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Lake Grove-Body of Leupold Ladenhauf 42 of 27 Lakeside Avenue in Lake Grove is found stuffed in the trunk of a car in Parking lot 8 at JFK Airport 1978.

March 20, 1978 From Newsday 9/27/78:
A bizzare tale of murder involving the attempted mob takeover of a Smithtown Restaurant unfolded yesterday as Queens District Attorney John J. Santucci announced the indictment of three Long Island union figures. The three accused of killing a Lake Grove waterproofing contractor, who police said was a mob loanshark, were identified as Michael Crimi, 43 of 156 Woodbury Road in Hauppauge, Rudolph Callegari, 51 of 143 Bridle Way in Oakdale and Bruce Kay, 29 of 40 Wheelwright Lane in Levittown.
Santucci said that Crimi, whom he identified as related by marriage to Frank (Funzi) Tieri, leader of the Vito Genovese crime family, is vice president of the International Composition Roofers Union and welfare fund and administrator for Composition roofers local 8.

Police said that Callegari, Crimi’s driver, is a roofer and a member of local 8. They said that Kay, who was arrested Monday night before the indictments were disclosed, was the chauffer and body guard of John Cody, president of Teamsters Local 282.Each suspect was charged in the March 20 murder of Ladenhauf. Crimi was also charged with first degree usury. The suspects were ordered held without bail pending trial.

Santucci identified Ladenhauf and Crimi as “partners in a loan-sharking operation involving hundreds of thousands of dollars” he did not discuss their connection with an attempt to take over the new Ranieris restaurant on Route 25 in Smithtown (Now urgent care on the corner of 25 and Meadow Road). The restaurant opened in the fall of 1977.

A Newsday editor learned of the takeover attempt before the March murders of Ladenhauf and Pasquale (Paddy Mac) Macchiarole, a Genovese family crime captain and close friend of Tieri. The editor confronted Ranieri, who eventually admitted that Macchiarole had victimized him through loansharking. Ranieri wept as he described threats on his life and threats to break his childrens legs. Police sources said that Macchiarole, like Ladenhauf and Crimi, was a central figure in the loan-sharking of Ranieri and the attempted seizure of his restaurant. The sources say that a copy of an agreement signed by Ranieri was found on Ladenhauf’s body. In it, they said he agreed to turn over his restaurant should he fail to pay off an $85,000 loan arranged for him through Macchiarole.

Weekly collections were made by Crimi and Ladenhauf. Police said that the interest on this loan was $4000.00 a week. Builder Ronald Parr, who had contracted to build Ranieris new restaurant as a replacement for their smaller establishment on Main Street, said he had arranged for a $300,000 small business loan for Ranieri for the construction. Parr said that Ranieri had turned to the mob for money when he could not raise the $85,000 needed for expensive items. Ranieri told Newsday that Macchiarole had said that the loan would be cancelled if Ranieri fronted a liquor license application for Macchiarole for a branch restaurant in Greenport, to be known as Ranieri’s east. or, if Ranieri gave 25% of the business to a mob figure.

Macchiarole, 56 was found dead on March 23rd, at which time Crimi became the chief administrator of the Ranieri loan sharking operation. Police said that the money for the loan came from Tieri, who had been Macchiarole’s business partner until Macchiarole challenged him for leadership of the crime family. Authorities said that Crimi fell out with Ladenhauf over the handling of the loan. At the same time, Kay was known to have had an argument with Ladenhauf at Ranieri’s over a $15,000 debt, details of which are unknown. Police observed Kay, his boss, John Cody, who has been described as a close associate and underling of the late crime boss Carlo Gambino, and a thrid man in Ranieri’s restaurant. Santucci said that Ladenhauf was last seen in his car with Kay, Crimi and Callegari on the morning of March 20, apparently after he had left Ranieri’s. Sources close to the investigation said that he had made a $2,000 collection and two phone calls there, one to a girlfriend, the other to an unknown party in Brooklyn. Crimi’s union headquarters are at 467 Dean Street in Brooklyn. The sources said that Ladenhauf was heard to say: I know I am supposed to meet you guys but I’m jammed. He then said, after getting an unheard response, “Okay, we gotta meet at 12…on the Long Island Expressway” Ladenhaufs car was checked into the airport parking lot and photographed automatically, police said, at noon on March 20th. His body was discovered March 24th when his wife June reported him missing to Suffolk Police, who asked NY police to check airport parking lots for the car. Santucci said that he had been “brutally killed. His legs and arms were held behind him….he groveled on his knees begging for his life before he was shot” in the head. Mr. Ladenhauf’s body, wrapped in yellow tarpaulin, was found inside the trunk of his 1974 blue and white Oldsmobile Toronado at 2:35 P.M.

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