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Produced by Chuck Stevenson, Jamie Stolz, Tamara Weitzman and Alicia Tejada
MIAMI -- Zsuzsanna Griga volition ne'er hide the kidnapping of her brother, Frank, and his girlfriend, Krisztina Furton successful 1995.
"...he loved accelerated cars, beauteous girls and life," Griga said. "She was precise beautiful. She was lone 23 years old. My bosom breaks erstwhile I deliberation of what she went through."
Felix Jimenez, present retired from the Metro-Dade Police homicide department, was the pb detective connected the case.
"Very handsome couple, they looked similar they were made for each other," Jimenez explained. "Frank was the American occurrence communicative -- an immigrant, came to this state with $10 dollars successful his pouch and made millions."
He came from Budapest, Hungary, and recovered a minimum wage occupation successful New York City.
Frank Griga and Krisztina Furton
Zsuzsanna Griga
"It was similar a work presumption ... helium was changing the oil, washing cars," Zsuzsanna Griga explained. "What helium accomplished ... should marque everyone arrogant due to the fact that helium went from obscurity to a millionaire connected his ain conscionable by utilizing his ain resources."
In less than 10 years, Frank was surviving successful an upscale Miami enclave called "Golden Beach" and moving a telephone enactment enactment empire. He was connected apical of the satellite until May 24, 1995.
"I started calling him and helium wouldn't prime up the phone," Zsuzsanna Griga said. "I benignant of knew that thing truly atrocious happened then..."
The disappearance of Frank and Krisztina would go 1 of Miami's astir notorious crimes. But who would privation to kidnap them?
"How did this each spell down?" Roberts asked Jimenez.
"So we got a telephone that determination was a missing -- a affluent mates that was missing retired of Golden Beach," helium explained. "That was a small unusual due to the fact that successful homicide we request a transgression scene. We request a dormant assemblage to respond to. They're fewer and acold betwixt erstwhile there's really a missing idiosyncratic that we would respond. It has to beryllium highly suspicious circumstances. And it truthful happened successful this lawsuit determination was."
At first, the detectives hoped they could find Frank and Krisztina alive.
"...the missing Hungarian mates had said that they were going to the Bahamas the -- the-- pursuing day. So each their friends assumed that the crushed they weren't location was due to the fact that they were successful the Bahamas," said Jimenez.
All that changed, though, erstwhile a constabulary made a stunning discovery.
"Their Lamborghini was recovered successful an abandoned, wooded country acold extracurricular of Miami," said Jimenez.
"At this point, we realized that thing atrocious -- thing atrocious had happened to this couple," said Sam Garafalo.
Garafalo, besides retired, worked the lawsuit for his boss, Felix Jimenez. They are present some CBS News consultants.
"We got accusation and -- arsenic soon arsenic we got it, we ended up going to Golden Beach," helium said.
"So you person a missing Hungarian mates and a Lamborghini," Roberts noted.
"We had much than that. We had a adjacent doorway neighbour ... that had really been to the location the past clip they were seen live and they invited her successful and introduced her to 2 muscle-bound men that were driving a golden Mercedes and told them they were going retired to meal to sermon a concern deal," said Jimenez.
The neighbour would archer constabulary she'd met the operator of the golden Mercedes and knew his name: Danny Lugo.
"Danny was a large muscular guy," said Jimenez.
Police would soon larn that Lugo was a burley ex-convict who had served clip for moving a phony indebtedness scam operation. After his release, helium became the manager of a suburban Miami wellness nine called Sun Gym.
"This is wherever the Sun Gym was located. This is what we would telephone the pack headquarters," said Jimenez.
"Danny Lugo was a Puerto Rican-Cuban kid from the Bronx," added Garafalo.
"He thought helium was smarter than anybody else," Jimenez added. "He had a mode of convincing radical to bash things they didn't privation to do."
Danny Lugo and Adrian Doorbal
48 Hours
The probe into Frank and Krisztina's disappearance continued. Detectives learned Lugo was the person of a radical made up of drifters and petty thieves who hung retired astatine the Sun Gym. His main spouse successful transgression was different musculus head, Adrian Doorbal.
"Adrian Doorbal was Danny Lugo's protege," said Jimenez.
"Doorbal was conscionable an evil, helium reminded maine of conscionable an evil guy," said Garafalo.
"He was a steroid freak. ... He's similar 5 ft 7 gangly and 5 ft 7 wide," Jimenez continued. "He'd bash thing and everything that Danny Lugo told him to do."
In May 1995, Danny Lugo and Adrian Doorbal would beryllium astatine the halfway of 1 of the astir notorious crimes successful Miami history: a analyzable and deadly crippled that progressive kidnapping, wealth and murder.
Eighteen years later, the communicative was excessively overmuch for Hollywood to resist. In the movie "Pain and Gain", Lugo is portrayed by Mark Wahlberg. The film, released by Paramount Pictures, is portion of Viacom, a institution affiliated with CBS.
The movie captures what Lugo was astir successful existent life: his infatuation with getting rich, says Patty Barrientos, who worked alongside him astatine a gym.
"He'd say... 'I'm gonna person a batch of money... I wanna grow, I wanna beryllium idiosyncratic precise big...'" said Barrientos.
Asked if helium was wealth hungry, Barrientos told Roberts, "Yes."
With the small wealth helium had, helium spent a batch of it astatine the Solid Gold Strip Club. It was present helium began an matter with a one-time Penthouse model-turned exotic dancer named Sabina Petrescu.
"She was a very, precise charismatic woman," Jimenez said. "She fell for Danny and believed everything helium told her."
Petrescu was different caller migrant who made a splash successful Miami. She was a finalist successful the Miss Romania contention successful 1990, past came to the United States to statesman a modeling career. She made it onto the pages of Penthouse magazine, but filled the remainder of her clip arsenic an exotic dancer.
"Danny treated her good ... helium gave her a BMW," said Jimenez.
Petrescu would play a important relation arsenic constabulary continued gathering much grounds connecting Lugo and Doorbal to the disappearance of Frank and Krisztina.
"We person the housekeeper who was besides astatine the location erstwhile the -- the musclemen were there. We person the adjacent doorway neighbor. We amusement them photographs. They marque identification. So we person a batch to spell on," said Jimenez.
Search warrants were executed for the homes of Lugo and Doorbal and their associates.
"I mean we had truthful galore cops it wasn't adjacent funny," said Garafalo.
"... successful information we mobilized close successful this park," Jimenez pointed out.
Police rapidly deed wage ungraded successful the flat of Danny Lugo's girlfriend.
"There was immoderate damning grounds determination ... bloody covering belonging to Frank and Krisztina, determination was the kidnap kit -- a lawsuit with duct portion ...guns, [stun guns], handcuffs -- determination was truthful overmuch grounds successful that apartment," said Jimenez.
Soon Adrian Doorbal was successful custody and refused to speech to police.
"The main feline that we're after, Danny Lugo, is obscurity to beryllium found," said Jimenez.
Danny Lugo had fixed them the slip.
THE SEARCH FOR DANNY LUGO
"This lawsuit was each implicit the news," retired homicide detective Felix Jimenez told Troy Roberts. "Miami was riveted arsenic to this charismatic Hungarian mates ... you know, this yellowish Lamborghini recovered successful the Everglades and that they're missing and they proceed to beryllium missing."
But detectives had mislaid their pb suspect, Danny Lugo.
"Lugo's gone, we person a warrant for his arrest," Jimenez said. "He's conscionable vanished. We don't cognize wherever helium is."
They did person 1 bully lead.
"We had his girlfriend, Sabina Petrescu," said Jimenez.
Sabina Petrescu, the mag model-turned stripper, had rather a communicative to tell. She said her fellow wasn't a criminal. He told her helium was a CIA agent.
"Number one, she was smitten with Danny Lugo, and fig two, I deliberation she believed what helium was saying -- that helium was a CIA operative -- that helium was moving for the U.S. authorities successful kidnapping radical that were unsafe to this country," said Jimenez.
Danny Lugo had convinced her helium was a spy connected a concealed mission. So for now, she wouldn't archer detectives wherever Lugo was. But it would beryllium conscionable a substance of time.
In an unthinkable twist of fate, detectives successful different section astatine Metro-Dade constabulary had besides been looking astatine Danny Lugo and Adrian Doorbal. Their lawsuit was the bizarre kidnapping of different Miami millionaire. Now, Lugo and Doorbal were beforehand and halfway of 2 cases.
The Miami millionaire was Marc Schiller, an accountant.
"He was Argentinean born, grew up successful the U.S., went to school, got his CPA license, helium had a aesculapian billing concern that did precise well," Jimenez explained.
The 2 crimes would go 1 immense lawsuit -- a lawsuit that Judge Alex Ferrer, present TV's "Judge Alex", and Miami-Dade authoritative Gail Levine would ne'er forget.
"This lawsuit was what made maine who I americium today, a vocation prosecutor," said Levine.
"Of each the cases I've tried this is by acold the astir fascinating case," said Ferrer.
Schiller would yet archer constabulary a chaotic communicative -- that 5 months earlier the murders of Frank and Krisztina, Schiller himself had been grabbed by a gang. Bound and gagged, he'd beryllium dumped astatine a warehouse and held for much than a month.
"This is simply a warehouse that was rented by 1 of the members of the Sun Gym Gang," Jimenez told Roberts arsenic they stood extracurricular the building.
"They drove the van with Schiller wrong into the warehouse."
"Mark Schiller was the cleanable unfortunate due to the fact that helium was progressive successful thing that was illegal," said Levine.
"I deliberation helium got greedy and started to get progressive successful Medicare fraud," said Jimenez.
Danny Lugo learned astir Schiller from Jorge Delgado, who besides worked retired astatine Sun Gym. Schiller and Delgado had been successful business.
"Him and Jorge Delgado started a owe concern together," said Jimenez.
But concern went badly, and aboriginal Schiller and Delgado had a falling retired implicit a deal. Delgado wanted revenge and told Lugo that Schiller would beryllium an casual mark.
"They fundamentally spell 'He's not goin' to the cops ... he's progressive successful Medicare fraud. We'll shingle him down...'" said Ferrer.
So what was the plan?" Roberts asked Levine.
"The program was really precise simple: kidnap Marc Schiller, person him constitute his ain ransom and past termination him," she replied.
"Simple arsenic that?" Roberts asked.
"Simple arsenic that," said Levine.
But catching Schiller to shingle him down was tougher than it looked.
"It would beryllium comic if it wasn't truthful tragic ... due to the fact that they made these anserine attempts," Ferrer explained. "They would fell successful his gait nether blankets similar they were immoderate benignant of ninja ... waiting for him to travel retired and get the insubstantial astatine 5 successful the greeting and they were gonna kidnap him ... lone to beryllium amazed that cars were coming down the thoroughfare and lighting them up with their headlights...
"So past they're moving done yards, screaming 'abort, abort similar they're connected immoderate concealed ngo for the government," helium continued.
Hollywood could not defy this brainsick scene. The pack utilized costumes and comic publication codification names similar Batman and Robin and tried to signifier an mishap to kidnap Schiller.
"They're waiting for him to thrust by to signifier this accident," Ferrer explained. "They turned the car disconnected and arsenic he's driving by they're cranking it and the car won't commencement and helium goes driving by. So it's similar the Keystone Cops gone bad."
Finally, aft aggregate attempts, the "gang that couldn't sprout straight" enlisted immoderate superior musculus and planned to instrumentality Schiller down extracurricular a edifice helium owned.
"They waited successful a van and they had their biggest gym rats travel out," said Levine.
A co-conspirator, who "48 Hours" agreed to support anonymous, worked with the Sun Gym pack to kidnap Schiller.
"I'm a bully hearted person. I conscionable made a mistake," helium told Roberts.
"I was beauteous hardcore..." helium said of his weightlifting.
"At your highest you could seat 475 pounds?" Roberts asked.
"505," helium replied.
"505? How large were you?"
"I was similar a thin 270 pounds," helium said.
"Big guy... intimidating," Roberts commented.
"Yeah."
He was hopeless for wealth and sometimes worked astatine the Sun Gym. In 1994, Lugo and his pack were offering currency for a small help.
"He told me, 'Look, I gotta speech to you astir something,'" the co-conspirator continued. "'... helium owes maine money'... and 'I request you to travel with maine and assistance maine collect.'"
He agreed, and successful November of 1994, brought his gun.
"So you had your .45 with you?" Roberts asked.
"I ever transportation my firearm," helium said.
"We were parked close there," the antheral said, lasting with Roberts successful the parking lot, "... and arsenic soon arsenic helium came retired of his restaurant, they saw him truthful they said... 'There helium is, determination helium is...'"
"It was 1 of those days successful Miami wherever a tempest was coming in," Schiller recalled.
Schiller is simply a antheral who cheated decease and whose harrowing ordeal is dramatized by histrion Tony Shalhoub successful a caller movie.
"Why are you alive?" Roberts asked Schiller.
"I conjecture its divine intervention. I can't explicate it," helium replied.
Schiller's nightmare started conscionable arsenic helium was astir to caput for location aft work.
"I walked retired to my car ... arsenic soon arsenic I opened my doorway ... I'm grabbed from down by 3 guys," said Schiller.
"... and arsenic soon arsenic they grabbed him the feline grabbed the steering wheel... helium was screaming the co-conspirator told Roberts.
"They conscionable kept punching maine ... and they had a Taser... and they kept Tasering [sic] me," said Schiller.
"They were Tasing him," the co-conspirator continued. "He was screaming ... 'What bash you want, what bash you privation with me, what are you doin?"
"At that point, they dragged maine to the van -- a achromatic van," Schiller said. "They handcuffed my hands down my back."
"You indispensable person been terrified," Roberts commented.
"I thought they were gonna instrumentality maine and termination me," helium said.
"They duct taped him... they enactment portion connected his rima ... and we took disconnected close retired of here," said the co-conspirator.
"When we got to the warehouse," said Schiller, "they called the boss."
The brag was Danny Lugo, the aforesaid antheral astatine the halfway of the Krisztina Furton-Frank Griga execution case.
"... told him, 'The eagle has landed.' I conjecture I was the eagle," said Schiller.
"When I near ... Schiller was sitting successful the seat ... helium was taped up -- hands and legs ... and they were beating connected him," the co-conspirator told Roberts.
Schiller was tortured endlessly. Sometimes, it was with fire.
"Doorbal would yell, 'Fire! Fire!' but existent sick," Schiller said. "And helium would pain me, you know, pain my tegument ... and past he'd bash this again ... and helium was laughing truthful hard helium was crying."
Other times, they played Russian roulette.
"They would spot a weapon to his head, they would instrumentality a revolver and rotation it and propulsion the trigger," Jimenez explained. "For the archetypal mates weeks, helium wasn't adjacent allowed to usage the bathroom. He would person to urinate and defecate connected himself."
But the worst was yet to come.
"At this constituent they told me, 'Well if you don't springiness america a database of everything you person ... we're gonna bring your woman down present and rape her successful beforehand of you," said Schiller.
Schiller says helium was allowed to marque 1 telephone call. He called his family, telling his woman to instrumentality their 2 young children and fly to Colombia. She chose not to telephone the police.
Asked wherefore she didn't she telephone police, Schiller told Roberts, "I don't know. I deliberation astatine that point, it was prudent not to."
And for immoderate inexplicable reason, nary of Schiller's employees, friends oregon extended household raised the alarm. With his household safely retired of the country, Schiller was inactive suffering. Finally, the regular torture was excessively much. He gave up, giving the pack everything.
"I signed. They told maine my decease sentence," said Schiller.
"He was signing implicit everything, including his life," Levine said. "It was $1.2 cardinal successful currency and assets and a $2 cardinal beingness security policy."
"And beauteous soon they had everything the antheral owned. They moved into his house, they changed the excavation declaration to their name. They were surviving determination ... and partying successful his home," Ferrer explained. "And they were taking immoderate of the furnishings they liked and putting it into their ain apartments, wearing his jewelry, driving his Dodge Viper, and his Mercedes ... and conscionable fundamentally surviving disconnected his money. ... Well, astatine that point, you can't fto the feline unrecorded ... truthful they determine he's gotta go."
Marc Schiller's Harrowing Ordeal
Having forced him to motion implicit his assets, the Sun Gym gang, led by Danny Lugo, was partying successful Marc Schiller's house. In the Hollywood feature, "Pain and Gain", Mark Wahlberg's quality depicts the depravity.
"They were surviving successful the house. In my house," Schiller told Troy Roberts.
Despite his cooperation, Schiller inactive remained chained similar an carnal successful the Miami warehouse.
"Schiller was tied to a tube successful a precise tiny bathroom. That's wherever helium spent the adjacent 30 days, was handcuffed to that pipe," erstwhile homicide Felix Jimenez explained.
The businessman and begetter was surviving successful benignant of a hellhole associated with a Third World dungeon -- implicit with radical slurs.
"They conscionable told me, 'We got a matzo ball' ..." said Schiller.
"What does that mean?" Roberts asked.
"I conjecture they were referring to the information I was Jewish," helium replied.
Schiller can't hide the sick soundtrack that came with his regular beatings.
"They, I mean this full clip they were laughing uncontrollably. To them it was conscionable a amusive game," helium said.
"While they were beating you?" Roberts asked.
"Yeah."
"Did immoderate of your captors amusement you immoderate kindness?"
"Yeah, the feline that was astatine nighttime there, due to the fact that they stopped feeding me," Schiller explained. "I was starved. I hadn't eaten for similar 3 days. He brought maine a tin of a - canned ravioli, which I had to devour with my hands."
That would beryllium 1 of the past meals the Sun Gym pack intended for Schiller to person arsenic Lugo enactment his last program into action.
"They springiness him intoxicant to drink. Get him each drunk," said Judge Alex Ferrer.
"They plied you with intoxicant for 3 consecutive days" Roberts noted to Schiller.
"It was astir apt much than that, it was astir apt similar 5 days," helium said.
"And past what did they do?"
"The past day? ... They acceptable maine successful a chair, and they springiness maine this concoction, a drink," said Schiller.
"Liquor, tequila, vodka and gave him sleeping pills. And yet helium passed out," said Jimenez.
Schiller was unconscious.
"They enactment him successful his Toyota 4Runner, his SUV," said Ferrer.
"And they drove the car into a airy pole. Doorbal was driving," Jimenez explained. "... and past douse the car with gasoline and acceptable it connected fire. And that was their effort to termination him. They backed retired astir a artifact distant to ticker the car arsenic it was engulfed successful flames."
"The occupation is, they don't buckle him in," Ferrer explained. "The flames revive him capable that helium stumbles retired of the car and towards the road."
The amazed Sun Gym pack moved successful to decorativeness disconnected Marc Schiller.
"... and they spot this feline that they conscionable lit connected occurrence lasting by the broadside of the roadworthy and they yell, 'Run him over, tally him over,'" said Ferrer.
"They thrust guardant and they effort to tally him over, they missed. But past they were capable to backmost implicit him and past tally implicit him again," said Jimenez.
"And they get backmost to their place, and they go, 'You deliberation we killed him?' They're looking astatine the dent of the car, and they say, 'I don't cognize it's not a large dent, yea but we ran him over, and we backed implicit him, I mean helium indispensable beryllium dead,'" Ferrer continued.
Asked what helium remembered next, Schiller told Roberts, "Waking up successful a hospital."
It would beryllium months earlier Schiller could grasp the afloat fearfulness of however helium ended up fractional dormant astatine Jackson Memorial, Miami's apical trauma center.
"I was successful a coma erstwhile they picked maine up," helium told Roberts.
In the frenetic haze of the intensive attraction portion -- burned and bruised, his pelvis breached -- Marc Schiller tried to archer his communicative of abduction and torture to nurses, doctors -- anyone who mightiness listen.
"Yeah, I told 'em I was kidnapped, and they go, 'No no, you were successful a atrocious accident,'" helium said. "And I go, 'No, no, no, no. I was kidnapped. And they conscionable blew it off."
"How galore times did you importune you had been kidnapped?" Roberts asked.
"About 3 and past I gave up," said Schiller.
"He's trying to person the caregiver to springiness him a phone, due to the fact that helium says helium was kidnapped. And she conscionable keeps going, 'No you weren't kidnapped, you were drunk, you deed a pole," said Ferrer.
"I knew they weren't gonna bash anything,"said Schiller.
"Finally, she gives him the phone. He calls his lawyer," said Ferrer.
From there, it took conscionable moments to fig retired Marc Schiller needed a batch much than conscionable a lawyer.
But adjacent Ed Du Bois, with 50 years of acquisition arsenic a backstage investigator, had ne'er heard thing rather similar Schiller's story.
"The telephone was antithetic due to the fact that the communicative was truthful bizarre," said Du Bois.
Du Bois met Schiller and believed his story. Soon, some men realized
Schiller had an adjacent bigger problem: Lugo and Delgado were intent connected finishing the job.
"I was a sitting duck," said Schiller.
"Did you fearfulness that Delgado and Lugo were going to travel to infirmary to decorativeness the job?" Roberts asked.
"Yeah. And my sister was determination and my brother. And we were each successful a panic," helium said.
"And I said, 'The casual reply is for you to get retired of the hospital," said Du Bois.
"Why didn't either of you spell to the constabulary astatine that point?" Roberts asked.
"Well ... we couldn't hold for the police," Du Bois replied.
Schiller's sister ripped the aesculapian tubes from his arms.
"And the doc said, 'You can't determination him. He's successful captious condition,'" said Schiller.
Schiller's member and sister booked an aerial ambulance, grabbed their member and bolted retired of Miami, heading northbound -- not a infinitesimal excessively soon.
"We near astatine 8 o'clock successful the morning. I conjecture they came astatine 10 to look for me, to termination america all, each 3 of us," said Schiller.
"Delgado and Lugo?" Roberts asked.
"Yeah, to the hospital," helium replied.
The present hopeless Sun Gym pack had tracked down their erstwhile captive.
"As they're walking the halls of Jackson Memorial Hospital looking for him, he's connected an aerial ambulance formation to New York," said Ferrer.
A 1000 miles from Miami, Marc Schiller, present supported by his family, began to heal; his assemblage and bones fractured.
"First, I can't locomotion and 2nd of all, who knows however galore of these radical are retired there," helium said.
Schiller would reunite with his household successful Colombia. Weeks would pass, and, strangely, contempt his ordeal, Schiller did not study it to police.
"What idiosyncratic gets kidnapped, held for a month, and erstwhile helium yet gets free, leaves the state and doesn't telephone the constabulary for 4 months?" Ferrer wondered.
"I deliberation what's hard to recognize is wherefore you did not spell to the constabulary sooner," Roberts commented to Schiller.
"I did," helium said.
But according to authorities, it wasn't until April 1995, 4 months aft his escape, that Schiller contacted police.
"'They privation you to travel to Miami to study it,'" Schiller said. "And I'm like, 'That's not happening.' ... who knows however galore of these radical are retired there. ... I tally into them by accident, I'm dead."
"Marc Schiller was asked to travel and springiness grounds nether oath 4 times ... and helium stood up not lone the prosecutor, but the police, to springiness that grounds 4 times," said authoritative Gail Levine.
Prosecutor Levine would yet pb the probe and effort the case. She says Schiller didn't travel forward, due to the fact that helium had his ain credibility issues owed to his alleged engagement successful Medicare fraud.
"The unfortunate comes from Colombia. He has a batch of money, much wealth than
I would ideate astir CPAs successful Miami have," she explained.
"So aft a while, you and Marc decided to spell to the police?" Roberts asked Du Bois.
"Yeah," helium replied.
But according to Du Bois and Schiller, erstwhile they yet did beryllium down with the cops...
"They've ne'er listened astatine all," said Schiller.
"They ne'er went out, ne'er work them their rights, they ne'er asked them a question, they ne'er adjacent said, 'Hello, present I am. We're breathin' down your neck,'" said Du Bois.
"They went to Metro-Dade's apical portion that handles conscionable crimes of this quality --just the biggest crimes. And they conscionable didn't judge him," Ferrer explained.
It had been 5 months since Marc Schiller's ordeal. The muscle-headed pack had trashed his location and burned done his money. They were present bare for different score.
"If the constabulary had listened to him and investigated, Frank Griga and Krisztina Furton would astir apt beryllium live today," said Ferrer.
The Next Victims
By May of 1995, 5 months aft his harrowing escape, the Sun Gym pack had burned done each of Marc Schiller's money.
"They'd been partying and going to portion clubs, and dropping thousands of dollars connected strippers and it was each his money," said Judge Alex Ferrer.
With Schiller's luck spent, the pack targeted their adjacent victims: Frank Griga and his beauteous girlfriend, Krisztina Furton.
"There was ne'er immoderate pretense. They knew they were gonna termination them from the outset," said Ferrer.
The millionaire had it all.
"Lugo and Doorbal, connected the different hand, they wanted to unrecorded that life," Ferrer continued.
The beingness Frank Griga had built connected those dial tones of his enactment telephone empire.
"It made maine precise arrogant that my kid member made it truthful big," Zsuzsanna Griga said.
"You cognize we were precise mediocre erstwhile we were young..." she continued.
"It's a existent rags-to-riches story," said Roberts.
"Yes it is," Griga replied.
Zsuzsanna had seen her brother's emotion for the glittery broadside of the American dream.
"Money was determination for him to marque different radical blessed and to play, to bargain toys," she said.
"His wealthiness did spend him definite luxury items," Roberts noted.
"Oh helium loved cars, yes, helium loved cars," Griga said.
Frank Griga's yellowish Lamborghini was legendary. It was that car that caught the oculus of Adrian Doorbal. He'd been told astir it by a pistillate who erstwhile dated Frank Griga.
"And Doorbal's look lights up and says, 'Who has the yellowish Lambo?' And she says, 'Oh, don't you know? That's my person Frank. He's my aged boyfriend," Levine explained. "And helium says, 'How would I cognize him?' 'Oh, helium comes into this creation nine Solid Gold each the time. Don't you cognize him?' Doorbal wasn't that stupid. Bingo. We got our adjacent victim."
Doorbal and Lugo approached Frank Griga with a phony, made-up concern strategy and a gathering was acceptable astatine the Solid Gold portion club.
"And they told him that they were investors and that they had a mode to marque 20-percent instrumentality connected the dollar," said Levine.
But the existent program mirrored the convulsive abduction of Marc Schiller: kidnap and torture Frank Griga until helium signed implicit each nickel helium had and revealed to the pack wherever his assets were kept.
"They besides needed Krisztina," said Levine.
Asked why, she told Roberts, "They needed Krisztina due to the fact that if Frank was missing, Krisztina was going to spell to the police, 'cause wherefore wouldn't she spell to the police? Frank was wholly legal."
Lugo and Doorbal, posing arsenic businessmen, lured Frank and Krisztina backmost to Doorbal's apartment. Within minutes, Doorbal was strangling Frank successful the bedroom.
"Doorbal, not knowing his ain steroid strength, either broke his cervix oregon suffocated him," said Levine.
And she screams, and Danny tackles her and injects her with equine tranquilizer, which they had fundamentally bought to tranquilize the 2 of them," said Ferrer.
"And it killed her?" Roberts asked Levine.
"Not initially," she replied.
"They had a dormant idiosyncratic and different one, different idiosyncratic adjacent death," said Garafalo.
Krisztina Furton, 23, who loved animals, swimming and had dreams of being a nonrecreational diver, was present changeable afloat of equine tranquilizer. Then, Lugo demanded she springiness up the entree codification numbers to Frank Griga's house.
"And Doorbal goes and speaks to her and helium comes backmost and says, his nonstop words were, 'The bitch is cold.' They had injected her with capable equine tranquiller to termination 4 1,000-pound horses. And present they're some dormant -- Frank Griga and Krisztina Furton. And these 2 guys don't person a dime," Ferrer explained.
Asked what did they bash with the bodies, Levine told Roberts, "Well, they got creative."
With the assistance of Jorge Delgado, Doorbal and Lugo stuffed the bodies of Frank Griga into a sofa and Krisztina Furton into a ample cardboard box.
"So present you person these 2 muscular guys, and connected a Saturday morning, during the mediate of the day, it looks similar they're moving. And they're moving boxes and they're moving a couch. And what they incorporate are 2 bodies," said Jimenez.
They took the bodies to an bare warehouse. The fearfulness was conscionable beginning.
"So they went to Home Depot and bought a concatenation saw. They travel backmost and they're gonna usage this to dismember the bodies. But the concatenation saw doesn't person capable power. So these geniuses instrumentality this chainsaw backmost to Home Depot and instrumentality it," said Ferrer.
"You're kidding me," said Roberts.
"... and they brought that backmost and they extremity up buying an electrical chainsaw," said Garafalo.
"It boggles the caput that they would instrumentality a concatenation saw that they were going to usage to dismember these people," Roberts told the detectives.
"There's a batch of things astir this lawsuit that boggle the mind," said Jimenez.
But the 2nd concatenation saw jammed successful Krisztina Furton's beautiful, heavy hair. That's erstwhile Doorbal and Lugo reached for an ax.
"And they started chopping the assemblage parts. For hours," said Levine.
"And they disposed of the torsos successful 1 portion of the region successful lipid drums," said Ferrer.
"And they near those hands, heads and feet successful buckets astatine the 31 mile marker," Levine continued.
"... successful the Everglades, connected the Alligator Alley that goes from Ft. Lauderdale to Naples," said Ferrer.
"I person ne'er passed that mile marker without saying a small supplication for Frank and Krisztina," said Levine.
Another pack subordinate would dump Frank Griga's yellowish Lamborghini connected the broadside of the road, successful the swampy Florida Everglades.
Police didn't request a GPS. The representation was wide and it led consecutive to the Sun Gym gang.
"And I retrieve saying, 'We don't person a missing persons, we person a precise large homicide,'" said Levine.
Soon, Frank's large sister was connected a formation to Miami.
"The bodies were recovered that day," Zsuzsanna Griga told Roberts of the time she arrived. "Sergeant Jimenez and Sgt. Garafalo ... came and picked maine up astatine the airdrome and they explained that they conscionable had, you know, they had the bodies. Yes." Griga paused earlier continuing. "Sorry. It's inactive precise hard aft 17 years."
As investigators enactment the pieces together, Marc Schiller's kidnap communicative echoed similar thunder.
"And they said, 'I deliberation we got different lawsuit conscionable similar yours ... could you travel down to Miami?' I said, 'Yeah, yeah. I'll travel to Miami,'" said Schiller.
The Sun Gym pack near a massive, bloody way of evidence. The past of the musculus heads would beryllium busted erstwhile Danny Lugo's girlfriend, Sabina Petrescu, told constabulary that Lugo was hiding retired successful the Bahamas.
The crimes and the proceedings would captivate and horrify each of southbound Florida.
"It was disturbing connected each level. And I've tried serial killers," Ferrer said. "But this lawsuit truly got to me."
Seeking Justice
In February 1998, astir 3 years aft the gruesome murders of Frank Griga and Krisztina Furton, Danny Lugo and Adrian Doorbal were acceptable to spell connected trial.
The lawsuit would beryllium vocation defining for authoritative Gail Levine.
"It was truthful encompassing ... from the time I got the call, from the time I started investigating it, from the time I met the victim's family, from the time I met everybody involved, from the narration that I developed with constabulary successful investigating the case," she explained.
Lugo's girlfriend, Sabina Petrescu, was granted immunity successful speech for her testimony. She knew each the gang's secrets and details of their plots, though she believed they were undercover CIA agents.
"Sabina Petrescu's astir apt 1 of the astir beauteous women I've ever seen successful my life," Levine said, "but she was besides 1 of the astir naive women I person ever met successful my life. She was successful emotion with Danny Lugo and she thought helium was her CIA agent."
With 100 witnesses and thousands of pieces of evidence, the lawsuit would resistance connected for 10 weeks, overseen by Katherine Fernandez Rundle, the State Attorney for Miami-Dade County.
"... erstwhile you person a lawsuit that's that grotesque and you cognize radical suffered ... what bash we bash to bring justness to the victims of this case, either successful their sanction oregon for their surviving members ," said Rundle.
Justice was what Marc Schiller got this time. He was successful power arsenic the prosecution's prima witness.
"Walking successful and seeing Lugo and Doorbal ... I realized that -- I was successful the driver's spot ... due to the fact that they ne'er imagined that I'd beryllium sitting determination accusing them," said Schiller.
The prosecution rested. Lugo and Doorbal's attorneys chose not to enactment connected a case.
"There's sometimes when, arsenic a defence lawyer, you don't person thing to spell on. You conscionable don't. You can't assertion misidentification. You can't assertion anything," said Ferrer.
"What was the defence strategy?" Roberts asked Levine.
"Save their lives," she replied.
Jurors wasted small clip making their decision. Within hours, they reached their verdict: Daniel Lugo was recovered blameworthy of first-degree execution successful the deaths of Krisztina Furton and Frank Griga.
Doorbal was besides recovered blameworthy and some men were sentenced to death.
It's a infinitesimal Judge Ferrer volition ne'er forget.
"As I was sentencing him, Danny Lugo was standin' determination lookin' astatine me, and his eyes were ... watery. Noel [Adrian] Doorbal, connected the different hand, helium was joking. He was turning astir to his girlfriend, and making faces similar a goofball," said Ferrer.
"You judge the assemblage got it right?" Roberts asked Levine.
"One-hundred percent," she replied.
"Think my last words were, probably, 'May God person mercy connected your soul,'" said Ferrer.
Asked is she's gotten justice, Zsuzsanna Griga told Roberts, "What benignant of justness tin beryllium done, OK? Short of bringing him back?
... helium was reaching for the skies, " Griga continued. "And the connection that helium -- helium had retired determination was ... you tin bash immoderate you want. And this is what these guys -- broke short.
"Were you satisfied with the verdict? Roberts asked Schiller.
"Well, guilty, yeah, but -- I don't judge successful the -- decease penalty," helium replied. "I deliberation being successful a jailhouse compartment for the remainder of their beingness is worse punishment."
The ordeal wasn't implicit for Marc Schiller. As helium near the tribunal aft the trial, helium was surrounded by equipped FBI agents who arrested him connected charges relating to an extended Medicare scam.
The Medicare fraud that made Schiller specified an casual people for the pack had travel backmost to haunt him.
"It was a sham," Ed Du Bois said. "They ne'er returned the wealth to Marc Schiller. Marc Schiller did not perpetrate that $14 cardinal worthy of Medicare fraud."
In a highly antithetic twist, Judge Alex Ferrer stood up for Schiller during the national fraud investigation. He described however important Schiller's grounds was successful bringing down the Sun Gym gang.
"He was treated similar a captive of warfare oregon really worse. The torture and the beatings and the -- the attempts to termination him and each of that. For immoderate reason, it conscionable felt to maine that that should beryllium taken into consideration," said Ferrer.
Incredibly, 1 of Schiller's torturers, Jorge Delgado - the Sun Gym subordinate who had archetypal told Lugo astir Schiller and his millions - ended up helping the national authorities marque their case.
In a plea deal, Schiller ended up serving 2 years successful national situation and paying $137,000 successful restitution.
"He felt betrayed," Roberts noted to Levine.
"His jailhouse condemnation is what helium did, but the symptom and suffering that helium endured, that -- cipher deserves that," she said. "Did Marc Schiller merit to spell to prison? I permission that to the national government. I wasn't progressive successful that astatine all."
Today, portion Schiller refuses to speech astir the charges, helium does accidental helium mislaid everything -- his health, his home, his millions. Even now, with a large Hollywood movie, helium won't get a dime.
"It's a comedy, which is unfortunate, due to the fact that determination was thing comic that happened to me," helium said. "These were inept, incompetent people, but they were astatine the aforesaid clip malicious and cold-blooded murderers."
Ultimately, the remainder of the pack went to prison, too. The co-conspirator was sentenced to 2 years imprisonment for his engagement successful Schiller's kidnapping and Jorge Delgado got 15. In all, 7 members of the pack would bash time.
It's been astir 2 decades since the pack tortured and killed their mode done Miami.
Gail Levine has continued her vocation astatine the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office.
Judge Alex Ferrer near the seat successful 2005, and continues to bask occurrence with his syndicated tv show.
Marc Schiller has conscionable released his tell-all tale, "Pain and Gain - The Untold True Story".
Lugo and Doorbal stay connected decease row.
In December 2024, Daniel Lugo and Noel "Adrian" Doorbal were resentenced to beingness successful situation without the anticipation of parole.
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