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Police recognized the killings as the Mob's handiwork but were stumped about the motive. They kept associates of the gang under surveillance, tapped their phones and pressed informants for underworld gossip. The break finally came when an associate of the thieves, who had fled West, was picked up by the FBI.
He told the bureau all about Big Tuna's vengeance, saying there had actually been six slayings. The other two, which police at first did not think fit the pattern, took place in February, when Vincent Moretti, 52, a Mob fence and loan collector, and a friend, Donald Renno, 31, were found stabbed to death in a car parked behind a tavern in suburban Stickney. Almost all of Moretti's ribs had been broken. According to police, Moretti was killed because he had not told Mob bosses when the gang asked him to fence the loot. On the day of his death, Moretti had discovered that his car's power steering had been tampered with. So he asked Renno, who had no known Mob connections, to drive him to his destination. Renno was presumably killed because he had witnessed Moretti's murder.
The FBI hopes the investigation will enable them to make a case against Accardo. Despite his age (72) and a heart ailment, Accardo, a former bodyguard for Al Capone, heads the ruling Chicago crime triumvirate, which also includes Jackie ("the Lackey") Cerone and Joe ("Doves") Aiuppa.
So far, the diamonds and other goods have not been recovered, and investigators doubt that they will soon be fenced: in this case, those who deal in stolen ice may be reluctant to play with fire. ∎