It's truly great to have someone in the thread who knows the area where she was found,
@Falling Down
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Now, considering the house placements and the
residents of the houses at the time, I kinda get the feeling the perp knew they were hiding Jane Doe right under LE's noses, and that they therefore had chosen the perfect spot to get away with murder, whether or not the murderer(s) was/were members of the LE, gangsters, or others.
And yes, I also find that "excavation work" in det. Mahoney's backyard by a mob informant highly suspicious, tbh!
I grew up around the sons and daughters of some of those mobsters, and a few nieces and nephews. It wouldn't surprise me that IJD ended up there after being murdered by a mob type, or perhaps she OD'd.
The biggest mob hangout in Irondequoit was the Blue Gardenia restaurant on Empire Blvd, it was across the street from Laurelton FD. It's now a bingo hall. Typical of mob activity, the Rochester faction ran rackets, vice, drugs, etc. Insurance scams, the whole nine.
It's a 5 minute drive from the old Blue Gardenia property to Newport Road, just for reference. Same as in the late-70's.
The mafia there practically owned or got tribute from businesses along a long stretch of Lyell Avenue, from Lake all the way to Mt. Read, or close to that cross street. Most of the gambling stuff and after-hours activities were along Lyell, to include prostitution.
Long read, but a great synopsis of the Rochester mob.
Who's Who
Then the real leaders of the mob, the “A” Team, were released from prison in 1978 when it was discovered that detectives lied, and fabricated evidence at their trials. Thomas Didio was murdered, the “B” Team was routed and Campanella was forced to quit his job and leave town. (21)
Mahoney was one of the local LE types who fabricated evidence. An internal war within the local mob spilled over in 1978, when factions within it started attacking each other, after the men were let free due to the fabrication of evidence stuff, which had to do with the
Columbus Day Bombings in 1970. So they were convicted
before the RICO statutes that mobsters were later convicted wtih
in the 80's. It was a local/state case vs. a federal case, if I'm reading it right.
was a prominent figure during the heyday of Rochester's mob. He was the “triggerman” in the Ernie White murder in 1973. Some said he also boasted of at least three other “notches” on his belt, while active in the Rochester Mafia.(46) But according to eye witness Charles Monachino, who was present at the White slaying, DeCanzio said, “that was number 16” moments after he murdered Ernest White. (47)
DeCanzio was a "soldier" in mob hierarchy in the 70’s, he was a bodyguard for Frank Valenti, the man who helped build a Mafia presence in Rochester during the 1960s and 1970s. On May 15, 1975, he was convicted of murder for the Ernie White killing. (48)
DeCanzio later became a government informant and he was placed into the Federal Witness Protection Program.His testimony played a large role in dismantling the Rochester Mafia. He died Dec. 28, 2012 at the age of 70.
Wow.
So my hunch is IJD was a mistress, prostitute, or had some other association with the Rochester mob, ca. mid-to-late-70's. Whether she was from Rochester or not is anyone's guess, these mob types "got around". Buffalo. Pittsburgh. Montreal. Sometimes NYC. Batavia, NY, was a hotbed of mob activity, which is interesting considering its size.
I'm picturing DeCanzio being "in the care of" (wink-wink), Mahoney and some other LE folks, and the DA's office. So it makes sense DeCanzio may have been "employed" by Mahoney, but would the latter have been privy to a woman's body being buried in his backyard? Was it part of a "deal" made with Mahoney? Remember the diversionary
Columbus Day Bombings mentioned above? These are some seriously deranged and unsavory people, anything is possible. DeCanzio may have put the body there as a favor to someone, or whatever, but maybe in the back of his mind thinking he could use it as leverage somehow against Mahioney, at a later time.
Also, the Rochester mobsters would hire professional hit men from outside the area to do some of the dirty work. John "Mad Dog" Sullivan, the notorious hit man and enforcer from Hell's Kitchen in NYC, the only inmate to ever escape from Attica prison, was nabbed in Irondequoit in 1981 not far from the Blue Gardenia. It's estimated he murdered more than 20 people. I throw that out there to illustrate how some of these unsavory types crossed paths.
IJD may be local, or she may be from outside the area, but was brought to Rochester by someone associated with the mob. The FBI should do isotope testing of the bones, to see where she may be from.
Edit:
The main mob guy, Salvatore Gingello, had two attempts on his life roughly 1978-ish. The 2nd attempt killed him. The first attempt was when the B team faction blew up a remote-controlled bomb put into a snow bank outside the Blue Gardenia. The 2nd was a bomb placed under his car, on Stillson St., downtown, which killed him, April of '78.
Maybe this woman was being questioned by LE around that time, ot she was killed while the mob war stuff was going on, because someone wanted to get rid of her, and they figured with the distractions going on her case would be of a low priority.
JMO
