Final Confession F I N A L C O N F E S S I O N The Unsolved Crimes of Phil Cresta Brian P. Wallace & Bill Crowley University Press of New England hNaonrtohveearst earnnd U lnoinvderosnity Press BOSTON University Press of New England www.upne.com © 2000 Brian P. Wallace and William Crowley NAlol rrtihgehatss treersne rUvendiversity Press First University Press of New England paperback edition 2013 CMoapnyurfigahcttu 2r0e0d0 ibny t hBer iUann iPt.e Wd Saltlaatcees of America ADlel sriiggnhetds rbeys eArnvned T. wEoxmcebplty for the quotation of short passages for tThyep epsuertp ions eFsa iorffi cerldit ibcyis Wm ealnlidn grteovnie Gw,r anpoh picasrt of this book may be risebpnro fdour ctehde ipna apneryb faocrkm e odrit bioyn a: n9y7 8m-1e-a6n1s16, 8e-le37c8tr-o3nic or mechani- cisabl,n i nfocrl uthdien egb pohookt oecdoitpioynin: g9, 7r8e-c1o-6rd11in68g-, 3o7r9 a-0ny information stor- age and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without wForirt tpeenr mpeisrsmioisns itoon r eopf rtohdeu pcue balnisyh oefr. the material in this book, contact Permissions, University Press of New England, One Court Street, NSuoirtteh 2e5a0s,t eLrenb Uannoivne rNsiHty 0P3r7e6s6s; hoars v misiatd we wewve.uryp nreea.csoonmable effort to confirm the accuracy of the facts contained in this account aOnrdig binealilelyv epsu ibt ltiosh beed tirnu e2.000 by Northeastern University Press LTihber aLriyb oraf rCy oonf gCreosnsg Creastsa hloagsi ncagt-ainlo-gPeudb tlhicea thiaornd Dcoavtear edition as follows: Wallace, Brian P., 1949– Final confession : the unsolved crimes of Phil Cresta / Brian P. Wallace & Bill Crowley. p. cm. isbn1-55553-449-x(cloth : alk. paper) 1. Cresta, Phil. 2. Thieves—Massachusetts—Boston— Biography. 3. Burglary—Massachusetts—Boston. 4. Organized crime—Massachusetts—Boston. I. Crowley, Bill. II. Title. hv6653.c74w35 2000 364.16′2′0974461—dc21 00-058224 5D e4s i3g n2e d1 by Ann Twombly Composed in Fairfield by Wellington Graphics, Westwood, Mas- sachusetts. Printed and bound by Quebecor Printing, Fairªeld, Pennsylvania. The paper is Quebecor Liberty, an acid-free stock. manufactured in the united states of america 04 03 02 01 00 5 4 3 2 1 To the memory of Billy Cresta Contents Contents Foreword: dennis lehane ix FInotrreowdourcdt:iodne:ngnilisgleeihsanxeiii ix IPnrtorloodguucet:i oOnp:egni lCagseesi sNowxi iCi losed xxiixii Prologue: Open Cases Now Closed xix 1 The Parker House Heist 3 21 TSchhe oPoalsr kfoerr THhoouuseg hHteis1t3 3 23 SMcahsosaoclsh fuosre Ttths oTuigghhttens1 3Its Pockets 27 43 MThaes sTaecahmus Fetotrsm Tsigh3te3ns Its Pockets 27 45 TAh Kee Tye faomr YFoourrm Tsho3u3ghts 41 65 AE xKpeeyn sfoivre Y Couurp T ohf oJuavgahts4741 67 EHxopliednasyi vWe eCeukpen odf AJacvtaivit4y7 53 87 HThoeli dCahye Wckese Ckeanndc eAl cOtiuvitty 6353 89 TKhane sCash Ceciktys, CHaenrec eWl Oe uCtom6e3 73 109 KBarenaskads oCwitnys, H8e3re We Come 73 1101 BCrreeastkad Towrienss It 8A3lone 99 1121 CThrees tNa oT-rHieesa Idtl iAnleodn Tehe9ft9 109 12 The No-Headlined Theft 109 viii Contents 13 The Highwaymen, One Last Time 117 14 Machine Guns at the VA 121 15 Life Is What Happens When You’re Busy Making Other Plans 129 16 Suspended Sentences for a Fee 137 17 Brink’s Déjà-vu 161 18 On the Run 191 19 Surrounded 207 20 Settling Scores 213 Aftermath: The Main Characters 225 Aftermath: Other Characters 227 Index 231 Acknowledgments 241 Foreword when i was asked toreadFinalConfessionforthepurposeof writing this foreword, my ªrst inclination was to say no. I don’t read much in the way of true-crime chronicles, and I can’tstandthosebiographiesorpseudoautobiographiesofcrim- inalsandmobstersthathaveªlledtheshelvesofourbookstores lately. Most of these books attempt to make the criminal—the Salvatore “Sammy the Bull” Gravano or the John Gotti—seem shrewd and intelligent, which I ªnd hard to believe if they are either in Witness Protection or in jail or have been so unsuc- cessful at practicing illicit activities that someone can write a bookaboutthem.Ialsoªndthesebooksunreadablebecauseof what I call The Godfather syndrome, which essentially boils down to the idea that our collective perception of the Maªa is that it’s like an extension of the Corleone family—we see maªosi as handsome, Machiavellian, tragic heroes who spend a lotoftimetalkingabouthonorandhostinglavishweddingsand who occasionally (but with wistful regret) do the odd bad thing to horses and guys named Carlo. The criminals I had contact withinmyyouthweren’tlikethat.Theywereusuallydumbguys or, if in the mob, far more like the Al Pacino in Donnie Brasco thantheAlPacinoinTheGodfather:PartII,whichistosaythey