Montague Montemurro

Montague E. Montemurro (February 1, 1959 - January 1991) a.k.a. "Monte" was a Lucchese crime family street soldier who assisted in the 1967 Air France Robbery.

Biography

Born in Oceanside, New York to immigrants from Montemurro in Southern Italy, Montemurro eventually became a mob associate of Lucchese crime family, joining a crew under caporegime Paul Vario. His younger brother Raimondo also joined the Lucchese family. Montague became a close friend of mob associate Henry Hill and was involved in hijackings and robbery.

Air France robbery

In 1967, Montemurro played a small role in the famous Air France Robbery at John F. Kennedy airport (JFK) in New York with Hill and mobster Tommy DeSimone. The mobsters had discovered that Air France kept a large amount of currency in a strong room at its facility. The strong room was accessible by only one guard who kept the key with him at all times. Over a period of time, the mobsters befriended the guard and introduced him to a prostitute. Soon the guard was visiting the prostitute on a regular basis. During these meetings, the mobsters gained access to the guard's uniform and the strong room key. On the day of the robbery, Hill and DeSimone simply walked into the Air France facility and stole the money. They were never prosecuted for the theft.

Attack at Don Pepe's

Monte was ordered along with Henry Hill, Jimmy Burke, Thomas DeSimone and two carloads of Lucchese crime family side-walk soldiers to beat up the waiters and kitchen staff at Don Pepe's Vesuvio Restaurant located at 135-58 Lefferts Boulevard in South Ozone Park, Queens, just a few blocks south of the Lucchese crime family hijacking headquarters, Robert's Lounge. He assisted in beating the employees with lead pipes and baseball bats as they left the restaurant at 11 P.M. Some of the employees fled the scene and scrambled into the cars, so Monte and others had to chase them all around the neighborhood late into the night. Monte and the others had been ordered to beat the staff after a certain waiter spilled a drink all over Paul Vario's wife, Phyllis and then sloppily tried to blot up the spilled drink on the front of her dress.

In January 1991, Montemurro died of natural causes in New York at age 32.

References

* "Wiseguy: My Life In A Mafia Family" written by Henry Hill and Nicholas Pileggi

* The Real Goodfella. Dir. George Simon. Narr. Richard Dillane. 2006. Channel 4 Television Corporation

* US Social Security Death Index