shots had been fired in Rapid succession but most striking was how well the killer had covered his tracks nothing at the scene pointed to the Killer's identity he did his job well and his mission was clear the lack of evidence in this house such as items stolen a struggle occurring the absence of forced entry uh no ransacking going on in the house whatsoever a person came there for one thing that was to kill the two shares special agent Keith Bell from the Biloxi FBI field office agreed that this was a professional job the cherries had been assassinated and the crime scene appeared to be very limited as far as evidence remaining which meant it was well planned well executed and professionally done a small caliber weapon had been used the foam rubber indicated that perhaps a silencer had also been used and the Sherrys had been shot in the head so uh it seemed to be a very professional job a multi-agency task force was assembled with special agent Keith Bell among its members investigators would spend days processing the crime scene they grappled with a single question why had the Sherry's been murdered that was one of the main questions that being why were both judgiary and Margaret shearing murdered because it was fairly obvious that judge Sherry could have been killed during his morning or afternoon jogs around the neighborhood so it was a real mystery why Margaret had been killed investigators believe the answer might lie in the controversy over Biloxi's future some Civic leaders hope to transform the Sleepy southern town on Mississippi's Gulf Coast into a flashy Resort where casinos would attract tourist dollars [Music] but with strip clubs already established in town Margaret Cherry felt Biloxi's small town charms were threatened and the casinos would attract a criminal element [Music] candidate for mayor she had made powerful political enemies by trying to keep gambling out and Bell wondered if Margaret was killed to silence her protests Margaret had been so outspoken politically in the community she was known to be anti-gambling and if elected mayor in 1989 she had planned to close down the remaining strip clubs in Biloxi so there was always a possibility that she might have been the target rather than judge sharing [Music] the task force would investigate Margaret's political enemies but first they'd question the Sherry's friends and Neighbors someone in the neighborhood must have seen something but even people who'd known the Sherrys for years were reluctant to talk fearing the Specter of Biloxi's emerging criminal underworld the Sherry murders brought a dark cloud over the city of Biloxi many of the citizens in Biloxi were afraid to openly Express their opinions they saw that Margaret Sherry who had been quite vocal and quite outspoken in political circles had ended up dead has had her prominent husband judge Sherry so many citizens after these murders were hesitant even to be interviewed by FBI agents or by local police officers because they basically did not want their names tied into anything to do with his case if people wouldn't talk to the authorities perhaps they would talk to Linds posito the Sherry's daughter after being notified of her parents murders Lynn rushed to Biloxi from her home in North Carolina determined to find Justice she questioned everyone in the neighborhood one family friend gave her a crucial piece of information he described a suspicious car and driver in the neighborhood on the night of the murders [Music] she took the lead to the police they identified a man who had seen a suspicious Ford Fairmont driving in front of the Sherry home on Monday night September 14 1987. investigators tried to determine the identity of the driver based on the witness's description their search came up empty days later not far from the Sherry's home investigators found an abandoned car a Ford Fairmont a check on the vehicle's identification number showed it had been reported stolen the day before the murders police also learned that the tags on the car were not registered to the car realizing that this vehicle was probably the Killer's getaway car investigators toted to a police garage to examine it further somewhere in the car they hope to find a key to the Killer's identity less than a week after the brutal murders of the Luxy couple Vince and Margaret Sherry investigators received their first promising lead they recovered an abandoned car matching the one Witnesses described seeing the night of the murders after contacting agent Keith Bell about the discovery investigators processed the car for Clues inspector Robert Burris found something peculiar I was processing this vehicle and one of the things I noted the dome light had been dismantled and the ball taken out of it in other words if you open the door you ain't got no light both of the sun visors were in the down position whether you're riding around daytime or nighttime you ain't gonna be able to see the people's face any very well investigators believed more than ever that this was the car used by the Sherry's killer anything found inside it was labeled packaged and shipped to the FBI labs in Washington D.C thank you but FBI lab examiners would find nothing of evidentiary value after agent Bell arrived he examined the license tag more closely he discovered it had its own story to tell him it was determined that the tag owned the Ford Fairmont had been stolen from an abandoned vehicle in 1984 actually three years before these murders occurred so what it meant was someone had removed the license plate likely in 1984 had kept the license plate and then when this major crime in the city of Biloxi was to occur they pulled it off the shelf so to speak with no other solid evidence investigators hope that following the trail of the stolen tag might lead to the killer it was traced to an apartment complex where the original car had been abandoned three years earlier investigators contacted the apartment manager who told them that prior to having the vehicle towed he called a friend to come and strip it for parts foreign the manager's friend was a man that agents Knew by name and reputation Biloxi locksmith Lenny Sweatman he was the last person to be seen near the car swetland belonged to a Loosely organized group of criminals the FBI was investigating in connection with another case the group was known as the Dixie Mafia FBI agent Keith Bell had connected the car used in the Sherry killings to Lenny Sweatman now Bell wondered if the Dixie Mafia was linked to the Sherry murders [Music] if Sweatman had a part in it Bell believed that other Dixie mafia members couldn't be far behind he began looking into swetman's Associates what that meant to us immediately those of us familiar with the criminal associations on the coast was that if Lenny Sweatman was involved in getting the tag for the hit car then quite likely his close personal friend and longtime associate Mike gillich the strip club owner in Biloxi might also be involved in these murders I'm sorry sometimes you know how it is all right gillich who owned three strip clubs in Biloxi was well known to local law enforcement we got we're close he was currently under investigation by the FBI in connection with the Dixie Mafia operation known as the Lonely Heart scam but special agent Bell needed a thread that connected the two investigations together he started by familiarizing himself with a Lonely Heart scan it was run out of Angola prison in Louisiana by a man named Kirksey Nix the incarcerated Kingpin of the Dixie Mafia you know the first model Knicks would run ads in gay magazines asking for money to help fictional gay men get out of trouble with the law [Music] [Applause] through the scan Nix was hoping to generate enough money to solve his own legal problems he was serving a life sentence for murder [Music] from his jail cell at Angola he coordinated what we've been referring to as the homosexual scam which generated hundreds of thousands of dollars from individuals around the country and as well as some people in Canada uh with this money he intended to buy his way out or attempt to buy his way out of his Louisiana prison sentence believing that they were helping gay men out of trouble people who read the magazine ads would wire or mail money to a nearby Western Union Nix would then call his contact on the outside Mike gillich gillich would then dispatch his bag man to retrieve the money gillich made sure that the scam money was distributed to Dixie mafia members and safely stashed away for Kirksey Nix in the coming months investigators developed more evidence in the lonely heart scan but still had no direct link between these conspirators and the Sherry's killers [Music] a year into the investigation the murder case threatened to storm hi as the year stretched to 16 months the Sherry's daughter Lynn spezito grew increasingly frustrated in January in 1989 she hired a private investigator to rev up the inquest into her parents murder said he could make out the map and I'll give him a call and I'll be on this case this afternoon and the family had wanted very much to have a quick resolution to the case but by early 1989 there had still been no arrest and of course at this point the FBI had not formally entered the case [Music] official FBI involvement hampered Bell's investigation so when the private investigator paid him a visit Bell welcomed his assistance hoping they could share information the two were old acquaintances from the private investigators days in law enforcement since agent Bell was unable to act officially the private investigator would pursue a lead that looked promising he would interview another Angola inmate the private investigator and Bell hoped the inmated Angola could finally link the Lonely Heart scam and the Sherry murders [Music] he met with all the right people and because of his knowledge of the Dixie Mafia and from what he had learned from law enforcement authorities on the coast he did go over to Angola and did talk to the right person over there foreign the inmate's name was Bobby Joe Fabian he was another known member of the Dixie Mafia doing time for kidnapping and shooting a State Trooper Fabian claimed he had not been involved in the Sherry murders but he had learned that fellow inmate Kirksey Nix had been Fabian told the private investigator that Nixon had judge Sherry killed because Sherry had allegedly stolen money from nix's Lonely Heart scam that wasn't all he said Knicks had been told of the theft by none other than Pete hallat Sherry's former law partner a lot the man who had delivered the eulogy at the Sherry's funeral was now implicated in their murders palat officially represented Nix on legal matters but Fabian said hallat's role in The Lonely Heart scam was criminal not legal palat was one of the people receiving money from NYX for safe keeping through Mike gillich's Bag Man don't forget to pick up next week at the other place and the ties between the outlaw and the lawyer went deep Kirksey nix's girlfriend and accomplice larae sharp worked in hallat's office Fabian said both larae Sharpe and Pete hallat were stashing money from the scam in a safe deposit box for Kirksey Nix [Music] and he said the amount had reached six figures thanks to Fabian the link between the murders and the Lonely Heart scam had been made and not only had Fabian given investigators a possible motive for the killings he was also able to supply the name of the alleged Hitman an ex-con named John Ransom who was believed to be living in Georgia but tracking down Ransom would take time anytime law enforcement people get together and start talking about notorious Dixie mafia members John Ransom comes up quite early in the conversation he's a long time alleged Hitman for the Dixie Mafia in August of 1989 two years after the Sherry murders agent Bell now had enough evidence to Warrant a full FBI investigation into the killings accompanied by the Sherry's daughter Lynn sposito he approached the United States Attorney and the FBI with a demand to officially open the case so with the tying in of the scam to the murders we knew we had some federal violations involved we have wire fraud we had a mail fraud and we perhaps had a Hitman traveling from Georgia to Mississippi to kill the Sherrys it was decided to open an official FBI investigation and joined with local authorities in the investigation [Music] by now however suspect Pete hallat judge Sherry's former law partner had been elected mayor of Biloxi with a key suspect in such a high position investigators encountered new roadblocks I became very difficult for the FBI to share all of its information with the local authorities we are not saying that the local police were corrupt what we are saying is that mayor Alat put his own people in as director of Public Safety and as police chief so we were somewhat circumspect on what we we shared with local authorities during that time period in August of 1989 as investigators attempted to unravel the truth about the Sherry's murders informant Bobby Joe Fabian made a surprise move he told his story about the Sherry murders to the TV news Fabian hoped that by bringing attention to himself Kirksey Nix would be less likely to have him killed for cooperating with authorities I'm sorry Mr Grant along with the report the station broadcast a mug shot of John Ransom the alleged Hitman in the Sherry case when Charles legere Peter Latz Jr Partners saw the photo it surprised him he recalled seeing Ransom outside the Sherry hallat Law Offices the few weeks before the murders [Music] legier shared his information with the task force [Music] major Randy cook of the Harrison County Sheriff's Department took legere's statement legere said the reason he remembered Ransom was Ransom stepped off of a curve and came up to him and asked him where'd spent Sherry's office at one legere was interviewed Jimmy he recalled there was something unusual about the way Ransom stepped off of the Curve Ransom had a prosthesis on one leg [Music] investigators learned that Ransom was now in a Georgia prison serving time for another murder when questions about the Sherry murders he refused to cooperate as cook further questioned lazier about the day he and halat had found the bodies an important detail emerged legia remembered that halat had walked into the Sherry's living room judge Sherry's body and said Vince and Margaret are dead cook relayed this to agent Bell what was interesting was that Margaret's body was in the far back bedroom of the residence and according to Chuck legere Pete Alat did not have time other than to briefly enter the front of the house and would have no way of knowing that Margaret's body was also in the very back bedroom [Music] in October of 1989 two years after the murders agent Bell knew halat was involved but he still lacked enough evidence for an arrest even so he felt it was time to confront mayor hallat it would be a quiet warning man to man and I let mayor hallat know that I thought his knowledge of the Sherry murders was much greater than what he had shared with law enforcement authorities up to that point and I recall also telling him that the FBI would continue working on this case until it was totally solved [Music] my recollection is he smiled and did not have much else to say as a lawyer hallad knew Bell would need more concrete evidence in order to secure a conviction what he likely didn't realize was the depth of Bell's commitment to bring him to Justice years had passed since Judge Vincent Sherry and his wife Margaret were murdered in their Biloxi Mississippi home bi special agent Keith Bell had connected the killings to members of the Dixie Mafia and to judge Sherry's friend and one-time law partner Pete hallat the alleged triggerman John Ransom was refusing to talk in January of 1990 agent Bell and major Randy cook the Harrison County Sheriff's Department drove to the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary to question another possible accomplice this is special a man named Bill Rhodes roads a known associate of John Ransom was willing to cooperate he told them that in early 1987 Ransom had contacted him about driving the getaway car in a crime to take place in Southern Mississippi Ransom had said a judge would be murdered and that the pay was ten thousand dollars there were certain promises made in the roads that buy Ransom that I know certain people in Biloxi that if you'll help me on this and you'll have a run of Biloxi anytime you want it so in March of 1987 Rhodes went to Biloxi and met with Ransom and a man named Pete it was Pete who specifically asked Rhodes and Ransom to do the hit Road City also met with Mike gillex the Biloxi strip club owner who would Supply the money once the hit was done but five months later before they could do the job Rhodes was arrested on an unrelated bank robbery charge and Ransom got cold feet afraid roads would turn on him the information helped the case inch forward but agent Bell and officer cook still felt that Ransom held the missing pieces another year would pass without much progress in late 1990 the investigators went to the Bostic correctional institute in Georgia where Ransom was serving time finally Ransom agreed to talk he admitted that he delivered a 22 caliber pistol to larae Sharp Kirksey nix's girlfriend but Ransom insisted that he did not do the job based on what Ransom said the Ray's involvement was starting to look bigger than simply stashing scam money in a safe deposit box through his contact with sharp Nix learned that the investigation was heating up he worried that his girlfriend might talk so he tried to head off the problem by putting out a contract on her life but in late 1990 agent Bell arrested her for her participation in the murders inadvertently saving her from nix's gunman during a polygraph test sharp denied her involvement in the Lonely Heart scam and the Sherry murders but the machine called her Bluff when Bell and his team added her statements to their existing stacks of evidence they were ready to bring indictments against several key players Mike gillich John Ransom the ray sharp and Kirksey Nix were charged as conspirators in the Sherry murders notably missing from the list was Pete hallat what's up the case against talat would have to wait until they had enough evidence for a murder conviction for now the FBI would look to convict the others on conspiracy to commit murder so many of the questions came up why didn't y'all and die Pete hollette early on when he indicted everybody else well at the time we didn't have hard evidence that you would have to have to arrest a mayor and prosecuting the conspiracy trial produced several key witnesses that would help investigators piece together the complex scheme [Music] Robbie Gantz gillich's Bag Man for the Lonely Heart scam testified for the prosecution his testimony helped prosecutors link the Sherry murders to the scam all four defendants were found guilty Nix was given 15 years in addition to the life sentence he was already serving for murder gillich also received a 15-year prison term Ransom got 10 years and the ray sharp won with these conspirators Behind Bars and the Lonely Heart scam no longer operational Bell moved on to his next objective we decided not to end the Sherry investigation after the 1991 initial convictions because at that time we had not proven who had actually shot the Sherrys and also Pete hallat had not been indicted or convicted at that point and we all felt strongly that Pete hallat had played a major role in the scam and in the murder plot so we were determined to continue the investigation to see if we could get enough evidence to indict and convict Mr halat and the actual shooter in Late July of 1992 agent Bell got the break he was looking for following the conspiracy trial Mike gillich was desperate to find a way out of prison he contacted one of his associates in Biloxi and asked him to approach Robbie Gantt with an offer [Music] Gantt told agent Bell about it and the associate had offered Robbie Gantt twenty thousand dollars if Gantt would recant his testimony against gillich and sign a false affidavit stating that he had been threatened by me to testify against gillich to testify falsely against gillich Gantt agreed to wear a wire and get the offer from gillich's accomplice on tape [Music] Gantt met with him in Mississippi this time Gantz tape was rolling when gillich's associate reiterated the bribe can't accept it as bellad instructed thank you now Bell had the evidence he needed to turn up the heat on gilich just the man who could tell the story from the inside by 1993 six years after the double murder of Vince and Margaret Sherry FBI agent Keith Bell had put four members of the Dixie Mafia Behind Bars but he still had no formal murder convictions against those involved [Music] and mayor Pete hallat the suspected Mastermind of the case was still free and running the city of Biloxi in fact the year before mayor hallat had broken ground on the city's first big Casino the Press still hounded a lot about his involvement in the Sherry murders but he remained adamant about his innocence thank you Bell continued to work his plan he used the bribe Robert Gantt had recorded on tape to level another charge against Mike gillich already in jail now Bell indicted gillich for witness bribery and witness tampering for trying to buy off Gantt and that did the trick no doubt the most important turning point was in October of 1993 when Mike gillich finally decided to cooperate and tell the story of this whole case from an Insider's point of view and that's what really allowed us to bring final resolution to this investigation after the years of painstaking work Bell had spent on the case it was a satisfying moment finally it seemed his patience and Ingenuity were paying off gillich was in no hurry to accrue more jail time Bill's Relentless pressure had persuaded him to cut a deal before the bribery trial even began the Dixie Mafia member would tell what he knew about the murders maybe now Bell could get the convictions he knew were long overdue but for a career criminal like Mike gillich adjusting to life on the right side of the law wasn't easy at first he tried to Bluff his way out of course it always takes some time a period of weeks to develop some degree of trust and to be able to communicate with someone like this who for the first time has decided to leave his lifelong role as a criminal and start cooperating with the FBI when deception didn't work gillich had no alternative he had to tell the truth now for the first time Bell heard the story from an inside source gillits knew all the details Mike was the center point Mike knew Kirksey Nix Mike knew Pete hallat for years and in fact when Kirksey Nix was looking for an attorney over on the coast area to represent him on various matters Mike gillich introduced Nix into Pete hallat he confirmed that Pete hallat was indeed behind the plan to murder the Sherrys and that the plot grew directly out of the Lonely Heart scam of Angola Prison inmate Kirksey Nix some months before the Sherry's deaths hallat had closed the safe deposit box he and Nick's girlfriend larae sharp had access to effectively cutting off her access to the money he then transferred the money into a box only he and judge Sherry could use motivated by greed he stole one hundred thousand dollars cash from there as nix's trusted accomplice palette could blame the theft on Judge Sherry next he went to Mike gillich with news of the theft Mr gillich stated that Pete allad approached Mr gillich himself in late 1986 and told Mr gillich that much of the money was missing supposedly around a one hundred thousand dollars and Mr lat blamed judge Sherry for taking the money Mr lat knew that Kirksey Nix would be very Furious about this [Music] I'll take care it is not known who ordered Margaret's death but as a fierce opponent of corruption she posed a threat to the underworld forces hoping to control Biloxi with Margaret dead palat could be free to run the town Gillett said that he and halat planned the murders Ransom and Rhodes provided the murder weapon but when they passed on doing the hit found a replacement a texas-based petty criminal named Thomas Holcomb Holcomb would be paid twenty thousand dollars to murder judge Sherry and his wife gillich had also helped provide the car with the help of locksmith Lenny Sweatman [Music] thank you [Music] in October of 1996 agents arrested Hitman Thomas Holcomb in Texas on murder charges that same month also saw the arrest that agent Bell had anticipated and worked nine years to achieve [Music] the arrest of Pete hallat for the murders of the Sherrys [Music] Kirksey Nixon larae sharp were indicted on 52 counts including fraud money laundering and murder [Music] palette was tried and convicted in the summer of 1997 a full decade after the crimes were committed he was sentenced to 18 years in federal prison also tried and convicted were Kirksey Nix and Thomas Holcomb The Hitman both were sentenced to life the ray sharp Nick's girlfriend got five years I think a lot of citizens in Biloxi now realize that there are a lot of dedicated professional law enforcement people who will do everything they can to protect the community and work hard to solve Major Crimes perhaps the Legacy you might say of the case for the criminal element is that they realize after seeing this case that they can commit a crime one day and think they're getting away with it a year later but it could come back 10 years later and get them while the Sherry's killers were finally brought to Justice Margaret Sherry's dream of a Biloxi free of gambling was never realized instead Biloxi has become a resort Town filled with casinos and neon lights [Music] the Sleepy southern town is gone forever along with the woman who lost her life trying to save it [Music] New York City's Mafia an organization of brutal gangs to gain wealth and power members strong-armed businesses and kill anyone in their world [Music] John Gotti was one of organized crime's fiercest members he wanted to Rule New York City had to stop him [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] John Gotti was ambitious powerful and ruthless he rode with flash and conspicuous Style playing celebrity with the media and cat and mouse with the FBI they called John Gotti the Teflon Don serious charges just wouldn't stick I'm Jim calstrom former director of the FBI's New York office when John Gotti came to power in 1985 organized crime still had its tentacles spread into many legitimate businesses like a game of chess crime bosses were well insulated by layers of Pawns the FBI's job was to penetrate their defenses and capture the king [Music] New York is the home of organized crime in America through intimidation Terror and murder the five families that make up New York's Mafia have corrupted labor unions run extortion rackets and infiltrated almost every major industry in the city disputes among the crime families often erupt over who controls which Union or what industry his disputes are inevitably and violently resolved by the 1970s The Gambino family had emerged as the most violent and the most powerful crime family in the nation as that decade came to an end the FBI decided it was time to stop the mafia's reign of terror the bureau's New York office set up five squads assigned to investigate and bring down each criminal family special agent Bruce Mao was assigned to supervise the squad responsible for bringing down the Gambino family did the bureau realize that we really weren't addressing organized crime here in New York and so they formed a squads Target each particular crime family and try to address the organized problem here in New York so in 1980 we formed the squad and our Target was to put the Gambino family in jail the main targets of Mao's investigation were the leaders of the Gambino family the boss Paul Castellano and his underboss Neil de la Croce Castellano assumed leadership of the family in 1976 when Carlos Gambino the namesake of the family died of natural causes the FBI was also targeting the most powerful captains in the family like John Gotti the captain's controlled Crews of soldiers who carried out the day-to-day criminal activity for the family estellanos Crews would commit the actual crimes but Castellano himself did not catching him seemed impossible as the FBI soon learned the entire hierarchy of the Gambino family was well insulated the family Army consisted of over 50 captains who controlled over 300 soldiers it was a large and impenetrable secret society accessible to Outsiders only through the lenses of surveillance campus but Federal racketeering legislation was passed that made ordering criminal acts as much of a crime as committing the crime itself in order to successfully prosecute the hierarchy of the Gambino family the FBI had to secretly get them on tape discussing their criminal Enterprise Mao and his team would have to patiently methodically work their way into the intricate structure of the Gambino family it would take years to accomplish that good one agents tried to learn more by speaking to Residents in the neighborhoods where mob activity was prevalent my breakfast you're sure now yeah but take a look you might recognize one of these guys take a look take a good look take your time for people were willing to talk only those on the inside could tell agents who were the real power Brokers cooperating Witnesses and informants had to be developed betraying the mafia meant certain death informants would be difficult to come by but some were willing to take the risk most were low-level criminals cutting deals with the government to avoid prosecution and long prison sentences whatever their motivation they gave agents something they did not have before a back door into the gambino family's criminal operations Castellano ran the family like a major corporation [Music] nicknamed within the mafia as the pope he used unions to strengthen his grip on various Industries in New York foreign head of the FBI's New York office is an expert on organized crime one of the most influential things that the Gambino family did was the control of the labor unions in New York City they exerted it one time tremendous influence in terms of the longshoreman's Union in terms of construction industry trade unions and in terms of the teamsters and trucking by controlling the trade unions in New York City The Gambino family was able to control construction and certainly had a great influence in the Garmin Center and that generated tremendous amount of financial base to the family Castellano knew how to keep his interests under control castellan also realized how important it was to uh rule by fear and terrorists so we had several enforcement arms of the family he had a crew that was famous for uh killing people dismembering bodies and you know all sorts of Horrid things so even though castellana was known as the businessman's Don he was a tough guy he had a hair trigger and temper and he'd kill you at the drop of a hat getting to Castellano directly would be very difficult his home in Staten Island was a fortress under constant supervision by armed guards he had also installed a sophisticated alarm system agents had no solid evidence to suggest that Castellano conducted criminal business in his home [Music] such proof a court would never authorize an FBI bug or a phone wiretap inside the home [Music] agents hit the streets they hope to find one weak link to explore one person in the family who made himself vulnerable to electronic surveillance they learn through informants about a Gambino family crew headed by John guy that operated in Queens headboarded in a private social club called the Bergen hunt and fish Club a few of the FBI's well-placed informants were close to one of Gotti's lieutenants a man named Angelo lucerio though known on the streets is the most vicious gang in the Gambino family agents believe they found their weak Link in God is good and the reason we did was he had a lieutenant named Angela gerio who ran the day-to-day operations for Gotti and his crew and Angela was an attractive Target because number one he's very active involved a lot of criminal activity number two he had a big mouth he talked a lot he was a gossip and a blabbermouth Mao quickly established surveillance teams to identify record and log every person who entered the Bergen Club [Music] thank you agents learned that John Gotti and his crew made money for the family primarily through hijacking car thefts extortion and illegal gambling operations [Music] informants told agents that rugerio sometimes discussed family business on his daughter's phone he believed the line listed in her name to be free of FBI Brothers [Music] permission to wiretap private telephone is granted sparingly agents must convince a federal judge that the target is engaged in criminal activities and that the wiretap is likely to produce more evidence conversations are not of a criminal nature the wiretap must be turned off [Music] the informant statements were enough to convince a federal judge in late 1981 that Rosario's daughter's phone should be tapped [Music] Mao's Squad had found a way to Infiltrate The Gambino family [Music] the wiretapping of Rosario's phone proved to be one of the most successful wiretaps in FBI history yeah the conversation is overheard by the FBI were Damned but agents learned that Rosario also held meetings in his home with Gambino members Mao and his Squad had enough evidence to justify placing a microphone in rugerio's home [Music] agents slipped in installed the bugs in his dining room and left Without a Trace [Music] the success of the mafia has always been its ability to stay one step ahead of law enforcement what Mao and his Squad did not know was that a high-ranking police officer was on the gambino payroll though the mole didn't know specific details he leaked information to family members about ongoing investigations and electronic surveillance operations Angelo ruggerio became paranoid that his house was bugged searched the house himself but found nothing unconvinced he called in a professional to conduct a thorough search or sweep for bugs [Music] yeah I need someone to come tweet my house please rugerio ordered the sweep on the tap telephone and the FBI heard the conversation they knew they had a crisis 23 45 Richmond Street got a problem the phone tap inside the home was immediately turned off to avoid detection if discovered it would destroy weeks of diligent work and send the squad back to square one and there were no targets as talkative as rugeria okay the sweeper arrived with the most sophisticated electronic detection equipment available after two days of searching the house top to bottom he was ready to report his findings to rogerio two days after rugerio's house was searched for bugs agents arrested the man who conducted The Sweep of his house what they learned was indeed shocking charged rugerio thousands of dollars for his services but none of his detection equipment worked he had swindled the mob [Music] fortunately he had told rugerio his house was clean it was a lucky break for the FBI not only had their bugs not been discovered but now rugerio felt confident to speak freely in his house and he did so with abandonment right into the FBI microphones slowly the FBI was getting closer to the Gambino family hierarchy two agents the conversations were a gold mine as rugerio met with his mob Partners the FBI learned of a major heroin trafficking operation conducted by rugerio and John Gotti's younger brother Eugene over a six-month period Angelo and Eugene Gotti had distributed over 50 kilos of heroin in New York alone the FBI had every last detail on tape there was a mafia rule in effect that dealing drugs was strictly prohibited punishment for getting caught was execution no appeal no trial Rosario did not have the boss's permission to deal drugs and he knew the consequences good morning the government felt it had a strong case against gugerio and Eugene Gotti in September of 1983 they were charged with running a major heroin distribution Network and obstruction of justice though all of those indicted were part of John Gotti's crew his name was not mentioned in the taped conversations but with the indictment Castellano would soon find out that Gotti's men were doing drugs learning of the heroin operation however was not the only valuable piece of information learned by agents just prior to his heroin indictment gugerio would meet with other soldiers and discuss how he and John Gotti would go to Paul castellano's house every Sunday for a family meeting the natural give him a Blow by blow what happened in Paul's house the pope did this the pope at that he's mad at this guy everything's on the family we found out through Angela's big mouth and then next day other soldiers come over of course Angela to reconstruct what happened again so we found everything was happy in the Gambino family thanks to Andrew rugerio John Gotti and Paul Castellano based on the rogerio wire agents now had probable cause to bug the house of Gambino boss Paul Castellano getting into castellano's house took detailed planning and methodical execution agents managed to get inside the house and place the bugs soon after they began taping conversations that directly implicated Paul Castellano as the boss of the Gambino family the man who oversaw a multitude of illegal records that cost taxpayers millions of dollars each year Castellano would meet with his most trusted captains to discuss business and identified one of those captains as Sammy the bull gravon was both strong and aggressive he was a boxer and a bodybuilder he was also the family's top Enforcer gravano generated his money for the family in the construction industry he was Adept at a number of criminal activities but his most notorious skill was murdered [Music] as the FBI continued to investigate powerful captains in the family like John Goddard and Sammy the bull their sights remained focused on the boss in 1985 two years after rugeria was indicted Paul Castellano was arrested and charged along with other New York family bosses with dozens of federal racketeering and conspiracy violations out on bail Castellano continued to run the family though his attention seemed focused on how to beat the government's case against him John Gotti was also facing his own legal troubles an independent investigation led by the U.S attorney's Office ended with Gotti and his mentor under boss Neil de la Croce being charged with several counts of racketeering de la crocean Gotti were released on bail allowing them to continue their criminal operations [Music] months later de la Croce lay dying of cancer the FBI had bugged his bedroom [Music] visited and the FBI was listening they recorded Gotti talking about his fears that Castellano might kill him in rugeri for getting caught on tape discussing their drug dealings and for leading the FBI to castellano's house the boss wanted to hear the FBI tapes promised Gotti that he would do anything in his power to protect him like rocci's loyalty to godding is causing a rift in the family he was stalling the boss reluctant to turn the tapes over to Castellano The Gambino family was splitting in two [Music] then in early December of 1985 Neil de la Croce the gambino family's second in command died of cancer in his home on December 16th two weeks after delicroche's death Castellano and his new underpost Tommy belong pulled up to a fashionable Steakhouse in Midtown Manhattan to meet some Associates for dinner as they started to exit the car several men approached them and began firing Castellano and belotti never knew what hit them they were killed instantly when the boss of the family is assassinated the FBI believes that the person responsible is usually the one who steps up and assumes leadership of the family it was Mafia tradition to pay tribute to a new boss to show him respect two weeks after the murder agents watched a parade of high-level Gambino family members enter the Bergen hunt and fish Club they were meeting with John guy agent Mal and his Squad would have to restructure their attack on the gambino hierarchy John Gotti was the new boss of the family agents pieced together his criminal history and traced his rise to power John Gotti became a Gambino family associate around 1970. he impressed the boss in 1973 by killing a man who had kidnapped and murdered a relative of Carlos Gambino Gotti served two years for the hit before he was paroled upon his release he quickly gained respect within the family he began to make a great deal of money for the family through loan sharking and gambling operations in his neighborhood he became a hero of sorts throwing huge Fourth of July parties every year complete with fireplace special agent George Gabriel was assigned to Mao's Squad in 1985. quickly became an expert on John Gotti he took care of if there were old ladies that were in need if he had money in his pocket he'd give it out he was in in some respects a Robin Hood in his neighborhood and that's how he he carried himself but how did he make that money by killing by robbing by manipulating by bribing by controlling rackets that he didn't have a right to control and that's a side when when he didn't like you when you fell on the wrong side of John you died I mean there was no mercy you died there was no two ways about it Gotti was now the king he found himself in command of a multi-million dollar crime Network made up of scams he did not know existed he had a lot to learn with their bugs and surveillance special agent Gabriel and the rest of the FBI Squad learned right along with him John Gotti took over that family he had to learn what the rackets were and as he's learning them we're learning them Who's got what industries who's collecting from what unions he's asking captains to give him a list of all the soldiers in there and their Crews so he could know who he's got in his family and how many Gotti was the boss but he still had legal troubles six months after becoming the head of the family he was sent to jail to await trial on loan sharking and gambling charges jail didn't slow him down bro from his cell Gotti ordered a murder it was against Robert de Bernardo who had been a close associate of God the bernardo's assassination was set up by Angelo gugerio who was still awaiting trial for his 1983 drug indictment Angela is one of the few guys who's got access to John in jail and tells him that Robert de Bernardo is talking subversive behind John's back the boss is back he's saying that John isn't fit as the boss and we should appoint somebody else's the boss Angela wants this done because Angelo owns Robert de Bernardo a lot of money and he doesn't want to pay him back I was going over some of these uh contracts here public housing contract on Gandhi's behalf Rosario asked Sammy the bull gravano to set up the hit 5th 1986 D Bernardo showed up for a meeting at gravano's Construction office [Music] everyone greeted him as usual [Music] the Bernardo must have suspected nothing you know we got all those contracts he was shot in the head from behind [Applause] foreign his body was never found the FBI learned of his death through informants agents believed Gotti's crew was responsible for the murder but they needed proof in August of 96 two months after the de Bernardo hit Gotti went to trial for the gambling and Loan sharking charges filed two years before but Gotti had not been the primary target of that indictment the case was originally designed to bring down underbau's Neil de la Croce the case against Gotti was never that strong but an ambitious U.S attorney saw an opportunity to get a mob boss though the case did not involve Mao's Squad he sent George Gabriel to observe the trial during a break in the proceedings Gabriel came face to face with his adversary I introduced myself I told him George Gabriel with the FBI I work on Bruce Mouse Squad he says you tell him I'm going to be home in six weeks I'm going to beat this one I said right I'll deliver your message I said and if you do I'll be there to congratulate you because it'll be a good job on your part he says good I hope to see you on March 13 1987 Gotti was acquitted on all counts Gabriel made good on his prom ISE after the verdict Gabriel went to the Bergen hunt and fish Club in Queens where Gotti was having an acquittal party he congratulated guy to the press the public and to prosecutors John Gunn seemed untouchable out of jail John Gotti resumed his celebrity status around town he was seen at fine restaurants and glitzy nightclubs always immaculately dressed already he was known as the Dapper Don now with his acquittal he earned the title of the Teflon Don charges slid right off him to the media he was glorified as the underdog who took on and beat the government but now it was Mao's turn to make a case against Gotti I get upset when they glorify a guy like that to me he's just a common Thug a criminal he's a terrorist he doesn't believe in our government he doesn't believe in voting he doesn't believe in church he doesn't believe in family he's a mass murderer how can you glorify this guy or make him a role model for your kids it's very upsetting to me in order to make his case against Gotti Mao had to find out where he was conducting his business the FBI bugs planted at the Bergen hunt and fish Club had dried up since becoming boss Gotti wasn't spending as much time there quad leaned hard on informants to find out where God he held his high-level meetings it took eight months but in early 1988 they finally found Gotti's new headquarters Gotti turned the ravenite social club in Little Italy into his headquarters it was a symbolic gesture on Gotti's part that ravenite was his mentor Neil bellacoach's old Club here Gotti would meet with his captains to conduct family business agents rented an apartment down the street from the ravenite [Music] a high-powered camera was installed to record all those who came and went from the club in February of 1988 the FBI earned Court approval to bug the Rhythm with 30 or 40 people in the room deciphering conversations was difficult cassette tape recordings of white noise were always being played in the club hearing conversations through that was impossible okay but the FBI had to have John Gotti's orders on tape in order to charge him with running the Gambino family so far the bugs in the ravenite had not produced much evidence Gotti always suspected he was being listened to by the FBI and he found clever ways to avoid being overheard oh John Gotti was Notorious for going on what we described as a walk talk where he and the person he had to discuss something secretive not all my business is open to everybody in the mob there were times where a captain would have to speak with his boss John Gotti would take that person and they'd go outside going outside they're evading the possibility of a bug no matter what agents did it seemed the mob was anticipating their every move at times even taunting them [Music] and outside the ravenite they would bang on every van on the street and Whisper we know you're in there you get made all the time and you try your darndest not to but it happens and you just have to stay with it [Music] John Gotti ordered another hit out of range of the FBI bugs this time it was Louis malito a Gambino Soldier whose loyalty to Gotti was suspect was a threat to the family Administration since molito had been a close business associate of Paul Castellano and Tommy bilotti Sammy the bull agreed to oversee that he too had little use for molito Sammy felt he was trying to move in on the construction industry [Music] Melita was shot dead under gravano's supervision his body removed and never found FBI learned of the hit through informant rumors but again there was not enough hard evidence on Gotti to arrest him God he was ordering people killed right under the FBI's nose the cat and mouse game intensified and so did the pressure on the FBI to stop it from ordering more killings how new he was overlooking something got a must be talking about but the FBI didn't know where in December 1988 Bruce Mao decided it was time to shut down the wire and regroup it's very frustrating time because we knew we're so close so we had these guys on videotape we could see him coming and going we saw the walk talks around the street we were so close but yet so far away from achieving our goals the bugs were shut down but the FBI's Gambino Squad would not give up they developed a new informant who told them Gotti would sometimes be in deep conversation with one of his men in the ravenite then abruptly they would leave the table and go into a hallway behind the club usually they were gone for 10 or 15 minutes the meetings in the hall were no doubt incriminating ones and in a quiet hallway FBI bugs could pick up more of the conversations the squad quickly took advantage of the opportunity [Music] in October of 1989 agents bugged the hull [Music] they recorded Gotti meeting with several Gambino family members there [Music] the bug produced some evidence against Gotti but not the evidence they needed to put him away for life every God he had to be meeting his men in another location within the village somewhere where he felt comfortable and said okay okay in the fall of 1989 agents learned from informants about another location within a building that Gotti frequented Nettie cirelli was a widow her husband Michael had been caretaker of the ravenite club when he died she remained in the apartment they shared just two floors above the club it was believed that gotta used Mrs cirelli's apartment to talk about sensitive family business getting into Mrs cirelli's apartment undetected was going to be a problem she rarely left as the FBI's Special Operations Squad tried to figure a way in agents learned that Mrs cirelli would be leaving town for the Thanksgiving holiday foreign it was the opportunity they had been waiting for agents went to work sneaked into the apartment in the middle of the night and placed the books on November 30th 1989 the first conversation taped in Mrs cirelli's apartment came over the wires crisp and clear all participants talked freely they spoke directly using no code words or sign language like they often did when a bug presses for weeks agents listened in on the apartment conversations on December 12 1989 they got the biggest break they could ever have hoped for that day God and His underboss Frank locaccio met at the apartment in a rambling conversation Gotti left a trail of evidence that would later haunt him explained labor union rackets and other crimes and he talked about ordering the murders of several people the agents monitoring Gotti that night could barely believe their ears more shocking to agents was what they heard Gotti say about Sammy gravano for over an hour Gotti went on a verbal Rampage about Sammy he said gravana was getting greedy taking too big of a cut from the construction racket profits becoming too active in the family not respecting Gotti's Authority Gotti suggested that two murders that he himself had ordered were because Sammy was trying to protect his own interests according to Gotti Sami had suckered him into murdering di Bernardo and Milito it's very important conversation because during this long diatribe John confessed to two murders the Confessor ordered in the hit on Robert de Bernard only that's the order and they hit on Louis malito both he claimed that gravan was urging to have murdered he also talked about a third guy named Louis de Bono who was going to murder another partner of Sammy's John detailed also has control of different labor unions he also detailed how much money he's making from different illegal activities it was our Smoking Gun is the best tape of the entire electronic surveillance after recording a few more conversations the wire in the apartment was turned off in May of 1990. for Miles Gambino Squad all the years of patience had finally paid off they had the best evidence they could imagine and it was John Gotti himself over the next few months agents put together their case against Gotti the case against the Gambino family hierarchy which began a decade earlier was ready to come to a close on December 12 1990 exactly a year after Gotti's fateful conversation special agent George Gabriel and two others went to the ravenite Social Club their purpose was to arrest John Gotti Sammy gravano and Frank lucasio backup officers were close behind or so Gabriel thought when I went into the club to arrest them they would they had just ordered coffee and myself my partner and one of the police officers kind of accidentally went into the club ahead of the rest of the arrest team we were about a minute ahead of everybody so there we were in the classic you know we've got you surrounded and we're looking behind us and there was nobody there but there wasn't a problem everybody complied with what we asked for and either John or Sammy asked if they can have a cup of coffee and I said yeah go ahead we got plenty of time before we leave on his way to be booked Gotti asked agent Gabriel what he was charged with Gabriel ran down the list and told Gotti of the taped conversations especially in the hallway in the apartment at that God he fell quiet and a bail hearing a few days later the three defendants heard excerpts from the FBI's tapes they played a segment from the December 12th conversation Sammy gravano heard Gotti bashing his character for the first time in life John Gotti was embarrassed he was turning shades of blue and pink and trying to duck into the table Sammy was turning red you could tell me it's hotter than a firecracker and they kept looking at each other like what's going on here but that day planted the seeds for the first time in gravano's mind that he and God John Gotti can never co-exist and one had to kill the other if they ever got out of jail after hearing the tape ravano realized Gotti's defense strategy would be to blame him for the murders ravana was being set up as the Fall Guy on November 8 1991 gravano decided to cooperate with the FBI and tell them everything he knew about the Gambino family he filled in all of the details that were missing from the recordings about how he and Gotti committed crimes on behalf of the Gambino family and managed to stay one step ahead of law enforcement gravano arranged payoffs to jurors and a high-level police officer who had been supplying Gotti with classified information both the jurors and the corrupt officer were indicted and given jail sentences Gabriel finally learned why Gotti had been able to avoid successful prosecutions he's out there in everybody's face I beat the government they've got nothing on me reality was he bought the jury Sammy gravano paid a juror sixty thousand dollars to to throw that case and that's that's how he wins his case the question most in need of an answer concerned the Castellano assassination through gravano the FBI finally learned the truth the seeds for castellano's assassination were planted when Angelo ruggerio and Eugene Gotti were indicted in the heroin distribution ring in 1983. the prohibited operation could no longer be kept quiet from the boss Castellano learned that the government's case was based on FBI recordings of rugerio Castellano was Furious he wanted to hear the tapes for himself events began to snowball in 1984 the tapes were finally turned over the defense if the first time all the co-defendants and defense attorneys had all these days Evangel blevitt about heroin trafficking music castellano's House Commission meetings Etc et cetera so around 1984 Castellano being the Boston family asked rogerio for a copy of the tapes the tension between Gotti and Castellano was held in check by Della Croce but when Della Croce died the barriers were down [Music] a few days after Della Croce's death Castellano summoned his captains for a meeting Tommy Bellotti would replace Della Croce's underboss more ominously Castellano declared that Gotti's crew would be disbanded his men absorbed into other Crews Castellano had finally listened to the rugerio tapes they had given the government such a good case that after the trial there probably wouldn't be much of a gaudy crew anyway Gotti was Furious and he knew he was a Target [Music] it was grumbling among the ranks that Castellano was preoccupied with his legal problems and wasn't paying enough attention to the family some members thought he was pocketing too much money for himself not spreading it around among the soldiers and captains Gotti began to formulate his takeover he had Angelo muggerio approached three of the four other mafia families he wanted to know if they would look the other way if something would have happened to Castellano the family said they would not interfere Gotti carefully picked a few soldiers to help plan the hit in particular there was one Gambino member whose support would be crucial if the hit was going to succeed Rosario was sent to ask Sammy gravano if he would participate in the murder of castellone gravano agreed he was aware of the growing descent within the family he also knew that John Gotti was powerful enough to pull off the murder of the boss and when the other families agreed to stay out of the way Sammy knew the smart play was to back ghani Gotti put together a team of five Gambino family members to plan castellano's assassination they call themselves The Fist of five hitting the boss of the mafia's largest family was a formidable task the fist would have to find Castellano away from his loyalists and they knew that castellana was under constant law enforcement scrutiny he must be hit some place where the FBI was not apt to be following him their best opportunity came in mid-December 1985. Castellano had asked five of his captains to meet him for dinner at Sparks Steakhouse in Midtown Manhattan but one of the captains was a member of the Fist the night before the planned hit the fist convened at a Construction office used by ravana [Music] four Shooters have been hired two for Castellano and two for his driver and underboss Tommy Bellotti the murders had been meticulously on December 16th the team gathered in a park about a mile from Sparks four Shooters dressed alike in Black Russian hats and light-colored trench coats if seen by Witnesses they were more likely to be remembered for what they wore rather than their faces the primary shooters were to pair off just outside Sparks Angelo Rosario was one of four backups who would block all avenues of Escape [Music] Guardian gravano would observe from down from down the street in that Park Ed ready to shoot if necessary if something went wrong if they missed on the street they were to move into Sparks firing until Castellano and bilotti were killed no matter who got in the way Castellano and belotti had to die it's dusk when God and gravano headed towards spark Steakhouse the shooters took their places got in gravano soon found their vantage point a parking space at an intersection down the street from the restaurant they waited in the car castellana was late perhaps he'd been tipped off about the plot on his life in the middle of a conversation with Gotti gravano suddenly looked to his left and panicked at what he saw it was a black Lincoln with belotti at the wheel and Castellano beside him for one moment ravano and Gotti thought they would be seen but the light changed and the car moved on [Applause] it it was time as bilotti pulled the car to the curb the Assassins advanced foreign Castellano and Tommy belotti lay outside the car each shot by six points according to gravano Gotti eased the car into the street and passed the body sprawled on the pavement he had to be sure Castellano was dead gravano's detailed account finally put an end to the speculating [Music] as part of his plea bargain ravano testified against his former boss he admitted to his role in 19 mob-related murders he served five years in prison and voluntarily entered the witness protection program on April 2nd 1992 John Gotti was convicted of five murders including Paul Castellanos and Tommy villages he also was found guilty of other crimes Under the Umbrella of obstruction of justice and racketeering they included bribery of a police officer jury 10 gambling bookmaking tax evasion and attempted murder John Gotti lived out his life in federal custody stripped to his audience his expensive suits and his flamboyant style he died in a prison hospital on June 10 2002. the FBI cracked down on organized crime is working Luis chileo head of the New York office is optimistic about New York's future people today I think can can build a building in New York City without being shaken down by a cousin Oster family I think a restaurant in New York City could have their garbage picked up without fearing that they will be shaken down if they don't pick a particular Carter people today can compete on the Fulton Fish Market without the necessity of paying off one of the particular New York crime families so we've come a long way there is certainly a lot of things that left to be done but but I think people generally in New York City certainly are starting to feel the effects of this effort the battle rages on in New York City Lafayette families continue to plunder continue to kill but because of the ceaseless efforts of the FBI the people of New York are beginning to feel relief as more and more Mobsters like John Gotti are taken off the streets [Music] for 30 years Vincent gigatti wandered the streets of New York's Greenwich Village dressed in a tatted bathrobe and babbling endlessly to himself to the FBI he was believed to be the boss of New York's most powerful Mafia organization the Genovese crime family was giganti crazy or was his behavior a shrewd attempt to disguise his position as a ruthless muffled boss that question would take years to answer [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] every family has eccentrics even crime families Crime Boss Vincent giganti head of New York's Genovese family was undoubtedly eccentric the question remained was he truly mad just as rested on the answer outwardly he roamed the streets as a doggly old man barely in touch with the reality but in the eyes of the law he was a cunning conspirator and responsible for murder I'm Jim calstrom former director of the FBI's New York office organized crime takes a concerted effort to crack the FBI is devoted to cracking it the case against gigandi hinged on his ability to stand trial was a strange Behavior an act of Madness or a stroke of Genius anyone who witnessed giganti's ravings would have found it hard to believe that he controlled the largest and most profitable family in the New York mafia an organization with a long and bloody history the origins of the mafia can be traced back to 13th century feudal Sicilian Society bands of Sicilian families organize themselves to rebel against the oppressive and ruthless French Invaders Mafia the acronym for the Italian morta a la Francia Italia anela which translates to death to the French's Italy's cry became the name that these organized families used to refer to themselves its meaning synonymous with Men of Honor by the 19th century the mafia re-emerged in Sicily as a purely criminal culture mostly hiring themselves out to wealthy landowners to oppress upstart peasants more and more the goal of the mafia became focused on how to generate illegal profits [Music] the tradition continued as waves of Italians emigrated to New York in the 1920s most immigrants lived in Crafton or as a result of growing ethnic tensions Sicilian Americans became the target of growing resentments they needed Mafia protection more and more Louis chilero a third generation Italian-American is head of the FBI's New York field office a 23-year veteran he is an expert on the mafia and its intricate structure when they first became prevalent in New York City it primarily victimized members of The Immigrant Community where in in lower Manhattan they became the victims of extortions and protection rackets and that's how the the cousin Oster families originally got their start with prohibition influence of the crime families grew out from the isolated neighborhoods and began to spread Nationwide a new form of Underworld cooperation emerged various crime families Across America banded together to supply illegal alcohol to a country willing to pay for it I think that probably more than anything gave the Italian gangs the Italian kozanoster families a foothold in American society not only from an organizational standpoint but certainly from a financial base a sense prohibition certainly they then expanded into other areas operating outside the law meant the mafia had to police itself for an organization animated by self-interest and group there would always be conflict in opposition an elite group of killers were organized to enforce Mafia rules thereby ensuring it survival this group of mob and forces came to be known as Murder Inc the early 1940s Murder Inc would be responsible for hundreds of mob-related murders Nationwide the powerful New York bosses during the mafia's early years Lucky Luciano and Frank Costello set up a ruling body for the mafia responsible for delegating territories and duties among the various gangs Nationwide home for America's five largest families New York remained the center of the mafia's expanding foothold in America it remained so to this day the five New York families consist currently of the Gambino family the manano the Lucchesi the Colombo and the Genovese family each of those families are also members of the commission and also have their base in New York City the commission composed of the bosses of the five New York families acts as a criminal board of directors settling disputes between families and making major decisions on Mafia business each family is governed by its Administration comprised of the boss the underboss and the consigliere or counselor who are responsible for directing their families criminal activity below the administration in the family hierarchy are the captains the captains are the leaders of Crews of soldiers the men responsible for carrying out the day-to-day criminal activity to become a soldier properly known as a wise guy or good fella an individual has to First be made or officially inducted into the secret society he must blindly obey the rules of casanostra Italian for this thing of ours he is sworn to put the family ahead of all else if he is asked to kill he must Faithfully do so [Music] it was against this backdrop a bustling immigrant Community with an expanding casanoster influence that Vincent giganti grew up his parents came from Naples and settled in lower Manhattan Vincent finished eighth grade and started trade school but soon dropped out less than a decade later giganti became a wise guy in the Genovese crime family Vincent giganti's crime career spanned a turbulent time in American Mafia history [Music] the mob had expanded its reach into legitimate businesses the various families fighting to control and in the ensuing turf wars violence was often the final arbiter family the giganti attached himself to was steeped in kosanostra's American Origins the infamous Charles Lucky Luciano responsible for organizing and structuring the American Mafia was the family's first boss until he was imprisoned in 1936. as a result Luciano's family Administration Frank Costello nicknamed the prime minister of the underworld and veto Genovese fought for control of the family Costello won out but Vito Genovese began plotting his takeover a young Vincent giganti first gained notoriety as a mobster in 1957 when he attempted to murder Frank Costello within the mafia it was widely believed that veto Genovese had ordered the hit to get rid of his rifle giganti's bullet only grazed Costello's head but apparently Costello got the message soon after the shooting he put out word that he was retiring Vito Genovese was now the boss of the family that would take his name giganti was arrested for attempted murder and brought to trial but the case was dismissed for lack of a witness [Music] the location and angle of Costello's wound indicated he probably saw the would-be Assassin but at the trial he failed to identify giganti as the shooter even for an ousted boss the oath of secrecy remains sacred [Music] giganti continued to make money for the Genovese family through illegal Enterprises two years after the failed assassination attempt he was arrested and convicted of Narcotics violations he received a seven-year sentence convicted Mobsters are expected to do their time to remain silent if jigadi served his time and kept his mouth shut he would be rewarded after his release it was up to giganti to figure out how to avoid future arrests he was a model prisoner neat polite and willing to take on any job giganti's cooperation was so impressive that some prison officials wrote blowing reports released early from the federal penitentiary in Lewisburg for good behavior when he was 35 years old giganti now devised a secret plan that he hoped would prevent his return to prison forever [Music] he didn't want to leave his Mafia life or give up his shot at becoming the boss of the family after his release in 1964 giganti's public Behavior began to grow bizarre he became a frequent site on the streets of Greenwich Village giganti could be found wandering the neighborhood appearing disoriented and mentally unstable not long after he left prison giganti learned of a police investigation over his association with known mobsters in 1969 he was indicted for attempting to bribe New Jersey police officers allegedly he offered them money in exchange for information about surveillance and ongoing investigations in the Genovese family now at almost 40 years old he returned to his mental disability as a foil and checked himself into a psychiatric hospital for the first time to support his storage again his relatives began to revise his medical history while giganti was at Lewisburg his mother had been required to fill out a detailed family history she said Vincent was a healthy happy child she noted only a speech impediment and a slight heart murmur he had been a boxer but never had a serious injury by the time of the 1969 indictment however giganti's lawyers claimed he was not competent to stand trial his family suddenly remembered a host of mental problems he'd been given to severe temper tantrums he had a phobia for the dark he had been truant from school he was at one time obese and had learning problems the incompetency argument worked giganti never stood trial for the 1969 bribery charges that same Year giganti's boss Vito Genovese died of heart failure while serving a prison sentence for Narcotics trafficking in the decade that followed the Genovese family was so secretive that for law enforcement it was difficult to tell exactly who the boss was even had the FBI been able to identify the Genovese family leadership making a case against them was another story Witnesses were hard to come by Mobsters who violated the sacred oath faced certain death the best the FBI could do was to go after individual crimes there were no laws that focused on bringing down the entire criminal family as giganti was moving up in the family the federal government was about to make the FBI's job a little easier in 1970 Congress passed the racketeer influences and corrupt organization act better known as the Rico laws but the racketeering law allowed us to do was to look at the family as a criminal Enterprise and to attack the family as a criminal act that became much more effective you if you look back from the mid 70s to the 80s in terms of actually indicting the entire family in the entire hierarchy of that family the Rico laws require that the government proved that mafia families are essentially criminal Enterprises they must show that the crimes committed by the boss and members of his family are committed to either expand the criminal Enterprise or to increase a family member's position within that Enterprise basket on the sixth day yeah he will to successfully bring down a family the government has to prove that any one of several criminal acts ranging from racketeering and extortion to murder has been committed By 1979 now armed with Federal legislation aimed directly at organized crime the FBI had devoted teams to exclusively Focus investigations on the five major families the FBI's Genovese Squad finally learned that Vincent giganti was on a fast track with the family special agent Richard Rudolph had been assigned to investigate the Genovese crime family through informants and other law enforcement agencies who are exchanging information we became aware that Mr giganti was a individual which with much respect in the Genovese crime family and operated out of an area in Lowell Manhattan because he was a an up-and-coming person with a lot of respect within the family we began to do some surveillances of Mr giganti with the FBI continuing to build its Arsenal against organized crime giganti's cat and mouse game intensified he stepped up his public show of mental disorder in the late 70s and into the 80s he was admitted five more times for psychiatric treatment the FBI continued to keep tabs on giganti agents learned that he frequented the triangle Social Club A Gathering Place for Genovese crime figures he could be found there almost on a daily basis he lived in the neighborhood he was an individual that could be found there in the late afternoons and into the early hours of the morning and people would come to see him as opposed to him going to see other people though giganti's Association in the Genovese family seemed certain to investigators giganti's family and doctors continuously told investigators that he led a very narrow existence they said his whole world was confined to the block where he lived and the church he attended with his mother he was barely functional at home and could not care for himself they said but with every passing day the FBI and New York police were seeing a very different Vincent giganti foreign in the early 1980s the mafia in the Northeast went through a particularly tumultuous time with several killings internal disputes within the family resulted in a string of assassinations the FBI suspected giganti was responsible for these Gangland executions especially those intended as punishment for breaking casinostra rules giganti was known to be a traditionalist he wanted the rules obeyed and when they were broken retribution is sure to follow [Music] it started with the murder of Philadelphia Crime Boss Angelo Bruno although Bruno's family was well outside New York All Families answered to the members of the commission giganti was upset because Bruno had been assassinated by his own men in a grab for control of the family a Casa Nostra rule had been violated no one can kill a boss unless the commission sanctions it and they seldom do it was rumored that Uganda himself launched an investigation into Bruno's murder retribution was Swift less than a month later Tony bananas caponegro identified as one of Bruno's assassins was found dead he had been shot 15 times and stabbed in the back his body was stuffed in a trunk and 20 bills were littered around his body a clear message that he was killed for his greed on the same day another body was discovered this time it was Fred Salerno dead of gunshot wounds dumped in a vacant lot he too had allegedly participated in Bruno's murder [Music] Phil Testa had taken Angelo Bruno's place as boss his Reign was short almost a year after Bruno's execution Tessa was blown up entering his own home [Music] another boss killed without the blessing of the commission another avenging act would follow [Music] Rocco marinucci was next found dead with fireworks stuffed in his mouth [Music] a gesture designed to show that he was killed for the way in which he had killed testing what up if the Casa Nostra was to flourish all of its members had to comply with its rules there were no exceptions giganti was believed to have ordered the murder of one of his own crime family members Genovese Soldier Jerry Pappa had murdered two Colombo family members without permission as punishment for his unsanctioned ACT he was brutally shot and killed by members of his own criminal family foreign become the enforcer for the Northeast Casa Nostra informers within the mob told federal agents that all of these killings had been ordered by giganti but information given by admitted criminals is always a problem for potential juries criminals will say anything if their cooperation can be traded for a reduced prison sentence the FBI needed more than the words of criminals looking for a deal jigati knew this and he protected himself accordingly it seemed the jigati was now the boss the FBI began a more focused surveillance effort on gigantia they learned that the Genovese family had also infiltrated several of New York's major industries the Garment trade Trucking garbage collection Airport cargo handling and the city's Seafood industry Vincent gigatti was known on the streets as the chin an abbreviation of chinzino little Vincent fearing FBI surveillance and wiretaps family members were not allowed to speak his name they were to refer to him with hand signals touching their chins to communicate his nickname Bringing Down the chin was going to take every bit of know-how that the FBI could muster they were going to have to create their own luck as a surveillance team member watched one day a telling crack in the Chin's ruse appeared the seemingly frail man was being helped across a busy Street when oncoming traffic threatened he became suddenly animated racing to safety his helplessness somehow overtook him again on the other side clearly there were two gigantes the mentally troubled one displayed to the public and the determined boss of the Genovese Administration the FBI would soon learn of a third [Music] giganti's ex-wife and their five children lived in New Jersey while he maintained a relationship with his long-standing companion Olympia Esposito thank you he usually called on her late at night looking quite Dapper before he was aware of the surveillance [Music] we learned that he frequently visited a townhouse which is located up on 77th Street and the east side of Manhattan where we later learned that a common law he was living with his common-law wife and he had been married previously and this was his second family there at this residence soon the FBI knew all of the Chin's Hangouts this gave surveillance teams an opportunity to observe giganti without his knowledge a major break came when NYPD organized crime Task Force member Detective Tom Bruno was able to Snap photos of some of giganti's activities in 1984 I was assigned to a joint organized crime task force that task was consisted of FBI agents and New York City police officers detectives and we were assigned to investigate the Genovese crime family then the next step was to go to Sullivan Street where shinjukanti lived his apartment was above a pet store alleged pet store and he also had a social club on the Block and when you'd go by the social club you'd see numerous people that were in the photos and you'd see them standing in front of going inside and then sometimes crossing the street going to uh the pet store which was where the chin We Believe met people uh pet store really never had any kind of business that we could see it had a little cat box in the window and basically that was it more and more giganti was seen acting normally when he was unaware he was being watched I see shinjukanti and I see Andrew giganti which is his son come out of his residence and I'm just minding my business walking up the block uh Andrew leaves to get in his car and Chin is standing on the corner and he wasn't helped out of his building and he was standing on the corner Andrew gets in his car pulls out as he pulls out there's a car coming up Sullivan Street it blows the Horn uh chin giganti yells hey what are you in a rush as he does this I come into the lighted area he looks sees me and all of a sudden his head goes down and he plays uh the sick point [Music] another break followed detective Bruno's surveillance successes FBI managed to rent an apartment close to the townhouse of giganti's companion Ms Esposito an agent would exit through a back door in the rented apartment position himself about 50 feet from music from there miss Esposito and giganti could be seen from time to time an agent watched the couple for four months between midnight and assistant U.S attorney Andrew Weissman who later would have to prove Jimmy's competency to stand trial was delighted with the agent's observations and lo and behold when he was inside in a place where he didn't think he was being observed he did all the normal things that any of us would do a matter of fact what was unusual about those surveillances was that there was nothing unusual about him he was normal he was talking to people he was counting money he never wore a shoddy bathroom indeed the only time he was seen in a bathrobe was not surprisingly when he got out of the shower he would wear a nice fluffy Brooks Brothers type bathrobe which was not at all like the bathrobe that he would wear when he was on the street so it became pretty obvious to the people conducting the surveillance that he was engaging in a concerted effort to give an appearance to the public that was false that was not the way he behaved in real life investigators continued to watch giganti's bizarre public Behavior but photos themselves are only a single link improving criminal activity investigators needed hard evidence to corroborate what the photos were suggesting the giganti was in fact the boss one wiretap conversation between Genovese crew members gave investigators more proof of giganti's position in the family on the tapes known Genovese members were complaining about the chin assistant U.S attorney George stambulitis reviewed these tapes to help prepare a case against giganti he's constantly nitpicking his men trying to always with a million questions drilling them and questioning them on what they're involved in he's always looking to get money from them or money from some of the schemes and how he earned and how much money he would make from the gambling operations at the triangle social club and things like that while giganti micromanage the internal affairs of his family the tabloids began calling him the odd father he would check himself into a hospital once a year for what his colleagues in the mafia sarcastically referred to as tune-ups so that he would have a paper trail showing that he had some or giving the impression that he had some mental condition and with the assistance of people around him and people in his family he was able to cultivate this paper trail giving the impression to anyone who looked at the cold medical records that here's someone who year in year out was being treated for some form of mental illness she get he knew how to protect himself both publicly and privately Mr giganti was very clever in how he conducted business and he limited his contacts with with members of the family if there were messages or uh or items to be discussed regarding illegal activities conducted by the Genovese family there would be messages passed on to people immediately surrounding him access to him was very limited if the other family wanted to meet with him more than likely they would have to send a message giganti avoided the normal sit-downs or more formal meetings held regularly by other family bosses he would take meetings when businesses demanded his attention he and his visitors would stroll the sidewalks through the neighborhood ensuring that surveillance wiretaps would not pick up any incriminating conversations the always careful giganti also suspected Ms Esposito's phone was tapped and it was he never taught business on the phone he would simply use a pay phone or make arrangements to talk elsewhere FBI would not be able to use the Chin's own words to make a case against him other Mobsters were not as smart sophisticated bugging operations were allowing the FBI to capture a multitude of other mob business on tape in early 1985 the justice department was bearing down hard on a number of high-level organized crime figures most were being charged under the RICO Act though Rico had been around since the early 70s it was only now receiving its first real test two of giganti's men had gotten wind that the bosses of the gambino and lucasi families would soon be arrested they wondered if the chin was vulnerable [Music] one commented that if he gets pinched all those years in the Asylum would be for nothing on February 19th the arrests of several crime family bosses were made the next day Vincent giganti checked himself into the hospital and stayed a week successfully avoided the indictment against the New York bosses among those arrested was Paul castellan head of the gambino crime family prosecutors never brought him to trial he was killed before they had the chance by casanostra standards the unsanctioned murders of Gambino boss Paul Castellano and his underbossed Tommy Bellotti were unpardonable although John Gotti a captain in the Gambino family acted shocked at castellano's death it was widely believed that he was responsible within two weeks of the murders Gotti had publicly taken over his boss [Music] Vincent giganti issued a subtle warning to guy without mentioning names he told Gotti that the murderer would have to pay it took two years but in 1987 giganti acted to avenge the murder of his friend and partner in mob business through his counselor Bobby Manna and some lucasi family members giganti plotted to have Gotti killed the planning session at a New Jersey restaurant was bugged and because it was the FBI saved John Gotti's life if agents intercept information of a murder plot they are required by law to try to prevent The Killing So based on the tape agents warned Gotti acting on the FBI warning John Gotti changed his plans on the day the murder was to take place because he was not where he was expected the murder plot failed giganti however did not give up he asked vicamuso acting boss of the Lucchesi family to supervise another hit it was up to amuso and his men to work out the details and that was to have amuso reach out to Al diarko one of his trusted men just as Mana was one of gigante's trusted men and have diarco use his contacts in other parts of the country to acquire a remote controlled bomb but Gotti was arrested and imprisoned before the second plot could be carried out he died of cancer while serving a life sentence for racketeering involving extortion and murder including Castellanos meanwhile the FBI had chinsmen on tape conspiring the murder as the FBI's investigation into Genovese family operations continued information about a corrupt construction scheme was coming to light they learned that for years much of the Genovese family income came from one segment of the construction industry the window business the family had managed to keep its hold on window replacement jobs for all of New York City's public housing projects we learned that um at that time there was a an enormous amount of money being put into refurbishing some of the New York City Housing Authority Windows there was a an energy crisis underway and the timing of this was ideal for the organized crime people become more active in it what we learned was that the Genovese family along with two or three other families were becoming involved in companies that were bidding and installing the windows in some of these housing projects from the late 1970s up until the late 1980s there was approximately 190 million dollars worth of contracts given out by the city of New York for the window replacement industry it was classic mob business and a textbook example of racketeering the Mafia took over an industry to the exclusion of legitimate businesses Union officials were corrupted in this case Iron Workers Local 580 bids were rigged and companies or workers trying to play by the rules lost out for years the Lucasian Genovese families operated their construction schemes autonomously by the early 80s they realized that a partnership would be much more profitable by this time the Lucchesi family had a firm hold on local 580 and the Genovese family had corrupted several contractors they cooperated because it meant more business by using the local 580 as a tool they were able to exclude several contractors from coming in and bidding on some of these projects and in essence created a somewhat of a monopoly for themselves on nearly all City Housing Authority work and on much of the new construction for the city the Genovese contractors and installers paid two dollars a window a dollar went to the lucasi Family 25 cents to The Collector and 75 cents to the boss for the family's role in handling the Union the other dollar went to the Crooked Union officials who looked the other way as Jobs went to non-union workers foreign to cooperate often carried a penalty of violence in the late 80s a carpenter's union delegate had both of his legs broken by Genovese men for refusing to cooperate though he maintained that he was unable to get a good look at his attackers [Music] and in 1992 a delegate from local 580 was shot and killed coming out of his house on Long Island over a disagreement with his casanoster contracts [Music] Casey and Genovese family Arrangement was working very smoothly that is until Peter Savino was persuaded to wear a wire Savina was a Genovese soldier in point man for the window racket and we built a case on him a murder case on him and it was sufficiently compelling that he realized like many of these people that he didn't want to die in jail so what'd he do he decided to cooperate and for an 18-month period made tape recordings of people in the Genovese family and people in the Casey family operating this scheme Vincent giganti didn't realize Peter Savino was turning on him he was happy with Savino's work and satisfied with the window scheme's progression Savino kept track of the money he managed the contracts he supervised the bits he arranged the payoffs [Music] the boss was happy but some Genovese family members began to suspect Savino when bodies were found in the basement of a building he owned Genovese members were surprised that he was never seriously investigated by law enforcement how much are your people going to cost me as a result of that people speculated well Savino wasn't arrested yet these bodies were found in a building that's tied to him maybe he's cooperating but nobody was really sure Savino was a cash cow for Vincent giganti he was bringing in hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Genovese family every month so in giganti was told of savina's betrayal he chose not to believe it and initially refused to order and killed Savino continued to wear the wire trying to get other family members to acknowledge chin and his position as boss of the family giganti's troops however could never be persuaded to break the boss's rule about not mentioning his name remember uniseal Vincent said when it came time okay he he had said to go out and bid the work it was don't mention that name how can you talk like that that was pretty damning proof um even though it didn't give you a specific crime it told you that this was a man to be feared it was hardly somebody who was incompetent shortly thereafter it came to giganti's attention that Savina was in fact cooperating furious at this betrayal giganti ordered the murder of Peter Savino [Music] by that time the FBI had relocated Savino well out of Genovese family reach but not before he supplied agents with thousands of hours of tape conversations Mr Savino was also um in a position to provide us with the historical aspects of how this scheme developed his relationship with the leaders of both the lucasi and Genovese crime family and what their participation was in this thing Mr Savino also was able to tell us how the various members of all of these families interacted with local 580 which was used again as the tool to make the scheme work the FBI was successfully employing the Rico laws to bring down New York's most powerful bosses as a result high-ranking family members saw that their only way to avoid long prison terms was to cooperate among them were Gambino family underboss Salvador Sammy the bull gravano only arrested and charged under the Rico laws with ordering six people murdered conspiring to kill three others and at least 24 counts of racketeering in short giganti was charged with being the boss of the Genovese crime family but giganti still had his mental illness history to fall back on Gigante was indicted in in May of 1990 and his second indictment was filed against him in June of 1993. Mr the case against Mr Gigante was unusual that it spanned uh several years before it actually went to trial he eventually went to trial in June of 1997. during that period of time the issue was that was before the courts was that whether he was competent to stand trial or not that issue was finally resolved in in 1996. seven years after his arrest a federal district judge declared Vincent giganti competent to stand trial Vincent the chin giganti was 69 years old when a jury convicted him of conspiring to kill three Mafia figures including Guardian Savino he was also found guilty of extortion and Union payoff conspiracies in the window replacement scheme but jurors failed to convict him on charges of directly ordering six murders now that you Gotti was convicted his defense lawyers argued that he was not fit to be sentenced they claimed he was too old too Frey and too mentally incompetent to understand the punishment [Music] while awaiting sentencing giganti was confined to a prison hospital and examined by several doctors giganti was given several pet scans a procedure that uses a radioactive tracer to measure brain chemistry [Music] a 1991 scan first read as normal was later found to be too flawed to use in diagnosis a 1993 scan did show some abnormalities but at least one expert Dr Jonathan Brody judged these abnormalities as not consistent with dementia Dr Brody is an attending psychiatrist at New York's Bellevue Hospital and a professor at New York University School of Medicine he also conducts research on schizophrenia Mr giganti at the time of the scan was purportedly taking medication that affects the brain and because it affects the brain it affects brain chemistry and brain chemistry is what a pet scan is all about is taking an [Music] anti-sleeping pills so Dr Brody was skeptical about the Pet Scan but had yet to examine the patient when the three of us entered the the observation room the examining room where he was then brought I was struck at first by his appearance which I said made me think oh my God he really is sick that I've missed the boat he's really very sick he came in wearing a bathrobe he was shuffling he was mumbling he was making allusions to God but as the examination progressed some of giganti's actions began to raise doubts but one of the things that really struck me was uh that I didn't note at the time but I noted a few seconds later was when I put out my hand for him to shake it he didn't shake it and that's a very automatic Behavior you put your your hand on your worst enemy can put his hand out to you and you tend to take it when giganti was asked the names of his children he didn't know when he was asked where he lived he didn't know and yet these are things that people tend not to forget you know the brain in a dementia tends to work on the process of accounting the last thing first out so recent memory tends to be lost but that's why people who are very demented can often remember very well events from long ago even if they can't remember recent events while he was not consistent on that indeed he was asked the question about who the president of the United States was which is a standard question on a psychiatric mental status evaluation and he scratched his head and he looked perplexed and he said um I should know that I really I should know that answer it's in there somewhere um and some more questions were asked I really should know that and then finally he said bush George Bush and I sat there and thought Oh he remembered the question what was striking was not that the answer was incorrect what was striking was that the question was remembered despite all of the interfering questions and there were other red flags he seemed to understand abstract Concepts Dr Brody asked giganti if he was proud of his children now pride is really quite an abstract notion and his response was yes they're all working legitimate jobs legitimacy well that wasn't even a question legitimate employers yet something else that he was able to abstract from the question some intent as to what the question was involved with and awareness of a distinction between legitimacy and illegitimacy and here was a man who didn't know what month it was he didn't know if he was in a hospital these and other inconsistencies contributed to Dr Brody's conclusion that giganti did not suffer from Progressive dementia vascular dementia or schizophrenia guards a song to watch Japan during his pre-sentencing hospitalization also found his behavior normal [Music] they testified that he was active around Hospital cell and polite to the hospital staff he did not need help to shout to groom himself or to feed himself the lawyers will all put in affidavits that they couldn't communicate with vincenti at all well when he was in jail he managed to speak with the prison counselors when you sort of talked to the sort of low-level people in jail who have to take care of inmates on a day-to-day basis it turns out he knew exactly that what had happened he knew he had been on trial he knew that gravano had testified against him and didn't have very nice things to say about him he knew that his sentencing was upcoming he knew what the issue was before judge Weinstein as to that he had to decide that he was competent to be sentenced it was completely at odds with what his lawyers were telling judge Weinstein yeah some psychiatrists thought giganti really was incompetent others thought he was faking five months and dozens of tests later the judge ruled the judge said in short the defendant's cognitive and emotional capacity and his communication skills are equivalent to other 69 year old defendants with limited education no hallucinations interfere with his abilities to participate in sentencing [Music] he understands the fundamentals of criminal substantive law and procedure he is deliberately feigning mental illness to avoid punishment which he fears defendant is competent to be sentenced and to serve an appropriate term in prison [Music] chiliro described efforts of the FBI and prosecutors as historic and courageous this has been a battle that that certainly I've been involved with for the last 20 years and certainly I think agents that will continue that on over the next five or six years if the effort could be sustained and the resources maintained you know I think we're on the verge of really reducing the effects and the impact of the cousin Austria to be sure the government's legal victory in the gigantic case was parsham the jury after all failed to convict him of the six murder charges he was originally sentenced to 12 years in 2003 he pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and earned three more years finally admitting in court that he had been faking Insanity the entire time

Channel: The FBI Files

Views: 676,712

Keywords: FBI, FBI Files, FBI Documentary, Documentary, Crime, Crime Documentary, Crime Patrol, True Crime, True crime daily, Unsolved, Crime Stories, Crime Documentaries Full Episodes, Full Episode, unsolved true crime, fbi files full episodes, we got him, mystery, solved, investigation, police, criminal, prison, jail, the mafia, italian mafia

Id: B4c7mBkLB-4

Length: 153min 25sec (9205 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 29 2023