Gregory Scarpa Sr.
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Gregory Scarpa Sr. (May 8, 1928 – June 4, 1994), aka The Grim Reaper, was a soldier for the Colombo crime family and an informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He was the brother of Colombo crime family mobster Salvatore Scarpa and father of Gregory Scarpa Jr.. During the 1970s and 1980s, Scarpa was the chief enforcer to the fierce Colombo leader Carmine "Junior" Persico.
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[edit] Relations With the FBI
Gregory Scarpa was an FBI informer for three decades. Scarpa had illegal dealings with his FBI agent Lindley DeVecchio in which he would receive cash, jewelry, and other gifts. In return, DeVecchio would provide information to Scarpa that was used to kill people who had fallen out of favor with the Colombo family]. [1]
[edit] Mississippi Three
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In a Brooklyn court in 2007, the former girlfriend of Scarpa testified that at the request of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover [2], Scarpa was paid by the FBI to force a Klansman into revealing the burial site of three slain civil rights workers in the Southern United States. Allegedly, Scarpa flew down to Mississippi, where an FBI agent handed him some money and a gun. Scarpa tracked down a Klansman who sold TVs and bought a set from him before sticking a gun in his mouth and getting him to reveal the location of the graves.[3]
This testimony contradicts evidence from journalist Jerry Mitchell and Illinois high school teacher Barry Bradford, that claims that the informant who revealed the location of the bodies was highway patrolman Maynard King, who gave the information willingly to FBI agent Joseph Sullivan.[4]
[edit] Assassination Attempt
On November 18, 1991, supporters of Victor Orena attempted a hit on Greg Scarpa Sr. in Brooklyn as he drove his daughter and granddaughter home. Hitmen ran from their vehicles with guns drawn and converged on Scarpa's car. But Scarpa hit the accelerator and made a run for it, crashing into anything that got in his way. A few bystanders were injured, but Scarpa and his loved ones escaped unharmed. [5]
[edit] Death and Legacy
Gregory Scarpa Sr. died on June 4th 1994 while in prison. The cause of death was AIDS contracted from a blood transfusion in 1987.[6]
