James Burke, ‘Jimmy the Gent’

James Burke (July 5, 1931 – April 13, 1996), also known as 'Jimmy the Gent ', was an Irish American gangster and Lucchese crime family associate who is believed to have organized the 1978 Lufthansa heist, the largest cash robbery in American history at the time. He's believed responsible for the deaths of those involved, in the months following the robbery.(1)

Following the testimony of Henry Hill, Burke was convicted in 1982, of conspiracy charges related to his involvement in the 1978–79 Boston College basketball point shaving scandal, and sentenced to 12 years in prison. While in prison, he was convicted of murder and sentenced to another 20 years in prison. He died of cancer at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York, eight years before he would have been eligible for parole.

Burke inspired the character Jimmy "The Gent" Conway, one of the main characters of the 1990 film Goodfellas, played by Robert De Niro.

Family

At the age of two, Burke was placed in a foster home, and was exposed to violence and sexual abuse while in the care of dozens of foster parents. At the age of 13, an altercation with his foster parents while riding in a car resulted in a crash and the death of his foster father.(4)

In 1962, Burke married his girlfriend Mickey, but discovered that she was being bothered by an ex-boyfriend. On their wedding day, police found the ex-boyfriend's remains, in over a dozen pieces, strewn around the inside of his own car.(5)

He is the father of Lufthansa heist aide Frank James Burke, who was murdered by drug dealer Tito Ortiz in 1987,(6) Jesse James Burke, and Catherine Burke (who married Bonanno crime family member Anthony Indelicato).

Source: The Daily Times, April 17, 1996, Page 2. via Newspapers.com link (accessed December 24, 2023), clip page for ‘Goodfella’ dead

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References

• Criminal activities - Wikipedia
• 23 References; also see the timeline tab, “Wikipedia sources.”
  • 1. Maresca, Rachel; Caulfield, Philip (23 April 2015). "'Goodfellas' at 25: Here are 25 things you never knew about Martin Scorsese's mobster flick". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on 26 February 2018. < link >
  • 4. Hobbs, Dick (29 April 1996). "Obituary: Jimmy Burke". The Independent. Archived from the original on 7 June 2009. Retrieved 24 December 2023 < link >
  • 5. Pileggi, Nicholas (1986). Wiseguy: Life in a Mafia Family. Simon & Schuster. pp. 117. ISBN 978-0-671-44734-2. Gives Jimmy and Mickey's story. < GoogleBooks >
  • 6. "The drug dealer son of imprisoned mobster James 'Jimmy..." United Press International. 19 May 1987. Archived from the original on 2 January 2020. Retrieved 24 December 2023. < link >
• https://www.cosanostranews.com/2015/12/who-really-killed-tommy-desi... “Tommy Two-Guns, as he came to be known as, had two sisters, Dolores and Phyllis. Phyllis was reportedly Jimmy Burke's mistress from age 16.“
• https://ganglandwire.com/jimmy-burke-aka-jimmy-the-gent/ “He was born in Bronx, New York. He was the illegitimate son of Jane Conway, a prostitute who was an immigrant from Dublin, Ireland. The name of his father was never known. …” “The screenwriters in the 1990 film Goodfellas changed the name of Jimmy the Gent Burke to “Jimmy Conway.” Some claim that the real-life gangster Jimmy Burke was so happy to have Robert DeNiro play him that he phoned him from prison to give him a few pointers.”
• James Burke in the 1940 United States Federal Census < AncestrySharing >
• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Nov 17 2020, 11:03:57 UTC
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6777043/james-burke: accessed 24 December 2023), memorial page for James “Jimmy the Gent” Burke (5 Jul 1931–13 Apr 1996), Find a Grave Memorial ID 6777043, citing Saint Charles Cemetery, East Farmingdale, Suffolk County, New York, USA; Maintained by Find a Grave.
• https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/4:1:GM7F-F9V