Information #3

     On December 11, 1978, one of the biggest airport hijackings in history took place; in fact, it was the biggest heist at one point, and my dad was a part of it. The plan was actually thought up by people outside the mafia. The idea started with a Lufthansa cargo worker, Peter Gruenwald. He knew that Lufthansa airlines would fly planes that were not marked from Europe to the JFK airport. A lot of the time, the plane would stay at the holding facilities overnight, which meant that the contents on the plane would not have ideal security. Gruenwald went to his friend for help with this plan, Louis Werner. However, Werner saw a possible opportunity for himself. Werner owed money to a man named Martin Krugman. Martin Krugman was a friend of my father, and that is how the plan ended up in his hands.

     Dad and Burke began planning all the logistics of the plan. They were familiar with the set-up of the JFK airport since they often robbed big trucks of cash together there. They quickly put together a crew they trusted, and then they waited for Werner, the inside man, to give the green light to move onto the next phase. Early on the morning of December 11th, 1978, the plan was put into action.

     At three o'clock in the morning, black vans pulled up to the storage area of the airport where the Lufthansa airline planes stayed. Dad and his crew were carrying machine guns and used them to threaten the guards on site. They then handcuffed the guards and other employees and then forced the supervisor to open up the vault. They loaded up the van with about five million dollars in cash and one million in various jewels. They then drove off with the goods. The whole operation took place in less than an hour.

     After the job was done, the vans needed to be crushed; however, the driver who was responsible for that job got drunk and left the van parked illegally on the street. The police had it towed and multiple sets of fingerprints and footprints were found inside. Stacks was then arrested for other outstanding charges, and that is when things went downhill. Burke became very paranoid that Stacks would start giving up names of people involved in the Lufthansa heist for a lesser sentence, so Burke took matters into his own hands. By the end of the summer the following year, eight men associated with the heist were either dead or missing, and dad began to think he would be the next victim [1].

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[1] "Millions Stolen from JFK Airport in Infamous 'Lufthansa Heist'."