Ex MVFD Capt. John H. Maeder and a mafia mystery?

[Guest]

I am a college student doing research, and am hoping someone can help me. I need info on John H. Maeder, who was a Captain with the Westchester Volunteer Fire Dept., Engine 5. He had a sister named Marie, and his father was reported to be a doctor. John Maeder lived most of his life in Mount Vernon, on Magnolia Avenue. He moved to Florida in1969, and died there in 1970. His body was flown back to New York, and he was buried in Kensico Cemetery. I am trying to find out any info that anyone may have on this individual. Your groups info was forwarded to me by someone reading a posting I did to the Mount Vernon Fire Department. I hope I am not breaking any board rules here, I just figured since Mr. Maeder was a fireman, someone visiting this site might be able to help me. Thank you so much.

[x635 4,066]

Is this possibly the same guy??????:

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The house of mystery

By Nancy Imperiale

Sentinel Staff Writer

June 28, 2004

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Marcia Pratt had no idea what was looming behind her.

The tourist from Alpharetta, Ga., spent one recent lazy afternoon reclining on a beach chair facing the Atlantic Ocean, feeling satisfied and a little sad that she was about to finish Nicholas Sparks' The Wedding.

She had no clue that behind her hulked a mysterious beach house with a history as spellbinding as any summer novel.

They call it the Mafia House, and it's an urban legend with walls. For more than a quarter of a century the house at 5205 S. Atlantic Ave. -- a taffy-colored stack of boxes about as architecturally impressive as a toddler's first Lego tower -- has been a source of outlandish rumors with everything from ghosts to gangsters tossed into the tale.

Most call it the Mafia House without knowing why.

"I don't know how it got labeled that," said Bob Granstrom, 59, who moved to New Smyrna in 1974. "What I heard was the guy who owned the Mafia House was ultra-sensitive to people coming after him, and then he died when a bulldozer fell over on him. That's about all I know."

Others say it's impossible to find facts among the rumors. Just fuhgedaboutit.

"I don't think there was ever any real basis for calling this house the Mafia House," said Malissa McDonald, 64, who has been hearing rumors about the house since 1979. "My feeling is: Prove it! Tell me some real documentation. It's just a lot of rumors that don't have any merit at all."

Others are simply content to use the Mafia House as a convenient landmark.

"Meet me at New Smyrna Beach" could mean any spot along its13.2 miles of coastline.

"Meet me in front of the Mafia House" is specific, and surprisingly effective.

"When somebody calls up from Orlando and wants to know where we're located, I'll say we're on the south beach," said Steve Eichstaedt, manager of the Ocean View Towers condominium. "Many of them will say, 'Are you near the Mafia House?' And I'll say 'Yeah, I'm sitting right underneath it.' "

He's not speaking metaphorically. Decades ago, condo developers converted the bottom of the Mafia House into an office and clubhouse for the condo tower next door. Currently, both buildings are surrounded by orange construction fences, as the condo undergoes renovation.

In fact, the entire area is filled with condos of every pastel hue, making it easy to overlook the Mafia House entirely.

But it wasn't always that way.

Back in 1969, when the house was built, there was little but sand on this beach. The rumors started before the paint dried.

"New Smyrna Beach back then was a little hick town," said Carolyn Hura, 50. "You couldn't do anything here without people knowing about it. I don't know that anybody knew the owner's name. But they all knew about the Mafia House."

The man who built the house was bound to attract attention with his 6,000-square-foot poured-concrete home with underground pistol range and gun turrets on the roof.

Even more so when he blocked all roads to the house with concrete sewer pipes, and surrounded the 127-acre property with a chain-link fence and "No Trespassing" signs.

And especially when he turned up dead.

Homeowner John Maeder was found dead at the bottom of a 15-foot ravine on April 20, 1970. He had been riding a tractor on the dunes, according to newspaper reports, when he drove into the ravine and the tractor rolled on top of him. His skull was crushed.

The death was ruled accidental, and Maeder's body was flown to his native Mount Vernon, N.Y., for burial.

But that didn't explain the gun.

Several days after the funeral, it was revealed that a nickel-plated revolver, with three spent bullet casings, was found near the body.

An inquest was held, but the ruling of accidental death held.

In the days that followed, the newspaper tried to learn more about the reclusive "multimillionaire mystery man." John "Timmie" Maeder, 44, was either the "son of a wealthy physician" or an "oil company official" or the "heir to a shipping fortune," according to various reports.

He had refused to grant interviews or allow photographs of his home.

Now the details were coming out. They only enlarged the mystery.

The house was revealed to have concrete walls 10 inches thick and reinforced with steel. The windows were double-paned bulletproof glass and doors were armor-plated. There was a rooftop heliport with fittings for cannons, and an underground shooting range. The house sat on 20-foot stilts, with two metal retractable "drawbridges" and an electric car lift that could be operated inside to bring a car up into the home.

It was an impenetrable fortress, in other words. In the middle of nowhere.

Officials later found an arms cache inside the house, including several boxes of ammunition and anti-aircraft shells.

To this day rumors abound about who Maeder was, and what he was doing in New Smyrna Beach. Security guards and an artist who lived in the house in the 1970s have reported seeing Maeder's ghost roaming the property.

Nowadays the cannons and heliport are gone. But the house still has bulletproof windows, and steel-reinforced walls.

"It took us 10 days to cut one new hole in the wall for an oceanfront window," said Dan Silvestri, whose father bought the property and developed the condominium next door. The family now uses the Mafia House for beach getaways.

"Nobody from our family really knew the story," Silvestri added. "We just knew it was called the Mafia House. I'd really like to know what really happened there."

Nancy Imperiale can be reached at nimperiale@orlandosentinel.com or 407-650-6323.

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[Stench60 29]

Mr. Maeder would have been Captain of Engine Co. No. 5 of the FDMV. There is no "Westchester Volunteer Fire Dept.", I'll try to contact someone from the members assoc. down there to see if they have any information for you.

It does seem by the news article to be an interesting story.

[FF402 133]

Is it the same guy moongoddess? are you trying to solve the rumors?

[Guest]

The newpaper people down here in Florida, in my opinion, wrote their articles in such a way that led the reader to believe that Maeder was involved in something shady, which was quite unfair to Maeder. I have dug up the articles written at the time of his death, and there are a lot of unanswered questions- none of them which involve the mafia! I am a Criminal Justice major, and a person who does not appreciate cover-ups by authoratative agencies. There are certain people, and certain agencies who are much too tight-lipped about something that happened 34 years ago. What is your opinion of the most recent article, which someone posted on this board?

[x635 4,066]

Could it be as simple as he had an accident on the tractor in a remote location, and fired the shots to get help before he died?

Also, who knows with the house...if you ever watch HGTV, people build some strange houses. Maybe he was just paranoid, coming out of the cold war era. But then again, he was from Mount Vernon.

[BmSmall92 1]

I talked to a fellow firefighter in my department who just so happened to be a Mount Vernon volunteer firefighter. I showed him the posting about John Maeder and he rattled off a couple things he remembered about him. He remembered him being a captain MVFD Co. 5 and he further talked about how John was an extremely rich man for that time period. John was so rich that he wanted to buy himself a brand new firetruck and respond by himself. He did not know John ever had a job because of his wealth that he inherited. He did not get any further because he had not been in contact with John in over 35 years and his memory was kind of rusty, but he was going to talk to one of his friends who also is an old MVFD volunteer and see what he remembers of John Maeder. I'll post more when I get more info from my fellow firefighter. We both hope this was helpful.

[Guest]

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! I will take any information I can get, it is all very helpful, no matter how small it might seem. Do you know if there is a historical society, or someplace that might archive photos from the days of the volunteer fire department?

[x635 4,066]

Any update on the investigation?

[Guest]

I posted to this board 2 years ago seeking info on John H. Maeder of the Mount Vernon Fire Department. A few of you responded, but never got back to me.

I have recently uncovered some information which leads me to believe that he may have been an ambassador with the united nations for the republic of equatorial guinea. Do any of you know anything about this? Also, I have learned from an eyewitness that after his death here in Florida, U.S. Marshalls guarded his home for quite some time. If anyone has any further info, please contact me at vixen10469@gmail.com.

[Guest]

If any of you live in Mount Vernon, I have a favor to ask. Back in 1969, John Maeder was deeded the property at 57 Magnolia Avenue in Mount Vernon. The other party that this property was co-deeded to was the Republic of Equatorial Guinea. Is this address today still the home of the embassy for the Republic of Equartorial Guinea?

[TimesUp 148]

This story is wild...HAC will know.