Chicago Mob Diamond Theft -Segment 2

In the second episode, Aaron and I discuss the mystery of what happened to the Marlborough Diamond. The listener will learn about the subsequent investigation and arrest of The Monk and The Brain in another audacious scheme long after the Marlborough Diamond caper. In what may be their last crime outside of prison, the 72 year old dynamic duo plan an armored car robbery. The investigating agents learn about another plan. Scalise and Rachel along with a third man are soon caught in the act of a home invasion robbery. The surprising detail is the victim was to be the widow of deceased Chicago Outfit boss, Angelo “The Hook” LaPietra.   The Feds had installed a hidden mike to listen to Scalise and Rachel. The agents soon heard the Scalise gang was inspired by the FBI’s March 23 raid of the home of imprisoned Mob boss Frank Calabrese Sr. where the Feds found $720,000 in cash and $500,000 worth of jewelry hidden in the wall behind a family portrait. Scalise wondered if Angelo LaPietra might have had a similar in-home hiding place. The Mafia blog site Mafia Today reports that Scalise told Rachel and Pullia that he considered LaPietra and Calabrese to be “the same guys” and equally distrustful and unlikely to use a bank’s safe-deposit box. The monitoring agents learned the home invasion was not just about money. Scalise called LaPietra “a miserable person,” remembering the Hook sitting imperiously in the corner of his Italian social club, eyeing all who walked in. “Every little thing made him nuts,” Scalise said; even though the soldiers had paid to join the club, “nobody wanted to go there.” Agents speculate that Scalise and his gang did not have to fear from the new Outfit bosses. The Chicago Outfit’s top boss is 83-year-old John DiFronzo. He is known to be  very cautious.