In 1970, he was a pivotal figure in a Canadian inquiry into mob influence with the provincial police. Duke was revealed to be a close pal of another jailbird, Johnny (Pops) Papalia, a Mafia boss in Hamilton, Ontario, who served time in New York in the 1960s for the French Connection heroin case. The inquiry blew over thanks to a disbelieving judge, and Duke lived as a free man until his death at age 88 in 1994. While his obit mentioned the Buffalo job, his hometown paper called him “a colorful self-made businessman.” “Self-made” was a stretch. The Buffalo loot was never recovered.