Heists are not just a theme for action movies filmed in New York. As strange as it may seem, they were a grim reality for the city in the 20th century. Learn more at new-york-yes.
In those years, New York was not only a symbol of opportunity but also a hub of crime. Population growth, economic crises, and the rise of organized crime led to robberies becoming a part of daily life. City gangs raided banks, jewelry stores, and even casinos.
During the 1920s, the era of Prohibition, the city was literally drowning in criminal schemes. Alcohol smugglers, mafia clans, and street gangs controlled entire neighborhoods, and raids on bars and underground casinos were commonplace. In the 1960s and 1970s, with rising social inequality and economic decline, the crime rate reached record highs. The subway, alleys, and even the main streets of Manhattan became dangerous, and armed robberies occurred with frightening frequency.
Some crimes of that era went down in history, such as the famous 1978 Lufthansa heist. The robbery took place at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. In this meticulously planned, mafia-linked operation, a gang disappeared with nearly $6 million in cash and jewels—equivalent to about $25 million in the 2020s. The crime was audacious, swift, and for many years, largely unsolved. This article examines the events leading up to the heist, the key players, and the subsequent fallout.
The Perfect Opportunity for a Heist
In the 1970s, JFK Airport was a hub for international shipments, including large sums of U.S. currency being transferred from foreign banks. Airport security was quite weak compared to the systems in modern airports. This vulnerability attracted the attention of organized crime. The Lucchese crime family, one of the notorious Five Families of the New York Mafia, saw an opportunity for a massive score and began to meticulously plan what would become the most infamous robbery of its time.
The mastermind of the heist was James “Jimmy the Gent” Burke, a high-ranking associate of the Lucchese family. He was widely known in mafia circles for his ruthlessness. Burke had long been involved in illegal activities, from drug trafficking to extortion. Working closely with his crew, including Henry Hill, Tommy DeSimone, and Louis Werner, Burke developed a plan that relied on precise timing, inside information, and sheer audacity.
Specifically, the plot began when bookmaker Martin Krugman informed his associate Henry Hill that a large shipment of foreign currency belonging to the German airline Lufthansa would soon be at the cargo terminal of JFK International Airport.
This information initially came from Louis Werner, an airport employee who owed Krugman $20,000 from lost bets (equivalent to about $104,000 in 2024). Werner did not act alone; his colleague Peter Gruenewald worked with him.
This pair had previously carried out a successful theft from Lufthansa: in 1976, they stole $22,000 in foreign currency, which, in 2020s terms, is approximately $122,000. This incident boosted Werner’s confidence that an even larger operation could be pulled off. And so the planning for the biggest heist of the century began.
The Heist: The Lufthansa Robbery of 1978
In the early morning of December 11, 1978, a group of armed, masked men stormed the Lufthansa cargo terminal at JFK Airport. They were aided in their entry by Louis Werner, the debt-ridden airport employee who was helping the gang. Werner provided them with crucial information about where the money was stored and how to bypass security measures.
The gang subdued the night shift employees, forcing them to the ground while they raided the cargo vault. In just 64 minutes, they loaded over $5 million in cash and $875,000 worth of jewels into their getaway van. The alarm never went off, and the robbers escaped without firing a single shot. It was one of the most spectacular heists of the era.
The Aftermath
Although the heist itself was successful, what followed became a cautionary tale of greed, paranoia, and betrayal. With millions of dollars in untraceable cash, Burke faced a dilemma—how to divide the money. His solution? Eliminate potential accomplices.
Parnell “Stacks” Edwards was tasked with driving the van to New Jersey, where it was supposed to be destroyed in a scrapyard along with all possible evidence. Instead, he left it parked at a fire hydrant near his girlfriend’s house. Two days after the robbery, police discovered the van, impounded it, and found that the plates were stolen. A search revealed Edwards’s fingerprints, giving police their first lead.
After this blunder, Lucchese family capo Paul Vario ordered Tommy DeSimone to eliminate Edwards. He was shot five times in the head.
The FBI suspected Burke’s crew was behind the heist just three days after it happened. The discovered van and Edwards’s connections to the gangsters at Robert’s Lounge played a key role. FBI agents established round-the-clock surveillance on the suspects, tracking them with helicopters and wiretapping their cars, the phones at Robert’s Lounge, and even nearby payphones. Despite background noise, the FBI managed to record several incriminating conversations. However, these recordings were not enough to obtain a search warrant or directly prove the criminals’ involvement.
According to Henry Hill, Burke panicked when he realized that Edwards’s failure had drawn too much attention and decided to eliminate anyone who could lead the investigation to him. Most of the participants in the robbery were liquidated, minimizing the amount of evidence and potential witnesses.
Nevertheless, investigators were able to gather enough evidence to prosecute Louis Werner, the indebted airport employee, for his role in organizing the crime. In 1979, he became the only person convicted for the robbery, receiving a 15-year prison sentence. The other participants in the Lufthansa heist were never brought to justice.
The Stolen Money and Jewels Were Never Found
The stolen money and jewels were also never recovered. The scale of the crime made this robbery one of the most sensational and longest-running investigations in U.S. history. Decades later, investigators continued to search for those involved, but many key figures had either disappeared or been killed.
The last arrest related to this crime occurred as late as 2014, when Vincent Asaro, one of the alleged participants in the raid, was detained. However, despite witness testimony and evidence presented, he was acquitted by a court. This was yet another confirmation of how thoroughly the criminals had covered their tracks and how difficult it was to establish the truth.
The story of the Lufthansa heist remains one of the most audacious capers of the 20th century. Its details have formed the basis of many books, films, and documentary series. One of the most famous is the 1990 film “Goodfellas,” which tells the story through the eyes of Henry Hill, with Robert De Niro playing a character based on James Burke. In the film, he is portrayed as a ruthless, calculating, and paranoid criminal who, after the Lufthansa heist, decides to eliminate almost all of its participants, fearing betrayal and unwanted attention from the authorities.
And yet, the main question remains unanswered: where did the millions of dollars obtained that night disappear?
- https://www.aetv.com/real-crime/lufthansa-heist-murders-mafia-mobsters
- https://www.nytimes.com/1978/12/14/archives/airport-cash-loot-was-5-million-bandits-van-is-found-in-canarsie.html
- https://www.nytimes.com/1993/02/04/nyregion/stolen-8-million-found-fbi-and-police-arrest-4.html
- https://discover.hubpages.com/politics/The-Lufthansa-Heist-The-American-Mafias-Greatest-Heist