NY NY - Hastings-on-Hudson, Saw Mill River Rd, WhtMale 40-50, UP80274, in wooden chest, Apr'78

[victoriarobinson642]

A peculiar old case made visible in NAMUS today:
(The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs))
WARNING: PM AT LINK - not graphic but clearly deceased.

---

Demographics
Sex - Male
Race / Ethnicity - White / Caucasian
Estimated Age Group - Adult - Pre 50
Estimated Age Range (Years) - 40-50
Estimated Year of Death - 1978
Estimated PMI - 12 Hours
Height - 5' 4"(64 inches) , Measured
Weight - 154 lbs, Measured

---

Circumstances
Type - Unidentified Deceased
Date Body Found - April 23, 1978
NamUs Case Created - May 11, 2021
Location Found Map
Location - Hastings-on-Hudson, New York
County - Westchester County
Found On Tribal Land - No
Circumstances of Recovery - Body found in a wooden chest in a wooded area along Saw Mill River Road

---

Details of Recovery
Inventory of Remains - All parts recovered
Condition of Remains - Recognizable face

---

Physical Description
Hair Color - Black
Head Hair Description - moderately long
Facial Hair Description - mustache
Eye Color - Brown

---

Clothing and Accessories
Clothing - Dark brown jacket with small lions standing up on inner lining, dark brown long sleeve shirt with a paisley pattern throughout and tag with "Custom Shop" present, dark-brownish pants

Other - light greenish blanket and a brownish-yellow white bed sheet

---

 

[Murkywaters]

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Photos from NamUs of the wooden chest the victim was found in.

 

[Tuck]

Just wanted to provide a couple more details on this case:

- Authorities suspected that he was somehow associated with the Genovese or Galante crime syndicates, because around the same time several other murdered gangland figures had been found in auto trunks around New York.

- This led to suspicion that he might be a hitman from a foreign background, leading to inquiries being undertaken with Canadian and Italian authorities.

- Other items found on the body but not listed in the NamUs file included a very expensive pair of gold cuff links, and a dime left in his chest which authorities suspected may have implied that he was an informer.

- The cause of death was three gunshot wounds.

 

[victoriarobinson642]

Just wanted to provide a couple more details on this case:

- Authorities suspected that he was somehow associated with the Genovese or Galante crime syndicates, because around the same time several other murdered gangland figures had been found in auto trunks around New York.

- This led to suspicion that he might be a hitman from a foreign background, leading to inquiries being undertaken with Canadian and Italian authorities.

- Other items found on the body but not listed in the NamUs file included a very expensive pair of gold cuff links, and a dime left in his chest which authorities suspected may have implied that he was an informer.

- The cause of death was three gunshot wounds.

Interesting! Is this from a newspaper from then? I've been looking for information on him and I can't seem to find any.

 

[victoriarobinson642]

I've touched Hudson Doe up a bit - I'm not sure if he quite looks '40-50', but his PM photo isn't very flattering.

 

[victoriarobinson642]

Officials seek to identify 1978 shooting victim in Hastings-on-Hudson

New reconstruction made of Hudson Doe.

 

[citizen_sleuth]

Paul Meskil, "Find Bullet-Riddled Body in Trunk in W'chester," Daily News [New York, NY], 24 April 1978, 5.

The two trunk murders were the 10th and 11th apparent underworld slayings in the last month. The police believe that at least some of the victims were casualties of a new gangland war for control of the multimillion-dollar crime conglomerate formerly run by the late Vito Genovese.

At around 10 a.m. yesterday, a motorist saw what he thought was an antique wooden trunk standing in a wooded area about 20 feet from the Saw Mill River Parkway in Hastings-on-Hudson. He opened the trunk and found a body wrapped in a bloody blanket.

Westchester authorities described the victim as a white male in his 40s, with dark hair and a swarthy complexion. He was wearing an expensive suit but had no wallet or identification papers on him. He had been shot several times in the head with a small-caliber gun, possibly a .22-caliber automatic -- the weapon used in a score of underworld hits around the country.

Detectives are trying to determine wheter [sic] this murder was linked to that of Louis Giola, 25, of 179 Mulberry St., who was shot several times and stuffed in a black steamer trunk. The police found the trunk Friday in a garage at 161st St. and River Ave., Bronx. Detectives said that the garage had been used as a drop for stolen cars. They said Giola had an arrest record.

Mary Ann Giordano, "Body is found in cedar chest," Daily Argus [White Plains, NY], 24 April 1978, 1,
[part 1] [part 2]

The body was discovered at about 10:30 a.m. in the grassy area between Saw Mill River Road and the river, opposite the San Roc Restaurant in Hastings. A passing motorist, only identified by police as a Hastings man, noticed the box among the bushes and trees, stopped his car and went over to explore it, police said.

"He saw what looked like a treasure chest," said Det. Lt. Richard Crawford. The man pried open the nailed-down lid of the chest, discovered the body and radioed on his CB for police assistance. Hastings police responded but turned the case over to the parkway police after determining the box had been left on county property.

Roell said he has no clues to the man's identity. No papers were found on the body and results of a fingerprint check came back negative, meaning the man had no record in New York State, detectives said.

William Federici and Paul Meskil, "Rubout Victim's Identity Still a Mystery," Daily News [New York, NY], 26 April 1978, 27.

The FBI turned to Canadian and Italian authorities yesterday for help in identifying a slain man whose body was found Sunday in Westchester in a hand-carved wooden chest that looks like a miniature coffin.

He was one of 12 gangland slaying victims whose bodies have turned up -- five of them in auto trunks -- in the last month, but investigators do not know whether his killing was connected with any of the others. Several victims were members or associates of the Genovese and Galante gangs, indicating that these mods are at war. Police said underworld sources say that the gangs are battling for control of a multimillion-dollar drug empire.

[...]

A federal agent said he might have been an imported hitman with no criminal record in this country. On the latter possibility, the FBI has sent copies of his prints, his description and photo to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Italian authorities and Interpol, the international police organization.

[...]

He wore an expensive brown suit, brown shoes and a well-made shirt with gold cuff links worth about $200. He had no other jewelry on him, no wallet, no identification and no money -- except for a dime found in the chest.

Police speculated that the dime might have been left by the killers as a message that the dead man was an informer who made one phone call too many.

He had been shot three times -- once in each temple and once in the back of the head.

 

[sorcoy14]

No rule outs.