Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Did Mafia Capo Break "Mississippi Burning" Case ?


Everyone has heard of the murders of three civil rights workers (James Chaney, Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman) in Mississippi by the Ku Klux Klan in the early 1960's. There was even a movie made about it. In the movie, the case was broken by a Black FBI agent who terrified one of the klansmen into talking. But that may not be exactly what really happened.

According to a mobster's girlfriend, it was really a capo for the Columbo crime family that got the confession. Linda Schiro told a court this week that it was her boyfriend, Gregory Scarpa, also known as the Grim Reaper. Scarpa was suspected of involvement in 20 killings. He died in 1994.

Schiro said she accompanied Scarpa to Mississippi in 1964, where he met an FBI agent who handed him a gun. When Scarpa returned, the agent took the gun back and gave Scarpa a wad of money. Scarpa told her that he had kidnapped a salesman who was in the KKK, and shoved a gun in his mouth. The terrified klansman spilled the beans, telling where the bodies were buried and who was involved.

This is not the first time the story has surfaced. She said Scarpa liked to brag about his involvement. But its the first time the story has been told under oath in a courtroom (She is testifying in the trial of an FBI agent).

Is it true? Who knows. But it's a great story isn't it? (The picture above is of Scarpa in 1992.)

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