The perfect heist

Martin Scorsese's 1990 film, Goodfellas, included the story of the Lufthansa heist at John F. Kennedy International Airport. An estimated $5.875 million ($21.6 million today) was stolen, with $5 million in cash and $875,000 in jewelry, making it the largest cash robbery committed on American soil at the time. Here's the rest of the story.

​It began on December 11, 1978 at 3:12 A.M.

The heist was planned by Jimmy Burke, an associate of the Lucchese crime family, and carried out by several associates. The plot began when bookmaker Martin Krugmamn told (future rat) Henry Hill about millions in American currency arriving on Lufthansa plane and then stored in a vault at Kennedy Airport. The information  came from Louis Werner, a worker at the airport who owed Krugman $20,000 for gambling debts and from his co-worker Peter Gruenwald. 

Werner helped Krugman with the planning. A van would be used to transport the cash and a "crash car" would accompany the van to run vehicular interference should the plot be interrupted and a police chase ensue. Burke decided on Tommy DeSimone, Joe Civitello Sr., Louis Cafora, Angelo Sepe, Tony Rodriguez, Joseph M. Costa, and Burke's son Frank James Burke as inside gunmen. Paolo LiCastri, a representative of the Gambino crime family, which had been promised a tribute payment to sanction the crime.

On December 11,, cargo agent Kerry Whalen spotted a van backed into the ramp door. When he walked toward the van to investigate, two men without masks or gloves struck him over the head with pistols. Soon after, senior agent Rolf Rebmann heard a noise by the loading ramp and went to investigate. Six armed, masked robbers forced their way in and handcuffed him. They then used a Werner's key and walked through a maze of corridors to round up the two other employees. Then the gunmen burst into the lunch room and showed a bloodied Whalen as an example if anyone got out of line. 

Next, they  made John Murray, the terminal's senior cargo agent call Rudi Eirich on the intercom. (Eirich was the only guard on duty who knew the vault's combination.) He later reported that the robbers knew all about the safety systems in the vault. The robbers ordered him to open up the first door to a 10-by-20-foot room. Once inside, they ordered Eirich to lie on the ground.

​​Finally, they began hurling parcels of cash through the door. Around 40 parcels were removed. Eirich was then made to lock the inner door before unlocking the outer door. Two of the gunmen were assigned to load the parcels into the van while the others tied up Eirich. The employees were told not to call the Port Authority until 4:30 a.m. When the robbers left, it was 4:16 a.m.

From start to finish, the robbery took 64-minutes and was the largest theft of currency ever committed on American soil at the time. When Burke arrived at the safehouse with the stolen money, he realized the true scope of the robbery: he expected to bring in $2 million. He had nearly $6 million haul. The stolen cash and jewelry were never recovered.