INQUIRY INTO KILLINGS DISCLOSES DRUG LINKSPECIAL TO THE NEW YORK TIMES MARCH 28, 1978OAKLAND, Calif., March 27 — Some elements of the murky underworld of the international drug trade have come to light as law enforcement officials have begun unraveling the circumstances surrounding the killings here in January of Francis A. Ragusa; his wife, Jennifer, and his sister, Marianne.
Police Say That One of West Coast Slaying Victims Was in ‘Charge of Operations Throughout WorldAccording to the local police, the 28 year‐old Mr. Ragusa was the mastermind of a worldwide drug operation that al lowed him to build a small financial empire ‘ consisting of Caribbean shrimp boats, an interest in an oil tanker, collections of Oriental rugs and books, real estate holdings and bank accounts held under a variety of names.
Investigators said that they had been told by sources active in the drug trade, some of whom were given immunity from prosecution, that Mr. Ragusa was involved in an international smuggling operation with laboratories in West Germany, Scotland and New York City and routes through the Netherlands, Turkey, Canada, the Bahamas, Thailand and other Asian countries. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has joined the Oakland police in the investigation.
“He only dealt with guys who had armies of street dealers working for them,” said Capt. James Stewart, the head of Oakland's criminal investigation unit. He added that Mr. Ragusa had dealt in LSD, cocaine and marijuana but not heroin.
Last week the police arrested Lawrence P. Reilly and held him without bail for the Ragusa killings. Two cars found outside the Oakland Hills residence of the Ragusa family the night of the murder and other “solid evidence” led the police to Mr. Reilly, Captain Stewart said. Mr. Ragusa had been stabbed 29 times, his 24-year-old wife five times and his 21year‐old sister 19 times.
Mr. Reilly, who had been a friend of Mr. Ragusa since they grew up together in New Hyde Park, LI., has denied killing the three. The police said that Mr. Reilly was upset because he said Mr. Ragusa had boasted to him about killing two or three people in Miami. Captain Stewart did not disclose what connection that had with the Ragusa killings.
None of the stabbing victims was tied up, which leads the police to believe that more than one person was involved the killings. Captain Stewart described the killings as a “frenzied attack.”
The police found $15,000 in cash, 192,000 tabs of LSD and 16I/2 pounds of marijuana in the plush rented house where the victims were found.
But the police quote sources as saying that Mr. Ragusa. routinely kept $100,000 to $150,000 in cash on hand and that on the night he was’ killed he had $1 million to $2 million worth of ergotamine tartrate, the chemical base for LSD, at the residence.
“He ‘definitely had East Coast Mafia connections,” Captain Stewart said. “But as far as we can tell, he was not a part of the Mafia organization, but a separate entrepreneur who traded with them.”
Captain Stewart said that a packet found at the residence referred to $11,000 that Mr. Ragusa at one time used to bail out two persons in Port Washington, LI; who had been arrested in a state narcotics drive.
The article as it originally appeared.