Parnell "Stacks" Edwards (15 January 1947-18 December 1978) was an associate of the Lucchese crime family of the American Mafia. In 1978, he was the getaway driver during the Lufthansa heist, and he was killed by the Mafia after he got stoned and slept at a girlfriend's house instead of disposing of the getaway vehicle.
Biography[]
Edwards after being shot
Parnell Edwards was born in South Bronx, The Bronx, New York City on 15 January 1947 to African-American parents from North Carolina and northern Virginia. During the 1960s, he struggled to become a blues-rock musician, and he met Tommy DeVito while playing the guitar at a Mafia-frequented bar. Edwards and DeVito were involved with credit card fraud and carjacking, and Edwards would later become a drug addict, moving on to heroin and cocaine from marijuana use. In 1978, Edwards was hired to be the getaway driver for the Lucchese crime family crew involved in the Lufthansa heist, driving the heist crew to the JFK International Airport. However, Edwards forgot to destroy the getaway car, instead getting stoned and spending the night at a girlfriend's house. The police identified Edwards as the getaway driver, so the Lucchese family was forced to murder Edwards before the NYPD got to him. On 18 December 1978, DeVito and Frankie Carbone entered his apartment, telling him to get up so that they could drive them both. As Edwards put on socks, DeVito shot Edwards in the back of the head with a silenced pistol, and he shot his body several more times.