POSTS
April 1, 2022
Fresh Faces For Vinny & Lisa
March 30, 2022
Absolutely Steady Groove!
In doing research, what I found most startling was the blatant level of corruption prevalent in the NYC police department and the DA’s office in the 1980s as well as the mob’s ability to influence officials and send an innocent man to jail. Without risking a defamation suit, let it suffice to say that the mob’s reach was extremely long and winding. There have been a million stories written about cops of the mob’s payroll but I don’t believe I’ve ever come across an instance where gangsters and public officials colluded to pin the blame for such a heinous crime on an innocent man. Of course, this is only my belief but I believe the confluence of events surrounding the case presents a compelling theory and hint at who some of the more motivated players might’ve been. Here are some of the going’s on that took place around the time of the Palm Sunday Massacre.
- “Big Paulie” Castellano had been asking John Gotti to obtain defense copies of incriminating FBI recordings made of members of his Bergin Crew for fear that this information might take him down as well. If “Big Paulie” got his hands on these tapes, Gotti would’ve had good reason to fear for his life and the life of his younger brother, Gene. More tomorrow…
March 29, 2022
Why Steady Groove?
Into the Groove is a work of fiction, but the Palm Sunday Massacre was very real. The senseless murder of eleven women and children in 1984 will live on as one of the ugliest moments in New York City history and possibly one of the Big Apple’s most appalling miscarriages of justice. A jury of twelve sent an innocent man to prison for thirty-four years.
This story first came to my attention in 2017 when I was approached by a retired NYPD police officer, who was a rookie cop back at the time of the Palm Sunday Massacre. He has asked to remain anonymous. While patrolling the East New York section of Brooklyn some weeks prior to the mass murder he responded to a domestic disturbance call, during which he tussled with and ultimately arrested Christopher Thomas the man convicted of the mass slaying. He had an intimate knowledge of the man’s appearance, stature, and mannerisms. While on patrol the day of the mass slaying this police officer spotted a man he believed to be Thomas boosting a car radio in a different Brooklyn location but was unable to arrest him at that time. It wasn’t until sometime later that he realized Thomas had been charged with the mass murders. He reported the incongruity but the information was buried.