The Lufthansa Heist was the largest heist in history, with $10 million in cash and jewels being stolen from the Lufthansa Terminal at the JFK Airport by associates of the Lucchese crime family, led by Jimmy Conway. Afterwards, perhaps the most violent deaths in mob history ensued, with most of the participants being murdered.
Background[]
Jewish businessman Morrie Kessler informed the mobsters about a shipment of cash and jewels coming from Germany, so Jimmy Conway gathered a crew of gangsters to rob the terminal. The men were: Morrie; Parnell Edwards, the driver; Robert MacMahon and Joe Buddha, the muscle; Henry Hill and Tommy DeVito, the ones to distract the guards; and Conway, the mastermind. The gangsters broke in and stole the money and jewels, and Edwards drove the escape car away with the money and they escaped, with all of the money.
Aftermath[]
Afterwards, brutal executions followed. Edwards was supposed to destroy the vehicle at sanitation area, but he got hooked on drugs and spent the night with prostitutes at a party, and the FBI found the car and Edwards' fingerprints. He was shot in the back of the head at his apartment by DeVito and hitman Frankie Carbone, beginning the headhunt. Next, Johnny Roastbeef and his wife were killed in their pink Cadillac that Johnny bought, despite Conway forbidding everyone to buy anything with the money earned from the heist. Shortly after, the bodies of "Frenchy" MacMahon and Joe Buddha were found in a garbage truck, and Carbone was found in a meat locker. This ended the list of executions, but shortly after, DeVito was murdered by Tuddy Cicero for the murder of Billy Batts, a Gambino crime family soldier.