Frank James Burke

Frank James Burke-Conway (Rockaway, Queens 1960 - 1961??? - May 18, 1987 Cypress Hills, Brooklyn) was the son of mobster Jimmy Burke and a Gambino crime family mob associate.

Mob relations

Burke was the first of three children of Jimmy Burke, also known as Jimmy Conway and "Mickey", born in 1960 or 1961, the dates vary on the sources given. His father is portrayed by Burke look-alike Robert DeNiro and his mother "Mickey Conway", portrayed in "Goodfellas" by Julie Garfield. In "The Big Heist", he is portrayed by actor Jamie Harris as "Frankie Burke".

Biography

Since his father, James had no family or relatives, the Vario Crew and members of the Lucchese crime family were deemed his "uncles" and "aunts" which included "Uncles" Henry Hill, Anthony Stabile, Thomas DeSimone and Angelo Sepe and "aunts" like Theresa Ferrara and Karen Hill. When he was born, Francis James, like his brother and two sisters would adopt a hyphenated last name, the last name of their unidentified paternal grandmother "Conway" and the last name of the kind adoptive family that cared for him during his years as a troubled adolescent "Burke". Like his father, he was a career criminal and a suspect in the famous Lufthansa heist. He was the older brother of Bonanno crime family associate Jesse James Burke born c. 1960 and Catherine (??), who would later be wed to the mobster Anthony Indelicato in 1992 and another daughter who remains unidentified. As of 2006 Catherine is still living together in Howard Beach, Queens, New York. Frank James was said to have a striking resemblance to his father, which in respect is not that flattering: "an immense presence: burly, tall, and with brick-layer arms as result of earlier work, along with a temper to match. He was known to be very polite and charming, but was a stone-cold killer... a big guy and knew how to handle himself. He looked like a fighter and a broken nose." His father named him after the famous American outlaw Frank James. When Bonanno crime family Soldier and enforcer Frankie Saggio years later, asked Frank's brother, Jesse James Burke, why their father named them after the notorious outlaws, Jesse James Burke said "Because he thought it was funny." As a child his father would tell Francis "Frank" James stories of favorite contract killings and hijackings when he came home in the early morning hours. Karen Hill, the wife of Henry Hill, recalls Burke's children always seemed to have a "dirty" and disheveled appearance about them, even after Frank James and his brother were bathed. He was truant in school and constantly in trouble with the police. Francis was a close friend of Henry and Karen Hill's daughter and son Gregg and Gina. He would later date Gina on occasion during their adolescence. He suffered from Parental Alienation Syndrome and constant child abuse. He was not close to his brother because Jesse James suffered from a speech impediment usually leaving Jesse alone to play in their home's basement full of toys. Jimmy would take Frank and Jesse on vacations to the Caribbean and the Bahamas when school was out. He was an avid movie watcher who idolized Humphrey Bogart, George Raft, James Cagney, Edward G. Robinson Robert Mitchum, John Garfield and Alan Ladd while growing up. Jimmy Burke used to complain that Frank suffered from bedwetting all the time and that he had to "beat the shit out of him" almost every night. Jimmy had Frank sent to West Point in West Point, New York as a teenager in an attempt to "toughen him up". Jimmy was displeased when this attempt failed.

Entry into organized crime

By the time he reached adulthood, Frank James was a well known heroin addict in mob circles and had been arrested several times for possession of the drug. He spent time at his father's clubs, Robert's Lounge and The Suite, which was a hangout for hijackers, burglars, thieves and scam artists. One of his father's proteges, Tommy DeSimone, took Frank out on his first "hit" or contract killing in 1976 or 1977. The target of Frank James's murder is unknown. Tommy DeSimone reportedly told his father and his criminal associates, that Burke had "held up good." This gave Frank James respect among the Italian wiseguys and made his father very proud. However, his criminal associates never made him a full-fledged member because of his Irish heritage. Many in the Lucchese, who were fathers, wanted their sons to become involved in organized crime or be promoted to a made man: D'Arco, Accetturo, Tortotello and Ralph Perna. However, Mob bosses like Paul Castellano, Thomas Gambino and Vincent Gigante openly announced that they did not want their sons involved in La Cosa Nostra and were set against having their children involved in organized crime. The thinking of many was that they did not want their offspring to go through the horrible life and traumatic experiences they had. Like Frank James Burke, the other children of mobster's would ultimately becomes driven and involved in a life of crime, despite their protests. Frank was said by police at the time of his death to have been a Gambino crime family associate. He lived at 78-02 106th Avenue in Howard Beach, Queens.

It is also suspected by Henry Hill that Jimmy Burke used Frank as a "stickup man" in the Lufthansa heist. The police later named him as one of the top suspects but was eventually ignored. The constant verbal and physical abuse from his father was seen as a way to turn him to become an informant against his father. These attempts were unsuccessful.Henry Hill was a hated gofer saved from death since the 1960s allegedly, solely owing to his being with Paul Vario, many others wanted him killed well before the 80s.

Death

Frank James Burke was found by the NYPD, shot to death in front of 1043 Liberty Avenue in Cypress Hills, Brooklyn at 2:30 a.m. on May 18, 1987. Burke's death was the culmination of the suspect murders following the Lufthansa heist murder of Angelo John Sepe. The three remaining witnesses or participants were his father, Jimmy Burke (incarcerated in prison for murder), Paul Vario who was in prison for racketeering and Henry Hill who had since disappeared into the Witness Protection Program. This is excluding Lufthansa Air John F. Kennedy international Airport employees Louis Werner and Peter Gruenwald who had also disappeared into the Witness Protection Program by this time. Frank's death is not suspected to be in any relation to the Lufthansa heist, but related to his own heroin addiction. There is no record of any remorse or grief from Jimmy Burke.

He is survived by his mother, two sisters and younger brother Jesse James Conway-Burke.

The ex-con heroin dealer Tito Ortiz

Frank James's convicted murderer "Tito Ortiz" is not to be mistaken for Tito Ortiz the American mixed martial arts fighter. The Hispanic Tito Ortiz who murdered Frank was forty-six years old at the time of the murder in 1987. This would make the ex-con heroin dealer Tito Ortiz born c. 1941 in New York City. Jacob Tito Ortiz was born in 1975 in Huntington Beach, California making the drug dealer "Tito Ortiz" thirty-four years older than the fighter Jacob Christopher Ortiz. The NYPD later arrested Tito for the murder for which he was later convicted.

Exclusion from "Goodfellas"

During the production of "Goodfellas", Catherine Burke, the sister of Frank James, threatened to attempt to force the production company to pay $100,000 for the use of the name Burke, so they used Conway, which was her father's birth name instead. Catherine is suspected of being the one who saw to it that her late brother was excluded totally from the film. However, this may also be a decision made by director Martin Scorsese.

References

*Pileggi, Nicholas. "Wiseguy: Life in a Mafia Family". New York: Simon & Schuster, 1985. ISBN 0671723227
*Underboss: Sammy The Bull Gravano's Story of Life In The Mafia by Peter Maas
*http://www.americanmafia.com/mob_report/5-13-02_Mob_Report.html