Swimming to Catalina

59

Rick placed a hand-held tape recorder on the desk between himself and Billy O’Hara and switched it on. He counted to ten aloud, played back the sound to be sure he had a level, then rewound it and pressed the RECORD button.

“My name is Richard Grant,” he said. “I am a lieutenant of detectives of the Los Angeles Police Department attached to the chief of detectives. I am interviewing William O’Hara, a former police officer and, until recently, chief of security at Centurion Studios. Mr. O’Hara has agreed to give me a full statement of his activities without counsel present and to testify against others, in return for guaranteed immunity from all prosecution. Also present, as a witness, is Mr. Stone Barrington, a retired New York City police officer.” He stated the date and time, then looked up at his interviewee. “Are you William O’Hara?”

“Yes, I am,” O’Hara replied.

“Have you been informed of your constitutional rights?”

“I have.”

“Do you understand them?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Do you wish to have legal counsel present during this interview?”

“No, I do not.”

“Are the statements which you are about to make given freely and without duress?”

“Yes, they are.”

“Have you been promised anything by me or any other law enforcement official, except immunity from prosecution, in return for making these statements?”

“No, I have not been.”

“Tell me, as fully as possible, how you became involved in the crimes presently under investigation by the LAPD and the federal authorities.”

O’Hara took a deep breath and began. His presentation was that of a police officer testifying in court, as he had been trained to do. “I retired from the Los Angeles Police Department five years ago, on the offer of a job from Mr. Louis Regenstein, chairman of the board, as director of security for Centurion Studios. After I had been employed by Centurion for a year I was offered the opportunity to purchase stock in the company. I bought one hundred shares at a price of five hundred dollars a share. The studio loaned me the money to make the purchase.

“Approximately three months prior to the present date I was approached by Mr. David Sturmack, a member of the board of Centurion Studios, with an offer to trade my shares in Centurion for an equal number of shares of Albacore Fisheries, which is a company controlled by Mr. Sturmack and Mr. Onofrio Ippolito, who is also chairman of the board of the Safe Harbor Bank.”

“Was this an advantageous offer?”

“It represented an increase in the value of my investment by a factor of ten.”

“What did Mr. Sturmack tell you he wanted in return for this windfall?”

“He asked me to assist him in doing intelligence work at the studio directed at causing other stockholders to sell Albacore their shares.”

“Did you agree to help him?”

“Yes.”

“Did he ask you to do anything else?”

“Not at that time.”

“Later?”

“A few weeks later, Mr. Sturmack came back to see me. He said that he had learned that Louis Regenstein was planning to fire me as head of security. He said that he would use his influence in the company to prevent such an action, if he could count on me for other work.”

“What other work?”

“He made an appointment for me to see Mr. Onofrio Ippolito the following day. At Mr. Ippolito’s office at Safe Harbor Bank I was searched for weapons and recording devices, then I met with Mr. Ippolito alone.”

“What was the substance of that meeting?”

“He first told me that he had evidence, in the form of witnesses, that I had participated in illegal actions when I was a police officer.”

“What actions?”

“He said he had witnesses who could testify that I had accepted bribes from members of organized crime.”

“Had you accepted such bribes?”

“Yes.”

“Then what transpired?”

“Mr. Ippolito said that he had a use for me, and that if I did as he asked I would become rich beyond my wildest dreams. He said he had business plans that would increase the value of my Albacore stock by a factor of fifty, perhaps a hundred, and that if I served him well, I would be allowed to buy more stock at favorable prices. He also offered me a salary of two hundred thousand dollars a year in cash, tax free, and said that I could continue to collect my salary at Centurion.”

“Did you accept his proposal?”

“Yes, I did.”

“What work did you do for Mr. Ippolito?”

“I searched the employee files at Centurion and made a list of all stockholders and gave it to Mr. Sturmack. I transported large sums of cash from a Mr. Martin Barone to the offices of Albacore, which are on the floor below Mr. Ippolito’s office in the Safe Harbor building. I did many other routine jobs for Mr. Ippolito, including the disciplining of a loan shark who reported to Mr. Barone.”

“What was his name?”

“Ralph DiOrio.”

“How did you discipline him?”

“I beat him into unconsciousness with a black-jack.”

“Did Mr. Ippolito ask you to commit any other violent crimes?”

“Yes, he ordered me to arrange three murders.”

“Did you do so?”

“Yes.”

“Who were the victims?”

“The first was Mr. Stone Barrington, who I now realize escaped death.”

“And who carried out the attempt on Mr. Barrington’s life?”

“Vincent Mancuso and Manolo Lobianco.”

“Did Mr. Ippolito subsequently learn that Mr. Barrington had escaped death?”

“Not to my knowledge.”

“Who were the other two murder victims?”

“Vincent Mancuso and Manolo Lobianco.”

“Why were they murdered?”

“They had been arrested on other charges, and Mr. Ippolito was concerned that they might connect him to Mr. Barrington’s death.”

“Who carried out these two murders?”

“Thomas Cosenza and Joseph Zito.”

“How were they murdered?”

“On Mr. Ippolito’s specific instructions, they were shot in the head and dumped into the Pacific Ocean with weights attached.”

Rick wrote something on a piece of paper and showed it to O’Hara. “I show you a name; is this a name you recognize?”

“Yes.”

“For the purposes of this interview, you will refer to this person as Mr. X.”

“All right.”

“Did anyone ask you to do anything with regard to Mr. X?”

“Yes. Mr. Ippolito instructed me to have the wife of Mr. X kidnapped and held until I received further instructions from him.”

“Did you do so?”

“Yes.”

“Who conducted the kidnapping?”

“Vincent Mancuso and Manolo Lobianco.”

“Where was she taken?”

“She was moved daily from one location to another.”

“Did Mr. Ippolito ask you to contact Mr. X to arrange the return of his wife?”

“No, I believe others did that.”

“Do you know who?”

“Other employees of Mr. Ippolito. I don’t know their names.”

“Did Mr. Ippolito ask you to do anything else with regard to the kidnapping of Mrs. X?”

“When Mr. Regenstein asked me to help in the recovery of Mrs. X, I told Mr. Ippolito. He instructed me to pretend to help Mr. X, but to report all communications to him or Mr. Sturmack.”

“Was Mr. Sturmack involved in the kidnapping?”

“He was aware of it.”

“What was the purpose of the kidnapping?”

“To persuade Mr. X to sell to Albacore his stock in Centurion Studios. Mr. X is a large stockholder.”

“Was there any other purpose?”

“I believe Mr. Ippolito wanted Mr. X to participate in other of his business activities, but I am not familiar with those.”

“I ask you again, Mr. O’Hara, have you given this interview without duress, and with only the seeking of immunity from prosecution as your motive?”

“Yes.”

Rick switched off the recorder. “All right, that’s enough for now. I’m going to get you a promise of immunity from the feds, then allow them to question you in a lot more detail about Ippolito’s, Sturmack’s, and Barone’s business affairs.”

“I’ll have a lot more to say,” O’Hara said.

“Good.” Rick picked up the phone on the man’s desk and dialed a number. “This is Rick Grant; I’m arresting a man who has given me a statement implicating a number of other people in serious crimes. I want a secure hotel room arranged for himnow, where he can be interviewed in greater depth. Yes, I’ll hold.” He covered the phone. “I’m going to move Billy now, then we can talk again to Cable and Rubens.” He went back to the phone. “Good. Send an unmarked car and two detectives to the Centurion Studios security department now to pick up my man. His name is William O’Hara. Yes, the same. Got all that? Good.” He hung up.

Less than ten minutes passed before the two detectives arrived.

“Put him in the back of the car, no cuffs, no fuss, and take him to the hotel,” Rick said. “Then get his house keys, go there, and get him some clothes. I don’t want him touched.”

The men departed with O’Hara.

Rick picked up the phone again and called Hank Cable at the FBI. “Hank,” he said, “we’ve got a witness against Ippolito, Sturmack, and Barone.” He gave him the name of the hotel. “Can you and Rubens meet us there in an hour? Ask for me at the front desk.” He hung up and turned to Stone. “Let’s get over there; I want Cable and Rubens to interrogate Billy. Once that’s done we’ll know our next move.”