Colombo family capo Greg Scarpa was so ruthless and deadly that he became known as the “Grim Reaper” — but he also spent 30 years secretly working as an FBI informant.
Bettman / Getty ImagesKnown as the “ Grim Reaper , ” Colombo family capo Greg Scarpa was one of the most feared men in the Mafia for decennium .
Some called him the “ Grim Reaper . ” Others concern to him as the “ huffy Hatter . ” In either case , his name was likely to charge shiver down the spine — because Greg Scarpa was every flake as fearsome as his nicknames connote .
A Colombo crime family caporegime and hitman , Scarpa was a career outlaw involved in countless illegal gambling , loansharking , extortion , and highjacking operations . He also dabbled in violation , thieving , narcotics trading , and , of course , murder . His crew was among the best of the effective , and Scarpa himself soared through the ranks of the Mafia .
Bettman/Getty ImagesKnown as the “Grim Reaper,” Colombo family capo Greg Scarpa was one of the most feared men in the Mafia for decades.
But in 1962 , his world came crashing down when he was arrested for armed looting . To avoid criminal prosecution , Scarpa strike a deal with the FBI , marking the beginning of a 30 - yr - retentive partnership with the bureau — one that amount in handy for the FBI , as they would later levy Scarpa to help restrain the Ku Klux Klan after the “ Mississippi combustion ” murders .
NYPDIn the 1950s , Greg Scarpa became involved with the Colombo crime family and chop-chop rose through the ranks . before long , he was a chief enforcer and one of the most feared hitmen in the Mafia .
And while working with the FBI , Greg Scarpa stay just as ruthless a mobster as ever . In fact , he reportedly bragged that he cease counting the number of masses he ’d killed after he hit 50 . This is his fib .
NYPDIn the 1950s, Greg Scarpa became involved with the Colombo crime family and quickly rose through the ranks. Soon, he was a chief enforcer and one of the most feared hitmen in the Mafia.
Greg Scarpa’s Rise Through The Ranks Of The Mafia
Gregory Scarpa was born to Italian immigrant on May 8 , 1928 , and raised in the Bensonhurst neighborhood of Brooklyn . As a young child , he work with his father to deliver coal to facilitate his family unit scratch by during the Great Depression . Then , sometime in the fifties , he was enter to theColombo crime family .
Within the Colombo family , Scarpa apace establish himself as a force to be reckoned with . He became known as the “ Grim Reaper ” because of the sheer number of murders he carried out ( he reportedly stopped counting at 50 ) . As Linda Schiro , Scarpa ’s girl of 30 years with whom he had two children , tell apart theNew York Postin 2007 , “ If it was a large execution , an important one , he would go out the numbers 666 on some of the guys ’ pagers . ”
Greg Scarpa was involved in all aspects of the work party . He run gambling , loansharking , and extortion surgery , regularly carrying about $ 5,000 in immediate payment on his person to reach out bribes to people . Meanwhile , he was a prolificMafia hitmanin his own right . And he was unspoiled at what he did . Behind the scene , however , he live a sort of bivalent life sentence : no - nonsense mobster by twenty-four hour period ; loving sire by night .
Scarpa FamilyGreg Scarpa with Linda Schiro, his daughter who was named after her mother.
“ There was no one ruffianly than Greg , ” Schiro said . “ Yet there was an exterior to him and an interior to him . Inside , strangely enough , he was truly tender … Greg was a manslayer , but we were so much in dear . ”
Scarpa FamilyGreg Scarpa with Linda Schiro , his daughter who was refer after her mother .
Greg Scarpa earned himself enough money working for the mob that he could endure in a plush Manhattan apartment while have household in Brooklyn , Staten Island , Las Vegas , and Singer Island , Florida . He became a caporegime and the proprietor of the popular Mafia hangout spot know as the Wimpy Boys Social Club .
Public DomainGreg Scarpa was known as the “Grim Reaper” of the Mafia.
“ Greg was a true Machiavelli , ” his former lawyer , Louis Diamond , told theNew Yorkerin 1996 . “ He was the puppeteer . He lived to keep in line people against hoi polloi . ” According to Diamond , Scarpa was “ one of the better gin - drunkard player , ” which showed off his “ glare ” and “ ability to focus and plan . ”
Then , in 1962 , everything changed .
How An Armed Robbery Led The “Grim Reaper” To Work With The FBI
After Greg Scarpa participated in an armed robbery in 1962 , FBI agent snatch him outside his home and brought him in for interrogation . Despite his known mob link , Scarpa only ever pass a few months in totality behind bars and reportedly “ hated doing clip , ” according to one associate .
So , when the FBI offer him a mess that would keep him out of prison , he was quick to accept . It was a clever move on the part of the chest , too — most gangster believe that the FBI would n’t work with killers , and according to one associate , “ [ Scarpa ] was crazy . He vote out a lot . He was nuts . ”
Public DomainGreg Scarpa was sleep with as the “ Grim Reaper ” of the Mafia .
Public DomainThe bodies of the three victims in the “Mississippi Burning” murders.
Greg Scarpa ’s position as a Orcinus orca thus provided the perfect disguise for him as a snitcher . Even better , work with the FBI mean he would stay out of prison . Plus , he ’d earn more money in informant fee from the agency .
Then , in 1964 , just two years into his clock time as an informant , Scarpa diddle what is arguably his most important function for the FBI .
How Greg Scarpa Helped The FBI With The “Mississippi Burning” Murders
In 1964 , the Ku Klux Klan , riding high up on a strand of slaying , belt down three civic rights activists in what would famously become known as the “ Mississippi Burning ” execution . The Klan buried their bodies in a dam near Philadelphia , Mississippi , sparking a nationwide manhunt .
The victims , James Chaney , Andrew Goodman , and Michael Schwerner , had traveled to Mississippi as part of the Freedom Summer campaign to help African Americans register to vote .
The FBI acknowledge they had been mangle , but they could n’t locate their bodies . J. Edgar Hoover was confront pressure from the media to find the men , but he had run down his work force looking for them with nothing to show for it .
Public DomainSurveillance footage of Greg Scarpa, the Colombo family capo known as the “Grim Reaper.”
Public DomainThe bodies of the three victims in the “ Mississippi burn ” slaying .
Enter Greg Scarpa .
The FBI called their source and secretly flew him down to Mississippi . According to a 2007 report inThe Guardian , Linda Schiro claimed she and Scarpa checked into a hotel in Neshoba County , and Scarpa nictate at one of the agents .
ZUMA Press, Inc. / Alamy Stock PhotoLindley DeVecchio, the federal agent who worked with Greg Scarpa.
A few minutes later on , the agent accede their hotel room and handed Scarpa a accelerator . Scarpa then switch his clothes and go out money on the dresser , recount Schiro that if he did n’t number back , she should take a cab to the aerodrome and go back to New York .
He did come back , however , not too long after he had left . Scarpa later told Schiro that he had kidnapped a local salesman and mystic Ku Kluxer , Lawrence Byrd , after catch him off guard by helping him carry a idiot box to his car . He then put a gun in Byrd ’s mouth and threatened him . Of course , the FBI has never confirmed this interlingual rendition of events .
In any case , the story go that the klansman folded and told Scarpa where the trunk were . When Greg Scarpa recall to the hotel , he met with the broker and trade the gun in for a spate of cash . Then , he and Schiro returned to New York .
He reportedly helped the FBI on another KKK slaying case in January 1966 that lead in a disagreement over his defrayal and a snag between Scarpa and the agency — at least until 1980 . That class , he became an source once again , this time solve with handler Lindley DeVecchio .
Public DomainSurveillance footage of Greg Scarpa , the Colombo family capo have intercourse as the “ Grim Reaper . ”
Greg Scarpa, Lindley DeVecchio, And The Third Colombo War
Despite Greg Scarpa wanting to outdistance himself from the FBI , DeVecchio was determined to rive him back in . DeVecchio , however , was n’t exactly a role model federal agent . He was crooked , and he and Scarpa formed a somewhat close kinship . He would oftentimes dine with Scarpa and his category at the mobster ’s home , much to the chagrin of many of DeVecchio ’s co-worker .
In fact , some would by and by evoke that DeVecchio was part creditworthy for some of the execution Scarpa carried out throughout the eighties and ’ ninety , in particular during the Third Colombo War . DeVecchio allegedly provided Scarpa with the names of rival mob associate degree — who would turn up dead shortly thereafter .
“ Lin knew when he gave Greg a name of somebody what would go on , ” Schiro said .
ZUMA Press , Inc. / Alamy Stock PhotoLindley DeVecchio , the federal agent who work with Greg Scarpa .
When DeVecchio took the stand during the trial of Victor Orena , who was blamed for kicking off the Colombo wars , DeVecchio was reportedly “ arrogant , hostile , and talked like a gangster himself , ” Orena ’s son Andrew said , agree to theNew York Post . “ He was protecting Scarpa . He was useless . ”
DeVecchio was at last cleared of any counts of slaying levied against him during his own trial . Greg Scarpa , on the other handwriting , had shoot down himself in fuss with the constabulary once again in 1985 , landing a judgment of conviction of five years of probation with no prison house time . This go to misgiving within the Colombo syndicate that the mobster might be working with the FBI .
The Unexpected Death Of Gregory Scarpa
In 1986 , Greg Scarpa underwent exigency ulceration surgery and receive several roue donation from house members and associates — one of whom was Paul Mele , a bodybuilder who had contracted HIV from a dirty sex hormone needle and then passed it on to Scarpa .
Scarpa eventually filed a lawsuit and was awarded a $ 300,000 settlement in 1992 , but the furiousness of mob life had n’t abandoned him . While under house stay that same year , Scarpa was involved in a shootout with Michael DeRosa and Ronald Moran in which he lose an center .
Then , once again , Scarpa baffle into legal trouble . He pleaded guilty to three murders and conspiracy to murder in May 1993 , and he was doom to life in prison in December of that year . However , just six month later , on June 4 , 1994 , Greg Scarpa died of AIDS - touch complications at the Federal Medical Center in Minnesota .
The man who had carry so many lives finally meet the Grim Reaper himself .
After check about the living and offence of Greg Scarpa , learn about the most powerfulMafia bossesof all time . Then , check out these images of theAmerican Mafia in the 1980s .
