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Criminal Records - Most Wanted |
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Profile |
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Name: Michael
"Mikey Cigars, Filma, Little Mike"
J. Coppola
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Sex: Male |
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Race: White |
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Age Now: 62 |
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Height: 5'7" |
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Weight: 160 lbs |
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Hair (Color, Description, Facial Hair): Gray / White
Has a high hair line and is known to dye it.
Usually does not wear a mustache or beard. |
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Eyes (Color and Correction): Brown |
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Other Physical Characteristics: Runner and Cyclists - Workout enthusiast
Thick neck
Thick New Jersey accent
Fit and muscular for his age
Well groomed and extremely neat |
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Wanted for :
Murder, Bridgewater, NJ;
1977
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Location(s) |
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Last Seen : Spring Lake, NJ |
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Possible Location : Caribbean
Arizona
Florida
New Jersey
New York
California |
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Last Known : Unkown |
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Traits |
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Case Story |
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Mobster Murdered |
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In the early morning hours of Easter Sunday 1977, a well-known member of the Genovese crime family pulled up to a motel in Bridgewater, N.J. His name was John "Johnny Cokes" Lardiere -- and he was just coming home after five years behind bars. He knew he'd only be home for a mere 24-hours -- he'd been given a day long furlough to spend the holiday with his family. But what Johnny Cokes didn't know was that rumors had been spreading among the crime family while he was locked up. Rumors that he was potentially turning against the mob, and that he'd disrespected the boss.
When Lardiere got out of his car, he turned to see a young man standing in front of him with a .22 automatic pistol, complete with a silencer. The man squeezed the trigger, but the gun jammed. Lardiere was both amused and annoyed by the man who'd come to carry out a mob hit with a busted weapon. Smugly, he uttered the words that would later make the hit infamous among New Jersey mob families in the area. |
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Lardiere, a mobster through and through, displayed his tough guy attitude, saying, "What're you gonna do now, tough guy?"
Rather than respond, the hitman showed Johnny Cokes what he planned to do -- by leaning down, pulling up his pant leg, and removing a .38 revolver from an ankle holster. The man fired two shots at Lardiere -- the first stunning him, the second knocking him to the ground. And then, cops say for good measure, the man shot him two more times.
When police arrived at the crime scene, they knew immediately it was a mob hit. The shooter had left behind his weapons and a hat. But authorities still didn't know who'd killed Johnny Cokes -- and the investigation would remain that way until nearly twenty years later.
A Big Break
The break came in 1996 when another mobster we'll call "Tommy," who'd been arrested on murder and extortion charges, decided to cooperate with authorities. Tommy told police Lardiere's killer was Michael Coppola, a man who at the time of the murder was an up and coming member of the Genovese organization. Carrying out the hit on Lardiere would have been just the kind of "work" he'd need to do to prove himself to the crime family.
Police had suspected Coppola was involved with the murder, but could never even begin trying to prove it. But now, with Tommy serving as an informant to authorities, police could finally work toward proving Coppola guilty of murder.
Tommy told police he'd heard the entire story of Lardiere's murder straight from the killer's mouth. He told cops they'd been at a party together when Tommy questioned Coppola about the hit, repeating the now-infamous words "What're you gonna do now, tough guy?" Tommy says Coppola then revealed details of the entire hit -- something mobsters traditionally don't do, and shouldn't. After all, that's what eventually caused Coppola's demise.
Back To The Evidence
Authorities also knew the mobster's word would hold very little weight in a courtroom, so they decided to take another look at the evidence -- this time with Coppola in mind. That's when they realized hair samples had been preserved from the hat found at the scene of the crime. Though DNA wasn't used much in 1977 to solve murder cases -- things had changed, and having DNA now was the key to cracking the cold case. |
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Would DNA Prove The Mobster Did It? |
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The hair was sent to the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia, where DNA was successfully extracted. Now all they needed was a match. When a judge issued a court order for Michael Coppola to provide a saliva sample on August 8, 1996, authorities hoped they'd finally have their proof. But Michael Coppola, a man with money and the means to disappear, never showed up for his scheduled date.
Coppola was arrested March 9, 2007 in New York City; cops say he'll be in prison for a long, long time. |
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