Small snippet from one of my old articles from 2017 regarding Volpe's situation.....

"....the so-called dangerous decision was to retaliate directly, or in other words, they targeted Accardo’s "modest" 18 room ranch house at 1407 N. Ashland Avenue. There was nothing really special about Accardo’s house, except for the “small” detail which was a safe that was located in the home of one the country’s most dangerous crime bosses. I believe that first of all, the boys needed for someone to inform them regarding the location of the safe, meaning Accardo’s basement, and also regarding the safety systems in and around the residence. Also they obviously needed an inside info on when will the house be empty and for how long. And so the boys finally received an info regarding Accardo’s travel to Palm Springs, California, on January 5, 1978, and that same evening, the boys managed to disable the house alarm, got in, quicklyfound the wall safe and cracked it, took the stash and fled the scene. We really don’t know how much money was gone from Accardo’s safe but the next day, Accardo’s long time caretaker and friend Mike Volpe came to check on the house and when he saw that the safe was blown up and all of loot was gone, he immediately called his boss and told him about the bad news. Story goes at first Accardo looked quite calmed and told his wife to pack their stuff, took the first plane to Chicago and quickly arrived at the scene. When the old crime boss saw that everything was gone, he went crazy.

The sudden increase of Mob-related homicides apparently fanned the normally suspicious attitudes of the various law enforcement agencies to a fevered pitch and eventually, with the help of the FBI’s facts and reports, the government decided to bring Chicago’s “Mafia Don” Tony Accardo before a grand jury regarding the case. In September, 1978, during the federal investigation, besides Accardo, certain people were also brought before the grand jury to shed some light on the events, including members of the Accardo family such as his wife Clarice and his daughter Linda, and also his long time handyman Mike Volpe. Regarding the burglary in their home, the members of the Accardo family all denied that there was a break-in and later they all took the Fifth Amendment. So Accardo had a good reason to sit relaxed in his chair and wondered around with his innocent look like he wasn’t aware of what was going on. But Accardo’s chances of getting out of this one started decreasing, when his caretaker and friend, 75 year old Volpe took the stand and told the jury in fact that there was a break-in and that he reported it to his landlord and that was that. Now, even the birds on the trees and the rats in the sewers couldn’t believe what they’ve just heard? The whole Planet Earth stopped turning at least for a second. Everybody was stunned and even the judge and the prosecutors couldn’t believe their ears. I mean this guy was with Accardo for more than 30 years and heard and saw only God knows what, and all of a sudden he decided to spill the beans?! Even though all of the witnesses testified separately, when the hearings ended, Accardo jumped from his chair, took his family straight out of the building, jumped in the front seat of their car and sped off. As for Volpe, he had to take a cab into a certain death trip. Accardo received info from his lawyer Carl Walsh that Volpe opened his mouth since both Accardo and Volpe had the same attorney which was Walsh. When he arrived at the Accardo mansion, allegedly Volpe was greeted with a smile by the old gangster and was allegedly told not to worry and that he did the right thing.

Story goes that Volpe was indeed very loyal to Accardo because obviously, in such a long time period he might’ve heard or saw anything, but the problem for Accardo was that Volpe was clean, meaning he didn’t want to get involved or hear about murder. So maybe there was sort of a line between the two long time companions and the deal was that same line never to be crossed. But now they both crossed the line. Obviously, Accardo expected from Volpe to lie in front of the jury regarding the robbery since his whole family was implicated by the government. Accardo knew that if the feds had a proof that there was break-in, the possibility of implicating him in the murders was much higher. But now, his companion implicated him and his family. So one thing led to another and five days after the hearings, Mike Volpe left Accardo’s home and was never seen or heard from ever again. Some say he was dismembered and then thrown into a barrel filled with acid, some say he a crashed in some car and then thrown in a junk yard, and some even say that he was banished by Accardo in some foreign country, which I hardly believe is the truth. My personal pick is the second opinion, that Volpe was gone all together with his own car. No matter the deal, in Accardo’s mind Volpe talked and he had to go. That’s it.

But now the government was also mad and there was a good reason for them to be because they were the guilty ones for not protecting Volpe after his testimony. Even if he refused any government protection, they should’ve arrested him and at least place him in custody since the whole universe knew that by telling the truth, it was the end of him. And because of mistakes such as this one, sometimes the government looses its trust among the people. So the feds picked up a search warrant and showed up in front of Accardo’s home. In fact this time the feds secured a search warrant for the premises of the house for the purpose of locating personal effects including keys, wallet, credit cards, jewellery, clothing or any kind of belongings of Volpe. No one from the family was inside because Accardo and his wife were again vacationing in California, and his kids were with their families. So somebody called for Accardo’s daughter Linda, who in turn quickly arrived at the scene while throwing threats and bad words at the agents. When inside, the agents ransacked the whole place and they managed to find Accardo’s walk-in safe in his basement and inside they discovered somewhere around $275,000, two revolvers and a pair of diamond cufflinks, probably the ones who previously belonged to the late Salvatore Moretti. The cash was stashed in 55 stacks of $5,000 each and so the feds immediately “packed” everything up and took it to their “lab” for further investigation."


Mongol General: Conan, what is best in life?

Conan: To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women.