Airport guard tells court of infamous 1978 mafia heist at JFK

Home Top

Second video of violent classroom clash with cop emerges - as it claimed it happened because girl had cell phone out during class
Common Core gets a Fail for common sense: Angry parents baffled by third grade math question that claims 5+5+5=15 is NOT correct
Anarchist group could be planning a 'Halloween Revolt' to ambush cops, FBI warns
Halle Berry and Olivier Martinez 'are DIVORCING after two years of marriage'
Now Carson is in front of Trump nationally in first poll the Donald hasn't won since he entered race
The new meat rules: As experts warn it increases the chance of cancer, we reveal which types are the riskiest...
'What if we put a camera in your kids' room, would they be okay with that?' Revealed: Sickening secret audio recordings of Jared Fogle made by Florida woman 'who helped FBI bring him to justice'
Is this the sexiest wedding dance ever? Bride performs sultry choreographed routine to Marvin Gaye and Beyonce - and her groom's reaction is priceless
Sassy nine-year-old girl reveals she knows EXACTLY who the Tooth Fairy is, along with Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny in hilarious firmly-worded note to her parents
What your TONGUE says about your health: Leading expert reveals the top causes of bad breath - including some toothpastes
Shotguns have 'virtually sold out' in Austria as citizens rush to buy arms amid fears of a massive influx of migrants, dealers claim
Rare photographs reveal the day Hitler hijacked the story of Christ to spread his hatred of Jews: Images of Adolf at Passion Play go up for sale
'My brother was taken and beheaded. They only gave me his head back': Iraqi prisoners rescued in US raid that killed Delta Force commando describe hellish ISIS prison
ISIS executes three people by tying them to columns at the ancient city of Palmyra and blowing them up
The terrorist with the Mona Lisa smile: Authorities hunting beautiful 20-year-old woman suspected of being an ISIS extremist
The jihadi Jedis: ISIS cell arrested in Turkey kept a stash of Darth Vader masks which they wore to protect themselves from shrapnel, police reveal
'He's a sperm tsunami': Howie Mandel's son Alex gets payback with goofy video of his still-high dad rambling after endoscopy
Mystery of the deep: Tourist baffled by bizarre SEA MONSTER captured on camera in Corfu
'Vapid, vacuous and plastic': Russell Brand labels ex-wife Katy Perry's lifestyle the 'very thing I detest' in explosive new documentary
'Goodfellas' raiders stuck a gun in my face and made me open the door to loading bay where they stole millions: Airport guard tells court of infamous 1978 mafia heist at JFK
'We tried to help her': Father of 'mentally ill' OSU crash suspect 'who drove into homecoming parade and killed four' speaks out as she's held on $1m bail
Down's syndrome son died alongside father as whale watching boat sank in icy waters in Canada
Thrifty Kate strikes again! Duchess of Cambridge shows no signs of her late night as she stuns in a recycled Orla Kiely dress on visit to a child mentoring programme
From demure to daring Duchess: How Kate's style has become more risque since welcoming her children... and it proves how confident she's become in her role

Rolf Rebmann, 73, was a Lufthansa security guard at the airport when it was held up by the Mafia in heist immortalized in Goodfellas
One of the men allegedly behind the raid, Vincent Asaro, 80, is on trial in Brooklyn, NY, in what authorities believe is last chance for justice
Rebmann told how he was working at 3am when a gun was stuck in his face, he was bundled into a van and it was driven into the loading bay
Haul taken by Mafia thieves was more than $6m in cash and jewelry

Published: 11:29 EST, 27 October 2015 | Updated: 11:57 EST, 27 October 2015

View
comments

A former airport worker told a court today how he was held up at gunpoint by raiders who used his keys to steal more than $6m in cash in the Mafia's most infamous heists.

Rolf Rebmann, now 73, had a snub-nosed revolver pushed in his face when he went to investigate a noise at the Lufthansa warehouse at New York's JFK airport at 3am, on December 11 1978.

He told the trial of an 80-year-old alleged Mafia godfather today how he had his keys taken from him and was thrown into the van used to take the proceeds of the heist.

His dramatic testimony came in the trial of Vincent Asaro, who denies that he helped mastermind the robbery which is the centerpiece of Martin Scorsese's acclaimed Mafia movie Goodfellas.

Prosecutors believe the trial of Asaro, at federal court in Brooklyn, New York, is the last realistic prospect of securing a conviction for the Lufthansa robbery.

Vincent Asaro (pictured in January 2014) is accused of being involved in the notorious heist at JFK in 1978, when thieves made off with $6m in cash and jewels, depicted in Goodfellas. He is also charged with murder

In this December 13, 1978 file photo, police cordon off an area around a stolen black van discovered in the Brooklyn after thieves who escaped with more than $6 million in cash and jewels from a JFK Airport hangar. Rolf Rebmann testified today that he was thrown in the back as it was used to empty the warehouse

Asaro is accused of organizing the raid, which was carried out as he sat in a 'crash car' a mile away ready to head off a police pursuit.

Prosecutors say overall control of the heist rested with James 'Jimmy the Gent' Burke, who was portrayed by Robert de Niro in the movie and who is now dead.

Rebmann, 73, described how he was working for Lufthansa in building 261, weighing, cataloging and storing freight on the night of the robbery. At 3am his colleagues had gone upstairs for a meal as he finished up.

'I heard a noise, someone hollering at the back and I went over to investigate, opened the outer door and there was a van parked there and a guy standing next to it,' he said.

It was a large black Ford, backed up to the closed door of the loading bay. The man, whom he did not recognize, was leaning against the van.

'I asked if I could help him,' he continued, 'and he said no and he stuck a gun in my face and told me to get in the van face down.

The gun, he said, was a snub nose .38.

Once in the van, he had a shirt pulled over his head so he could see nothing.

Gradually he realized that a second Lufthansa employee was in the van, Kerry – the man he heard shouting for help - along with the gunman and a second accomplice.

Ratting on his own cousin: Gaspare 'Handsome' Valenti (center), 68, is seen testifying against his older cousin, Vincent Asaro (left), at the trial over the legendary 'Goodfellas' heist at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport in 1978. Valenti's evidence concluded last week

'Mobsters': Vincent Asaro (foreground) relaxing on a sofa decades ago with his cousin Gaspare 'Handsome' Valenti' who gave evidence against him

He heard voices outside.

'We got everybody but we can't find this guy Rolf,' someone shouted.

When they realized he was in the van he was bundled out and was made to use his keys to open the loading bay doors. With the shirt still over his head he heard the van being reversed in through the doors, as he was marched upstairs to join his colleagues in the lunch room.

'One fella that I saw outside was leading me through the warehouse with a gun at my back,' he said.

'They told me to lay down on the floor and that was that.'

He heard someone shout: 'Do as you're told we don't want to hurt anybody.'

'One of them stepped over me and hit Kerry, and said, "This is the guy who hollered and tried to run."'

The gang took the car keys and wallets of all the staff, before telling them all but one of them were leaving.

'They only said we have your wallets so we know where you live.'

Rebmann said their ordeal ended when they eventually realized all the gang members had left.

The evidence has shone a light on the secret world of New York's mobsters, detailing a world of savage beatings, protection rackets all run according to a brutal code of honor.

'He kept everything': James 'Jimmy the Gent' Burke (left, in a 1979 mugshot) was credited with masterminding the 1978 Lufthansa heist. Robert De Niro portrayed him in the hit movie Goodfellas (right). In new recordings, Bonnano capo Vincent Asaro fumes that Jimmy 'kept everything' and left everyone financially 'f***ed'

In Goodfellas, one by one the crew members are killed after ignoring orders to avoid extravagant displays of spending for fear of alerting the police.

Many of the real life suspects also disappeared or turned up dead, leading many to believe the case would never be resolved.

Last week, the trial heard from Gaspare Valenti, Asaro's cousin and the prosecution's star witness. He described how he was recruited by Asaro for the robbery and said he had detained a Lufthansa worker at gunpoint as he emerged from the hangar.

In their opening statement, defense lawyers told the jury to discount his evidence as the words of a man who would do anything for money.

Asaro, 80, has pleaded not guilty to charges of extortion, murder and countless acts of violence that allegedly spanned his 45-year mafia career, rising to become a capo in the Bonanno crime family.

LA COSA NOSTRA STRUCTURE: WHO CONTROLS WHO IN THE AMERICAN MOB

Boss

Each of the five crime families in New York (Genovese, Lucchese, Bonnano, Gambino, Columbo) had/have one boss.

The five bosses sat on what was called The Commission, which would control the operations, business and feuds between their respective territories and units.

The Commission was effectively disbanded, or at least gravely wounded, in Rudy Giuliani's Mafia Commission Trial of 1985-6, when the heads of each family were indicted on charges of racketeering and hire-for-murder.

Underboss

The boss of each family appoints an underboss who will take the reins if they are assassinated or imprisoned.

They act as second in command and control the capos, who control the associates.

A Bonnano capo: Vincent Asaro (pictured in January 2014) is accused of being involved in the 1978 heist

Consigliere

Low profile and trusted advisers to the family who liaise between the boss and politicians or judges. Usually lawyers or bankers.

Capo

Vincent Asaro was a capo in the Bonnano family, according to prosecution.

Asaro, however, has remained cryptic about his role in the American mafia, or La Cosa Nostra.

A capo heads up a crew of associates to do the family's dirty work and earning. There are usually around five or six capos per family.

Each one is nominated by an underboss, though officially chosen by the boss.

Capos can recommend associates (affiliated but not recognized members of the mob) to become soldiers - in mafia terms to become a 'made man'.

Soldier

To be a soldier is to be on the lowest rung of the made members in the mob. They conduct their own dealings but also follow the orders of their respective capo.

Soldiers start out as associates until a slot becomes free (due to a death or a 'promotion') and they are recommended by a capo.

They must be of Italian descent so, as Henry says in Goodfellas, 'they can trace all your relatives back to the old country'.

They must also have demonstrated an ability to earn and committed at least one murder.

Associate

An associate is not a made member of the mob.

They typically run errands for made members until they impress a capo enough to be made.

Despite carrying out the Lufthansa heist, Jimmy 'The Gent' Burke (Robert De Niro in Goodfellas) and Henry Hill (Ray Liotta in Goodfellas) were not eligible to graduate from 'associate' status because of their Irish heritage.