More from my life at 9200 rpms: for tonight you'll be guests of the Queen

     Here is another of my occasional musings made possible by my LVAD.

     During a pre-trial hearing in U.S. District Court, the federal prosecutor was defending the arrest and detention of two U.S. citizens accused of stealing $4.3 million about Halloween of 1973 from Purolator Courier Inc.  It was touted as the largest cash heist in the U.S. up to that time.  

     I was a reporter for The Chicago Sun-Times newspaper covering the federal building, which included the U.S. District Courts and the U.S. Attorney’s Office. 

   The two accused thieves,  Luigi DiFonzo and Paul Marzano, were detained on the runway of Grand Cayman Island as the plane they had boarded was about to take off for Costa Rica. The detaining officer was the head of the The Cayman Islands constabulary. The Caymans are a British Overseas Territory.  

     Costa Rica does not have an extradition treaty with the U.S. If DiFonzo and his cohort left the Caymans, they would likely have been untouchable. Ironically, DiFonzo was acquitted at a trial, while his confederate Paul Marzano was convicted. 

     The plane was delayed for takeoff on the orders of Detective Superintendent Derrick Tricker of the Cayman Islands Police.  Tricker made it clear during his testimony that his police force had no relationship to Scotland Yard and implied that any confusion to the contrary would be slanderous of his department.

     Tricker was testifying before U.S. District Court Judge William J. Bauer.  Tricker kept trying to standup in the witness stand as is customary in British courtrooms. The chair in the witness stand would swivel  but it was bolted to the floor and would not allow Tricker to standup straight.  He called the judge “your Lordship,” which Bauer relished.

     Tricker described the event.  He had received information from the FBI that DiFonzo and Marzano were on Grand Cayman, that they were suspected of robbing Purolator in Chicago, and that they were preparing to leave for Costa Rica.  The information was reliable, Tricker concluded, and he agreed to question the pair on the aircraft as it prepared to taxi for takeoff.

     The Detective Superintendent related how he walked onto the aircraft ahead of two FBI agents from Chicago, apparently youthful types who did not know the powers of a Cayman Islands police superintendent.  The FBI agents were crowding Tricker.  The agents apparently wanted Tricker to rush up to the pair and arrest them with gusto. Tricker said he told them to stand pat near the forward door of the aircraft and that he would handle the task at hand.  

      He walked up to the seat where DiFonzo and Marzano sat.
He asked them to identify themselves.  It is a crime under Cayman and British law not to identify yourself to a policeman. The pair used false names in identifying themselves. Det. Supt. Tricker asked the men for identification.  DiFonzo produced his plane ticket and boarding pass.  Marzano, it turned out, had eaten his ticket once on board.

     Tricker said little else. He turned on his heel and walked back down the center aisle and away from DiFonzo and Marzano, much to the consternation of the two hovering FBI agents.  He started back up the aisle of the aircraft toward the waiting agents. Over his shoulder in a loud clear voice, Tricker said: “Gentlemen, please follow me for tonight you’ll be guests of the Queen.” 

      FBI agents are imbued with the notion that they should  take charge or at least to do something. After all they were with the FBI and not some rink dink local law enforcement agency.  The rivalry between the FBI and any local police usually has the FBI considering itself superior to all others.  It was a legacy of the Hoover years.  These two young agents were no different.  They were anxious to get on with the case.

     The two bureau men didn't seem to get that the bad guys weren’t going anywhere.  Tricker was in charge, not them.  The aircraft was grounded by Tricker, pending DiFonzo and Marzano’s detention on Grand Cayman.  

     The next day the pair was accompanied by Grand Cayman police to Miami, where, at last, the FBI agents, which has no extra territorial jurisdiction, took them into custody.