Oil Fueled Murder - Solved by the Barrel
Part Two: The Rest of the Story
[Note: In an effort to focus on the “trigger pullers” I have purposely avoided naming the other actors on the periphery. The victims are named out of respect.]
The Murder of Perry Farnham
McVeigh testified that he and Raucci arrived at Farnham’s oil spill cleanup company around 5 o’clock wearing ski masks and carrying firearms. McVeigh said he took out his machine gun and Raucci pulled a .380 Berretta, they entered the building and walked into an outer office. They could tell from the phone on the desk that one of the lines was lit - Farnham was on a telephone call in his office. “Farnham put his call on hold. As he came through the doorway he must have caught sight of us. He turned around and smiled. I gave him a short burst. He staggered forward and grabbed the door jams going back into his office. Raucci stepped around me, out of my vision. Raucci pumped another series of shots into Farnham . . . five or six - I wasn’t really counting; I was looking to get out.” by Nick Povinelli, Staff Reporter, New Haven Journal-Courier, 9-2-1983
Follow the Guns
Part One of this two-part series left off with the inspection of the gun dealer’s A&D book, which contained his acquisition records of three RPB pistols identified by ATF Atlanta as being shipped to Connecticut during the time frame in question, along with the names of the purchasers.
Here’s a brief synopsis of each firearm:
RPB #1: The A&D book listed a woman with the same surname as the gun dealer as having purchased one of the three RPB pistols. The gun dealer identified her as his sister, living on the second floor of his three-family walk-up.
RPB #2: The A&D book listed the name of a male who lived in the area as having purchased the second RPB pistol. It was later learned that this person was the gun dealer’s ex-brother-in-law and ex-husband of the gun dealer’s sister.
RPB #3: The third RPB pistol was acquired by another local male resident, a gun collector known to both police and ATF.
When the inspection of the dealer’s “A & D book” was finished, the agent asked if selling guns was the dealer's main source of income. The dealer replied that he worked in his family’s fuel oil business.
Leaving the gun dealer’s first-floor apartment, the agent and a sergeant went directly to the second floor to question the gun dealer’s sister regarding her “purchase” of one of the three RPB pistols. She claimed she lost the gun shortly after buying it, during a target-shooting trip to a local island when her boat overturned in the Naugatuck River, causing the pistol to sink.
When asked to describe the pistol, she gave a vague response, simply saying it resembled any standard pistol. However, when shown a Smith & Wesson, Model 66, .357 Magnum, stainless steel revolver, she falsely confirmed that it looked like her RPB pistol—although the “boxy” RPB, Model SM-10, in no way resembles a revolver. The agent smiled and nodded politely, masking his realization that her lie could be one of the keys to breaking the case wide open.
Over the next 48 hours or so, the agent and the sergeant tracked down the remaining two “purchasers” of the RPB pistols in question: the gun dealer’s ex-brother-in-law and the local gun collector known to police and ATF.
When questioned about his purchase, the ex-brother-in-law related the following story: On his way home after purchasing the weapon, he stopped at a local bar to meet some friends for drinks. He said he hid the gun under the front seat of his car. Upon returning home from the bar, he discovered his gun missing. He said he did not report the theft as he believed stolen property is rarely recovered.
When the investigators caught up with the purchaser of the third RPB pistol, the gun collector, he claimed that his firearm was in Florida with his brother.
The bald-faced lies the investigators were being told about the RPBs confirmed to them that they were fishing in the right pond. Notwithstanding, the investigators were no closer to learning who killed Perry Farnham and with which gun.
More Cowbell
By this stage, the investigation into Perry Farnham’s murder had developed along two coordinated paths—one led by state authorities focusing on the oil theft and murder conspiracies, and the other by the ATF, concentrating on generating forensic intelligence from the firearm-related evidence. The two teams held daily briefings to ensure close collaboration. ATF’s strategy centered on two goals: 1) following the guns into the hands of the killers, and 2) either recovering the murder weapon or ruling out two of the three RPB pistols. A second, more aggressive round of interviews was conducted with the three supposed buyers of the RPB firearms, but each stuck to their false stories. The turning point came when the agent served Federal Grand Jury subpoenas on the gun dealer, his sister, his ex-brother-in-law, and a gun collector—warning them that they were now expected to appear with their RPB pistols and tell their stories to the Grand Jury, under oath.
The Gun Collector
Upon receiving a Grand Jury subpoena, the gun collector immediately hired a lawyer, who successfully had it quashed by asserting his client's Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Investigators wanted his RPB pistol for elimination testing as they viewed him as an outlier with no direct link to the Farnham murder. The legal process highlighted the risks of a Grand Jury subpoena—refusal to testify after being granted immunity could lead to contempt charges and up to 18 months of incarceration. Unwilling to testify under oath to all questions posed to him, the gun collector ultimately agreed to surrender his RPB pistol to the ATF, with the understanding he wouldn’t face prosecution as long as the weapon wasn’t used to commit the murder or some other crime. Testing showed that although the gun had been illegally converted to a machine gun with a silencer, ballistics ruled it out as the murder weapon.
The Gun Dealers Ex-Brother-In-Law
Strategic use of Grand Jury subpoenas, aided by influence from a police chief relative, helped the investigators gain the cooperation of the gun dealer’s ex-brother-in-law—resulting in a breakthrough in the case. He revealed he had never possessed the RPB pistol listed under his name in the gun dealer’s records and admitted he was paid $100 and a small amount of cocaine to falsify the ATF Form 4473. He allowed his apartment to be wired for audio surveillance, during which the gun dealer incriminated himself, admitting he knew and had armed Perry Farnham’s killers with a machinegun and silencer, and dismissing the value of the evidence as “all they have is some brass on the floor.” With this recorded confession, agents gained powerful leverage over the gun dealer and came significantly closer to tracing the murder weapon directly to one of Farnham’s killers.
How Do You Steal 250,000 Gallons of Heating Oil and Where Do You Stash it?
The plan was simple, in theory: recruit trustworthy contacts from within the oil hauling industry, coordinate multiple tanker trucks, and move quickly. With a typical tanker trailer holding just under 10,000 gallons, the thieves calculated that a dozen trucks making two runs each could siphon off the entire cache in a single night.
That’s exactly what they did during the Wyatt Oil theft.
A few days after the theft, police arrested an independent trucker linked to the heist. His company’s logo on the door of his truck had been spotted by a traffic officer on the night of the theft, providing the first break in the case. The trucker’s arrest led to the arrest of a small tank farm operator—long suspected of trafficking in stolen goods. A search warrant was executed, and chemists from Wyatt Oil confirmed the stolen product through chemical markers unique to their oil.
The information gained from the arrests of the trucker and tank farm operator focused attention on a petroleum equipment service company (service company) not far from the small Tank Farm.
The Service Company
All investigative lines of inquiry pointed to the service company at the center of the Wyatt Oil Theft. Service Company was a partnership owned by Partner A and Partner B. The service company performed equipment and maintenance services on oil delivery trucks and sold various petroleum pumping equipment.
James McVeigh
McVeigh ran the meter repair shop inside the service company. He had an extensive criminal history. Looking into his background, ATF investigators uncovered a prior road rage incident in which McVeigh was accused of pointing a pistol at a motorist. He claimed it was just a soldering gun and was not arrested. His wife initially told the state trooper investigating the road rage complaint that her husband only owned rifles, a statement she later repeated to ATF agents during an interview. A federal search warrant executed at McVeigh’s home revealed multiple long guns, a .22 caliber pistol, and a .22 caliber silencer, placing him at significant risk of imprisonment for illegal firearm possession.
McVeigh’s Legal Troubles Heighten
NCIC checks on the firearms seized from McVeigh’s home revealed that a .22 caliber pistol had been reported stolen in a burglary at the home of service company Partner B. Also stolen, was a red mechanic’s tool chest labeled with Partner B’s nickname. During an earlier visit to the service company, the agent noticed a similar tool chest in McVeigh’s meter repair area. Acting on this lead, local police executed a state search warrant at the service company and recovered the stolen tool chest. During the search, police found a .45 caliber, Model 1911, pistol. A Federal search warrant was obtained, to seize the pistol, and continue the search which resulted in the discovery and seizure of a .45-caliber silencer (compatible with an RPB pistol), two ski masks, and a small amount of cocaine—increasing McVeigh’s criminal exposure.
In Plain View - Out of Place
During the searches of McVeigh’s meter shop, the agent repeatedly noticed a clean bottle of clear fingernail polish on a dirty shelf above McVeigh’s workbench—something that seemed out of place. Later, while reviewing lab reports, the agent saw that the .45 caliber ammunition from the murder scene was found to have an after-market sealer applied around the primers. Suspecting a connection, the agent contacted the lab to ask if the sealer could be nail polish. This led to a federal search warrant being issued, and the bottle was seized and sent to the ATF lab for analysis. The lab indicated that the sealer was consistent with nail polish.
The Greenish-Tan Impala
The agent and the sergeant regularly reviewed the early police reports from the neighborhood canvass after Perry Farnham’s murder, looking for new leads. One report described a man and his son seeing two men with ski masks (partially rolled up on their faces) sitting in an older greenish-tan Chevrolet Impala with a vinyl roof near the Ferry Street Bridge. Later, the agent noticed a similar car parked in a restricted area at the service company and remarked it matched the witness’s description. When questioned, Partner B confirmed the green Chevrolet, Impala with the tan Landau roof, belonged to Mike Raucci, a close associate of McVeigh, who often left the car at the service company while on trucking jobs.
The Gun Dealer and His Sister
The gun dealer and his sister initially refused to cooperate with investigators, prompting federal authorities to escalate the case relying on the evidence provided by the ex-brother-in-law. In June 1981, both were indicted and arrested for federal firearms violations related to the illegal manufacture, transfer, and falsification of records involving the RPB machine guns and silencers. Faced with serious charges, they eventually agreed to cooperate. The gun dealer handed over one RPB firearm, which testing confirmed was not the murder weapon—meaning the actual murder weapon was still missing. However, his testimony proved crucial to the goal of following the third and final RPB firearm—the murder weapon—into the hands of Jim McVeigh, one of Perry Farnham’s killers. In return for their cooperation, the gun dealer and his sister received short, suspended sentences and probation.
Partner B and his Driver
Partner B was a peripheral figure in the Wyatt Oil theft who entered a no-contest plea early in the investigation and received a suspended sentence. He distanced himself from the service company because of seriously strained relationships making him fear for his safety if he returned. To manage his business interests there, he sent his Driver, who was later reported missing. The Driver was known to frequently carry a Beretta, Model 70-S, .380 caliber pistol registered to him, which was also missing. Partner B told investigators that there were persistent rumors on the street suggesting that McVeigh had murdered the assistant and disposed of his body.
McVeigh the Fugitive
In March of 1981, the federal government had enough evidence to charge McVeigh with multiple violations of the federal firearm laws, exposing him to decades of incarceration.McVeigh faked his kidnapping and disappeared. A federal warrant was immediately issued for possession of an unregistered silencer. Two weeks later the agent and the sergeant tracked him to a home in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. Assisted by ATF agents from the Baltimore Office, the agent, and the sergeant arrested McVeigh as he was lunging for his open travel bag. Inside were two pistols, loaded with exploding bullets, and $40,000 in “bank strapped” bills, proceeds from the Wyatt Oil Theft.
McVeigh Guilty
McVeigh confessed to his involvement in the Wyatt Oil theft and the murders of Perry Farnham and Partner B’s Driver. He testified against Mike Raucci for the murder and against both Raucci and Partner A for the oil theft. McVeigh pleaded guilty to the murder of Farnham, conspiracy to commit murder, and using a machine gun in a violent crime, receiving 25 years to life. He also received another 10 years for possessing an unregistered silencer. He admitted to putting the body of Partner B’s Driver in a 55-gallon drum and leaving it on the loading dock of a fat rendering plant in Bridgeport, CT. No charges were filed in the Driver’s murder due to the lack of corroborating evidence beyond McVeigh’s sole statement.
Raucci Guilty
Michael Raucci was a former employee of the Wyatt Oil Company. He was involved in planning and executing the oil theft following his termination, after which he kept a set of the facility keys. He was convicted of Burglary, Grand Larceny, and Conspiracy, receiving a sentence of 15 to 30 years. Although a jury couldn't reach a verdict in his initial trial for the murder of Farnham, he later accepted a plea deal, pleading guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Murder and receiving an additional 10 to 20 years. He also received a 5-year sentence for failure to appear in court. As a fugitive, he was apprehended after a two-hour standoff with New Haven SWAT and was found with a sawed-off shotgun.
Partner A Guilty
Partner A, co-owner of the service company was described, by the state’s prosecutor, as the essential link in the Wyatt Oil theft, acting as the go-between for the thieves and the oil buyers. He was convicted of first-degree Larceny, Conspiracy to Commit Larceny, and Conspiracy to Commit third-degree Burglary, and sentenced to 4 to 8 years in prison.
The Guns
The recovery of the two murder weapons—a modified RPB Model SM-10 pistol converted into a machine gun and fitted with a silencer, and a Beretta Model 70-S .380 caliber pistol—was one of the key strategic objectives during the three years the investigative team spent working the case. Despite this, the weapons were never recovered.
Lessons Learned
Cross-jurisdictional teamwork was key to these cases. Organizations at the local, state, and federal levels, across the law enforcement, forensic, and prosecutorial disciplines worked thinking and acting together.
Every crime gun holds a story, when guns are involved follow the guns.
Grand Jury Subpoenas worked well especially adding the requirement to bring their guns. (which they couldn’t).
As we learned more facts, we would revisit the initial incident reports (e.g. neighborhood canvass) for leverageable information.
Epilogue: The Most Important Lesson
Five years after her son disappeared, Madeline Simone, the mother of Bruce Simone - Partner B’s Driver, told a New Haven Newspaper staff reporter that she had come to terms with the likelihood that he was dead—but not with the fact that no one had been held accountable. She remained bitter and sharply critical of both law enforcement officials and prosecutors, accusing them of striking a plea deal with the man who confessed to her son’s murder—a deal she described as “shameful.”
Notwithstanding, McVeigh’s confession did provide her with a sense of resolution regarding what happened to her eldest son – as horrible as it was to hear.
What weighs heaviest on me is not what we tried to achieve, but what we failed to deliver to Madeline and Bruce Simone: JUSTICE. Despite our best efforts over the three years that we worked on the Farnham case; come the end, they were denied the one thing every victim and loved one left behind deserves most.
Maybe we missed something – maybe we could have tried harder - I don’t know - and now it’s too late.
On August 26, 2012, Madeline Simone passed away. She was 81.
I wish I could tell Madeline and Bruce, that for four decades now, I along with many of my colleagues have championed the people, processes, and technology needed to better collect, analyze, and share the forensic ballistic intelligence of the type that was so crucial to solving the Farnham murder. The ATF’s National Integrated Ballistic Information Network—NIBIN—is a testament to this commitment.
If there's one thing, I would want them to know it's this: whenever we're asked why we do this work, why we investigate crimes involving the deadly use of firearms, the answer must always begin here—to seek justice for the victims, to bring resolution to their loved ones, and to restore peace to the communities left shaken.
This should be our purpose. This should be our promise.
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