Theresa Ferrara
| Theresa Ferrara | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
September 5, 1951 South Ozone Park, Queens Long Island, New York |
| Died | February 10, 1979 (aged 27) |
| Nationality | American |
Theresa Ferrara (September 5, 1951 – February 10, 1979) was an Italian-American born in South Ozone Park, Queens, New York. She worked with Lucchese crime family associates and eventually became an informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Ferrara was a distant relative of New Orleans crime family boss Carlos Marcello. As a young woman, Ferrara moved from Long Island to Ozone Park, Queens, to pursue a career as a fashion model or actress.
Mob connections
With her natural blonde hair and deep suntan, Ferrara attracted the attention of Lucchese mob associate Tommy DeSimone. In 1972, Ferrara and the married DeSimone started an affair. Ferrara then began frequenting mob hangouts such as Robert's Lounge in South Ozone Park, Queens, New York and later Henry Hill's The Suite in Queens. Around this time, Ferrara also became a drug dealer, selling small quantities of cocaine and quaaludes to DeSimone and other Lucchese mobsters, and she opened a mob-funded beauty salon in Bellmore, Long Island, from which she dealt cocaine.
In summer 1977, Ferrara was arrested after selling drugs to an undercover Drug Enforcement Administration agent. Faced with a lengthy jail sentence, Ferrara became a cooperating witness for the authorities.
Ferrara also ran a crew of rip-off artists, including Louie Galino, Stevie Weiss, and two others. They would rob people who were in Ferrara's line of work - successful hair cutters who owned large, money-making hair salons. The New York Police Department turned a blind eye to this, as they were told by the FBI to "leave it alone": Ferrara was feeding them information on underworld activities and was therefore untouchable.
In 1978, Ferrara and mob associate Richard Eaton allegedly conspired to swindle the Lucchese family out of $250,000 worth of cocaine from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Ferrara and Eaton were also suspected of stealing a fair portion of money taken during the famous Lufthansa heist at John F. Kennedy Airport in Queens. None of this was ever proven by the FBI. However, in early 1979, Ferrara moved out of her downscale duplex in Queens into a $1,000-a-month apartment in the prestigious North Shore Towers in Great Neck.
Death
On February 10, 1979, Ferrara received a phone call at her salon.[1] She told her 19-year-old niece, Maria Sanacore, that she was meeting someone at a nearby Long Island diner, and Sanacore should come looking for her if she did not return in 15 minutes. Before leaving the salon, Ferrara left behind her purse, car keys, and mink coat. Ferrara also told Sanacore, "I have a chance to make $10,000." Ferrara did not return from the meeting.
On May 18, 1979, a dismembered female torso was found floating in Barnegat Inlet, near Toms River, New Jersey.[2] An autopsy performed at the Saint Barnabas Community Medical Center in Toms River confirmed, through recent breast augmentation surgery, that the body was Ferrara's. To date, no one has stood trial for Ferrara's murder. It is believed that Theresa Ferrara was one of the two women to be murdered in connection with the 1978 Lufthansa Heist.
References
- ↑ "The Region: Torso is Identified as L.I. Woman's" (PDF). The New York Times. June 12, 1979. p. B2.
- ↑ "The Region: Police Seek Identity of Body in Ocean" (PDF). The New York Times. June 5, 1979. p. B2.
Further reading
- Ambler, Jay C. (2000). "26 Mafia Cities Milwaukee, WI". AmericanMafia.com. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
- Pileggi, Nicholas (1987). Wiseguy: Life In A Mafia Family. Corgi. ISBN 0-552-13094-X.
