Louis Cafora
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Louis Cafora (reported missing 1979, declared dead 1985) was a bulemia suffering American criminal from Brooklyn, New York. He was also known by the Lucchese crime family and members of the Chicago Outfit as "Fat Louis" or "The Whale". He was a stick-up man for the 1978 Lufthansa heist and ex-brother-in-law of Lufthansa heist suspect Anthony Rodriguez.
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[edit] Biography
Louis's previous convictions were for narcotics dealing and loansharking. He was valuable during the Lufthansa heist due to his expertise in 'stick-ups'. He was proposed to be a made-man by Paul Vario. He was a childhood friend of Henry Hill. Although Angelo persued a career in crime and membership in the La Cosa Nostra he still graduated with unremarkable marks from high school unlike many of his criminal associates. Louis suffered from a lifetime of bulemia which made his weight increase to 300 lbs. He married twice, but fathered no known children. He was so large that when Louis hauled himself out of his gaudy Cadillac, the car rose by inches.
[edit] Meeting Henry Hill
Cafora was serving time in Fort Leavenworth at the same time as Henry Hill for arson. After a scuffle with another prisoner, Cafora felt that Hill was weak and called him a "faggot". Jimmy Burke learned of this incident, and decided not to have Hill join the Lufthansa heist team to avoid a confrontation with Cafora. This may have proven very fortunate of Henry Hill having maybe avoided death, as with the other members of the crew, Cafora included. Cafora was nicknamed “the Whale” because he was 300lbs and was described as having a huge appetite, and drove a white Cadillac. He was the owner of a parking lot in downtown Brooklyn.
[edit] Enormous Eating Habits and Obesity
Louis suffered from a lifetime of bulemia. His eating condition was widely noticed by the sheer magnatude of his size. Every time Louis would step in and out of his Cadillac, his immense weight would tilt his Cadillac Deville to the side as the weight shifted. He was known to have a monstrous appetite and stomach for liquor, being a regular at The Suite, Robert’s Lounge, and “The Bamboo Lounge” where he contributed to Paul Vario’s brother-in-law Andrew McCoughlin going into debt. He would eat and drink for free along with all of other Henry Hill’s friends and was finally barred from the place after several months. Sometimes he needed help in and out of his Cadillac from his wife, mistress or friends because his large stomach came right up to the steering wheel.
[edit] Troubled Marriages
The marriage to "Miss Rodriguez" must have been at a young age because the next wife, "Mrs. Joanne Cafora", (not to be mistaken with Angelo John Sepe's girlfriend, "Joanna Lombardo") was said to have been Cafora's high school sweetheart. He bought a brand new 1979 Cadillac DeVille for his wife as an early engagement present and after the heist, for himself a 1979 Ford Thunderbird. After the Lufthansa heist he was picked up by his fiance "Joanna" who was waiting in his Cadillac several blocks away. Cafora had been married once before to a woman identified as only having the last name "Rodriguez". For unknown reasons the relationship did not work out at Cafora and the woman divorced pre-1979. Through his previous short-lived marriage with "Miss Rodriguez", Cafora came in contact with and became friends with her brother, "Anthony". After the Lufthansa heist, Cafora and to a lesser extent Anthony Rodriguez became a partner with Henry Hill in drug-trafficking. It is said in "Wiseguy" that Louis Cafora was doing more than ten grams of cocaine a day, which is what Hill estimates to have been his drug consumption limit back in the day.
[edit] Involvement in Lufthansa
When Jimmy Burke was looking to bring together a team to pull off the Lufthansa heist, Cafora suggested his now ex-brother-in-law and criminal companion Anthony Rodriguez who was involved in Cafora's rackets. In January of 1978, Rodriquez had been arrested with Cafora in Angelo’s Mattituck, New York home where he lived with "Hope Barron" in 1979, the FBI recovered cocaine, heroin and firearms. Cafora and Rodriguez both went free though when it was discovered that the search warrants were not properly executed. His brand new Cadillac was bugged by the FBI and they had attempted to implicate him in the death of Richard Eaton. He was also seen before the robbery by witnesses to be in possession of a revolver. After being interrogated by the FBI and threatened with a long prison sentence that would most likely ruin his new marriage, he agreed to testify against Jimmy Burke and the others involved in the Lufthansa heist. He left the stationhouse and agreed to come back in and be formally interviewed by them. It is suggested that Jimmy Burke's informant in the Queens, New York District Attorney office told him of Cafora's treason and therefore signed his own death warrant.
[edit] Involvement of Ex-Brother-In-Law
Little is mentioned of suspect Anthony Rodriguez in Nicholas Pileggi's book, Wiseguy: My Life in The Mafia. It is odd that Rodriguez, although a suspect in the heist is not mentioned in other than a small paragraph which was about his relationship with Louis.. Henry Hill met Louis while in prison and connected with him after he was released. By himself, Rodriguez worked in extortion, arson, and car theft. In 1978, he had previously been arrested for the assault and battery of an undercover NYPD officer. He was released in 1979, shortly before the Lufthansa heist.
It is unknown by FBI if Rodriguez was actually ever involved in the Lufthansa heist. He was named by a confidential FBI informant as being involved along with Tommy DeSimone, Jimmy Burke, his son Frank James Burke and Angelo John Sepe.
He was one of the first suspects that were under surrveliance by police after the heist including Jimmy Burke and Cafora, but did not meet up with the repercussions of the heist afterwards like the rest of the Robert's Lounge Crew.
His fellow criminal associates and Lufthansa heist stick-up men, Robert McMahon, Joe Manri, Angelo John Sepe and Thomas DeSimone would all meet their fates following the robbery. He was arrested shortly after for arson and car theft. Anthony "Tony" Rodriguez is one of the few suspected stick-up men of the Lufthansa heist who successfully survived the aftermath of the robbery. Anthony's ex-brother-in-law unfortunately would not meet such luck. It is unknown if due to the closeness of Anthony Rodriguez with Cafora that he had anything to do with the disappearances of his ex-brother in law and his new bride Joanna Cafora.
[edit] After the Lufthansa Heist
In March of 1979 shortly after Louis and his new bride, Joanna Cafora, married, they disappeared, supposedly victims of Angelo John Sepe and Jimmy Burke. The Caforas are either missing or presumed dead of unknown causes, and both declared dead in absentia. It was the suspects, Joe Manri and Robert McMahon that would meet the fate of being found shot dead in a car. Louis and Joanna Cafora were legally declared dead in 1985. In the film GoodFellas, Cafora's character is known for the "Pink Cadillac" incident. His brother-in-law Anthony Rodriguez character and his relationship with him are not included in the film, probably to not confuse to viewer with the wide cast of characters and time constraints. In reality Cafora and his wife's body have never found. In the film his death is portrayed as the way suspects Joe Manri and Robert McMahon were found murdered after the robbery.
Cafora is portrayed in the 1990 film GoodFellas by actor Johnny Williams. In the film, he is called "Johnny Roastbeef". He is also based on the Jo-Jo "The Whale" character in by Fred Fischer in the 1993 Chazz Palminteri and Robert De Niro film A Bronx Tale.
[edit] What happened to Anthony Rodriguez?
The whereabouts and happenings of his ex-brother in-law, and Lufthansa heist suspect, Anthony Rodriguez is unknown. Rodriguez also avoided prosecution when Henry Hill became an informant and talked about the Lufthansa heist. In the aftermath of Henry Hill becoming an informant, following the many deaths of his friends, Anthony Rodriguez might be the actual sole living survivor who might have been involved with the Lufthansa heist.
[edit] References
- 'Gangsters and GoodFellas' Henry Hill as told by Gus Russo
- 'Wiseguy' written by Nicholas Pileggi and Henry Hill
