FL FL - Leno, 47, & Louise Lazzari, 42, Boca Raton, 14 Nov 1949

[gaia227]

This is an interesting case wiht numerous suspects. Considering Leno's profession, his philanderings and involvement with the anti-fascists movement in Italy the list seems endless. There are some bizarre things that occured after the murders. The apt was broken into and all of Leno's art was stolen and never resurfaced. A jewelry box that had been taken appeared inside the house three days after the murders.

Long and short someone broke into the Lazzari's apt, made themselves a snack and waited for the couple to come home and killed them both as they came in.

http://www.bocamag.com/Boca-Raton-Magazine/March-2009/Murder-in-Boca-Raton/

http://kidnappingmurderandmayhem.blogspot.com/2008/07/more-perfect-crimes.html

 

[KarlK]

My money's on Franco either by himself or through a hired hitman. He was the one who stood to gain the most from the couple's death. As for the jewelry box Franco would not have stolen it if he was expecting to inherit it but someone from the investigation may have been tempted to snatch it then thought better of it and brought it back.

As for the Buick guy or a jealous husband the MO doesn't seem right, the killer appeared to have been familiar with the Lazzaris' routine and their apartment, seemed to have known he had time to fix himself a snack before they got home.

One thing that bugs me is they don't say where (or if) the Jeep was found. I suspect the killer went through Leno's pockets to get at the keys.

Regarding the robbery at the studio four years after the murder. that may or may not be directly related to the murder but was obviously organized by someone who knew the art was there. Surely if the murderer had intended to steal the works he would not have waited 4 years. It would be interesting to know if Franco actually inherited his father's estate, in which case the artwork would have been his property when it vanished. Insurance fraud could be a possibility.

 

[OkieGranny]

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/palm-beach/fl-boca-cold-case-20141205-story.html#page=1

Who cut short the flamboyant lives of famed sculptor Leno Lazzari, 48, and his wife, Louise, 40, is a mystery that has endured for 66 years. The case is cold enough that death has likely put the perpetrator far from the reach of the justice system.

But getting a satisfying answer for why the Lazzaris were slain, and finding the sculptor's remaining art, has his family on a quest. Lazzari's great-grandson Danilo Lazzari, 37, recently traveled from his home in Munich, Germany, to South Florida. He reviewed police records and even put himself at the spot where his great-grandfather was found dead in his studio off North Federal Highway in Boca Raton all those years ago.

The murders have haunted his family, Lazzari says, to the point his relatives want to know the information as he gets it... "Each one of us has our own stories, a piece of the puzzle. But we need to see the whole picture."

 

[STANDREID]

A real puzzle but the jealous husband theory seems the least likely to me. Why not wait and get Leno alone where the wife wouldn't have to be killed? She, after all, was wronged the same as the supposed husband would have been. Was there even any real evidence that he was a philanderer?

 

[PayrollNerd]

Timeline from the article. Article in PDF attached.
Boca's oldest cold case: Famed sculptor's family revisits 1948 double murder

Timeline on the Lazzaris

1927: Leno Lazzari and his wife, Julia, arrive in the United States.

1929: Leno and Julia Lazzari separate; they have one son, Franco.

1933: Officially divorced, Leno Lazzari marries his second wife, Emily Woods of Jacksonville. They divorce in 1939.

1940: Leno and Louise Lazzari marry.

1942: Leno Lazzari shows his art at the prestigious West Palm Beach Society of the Four Arts.

Nov. 14, 1948: Leno and Louise Lazzari are slain.

1:05 p.m. Nov. 14, 1948: The bodies of Leno and Louise Lazzari are discovered by a family friend and intended dinner guest for that evening. She flags down a passing policeman in a state of excitement, according to the investigations report.

Later Nov. 14, 1948: Leno Lazzari's son, Franco Lazzari, is booked by the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office and briefly held until the next morning (Nov. 15) as police verify his whereabouts and test his hands for gunpowder.

7:35 a.m. Nov. 15, 1948: The Lazzari Jeep is found nearly 30 miles from the scene of the crime, near the Florida East Coast Railway, at the corner of Dixie Highway and Third Street in West Palm Beach.

Nov. 17, 1948: Franco Lazzari complains to a probate judge that the man appointed curator of the Lazzari estate, identified in the investigations report as "Mr. Castigilioni," was removing property from the scene and asked that his rights as an heir to the estate be protected. Castigilioni also was the husband of the woman who had initially found the bodies.

Jan. 6, 1953: Julia Lazzari tells the Palm Beach Post she intends to pursue a widespread search for 20 pieces of art missing from her ex-husband's Boca Raton studio.

Oct. 1, 1953: Leno Lazzari's estate settled; worth $20,186.62, according to the Palm Beach Post.

2013: Vermont antiques dealer discovers Lazzari portrait underneath a watercolor purchased for the frame; puts it on eBay.

Source: Palm Beach Sheriff's Office records, Sally J. Ling research, newspaper archives

 

[PayrollNerd]

My money's on Franco either by himself or through a hired hitman. He was the one who stood to gain the most from the couple's death. As for the jewelry box Franco would not have stolen it if he was expecting to inherit it but someone from the investigation may have been tempted to snatch it then thought better of it and brought it back.

As for the Buick guy or a jealous husband the MO doesn't seem right, the killer appeared to have been familiar with the Lazzaris' routine and their apartment, seemed to have known he had time to fix himself a snack before they got home.

One thing that bugs me is they don't say where (or if) the Jeep was found. I suspect the killer went through Leno's pockets to get at the keys.

Regarding the robbery at the studio four years after the murder. that may or may not be directly related to the murder but was obviously organized by someone who knew the art was there. Surely if the murderer had intended to steal the works he would not have waited 4 years. It would be interesting to know if Franco actually inherited his father's estate, in which case the artwork would have been his property when it vanished. Insurance fraud could be a possibility.

In the timeline, they mention where the Jeep was found. Yes, I agree the keys either would have been in his pocket or perhaps sitting on a counter nearby.

7:35 a.m. Nov. 15, 1948: The Lazzari Jeep is found nearly 30 miles from the scene of the crime, near the Florida East Coast Railway, at the corner of Dixie Highway and Third Street in West Palm Beach.

 

[PayrollNerd]

Where did Leno keep his shotgun that it was so handy he tried to shoot the intruder? If the intruder was his own son, would he have really shot him?

Kidnapping, Murder, and Mayhem: More Perfect Crimes by Robert A. Waters

On the weekend of November 14, 1948, Leno and Louise Lazzari were gunned down in their secluded bungalow near Boca Raton, Florida. At the time, the town had barely 200 residents. The Lazzaris had just returned home from shopping – a spilled grocery bag was found next to Louise’s body. Leno had grabbed a shotgun to defend his home and actually got off an errant shot before he was killed. Leno was a well-regarded sculptor whose clients included the Duke of Windsor. Local police called in Miami detectives and the FBI but no one was ever convicted of the murders. A drifter was suspected, but passed a polygraph and his fingerprints did not match those found at the scene.