Dinner Set Gang
Encyclopedia
The Dinner Set Gang was a gang
of thieves who became notorious in the late 1960s and 1970s for their burglaries of the homes of the wealthiest Americans
while the victims were at home eating dinner
. Newspapers in New York City
and Florida
nicknamed them "The Dinner Set Gang".
The principal members of the gang were brothers-in-law Peter Salerno and Dominick Latella. Others included their driver Carmine Stanzione, the husband of Salerno's sister.
Throughout the year, depending on the season, the elite
would drift from Palm Beach, Florida
to New England
. The gang followed. While Latella watched the victims dine, Salerno would break into the second story, because “the best jewelry was always upstairs”. He gave himself three minutes to go in, find the jewels
, and get out. Latella said that despite the enormous nature of the master suite
s, Salerno "had a sixth sense about finding [the jewelry]." Latella would warn Salerno with a slight whistle if anything went amiss. They were known for avoiding confrontations at all costs. They carried no weapons and were willing to leave a scene empty-handed if necessary.
and Town and Country
enabled the duo to case the scenario from a safe distance. Their victims included the DuPont
s, the Flagler
s, the Wallaces (of Reader's Digest
fame) and the Pillsbury family, as well as Liberace
, the entertainer.
At their prime, the gang would steal a quarter of a million dollars per job on average. The FBI blamed them for several hundred thefts worth somewhere between $75 million to $150 million in jewels (the exact number of thefts committed by the dinner set gang is uncertain because of the many copycat crimes that may have been falsely attributed to them). Their most impressive heist was executed in 1973 in an exclusive, waterfront community just north of Palm Beach
. An heir to the DuPont fortune was renting a house there. Among the sheets in the linen closet of the master bedroom Salerno came across a leather traveling case which contained jewels worth, at that time, approximately $12 million dollars. The largest piece was a 17.65 carats (3.5 g) natural pink flawless pear-shaped diamond
, worth about $1,800,000.
The idea of stealing from people while they were home was not something that Peter Salerno came up with on his own accord. He was taught by Frank Bova, a master thief, who learned this skill when he led a Ranger team that stole documents from the Nazis during World War II
. To this day, the veteran thief has never been caught.
No one benefited from the concept more than the Gang's fence, Wally Gans. Wally worked in Manhattan
's Diamond District on West 47th Street, an area Salerno described as having "more diamonds and cash ... than God." For each piece of jewelry the gang usually received around 10 cents on the dollar which was “the going rate for hot jewelry” at the time. Wally Gans and his wife retired after Latella and Salerno's two biggest jobs.
connections. Despite the fact that the gang only received a fraction of the total retail value of their thefts, there was always plenty of money around. The Savino sisters recall putting "20,000 dollars at a time" in envelopes. They spent the money on everything: cars, clothes, homes, and boats. The money didn't even begin to run out until the 1980s when the duo planned to retire from their lives of crime.
It was in the 1990s that Salerno and Latella came out of retirement. Gloria Salerno had been diagnosed with advanced breast cancer
and the Salernos did not have enough money to pay for her treatments. They burglarized roughly 40 houses within several months. By this point, Salerno was "obsessed." Gloria Salerno recovered, but her husband and brother-in-law were finally caught.
.
When Salerno entered the house's second story, Latella remembers seeing the woman in the house look up, at which point he knew that she had heard them. Dominick whistled to Pete, who was already on his way out without taking anything. The police surrounded the house and waited. When they couldn't find them, they set dogs out on their trail. Latella and Salerno were both arrested and linked to a series of the other burglaries.
Dominick Latella also resides in Florida; he is still on parole
.
A sociology textbook that included Pete Salerno among others, and focused on burglars and organized crime (THE CRIMINAL ELITE by Howard Abadinsky) was published by Greenwood in 1983.
A film project is currently in the works through producer Dick Atkins (A-Films) who controls the life story rights.
Gang
A gang is a group of people who, through the organization, formation, and establishment of an assemblage, share a common identity. In current usage it typically denotes a criminal organization or else a criminal affiliation. In early usage, the word gang referred to a group of workmen...
of thieves who became notorious in the late 1960s and 1970s for their burglaries of the homes of the wealthiest Americans
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
while the victims were at home eating dinner
Dinner
Dinner is usually the name of the main meal of the day. Depending upon culture, dinner may be the second, third or fourth meal of the day. Originally, though, it referred to the first meal of the day, eaten around noon, and is still occasionally used for a noontime meal, if it is a large or main...
. Newspapers in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
nicknamed them "The Dinner Set Gang".
The principal members of the gang were brothers-in-law Peter Salerno and Dominick Latella. Others included their driver Carmine Stanzione, the husband of Salerno's sister.
Modus operandi
Salerno and Latella took advantage of the habits of their potential victims until they recognized a pattern to be exploited. The servants were preoccupied with serving the multi-course meals and it was not considered good manners to leave the table during the long meal period, so the rest of the house was usually deserted.Throughout the year, depending on the season, the elite
Elite
Elite refers to an exceptional or privileged group that wields considerable power within its sphere of influence...
would drift from Palm Beach, Florida
Palm Beach, Florida
The Town of Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The Intracoastal Waterway separates it from the neighboring cities of West Palm Beach and Lake Worth...
to New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
. The gang followed. While Latella watched the victims dine, Salerno would break into the second story, because “the best jewelry was always upstairs”. He gave himself three minutes to go in, find the jewels
Gemstone
A gemstone or gem is a piece of mineral, which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments...
, and get out. Latella said that despite the enormous nature of the master suite
Suite
In music, a suite is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral pieces normally performed in a concert setting rather than as accompaniment; they may be extracts from an opera, ballet , or incidental music to a play or film , or they may be entirely original movements .In the...
s, Salerno "had a sixth sense about finding [the jewelry]." Latella would warn Salerno with a slight whistle if anything went amiss. They were known for avoiding confrontations at all costs. They carried no weapons and were willing to leave a scene empty-handed if necessary.
The victims and crimes
Salerno and Latella carefully researched their potential victims. They found names in the Forbes list of the wealthiest Americans and looked up addresses in Who's Who in America. Photo spreads from Architectural DigestArchitectural Digest
Architectural Digest is an American monthly magazine. Its principal subject is interior design, not — as the name of the magazine might suggest — architecture more generally. The magazine is published by Condé Nast Publications and was founded in 1920, by the Knapp family, who sold it in 1993...
and Town and Country
Town & Country (magazine)
Town & Country, formerly the Home Journal and The National Press, is a monthly American lifestyle magazine. It is the oldest continually published general interest magazine in the United States.-Early history:...
enabled the duo to case the scenario from a safe distance. Their victims included the DuPont
DuPont
E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company , commonly referred to as DuPont, is an American chemical company that was founded in July 1802 as a gunpowder mill by Eleuthère Irénée du Pont. DuPont was the world's third largest chemical company based on market capitalization and ninth based on revenue in 2009...
s, the Flagler
Flagler
Flagler may refer to:People* Henry Morrison Flagler, American businessman responsible for development of much of the Florida east coast* Terrence Flagler, American football player* Thomas T...
s, the Wallaces (of Reader's Digest
Reader's Digest
Reader's Digest is a general interest family magazine, published ten times annually. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, its headquarters is now in New York City. It was founded in 1922, by DeWitt Wallace and Lila Bell Wallace...
fame) and the Pillsbury family, as well as Liberace
Liberace
Wladziu Valentino Liberace , best known simply as Liberace, was a famous American pianist and vocalist.In a career that spanned four decades of concerts, recordings, motion pictures, television and endorsements, Liberace became world-renowned...
, the entertainer.
At their prime, the gang would steal a quarter of a million dollars per job on average. The FBI blamed them for several hundred thefts worth somewhere between $75 million to $150 million in jewels (the exact number of thefts committed by the dinner set gang is uncertain because of the many copycat crimes that may have been falsely attributed to them). Their most impressive heist was executed in 1973 in an exclusive, waterfront community just north of Palm Beach
Palm Beach, Florida
The Town of Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The Intracoastal Waterway separates it from the neighboring cities of West Palm Beach and Lake Worth...
. An heir to the DuPont fortune was renting a house there. Among the sheets in the linen closet of the master bedroom Salerno came across a leather traveling case which contained jewels worth, at that time, approximately $12 million dollars. The largest piece was a 17.65 carats (3.5 g) natural pink flawless pear-shaped diamond
Diamond
In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...
, worth about $1,800,000.
The idea of stealing from people while they were home was not something that Peter Salerno came up with on his own accord. He was taught by Frank Bova, a master thief, who learned this skill when he led a Ranger team that stole documents from the Nazis during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. To this day, the veteran thief has never been caught.
No one benefited from the concept more than the Gang's fence, Wally Gans. Wally worked in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
's Diamond District on West 47th Street, an area Salerno described as having "more diamonds and cash ... than God." For each piece of jewelry the gang usually received around 10 cents on the dollar which was “the going rate for hot jewelry” at the time. Wally Gans and his wife retired after Latella and Salerno's two biggest jobs.
Personal lives
Salerno and Latella married twin sisters Gloria and Sandra Savino who were from a family with MafiaMafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
connections. Despite the fact that the gang only received a fraction of the total retail value of their thefts, there was always plenty of money around. The Savino sisters recall putting "20,000 dollars at a time" in envelopes. They spent the money on everything: cars, clothes, homes, and boats. The money didn't even begin to run out until the 1980s when the duo planned to retire from their lives of crime.
It was in the 1990s that Salerno and Latella came out of retirement. Gloria Salerno had been diagnosed with advanced breast cancer
Breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
and the Salernos did not have enough money to pay for her treatments. They burglarized roughly 40 houses within several months. By this point, Salerno was "obsessed." Gloria Salerno recovered, but her husband and brother-in-law were finally caught.
The detectives
Bill Adams and Jim Hirsch were two of the detectives assigned in later years to the Dinner Set Gang's case. After working on the case for 20 years, they were able to help track down and identify the pair once the thefts began again. "The Dinner Set Gang" was caught on January 21, 1992 in Westport, ConnecticutWestport, Connecticut
-Neighborhoods:* Saugatuck – around the Westport railroad station near the southwestern corner of the town – a built-up area with some restaurants, stores and offices....
.
When Salerno entered the house's second story, Latella remembers seeing the woman in the house look up, at which point he knew that she had heard them. Dominick whistled to Pete, who was already on his way out without taking anything. The police surrounded the house and waited. When they couldn't find them, they set dogs out on their trail. Latella and Salerno were both arrested and linked to a series of the other burglaries.
Currently
Peter Salerno was released from prison in December 2008, and is back with his wife Gloria in Florida.Dominick Latella also resides in Florida; he is still on parole
Parole
Parole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...
.
A sociology textbook that included Pete Salerno among others, and focused on burglars and organized crime (THE CRIMINAL ELITE by Howard Abadinsky) was published by Greenwood in 1983.
A film project is currently in the works through producer Dick Atkins (A-Films) who controls the life story rights.