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- [00:01]
Chris Walker
Previously on Bloodvines. Jack was a linchpin. Everybody that had any vineyards knew that if they didn't have a contract, Jack could sell their grape.
- [00:14]
Michael Licciardi
Well, I was 26, 25 at the time.
- [00:19]
Chris Walker
At that age, in my little mind was no harm, no foul. It's white, Zen, just sugar and water and alcohol. The wineries closed their eyes to what was going on.
- [00:35]
Michael Licciardi
One of the problems that Michael Licciardi faced was he had to pull a fast one on his father, Jack Licciardi. He's due to inherit a multi million dollar a year business. So he's impatient, I think, to inherit the business and start living the good life.
- [00:54]
Chris Walker
On a late September day in 1988, Delicado Vineyards received an urgent letter from the California Department of Food and Agriculture. It caught the winery's undivided attention. A regulatory agent named Gene Arthur wrote that his agency, along with the atf suspected that Delicato had been scammed. Arthur went on to say that the state had reason to believe that some grape shipments it had received were misidentified as Zinfandel. So he wanted to could Delicato get in touch with its suppliers to figure out if there was a mix up. The winery wasted no time in replying that it was concerned and would help in any way possible. And its executives knew exactly who to ask. Because remember when nobody else could get grape, Jack got grape for Delicado. The flag deliveries all came through Jack's brokerage, which was called Corvette Co. So the winery's top brass went straight to their point person, the legs of the Licciardi family business. They asked Michael, do you know anything about these shipments from VK and Efriana Enterprises? Some pushy state agent wants copies of the grape contracts and maps of the suppliers vineyards if possible. Michael acted as if this were no problem at all. But underneath his calm veneer, he panicked. This was a problem because VK and Efriana Enterprises didn't exist. These were just two of the shell companies that Michael and his co conspirators had created to mask the grape's true origins. Because by now they had a whole Rolodex of fake names to choose from. Need a phony farm? Take your pick from Green Ranch, Blue Ranch, Van Allen Ranch, Corn Ranch and more. Need a non existent person to sign some contracts. Meet Linda Bratton, Richard Patterson, Frank Bettencourt and George Garcia. Those two fake vineyards that the state and ATF were asking about. That was just the tip of the iceberg. So as soon as he finished reassuring The Delicato execs that everything was under control. Michael called an urgent meeting with his co conspirators. They gathered in secret at an isolated vineyard that Michael did business with near Stockton. As dusk approached, Nick Bavaro showed up looking annoyed since it was his birthday. Followed shortly by two other growers who'd recently joined the scheme. Joseph Due and Gary Alfieri. In fact, it was Alfieri who'd come up with the name VK Enterprises. He declined my request for an interview, but as he admitted to government officials, the name Viviano Incline was on the door next to my dentist. I happened to see that it sounded good. The gathered men looked at Michael expectantly. When he filled them in on the state's inquiry, their faces dropped. Damn. The investigators were getting awfully close to exposing their fake businesses. Was this it was their whole jig up? They studied each other's body language for clues and collectively they came to a decision. No, they couldn't stop now. They'd already lined up big orders for the 88 and 89 harvests and last season they'd brought in millions. Alfieri wanted to pay off some farming debts. Michael began construction on a lavish house in a nice neighborhood of Stockton. And Frank Bavaro? Well, he wasn't at the meeting, but the 27 year old had recently splurged on a Ferrari. Even if the sports car was a tad conspicuous for the narrow farming roads of San Joaquin County. Each had amassed dazzling amounts of cash in a region prone to hard times. America's addiction to white Zinfandel had transformed their lives. They couldn't give that up just because some dopey agent who clearly didn't know the full scope of their operation was asking a few questions. So the men came up with a plan. It'd go like step one. Michael would send a letter to Nick asking for maps of the vineyards. Step two, Nick would draw fake maps showing Zinfandel growing on the made up farms. Step three, Alfieri would create a convincing paper trail between the Bavaros, Michael and a fictitious Robert Klein in San Francisco. The K in V and K in step four, they'd forward all of this to Delicato so the winery could turn it over to the state agent. Nice and simple. When the meeting adjourned, Michael left feeling nervous but optimistic. He sent off the first letter to Nick, initiating the deceptive paper trail. That should fool them. He hoped it didn't. By the time everything circled back to the state regulator, Gene Arthur and his federal counterparts, they could barely contain their smiles Arthur passed away long ago, so I couldn't. Couldn't interview him to get his recollections. But I learned that when he initially reached out to Delicato, he held no doubts that the deliveries were misrepresented. His team had tracked those shipments from field to winery and watched the fraud unfold with their own eyes. So the real reason he asked Dellicado for documentation. To get those jabronis to commit mail fraud. Which is precisely what they did. So now, with this all but guaranteed charge for mail fraud in the bag, Arthur and his federal partners felt ready to crank up the heat. The case they were about to drop would shatter relationships up and down California and throughout the entire wine industry. I'm Chris Walker, your guide in this series about the largest grape fraud in US History, the powerful family at the center of it, and how a stunning sequence of betrayals triggered the fall of the California dynasty and forever changed the way we make wine in America. From Foxapus Inc. This is Blood Vines. Jack Licciardi may have been cooped up at home with muscular dystrophy, but he was still the brains of his family business. It wasn't long before he found out about the state's inquiry at Delicato. Jack wondered if something untoward had happened during Michael's dealings with the Bavaros. He even froze a check for 150 grand made out to VK Enterprises out of caution. But when he asked his son about it, Michael swore up and down that the deliveries in question were legit. This was all a big misunderstanding. He said it would all be cleared up as soon as they got the maps and other requested documents to Delicato. Jack wanted to believe his son, but in light of the state's inquiry, certain things seemed to take on new significance. Like Michael's new house, or should I say mansion, which he'd recently built for himself, his wife and four daughters in an exclusive neighborhood of Stockton called La Mirada.
- [07:41]
Joanna Licciardi
Yeah, the whole family went over when they first moved in to check it out and enjoy the pool.
- [07:47]
Chris Walker
That was Joanna Licciardi, Jack's middle daughter, recalling the first time she and her father visited Michael's new place.
- [07:55]
Joanna Licciardi
Yeah, it was a big, beautiful house. Kind of took my dad by surprise. The grandeur of this house that his son was living in compared to what he was living in for, you know, 40, 50 years.
- [08:07]
Chris Walker
Jack and his wife Mary still lived in the same 1400 square foot house that they'd raised five children in. By contrast, Michael's luxury crib seemed excessive. And Highly suspicious. The whole family had heard Michael's grumblings about being underpaid. So where did the money to build this house come from?
- [08:26]
Joanna Licciardi
I would think that that sparked something in my dad.
- [08:31]
Chris Walker
Joanna figured her dad would say something, but he didn't.
- [08:35]
Joanna Licciardi
Maybe he put two and two together and kind of wondered, but just kind of maybe went, nah, he wouldn't do that.
- [08:43]
Chris Walker
After all, Michael was known to be the responsible one in the family and the son Jack relied upon most.
- [08:49]
Joanna Licciardi
At least at work, Michael was dependable. Michael was my dad's legs. He would go and take care of the business, you know.
- [08:58]
Chris Walker
And Michael seemed especially responsible when compared to the only other Licciardi sibling who still lived in Stockton and the only other full partner of the grape brokerage, his younger brother, Robert Michael.
- [09:11]
Joanna Licciardi
Michael was totally opposite of Robert. You know, Robert was good looking. Girls chased him around. Girls wanted to know me so they could get close to him.
- [09:21]
Chris Walker
The younger Licciardi was a playboy, a loud, unwieldy personality who drove fast cars, loved to gamble and wailed on the electric guitar in various garage bands. He was always a bit of a loose cannon. But in his 20s, a cocaine habit turned into a full blown addiction. Robert's first marriage imploded and he went off the deep end.
- [09:40]
Joanna Licciardi
Yeah, he got a little coked up. He did a lot of coke in his youth. He was always into something, you know.
- [09:47]
Chris Walker
Up to something, as Robert himself recalls.
- [09:51]
Robert Licciardi
Oh yeah, in the 80s I was on, I took a lot of cocaine but I was pretty much harming only myself.
- [09:58]
Chris Walker
But through it all, Jack supported his son. And after Robert got clean, Jack gave him a chance to redeem himself by becoming his parents caregiver. Because Jack wasn't the only one with a disability. His wife Mary had become incapacitated with Alzheimer's. It had progressed to the point that she no longer recognized names or faces and was liable to wander the streets in a daze. And since Robert happened to live across the street from his parents, Jack asked his son to help him and his mom Mary with daily tasks that were difficult for them to perform on their own, like eating or changing their clothes. Jack saw it as a way to keep Robert on the straight and narrow and finally teach his youngest son some responsibility. Because even though Robert was technically a one third partner in Corvette Co. Everyone knew Michael really did most of the work. The father had always trusted his oldest son through and through. But now with the state snooping around, Michael's deals at Delicato and the suspicious nature of his new house, Jack couldn't shake the feeling that trouble loomed on the horizon and that even his business was at stake. So he decided to consult someone in the wine business. He knew he could trust someone outside the family. Anthony Scotto Jr. Who you met in episode two and who, despite being much younger, became one of the grape broker's closest friends. Jack contacted Scotto and told him about the inquiry at Delicato and his concerns about Michael. Actually, more than just told him. He asked for his friend's help. Jack wanted me to go out and double check Mike's work, and I wouldn't do it. I says, look, Jack, he's your son. I can't control him. But Jack kept pushing. Come on. Couldn't Scotto just ask? And I'm looking at him. What do you want me to do? I just want you to verify. I says, jack, I can't do it. I says, you want me to kind of rat him out, and I'm not gonna do it. I'm not a rat. This was not the answer Jack was hoping for. He resigned himself to the fact that he would have to find another way to get to the truth. But then he began to second guess his Suspicions. When the 1988 crush season passed by without incident, the state seemed to have dropped its inquiry entirely. After Michael and his co conspirators sent the fake letters, maps and contracts to Delicato, they never heard about it again from the winery or from regulators. So everyone breathed a sigh of relief, especially Michael and the Bavaros. This felt like confirmation that no one really cared what they were up to. And they had made out like bandits. This season, wineries had eagerly paid over $1,000 per ton for supposed Zinfandel grapes and sometimes over $1,500 per ton for Chardonnay. They'd sold over 1,000 tons of misrepresented grapes, enough to make hundreds of thousands of mislabeled bottles. While wineries and consumers seemed none the wiser, winter passed into spring, and as the first vines began to unfurl their green leaves, Michael and the Bavaros began to look to the 1989 CR Crush season. Why not keep the gravy train rolling? This would be their best season yet. Or so they thought. Mochi Health is here to help you start your weight loss journey with caring, personalized support. Meet one on one with board certified obesity doctors and registered dietitians who truly listen and understand your unique needs. Eligible patients can access affordable GLP1 medications delivered right to their door each month. No insurance, no problem. Mochi Health accepts FSA and HSA, making care accessible and affordable. And with 24. 7 customer service, you'll never feel alone on your path to better health. Get started with Mochi Health Today. Take the free quiz at joinmochi.com and use code AUDIO40 at checkout for $40 off your first month of membership. That's join M-O C-H-I.com with promo code AUDIO40. The first shoe dropped in June of 1989 when the state of California filed six civil lawsuits targeting grape fraud. To his relief, Michael wasn't named in any of the cases. But his co conspirators, Nick and Frank Bavaro, were named in four, and the state hinted federal lawsuits were on the horizon. Michael figured it was only a matter of time before his role came under more scrutiny, given how the fraud was already making headlines around the world. One paper in Panama called the lawsuits the scandal that has rocked California's grape industry, and the New York Times had this to if you have ever felt foolish because you don't know one wine from another, relax. In a series of pending court cases in California, state officials say growers sold tons of cheap grapes suitable for jug wines to several large wineries, passing them off as expensive zinfandel and Chardonnay grapes. The state says a victim in three of its cases was Delicado Vineyards, which is said to be California's largest producer of white zinfandel. News of the scandal quickly hit both the Bavaros and Licciardi's businesses. Like a bombshell, things kind of came to kind of like a screeching hole. That was Mark Lucchese, who worked as the Bavaros company accountant at the time. Today, Lucchese runs a small winery in Ripon called Luca Winery. Go and try his Morvedre. It's excellent. But back in 89, working with the Bavaros, we had piles of, you know, tons of grapes going into these wineries, and they didn't want to pay for them. The wineries didn't want to pay for the grapes because no one could trust them. And to make matters worse, and then all of a sudden one day, you know, some feds showed up. I wasn't home at the time. I was at Bavaro's, and they wanted to talk to me. Lucchese couldn't answer many of the investigators questions. The Bavaros ran a tight ship. Even though Lucchese saw the vast heaps of money coming through the company accounts, he says he didn't know the shipments of grapes had been mislabeled. He did, however, tell the feds about some of the payments to Michael. Not all of what you'd call traditional. Well, when Nick goes, hey, we got this deal going down with Mike and, you know, we gotta pay him. We got to pay him like a fee, right? A finder's fee or something. And he wants a new. New van for his family. So anyway, okay, you know, that kind of stuff. And as the Bavaros prepared for court over at Corvette company, Jack was busy trying to do damage control. The company hadn't been named in any lawsuits, but as anyone in the wine business knows, it's the grape broker's responsibility to ensure wineries got the right fruit. Jack needed to convince his clients that he could still be trusted. His first call, Delicato Vineyards, his main customer, whose name was now plastered all over the news next to the words grape fraud. Jack wanted to reassure his longtime friend and winery owner Tony Indelicato that he'd get to the bottom of what happened. But according to Scotto, Tony wouldn't even take his phone call. And to add injury to insult, the winery ceased all business with Jack and his brokerage and refused to pay jack the $1.5 million that Delicato still owed on previous grape deliveries. Jack couldn't believe it. Almost overnight, his business, which he'd spent over three decades building, had turned toxic. He'd lost his biggest customer. He faced a seven figure cash flow problem so long as Delicato wouldn't pay him. He felt betrayed by Nick Bavaro, who he'd mentored. And worst of all, he had a sneaking suspicion that his son had been more involved in the scheme than he'd let on. But how far did this rabbit hole go? How exposed was his business, his family? He needed to gauge just how serious things were. And since Michael wouldn't be straight with him and Scotto wouldn't investigate on his behalf, Jack was forced to turn to someone else for the truth. Someone unexpected. As federal prosecutor Steve Lapham.
- [18:04]
Michael Licciardi
The word was out that we were investigating this fraud involving Corvette Co. And he basically said, come talk to me. Jack Licciardi asked for the interview.
- [18:15]
Chris Walker
The godfather of grapes would talk to the feds. Steve Lapham remembers feeling surprised when Jack contacted him in August of 1989. With the indictments against the Bavaros already out and creating a stir, it seemed unusual that another target of his investigation would reach out voluntarily. Lapham had no idea what the old man would say, but he and ATF agent Greg Barnett weren't about to turn down an interview with the godfather of Grapes.
- [18:53]
Michael Licciardi
And so we visited his home. It was very Alfred Hitchcock like.
- [18:57]
Chris Walker
How so?
- [18:58]
Michael Licciardi
He lives in a house with no improvements. It's very dark and grimy. When we went in, the curtains were all drawn. Just seemed. I have this image in my head of it being very dark and spooky.
- [19:13]
Chris Walker
The creepiness echoed what Scotto experienced on his first visit. And then there was Jack himself.
- [19:20]
Michael Licciardi
The most prominent feature I can remember from him is just having this gnarled old hand with a cigar stogie sticking out of it.
- [19:30]
Chris Walker
And he sat on a throne that Lapham doesn't remember as particularly dignified.
- [19:35]
Michael Licciardi
The couch was grimy with, you know, years of grease from fried on foods or something.
- [19:43]
Chris Walker
But the bigger surprise was that he wasn't alone. A young lawyer named Jay Gill flanked Jack on one side, and on the other stood his sons, Robert and Michael. Lapham and Barnett saw a golden opportunity. They were still collecting the evidence they needed to file charges against Michael, but now they could question him directly. Would he lie in front of federal agents? In front of his father? As Lapham recalls, Jack seemed oblivious to the precariousness of the situation as he warmly welcomed the men into his home.
- [20:14]
Michael Licciardi
It seemed like he was trying to clear the air.
- [20:18]
Chris Walker
Knowing that investigators were poking around his company, Jack asked, is there anything we can help you with? Terrible what the Bavaros did, isn't it? Lapham and Barnett looked at each other. Interesting.
- [20:31]
Michael Licciardi
I got the impression that he was in the dark about the whole thing.
- [20:35]
Chris Walker
So they focused their attention on Michael, who was of much more interest to them anyway. They started off easy, asking him questions about his role in the family business. But then they worked their way up to the fraudulent grapes that Delicato had received from VK Enterprises and Efriana Farms. And right in front of everyone, Michael doubled down on his claim that the vineyards were real. His proof he had seen them with his own eyes.
- [21:01]
Michael Licciardi
Michael Acciardi told us during that meeting that he had visited VK Vineyards and had talked to someone. Perhaps Robert Klein, he said, who was from vk.
- [21:14]
Chris Walker
As soon as the words left Michael's mouth, Jack felt the room's energy shift. He could tell by the smirks on his visitors faces that something big had just happened. Something that didn't bode well for the family grape brokerage or the inheritances he hoped to leave his children, who were all registered agents of the company. One misstep, one wrong word could cause everything he'd worked so hard to build to come crashing down. So Jack had to tread carefully. He didn't want to risk saying anything that might implicate Michael or the business further. So he kept his mouth shut until the investigators left. Then, just two weeks after the meeting, Jack received a most unwelcome reminder that his son wasn't being straight. With a subpoena, it compelled Jack to send the government every financial document he had related to the 1987 and 1988 grape harvests. And with the court document in his hands, the terrible truth washed over him. He, his son and his company were now the official subjects of a federal grand jury investigation. I talked to some of the Licciardi siblings about that moment. Here's Robert. Do you remember your dad's reaction when he found out about the investigation into Michael?
- [22:28]
Robert Licciardi
Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. He was, he was miffed, you know, as his firstborn son, deceiving him. I think he was more mad that he was deceiving him than he was doing that with the graves. This the guy he wanted to groom for the business and everything. And then he did that to him. It was pretty devastating for him.
- [22:50]
Chris Walker
And here's Joanna.
- [22:51]
Joanna Licciardi
Broke his heart. I mean, there's no other way to say it.
- [22:54]
Chris Walker
Then in early 1990, Jack received another subpoena, this time to testify in person before the grand jury. Jack made no bones about it. He would attend the closed door session. Joanna remembers driving her father to the federal courthouse in Sacramento on February 9, 1990.
- [23:13]
Joanna Licciardi
You know, he just looked beaten down. He just looked like so tired.
- [23:17]
Chris Walker
He looked even more beaten down as he emerged from the courthouse in his wheelchair. Joanna didn't know what her dad had said in the secret proceedings. Anyone who asked Jack about his grand jury testimony couldn't get much out of him, including Michael, who started to show increasing signs of paranoia. He asked his dad again and again what he'd said in the closed door session. And each time Jack calmly replied with the same line that he merely answered some questions about record keeping. But without a way of knowing what his father really said, Michael lost sleep over what might be coming. And then in August 1990, it arrived. United States versus Michael Licciardi, a ten count indictment. The grand jury went in hard against Michael. They'd charged him with everything from conspiracy and mail fraud to money laundering and tax evasion. And remember that lie he told in that meeting at Jack's house about visiting V and K vineyards and meeting Robert Klein?
- [24:15]
Michael Licciardi
So that was the basis for one of our counts in the indictment for a false statement.
- [24:19]
Chris Walker
The last count particularly upset Jack. Since he'd heard the lie himself, he knew that Michael had become a liability to the business and that recovering from these lawsuits would be a heavy lift. Jack needed to signal to business partners that things had drastically changed within his company. And so he did something that had seemed inconceivable only months earlier. Jack asked his other son, Robert, if he'd take over Michael's job and become not only his new legs, but also his 5050 partner in the business. This restructuring triggered a tectonic shift in the licciardi's world because, as Robert notes, it meant that he was cutting Michael.
- [24:59]
Robert Licciardi
Out of the business.
- [25:00]
Chris Walker
In fact, Jack and Robert formed an entirely company. They named it Corvette Company one to differentiate themselves from the old company Corvette, which the government had named in its case against Michael. That way, if Michael was penalized, the family fortune and everything Jack had built for his children might survive.
- [25:19]
Robert Licciardi
What we wanted to do was try to protect our interests and separate ourselves from Michael.
- [25:25]
Chris Walker
But it was a hard pill for the other Luciardi siblings to swallow. Robert co running the company. Robert, the playboy who had wrestled with addiction for far longer than he'd been clean. Could he really handle the pressure of running a company in the midst of a crisis? To his sisters, like Joanna, it seemed like their youngest brother was making his own bald face cash grab.
- [25:47]
Joanna Licciardi
And I think he just wanted the money because he was already spending it on cars and everything else, like a.
- [25:53]
Chris Walker
Porsche he had recently bought. Jack wasn't blind to the risks. He reassured his children that he had a plan. But while his daughters tried to muster some trust, Michael was beside himself. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined his father replacing him with Robert. How dare he? After all the work Michael had done while his youngest brother slacked off. And when Michael considered all the sacrifices he'd made, all the years he'd given to the company, it was beyond infuriating. It was insulting. So even though Jack posted Michael's $100,000 bail and made it clear that he still wanted Michael, Norma and their girls to celebrate Christmas with the family, Michael refused to attend. He claimed his lawyer advised against it, which didn't sit well with Jack.
- [26:41]
Joanna Licciardi
And that. Brian. I could see the look on my dad's face.
- [26:45]
Chris Walker
Oh, my lawyer said not to talk.
- [26:46]
Joanna Licciardi
To you, you know.
- [26:47]
Chris Walker
And how did your dad react?
- [26:48]
Joanna Licciardi
He got a little flustered. You know, like mad.
- [26:53]
Chris Walker
Jack knew that Michael was suspicious about him testifying in front of the grand jury and angry that he created a new company with Robert. But not spending Christmas together. It was unthinkable the holiday had always been the most joyous time of year in the Licciardi home.
- [27:09]
Joanna Licciardi
We had such a cast of characters coming through our house. People bringing wine. People bring in pistachios or bringing in.
- [27:17]
Chris Walker
Fruit and other treats. It was a time when winemakers would come to the house, pop a cork and show off what they'd made with the grapes Jack had brokered for them. There was a shared pride in those wines. But this year, with the Licciardi name tainted by rumors of grape fraud, no one came bearing presents for the pariah of the wine world. Jack's house felt eerily quiet, especially with the absence of his oldest son. The patriarch had always been the one to hold the family together. But now he could feel it pulling apart at the seams. His children were all fighting. His wife was sadly losing her mind. And his eldest son wouldn't even talk to him. In Jack's mind, this situation could not stand. And it was in the midst of all this turmoil that Jack was forced to make a fateful decision. Right around New Year's, the California Attorney General's office called him and asked if Jack would testify in their civil case against Michael. Not in front of a grand jury this time, but in a deposition. Jack knew that this could further incriminate his son and his business. But he also recognized an opportunity to make a moral stand. This was a chance to re establish trust within the industry. Perhaps he could even knit the family back together stronger in the end. So with a heavy heart, he made a decision. He told the state, yes, I'll testify. And put the Deputy ag, a man named Mark Urban, in touch with his lawyer. Urban was thrilled. Jack was the best connected witness they'd have under oath. His testimony might expose wider misdeeds in the industry, bigger players. Because day by day, investigators were learning that more wineries were involved in grape mislabeling than they initially suspected. What did Jack know? Who might he name? The state would find out soon enough. Just as soon as they could schedule a day for the deposition. Around 10am on the morning of January 19, 1991, Robert woke up and walked across the street to his parents house like he always did.
- [29:21]
Robert Licciardi
That was just a regular day. Started to take care of my mother.
- [29:25]
Chris Walker
And after tending to his mom, he entered the living room where his father slept with a newspaper sprawled out across his chest.
- [29:32]
Robert Licciardi
And I noticed he was. I thought he fell asleep reading the.
- [29:35]
Chris Walker
Paper as a night owl. It wasn't unusual for Jack to sleep past 10am but when Jack didn't so much as stir.
- [29:42]
Robert Licciardi
He had his. His chin was down, he looked blue, and his neck looked out of place.
- [29:47]
Chris Walker
Do these details sound familiar? I'm sure you already know where I'm going with this. Robert says he panicked at the sight of his father and rather than try to rest, resuscitate him.
- [29:58]
Robert Licciardi
I'm just not trained in any kind of rescue thing. That didn't even cross my mind.
- [30:04]
Chris Walker
He freaked out and ran across the street to his own home, told my.
- [30:07]
Robert Licciardi
Wife, and called the. Called the paramedics.
- [30:11]
Chris Walker
And as he waited for an ambulance to arrive, he called Michael and his wife Norma, the other local members of the family, and told them to come over quick. Here's Norma Licciardi recalling their arrival.
- [30:24]
Joanna Licciardi
Robert was there, and the paramedics were there when we walked in. And we were standing there and looking. His dad was laying on the couch. He looked like he was asleep. And Michael asked, well, what are we waiting for? And they were waiting for the coroner, they told him.
- [30:44]
Chris Walker
The paramedics gave their condolences. Jack was dead. And as the family tried to make sense of it, they remembered that Jack had had a heart attack a few years earlier. Maybe with all the stress of the grape lawsuits against his son and his company, he'd had another. During the night. The coroner would make the final determination.
- [31:04]
Joanna Licciardi
Michael and Robert went into the kitchen. I figured Robert. Michael wanted to talk, so I let them go. And I was there by myself when they moved, when the paramedics moved him. And a little bit of blood I saw come out from behind the. I want to say a left ear.
- [31:21]
Chris Walker
The thin ribbon of red caught Norma's attention. What the. She looked closer, her eyes following the trail of blood back to its source. And then she gasped. The blood originated from a small hole next to Jack's left temple, A wound nearly concealed due to its location at his hairline. Fear welled up inside her.
- [31:42]
Joanna Licciardi
And then it's when it went into the kitchen, pulled Michael's side, and I told him that his dad had a bullet. A hole behind the ear.
- [31:50]
Chris Walker
A bullet hole. The coroner may not have arrived yet, but one thing was already apparent. This wasn't a heart attack. Jack Licciardi had been murdered. On the next episode of Blood Vines. He goes, Jeff, he goes, you'll never guess what's going on outside, because there's cops everywhere and, you know, the coroner's outside.
- [32:14]
Joanna Licciardi
And the look on her face was total fear.
- [32:17]
Robert Licciardi
At the time, I was paranoid, you know, who do you trust?
- [32:20]
Michael Licciardi
He was murdered with a.22 caliber bullet. To the head, which is a very mafia type way of doing it. I mean, obviously we were all speculating what happened and yeah, we were blown away.
- [32:33]
Chris Walker
That's coming up on episode four of Blood Vines. Blood Vines is a production of Foxapus, Inc. Our executive producers are Laura Krantz and Scott Carney. Story editing is done by Alicia Lincoln and Laura Krantz. Blood Vines is scored in mix by Louis Weeks. I'm your host and creator, Chris Walker. This podcast was made possible in part by the Fund for Investigative Journalism. If you're enjoying Blood Vines, please leave us a review wherever you listen to podcasts and please share it with your friends. It really helps more people find out about our show.