Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox criminal
Roy Albert DeMeo (Template:IPAc-en; September 7, 1940<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> – January 10, 1983) was an American mobster in the Gambino crime family in New York City. He headed a group known as the "DeMeo crew", which consisted of approximately twenty associates involved in murder, car theft, drug dealing, prostitution and pornography.<ref name="FBI records p. 21-22">p. 21-22 {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The DeMeo crew became notorious for the large number of murders they committed and for the grisly way they disposed of the bodies, which became known as "the Gemini Method".<ref name=":1" /> The crew is believed to be responsible for up to 200 murders, many of which were committed by DeMeo himself.<ref>My dad, the family man, who murdered 200 for the Mafia Charles Laurence, Irish Independent (October 21, 2002) Template:Webarchive</ref>
Early lifeEdit
DeMeo was born on September 7, 1940, in the Flatlands neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City into a working-class Italian immigrant family originating from Formia in the region of Lazio.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="formiane">Le origini formiane di Roy DeMeo Golfo Eventi (October 28, 2019) Template:Webarchive</ref> The fourth of five children of Antonio Joseph "Anthony" DeMeo, a laundry company deliveryman,<ref name=p26>Template:Cite book</ref> and Eleanor DeMeo (née Colarullo), a housewife, Roy graduated from James Madison High School in 1959, during which time he began earning money as a loanshark.<ref name=p31>Template:Cite book</ref> Economist Walter Block and future presidential candidate Bernie Sanders were among DeMeo's graduating year classmates.<ref>If Bernie Were to Win, His High School Would Rule Alex Gangitano, Roll Call (April 3, 2016) Template:Webarchive</ref>
Between the ages of 15 and 22, DeMeo worked at a local grocery store, where he trained as an apprentice butcher.<ref name=p29>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=p34>Template:Cite book</ref> His older brother Anthony Frank "Chubby" DeMeo, a United States Marine Corps corporal, was killed in action during the Korean War on April 23, 1951, aged 20.<ref name=p27>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Military Funeral">Military Funeral Set Friday For Corp. Anthony F. DeMeo The Brooklyn Daily Eagle (October 23, 1951) Template:Webarchive</ref> DeMeo's father died of a heart attack on December 12, 1960, and his mother subsequently returned to Italy with Roy's youngest brother to live with relatives near Naples.<ref name=p31/>
Criminal careerEdit
Gambino familyEdit
DeMeo was initially an associate of the Brooklyn faction of the Lucchese crime family, which controlled towing companies, junkyards and car theft operations in Flatlands and Canarsie.<ref name=p23>Template:Cite book</ref> Anthony "Nino" Gaggi, a soldier in the Gambino crime family, noticed DeMeo in 1966 and told him that he could make even more money with his successful business if he shifted his allegiance to the Gambinos.<ref name=p36>Template:Cite book</ref> Through the late 1960s, DeMeo's organized crime prospects increased on two fronts: he continued in the loansharking business with Gaggi and began developing a crew of young men involved in car theft. It was this collective of criminals that became known both in the underworld and in law enforcement circles as the "DeMeo crew".
The first member of the DeMeo crew was 16-year-old Harvey "Chris" Rosenberg, who met DeMeo in 1966 when he was dealing marijuana at a Canarsie gas station. DeMeo helped Rosenberg increase his business and profits by loaning him money so that he could deal in larger amounts.<ref name=p36/> By 1972, Rosenberg had introduced his friends to DeMeo and they began working for him as well.<ref name=p37>Template:Cite book</ref> The additional members of the crew came to include Joseph and Patrick Testa, Anthony Senter, Richard and Frederick DiNome, Henry Borelli, Joseph "Dracula" Guglielmo (DeMeo's cousin), and later, Vito Arena and Carlo Profeta.<ref name=p40/>
DeMeo joined a Brooklyn credit union in 1972, gaining a position on the board of directors shortly afterward. He utilized his position to launder money earned through his illegal ventures. He also introduced colleagues at the credit union to a lucrative side-business, laundering the money of drug dealers he had become acquainted with. DeMeo also built up his loansharking business with funds stolen from credit union reserves.<ref name=p40>Template:Cite book</ref>
DeMeo's collection of loanshark customers, while still primarily those in the car industry, soon included other businesses such as a dentist's office, an abortion clinic, restaurants and flea markets. He was also listed as an employee for a Brooklyn company named S & C Sportswear Corporation, and frequently told his neighbors he worked in construction, food retailing and the used car business.<ref name=p69>Template:Cite book</ref> Bonanno family underboss Salvatore Vitale claimed to the FBI that in 1974 he was ordered to deliver the corpse of a man who had just been murdered to a garage in Queens so that it could be disposed of by DeMeo.<ref name=":2">Template:Cite book</ref>
In late 1974, a conflict escalated between the DeMeo crew and Andrei Katz, a young auto repair shop owner who was partners with DeMeo in a stolen car ring. In January 1975, Katz visited the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office and voluntarily provided them information that Rosenberg was heavily involved in car theft.<ref name=al>Template:Cite news</ref> DeMeo learned about the meeting immediately afterward from an NYPD auto crimes detective on his payroll. DeMeo ordered Borelli to contact a female acquaintance, Babette Judith Questel, about being used as bait.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref> In May 1975, Katz appeared before a Brooklyn grand jury and divulged what he knew about the DeMeo crew's illegal activities.<ref name=p99>Template:Cite book</ref>
On June 13, 1975, Questel was used to successfully lure Katz to her apartment complex for what he thought was a date, where upon arrival he was immediately abducted by members of the DeMeo crew.<ref name=":0" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was then taken to the meat department of a supermarket in Rockaway Beach, Queens, where he was stabbed multiple times in the heart and then in the back with a butcher knife.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> After being decapitated, Katz's head was then put through a machine normally used for compacting cardboard boxes, where it was crushed. The body parts were wrapped in plastic bags and deposited into the supermarket's dumpster, where they were discovered days later when a pedestrian walking his dog spotted one of Katz's legs lying on a curb near the store.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The police reported to the press that a grisly, brutal killing had occurred, but that was the extent of the information given. The body was identified as Katz's two days later through the use of dental records.<ref name="Grab 2">Grab 2, Seek 3 and Girl in Butchering Martin Gottlieb, New York Daily News (July 6, 1975) Template:Webarchive</ref>
Gemini MethodEdit
As the 1970s progressed, DeMeo cultivated his followers into a crew experienced with the process of murdering and dismembering victims. With the exception of killings intended to send a message to any who would hinder their criminal activities, or murders that presented no other alternative, a set method of execution was established by the DeMeo crew to ensure that victims would be dispatched quickly and then made to disappear. The style of execution was dubbed the "Gemini Method", after the Gemini Lounge, a bar which served as the primary hangout of the crew, as well as the site where most of their victims were killed.<ref>Sometimes, Mob Victims Have Plenty of Company Template:Webarchive William K. Rashbaum, The New York Times (October 6, 2004)</ref><ref name=":1" />
The process of the Gemini Method, as revealed by multiple crew members and associates who became government witnesses in the early 1980s, was to lure the victim through the side door of the lounge and into the apartment in the back portion of the building. At this point, a crew member, almost always DeMeo according to crew member-turned-government witness Frederick DiNome, would approach with a silenced pistol in one hand and a towel in the other, shooting the victim in the head then wrapping the towel around the victim's head wound like a turban to stanch the blood flow.<ref name=p223/> Immediately after, another member of the crew, originally Rosenberg, would stab the victim in the heart to prevent more blood from pumping out of the gunshot wound. By then, the victim would be dead, at which point the body would be stripped of clothing and dragged into a bathroom, where the remaining blood drained out or congealed within the body. This was to eliminate the messiness of the next step, when crew members would place the body onto plastic sheets laid out in the main room and proceed to dismember it, cutting off the arms, legs and head.<ref name=p223>Template:Cite book</ref>
Following dismemberment, the body parts would then be put into bags, placed in cardboard boxes and sent to the Fountain Avenue landfill in Brooklyn.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> So many tons of garbage were dropped each day at the dump that it would be nearly impossible for the bodies to be discovered. During the initial stages of an early 1980s investigation targeting the DeMeo crew, a plan by authorities to excavate sections of the dump to locate remains was aborted when it was deemed too costly and unlikely to locate any meaningful evidence. The landfill, opposite the Starrett City Apartment Complex on Pennsylvania Avenue in the East New York section of Brooklyn, was closed in 1985 and capped over since. All signs and odors that a landfill had existed are gone, replaced by parkland.<ref name=p395>Template:Cite book</ref>
Some victims were killed in other ways for varying reasons. At times, suspected informants or those who committed an act of disrespect against a member of the crew or their superiors had their bodies left in the streets to serve as a message and warning. There were also occasions where it would not be possible to lure the intended victim into the Gemini Lounge, in which case other locations would have to be used. A cabin cruiser owned by Richard DiNome was used on at least one occasion to dispose of remains at sea.<ref name=p297>Template:Cite book</ref>
Further criminal careerEdit
In the latter half of 1975, DeMeo became a silent partner in a peep show and prostitution establishment in Bricktown, New Jersey, after the owner of the business became unable to pay his loansharking debts. DeMeo also began dealing in bestiality and child pornography, which he sold to his New Jersey establishment as well as connections in Rhode Island.<ref name=p111>Template:Cite book</ref> When Gaggi found out about DeMeo's involvement in such taboo films, he demanded that DeMeo stop under the threat of death.<ref name=p112/> However, DeMeo defied Gaggi and continued the practice. Gaggi did not retaliate, and, according to his nephew Dominick Montiglio, the subject was never mentioned again as long as DeMeo continued making payments to Gaggi.Template:Sfn
DeMeo also dealt in narcotics despite the Gambino family strictly forbidding such activity; he financed a major operation importing Colombian marijuana, which was unloaded from an offshore freighter and sold at various auto shops in Canarsie, and also sold cocaine out of the Gemini Lounge.<ref name=p112>Template:Cite book</ref>
As 1975 drew to a close, DeMeo was the subject of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) investigations into his income. Months earlier, DeMeo's credit union had been pushed into insolvency as a result of the plundering of its finances by DeMeo and his crew; DeMeo quit the credit union as a result. Before an indictment could be handed down against him, DeMeo utilized false affidavits from businesses owned by friends and acquaintances claiming he was on their payrolls as an employee. These affidavits served to account for some of his income, allowing him to reach a settlement with the IRS.<ref name=p113>Template:Cite book</ref>
DeMeo's sources of income, as well as his crew, continued to grow. By July 1976 he added an automobile firm by the name of Team Auto Wholesalers to his loanshark customers. The owner of Team Auto, Matthew Rega, also purchased stolen vehicles from the DeMeo crew and sold them off at a New Jersey car lot that he owned.<ref name=p123>Template:Cite book</ref> DeMeo also involved himself with hijacking delivery trucks from John F. Kennedy International Airport. His crew now included Edward "Danny" Grillo, a hijacker who had just been released from prison.<ref name=p124>Template:Cite book</ref>
In the fall of 1976, the Gambino family went through a massive change when its boss, Carlo Gambino, died of natural causes. Paul Castellano was named as Gambino's successor, with Aniello Dellacroce retaining the position of underboss. The implications of this were twofold for DeMeo. Gaggi was elevated to the position of caporegime, taking over the crew of men Castellano previously headed.<ref name=p134>Template:Cite book</ref> This promotion was beneficial for DeMeo, whose mentor was now even closer to the family leadership. Another advantage was that with Gambino deceased, new associates would be eligible for membership into the family.<ref name=p130>Template:Cite book</ref>
Castellano did not immediately "open the books" for new members, opting instead to promote existing members and reshuffle his capos to new crews. He also allegedly opposed the idea of DeMeo being "made", looking down on street-level members and instead involving himself in white-collar crime. Additionally, Castellano felt DeMeo was uncontrollable. Gaggi's attempts at persuading Castellano to make DeMeo were continually rejected.<ref name=p135>Template:Cite book</ref> By 1977, DeMeo became distraught by this situation and searched for opportunities that would ensure larger returns for his superiors.<ref name=p143>Template:Cite book</ref>
The Westies alliance and RosenbergEdit
DeMeo secured his induction into the Gambino family by forming an alliance with an Irish-American gang known as the Westies, based in Hell's Kitchen. The leader of a rival Irish gang, Mickey Spillane, was causing delays for the construction of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, much to the frustration of Castellano, who had an interest in the project. After the unsolved murder of Spillane in May 1977, Westies leader James "Jimmy" Coonan assumed control of the Irish mob rackets on the West Side of Manhattan.<ref name=p147>Template:Cite book</ref>
DeMeo, sensing an opportunity to create a vast source of income for the Gambino family, persuaded Gaggi to consider a partnership with the Westies. Shortly afterwards, Coonan and his second-in-command Mickey Featherstone were called to a meeting with Castellano, in which they agreed to become a de facto arm of the family and share ten percent of all profits. In exchange, the Westies would be privy to several lucrative union deals and take on murder contracts for the family.<ref>Westies Informer Tells of Links to Gambino Mob Arnold H. Lubasch, The New York Times (November 6, 1987) Template:Webarchive</ref>
It was his pivotal role in the Westie–Gambino alliance that reportedly convinced Castellano to give DeMeo his "button", or formally induct him into the family. DeMeo was made in mid-1977 and put in charge of handling all family business with the Westies. He was ordered to get permission before committing any murders and to avoid drug dealing. His crew, however, continued to sell large amounts of cocaine, marijuana and a variety of narcotic pills.<ref name=p148>Template:Cite book</ref> DeMeo also continued to commit unsanctioned killings, such as the 1977 double homicide of Johnathan Quinn, a car thief suspected of cooperating with law enforcement, and Cherie Golden, Quinn's 19-year-old girlfriend. The DeMeo crew dumped the bodies in locations where they would be discovered to serve as a warning against cooperation with authorities.<ref name=p153>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Body in car">Body in car identified as Brooklyn woman, 19 The New York Times (July 26, 1977) Template:Webarchive</ref>
In 1978, Frederick DiNome, previously DeMeo's chauffeur, joined the crew.<ref name=p163>Template:Cite book</ref> DeMeo and his crew murdered Grillo, who had fallen into heavy debt with DeMeo and was believed to be becoming susceptible to police coercion.<ref name="Murder and the Mob">Template:Cite news</ref> Grillo, who was dismembered and disposed of like many of the crew's victims, was the first known occurrence of internal crew discipline.<ref name=p209>Template:Cite book</ref>
The next member to be killed was Rosenberg, who had set up a drug deal with a Cuban man living in Florida and then murdered him and his associates when they traveled to New York to complete the sale. The Cuban had connections with a Cuban drug cartel, raising the possibility of violence between the Gambino family and the Cubans unless Rosenberg was dealt with. DeMeo was ordered to kill Rosenberg but stalled for weeks.<ref name=p231>Template:Cite book</ref>
During this period, DeMeo committed his most public murder. The victim was a college student with no criminal ties named Dominick Ragucci, who was paying for his tuition as a door-to-door salesman.<ref name="Murder and the Mob"/> DeMeo saw Ragucci parked outside his house in Massapequa Park, Long Island, and assumed he was a Cuban assassin.<ref name="Frenzied Hitmen">Frenzied Hitmen New York Daily News (September 21, 1992) Template:Webarchive</ref> DeMeo and crew members Joseph Guglielmo and Frederick DiNome pursued Ragucci in a seven-mile car chase on Route 110 through Amityville and Farmingdale, after which the student was shot to death by DeMeo.Template:Sfn<ref>Seek clue in youth's slaying Nat Kanter, New York Daily News (April 22, 1979) Template:Webarchive</ref><ref>Suffolk residents shaken by 2 slayings Michael Hanrahan, New York Daily News (April 23, 1979) Template:Webarchive</ref> After returning home and gathering his family, DeMeo drove them out of Long Island and left them at a hotel in upstate New York for two weeks.Template:Sfn According to DeMeo's son Albert, he started crying when he discovered he had murdered an innocent teenager and did not eat for several days afterwards.Template:Sfn The public execution also put a strain on DeMeo's relationship with his wife Gladys, who had previously been able to ignore her husband's criminal activities.Template:Sfn
Gaggi was infuriated by the murder of Ragucci, and ordered DeMeo to kill Rosenberg before there were any other innocent victims. On May 11, 1979, Rosenberg reported to the Gemini Lounge for the crew's usual Friday night meeting. Shortly after his arrival, DeMeo fired a single bullet into the unsuspecting Rosenberg's head. The usually ice-cold DeMeo hesitated when the still-living Rosenberg managed to rise off the floor and onto one knee, but Senter then moved in and finished him off with four shots to the head.<ref name="Frenzied Hitmen"/>
Unlike Grillo, Rosenberg's body was not dismembered or made to disappear. The Cubans had demanded that his murder make the newspapers. DeMeo's men placed Rosenberg's body in his car and left it on the side of Cross Bay Boulevard, near the Gateway National Wildlife Refuge in Broad Channel, Queens, to be found.<ref>Woodmere Man Killed By Machine Gun Blast Newsday (May 13, 1979) Template:Webarchive</ref> Albert later recounted that Rosenberg's murder affected his father deeply, and that when DeMeo came home after the killing, he went into his study room and didn't emerge for two days.Template:Sfn After the murder, DeMeo spent six weeks hiding out with Guglielmo in a safe house near 42nd Street in Times Square, growing a full beard and disguising himself with a baseball cap and sunglasses when out in public.Template:Sfn
Empire Boulevard operationEdit
As 1979 continued, DeMeo began to expand his business activities, in particular his auto theft operation, which soon became the largest in history of New York City. Dubbed the Empire Boulevard Operation by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents,<ref>Agents describe car-theft ring at Gambino trial Ronald Smothers, The New York Times (November 20, 1985) Template:Webarchive</ref> it consisted of hundreds of stolen cars being shipped from the port of Newark to Kuwait and Puerto Rico.<ref name="After Gory Murders, Time Out For Pizza">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=p245>Template:Cite book</ref> DeMeo put together a group of five active partners in the operation, all of whom earned approximately $30,000 a week each in profit.<ref>Witness Details Operations Of Alleged Mob Ring Larry Elkin, Associated Press (November 4, 1985) Template:Webarchive</ref> Aside from stolen automobiles, DeMeo was also shipping cigarettes and pornographic magazines to the Middle East.Template:Sfn
Aside from the active partners, other associates and crew members performed the actual stealing of the automobiles off the streets of New York. Among these associates was Vito Arena, a long-time car thief and armed robber who began working for DeMeo in 1978 after murdering his old partner.<ref name=p205>Template:Cite book</ref> Like DiNome, Arena became closely involved with the DeMeo crew by the end of the 1970s. In 1979, the Empire Boulevard Operation was nearly stopped by a legitimate car dealer who threatened to inform the police. He was murdered along with an uninvolved acquaintance before he could provide authorities with information.<ref name=":5">Template:Cite news</ref>
Eppolito murdersEdit
In late 1979, DeMeo and Gaggi became involved in a conflict with James Eppolito and James Eppolito Jr., two made Gambino members in Gaggi's crew.<ref name=p247>Template:Cite book</ref> They were the paternal uncle and cousin, respectively, of a corrupt former New York City Police Department (NYPD) detective, Louis Eppolito, whose father, Ralph, brother of James Sr., was also a made member of the Gambino family.<ref name="10 Facts about the Mafia Cops">10 Facts about the Mafia Cops Orlando Camacho, Medium (September 26, 2018) Template:Webarchive</ref>
The elder Eppolito met with Castellano and accused DeMeo and Gaggi of drug dealing, which carried the penalty of death. Castellano, to whom Gaggi was a close ally, sided against Eppolito and gave Gaggi permission to do what he pleased.<ref name=p248>Template:Cite book</ref> He and DeMeo shot both Eppolitos to death in the younger Eppolito's car en route to the Gemini Lounge on October 1, 1979. A witness driving by right as the shots were fired within the parked car alerted a nearby police officer, who arrested Gaggi after a shootout between the two that left Gaggi with a bullet wound in his neck.<ref name=p249>Template:Cite book</ref> Since DeMeo had split up with Gaggi as they left the scene, he was not arrested or identified by the witness.<ref name="Father and Son Are Slain in Car In Coney Island">Father and Son Are Slain in Car In Coney Island David Bird, The New York Times (October 3, 1979) Template:Webarchive</ref>
Gaggi was charged with murder and the attempted murder of a police officer, but through jury tampering was convicted only of assault and given a five- to fifteen-year sentence in federal prison.<ref name=p283>Template:Cite book</ref> DeMeo murdered the witness shortly after Gaggi's sentencing in March 1980.<ref name=al/> The Empire Boulevard Operation had continued to expand into 1980 until the warehouse serving as its headquarters was raided by agents from the Newark branch of the FBI that summer. Henry Borelli and Frederick DiNome were arrested in May 1981 for their roles in the operation, but there was not enough evidence to arrest any of the other active partners. DeMeo ordered Borelli and DiNome to plead guilty to the charges in hopes that it would stop any further investigations into his activities.
Downfall and murderEdit
By 1982, the FBI was investigating the enormous number of missing and murdered persons who were linked to DeMeo or who had last been seen entering the Gemini Lounge. Arena began cooperating with a state and federal task force investigating the DeMeo crew after he was arrested on June 4, 1982 for a string of robberies.Template:Sfn Fearing that they would be arrested as a result of Arena's testimony, DeMeo and members of his crew went into hiding during the summer and fall of 1982.Template:Sfn DeMeo eventually emerged from hiding to consult with lawyers as he anticipated an indictment stemming from the Southern District of New York's investigation into his crew's activities.Template:Sfn
Due to Arena's knowledge of the chain of command in the Gambino family, Gaggi and Castellano became concerned upon learning that Arena had turned state's evidence, and Castellano began conspiring to have DeMeo killed.Template:Sfn Around this time, an FBI bug in the home of Gambino soldier Angelo Ruggiero picked up a conversation between him and Gene Gotti, a brother of John Gotti.<ref name=":3">Template:Cite book</ref> In the conversation, it was discussed that Castellano had put out a hit on DeMeo, but was having difficulty finding someone willing to do the job.<ref name=":3" /> Gene Gotti mentioned that John was wary of taking the contract, as DeMeo had an "army of killers" around him. It is also mentioned that, at that time, John had killed fewer than ten people,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> while DeMeo had killed 37 that they had known about.<ref name=":3" /> According to mob informant Sammy Gravano, eventually the contract was given to Frank DeCicco, but DeCicco and his crew could not reach DeMeo either. DeCicco allegedly handed the job to DeMeo's own men.Template:Sfn
DeMeo's son Albert wrote that in his final days, DeMeo was depressed and paranoid, aware that he would soon be killed.Template:Sfn In the winter of 1982–1983, DeMeo rarely left his mansion and wore a leather jacket with a sawn-off shotgun concealed underneath whenever he did venture outside.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn DeMeo considered faking his own death by having his son shoot him and laying low.<ref name=":1" /> On January 10, 1983, DeMeo went to crew member Patty Testa's house for a meeting with his men. That night, he failed to attend his daughter Dione's birthday party, which caused his family to be suspicious. Albert later found DeMeo's personal belongings such as his watch, wallet and ring in his study room, along with a Catholic pamphlet.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Ten days later, on January 20, 1983, DeMeo's Cadillac Coupe DeVille was discovered in the parking lot of the Varuna Boat Club in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. The car was towed to a nearby police station, where it was searched by NYPD Organized Crime Control Bureau detectives.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> DeMeo's partially frozen body was found in the trunk with a chandelier on top of it.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> He had been shot multiple times in the head and had a bullet wound in his hand, assumed by law enforcement to be a defensive wound caused when his killers opened fire on him.Template:Sfn
The task force investigating the DeMeo crew theorized that DeMeo was set up in a similar manner to how he set up Rosenberg, and that Gaggi, Testa and Senter were present when he was killed.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Albert DeMeo also believed that his father was killed by members of his own crew.<ref name=":1" /> In April 1984, Colombo family soldier Ralph Scopo was overheard on a wiretap explaining to an associate that DeMeo had been killed by his own family because they suspected that he would not be able to stand up to legal charges that resulted from his stolen car ring.<ref name="The Complete Idiot's Guide">The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Mafia Jerry Capeci (2005)</ref><ref>The Three Racketeers – Ralph Scopo mafiabookreviews.com (October 30, 2021) Template:Webarchive</ref> According to Scopo, Castellano also "had to put him away" because DeMeo "was crazy and had cast-iron balls".<ref name="See No Evil">See No Evil: The true story of a mafia doctor's double life Ron Felber (2013)</ref>
Lucchese family underboss-turned-government witness Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso claimed that Castellano ordered John Gotti and Frank DeCicco to kill DeMeo, but they were unable to get close to him. DeCicco suggested Casso could do it, as he knew Senter and Joseph Testa well. Casso ordered them to kill DeMeo, assuring them that there would be no retribution and that afterwards they would join him in the Lucchese family. DeMeo visited the home of Patty Testa to collect some money he was owed. Joseph Testa and Senter were both there. As DeMeo sat down and waited for a coffee, they shot him dead.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Ironically, according to Casso, Castellano ordering DeMeo's execution sealed Castellano's own fate, as Gotti and DeCicco were planning to kill him, and would do so on December 16, 1985. Casso said they would never have dared to move against Castellano while DeMeo was still alive.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
AftermathEdit
In 1984, a 78-count indictment was filed against 24 defendants, including Castellano, Gaggi and the surviving members of the DeMeo crew. The charges related to car theft, racketeering and drug trafficking.<ref name=":9">Template:Cite news Template:Webarchive</ref><ref name=":10">Template:Cite news</ref> Castellano was indicted for ordering DeMeo's murder, as well as a host of other crimes, but was killed in December 1985 while out on bail in the middle of the first trial. John Gotti, who ordered the hit, became the new boss of the Gambino family. Gaggi became the lead defendant after Castellano's death, but himself soon died later of natural causes.<ref name=":9" />
In March 1986, six members of the DeMeo crew were convicted, with Borelli and one other defendant found guilty of two counts of murder. They were found guilty of murdering two people who threatened to expose the car theft ring.<ref name=":9" /> In June 1989, nine additional members, including Anthony Senter and Joseph Testa, were convicted.<ref name=":10" /> At sentencing, Senter and Testa were given life sentences for murder with an additional twenty years for racketeering. Prosecutor William Mack Jr. stated that "The Roy DeMeo Crew is the most violent crew ever prosecuted in federal court, as far as my knowledge", and that DeMeo "engaged in wholesale slaughter".<ref name=":7" />
The convictions were secured in large part by testimony of former members Frederick DiNome and Dominick Montiglio,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> as well as Vito Arena.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Montiglio turned when he learned that Gaggi, his uncle, had put a contract on his life, and was placed in the witness protection program for twenty years for his testimony.<ref name=":4" /> Richard DiNome was murdered in 1984.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Slaying Victim">Template:Cite news</ref> Frederick DiNome died in what was ruled as a suicide in 1989.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Arena left New York City that same year after serving six years of an eighteen-year sentence after his testimony. He was killed in a 1991 robbery in Texas.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Gemini Lounge later became a storefront church.<ref name=":6" />
DeMeo is the subject of the 1992 book Murder Machine by Jerry Capeci and Gene Mustaine.<ref name=":4">Template:Cite news</ref> DeMeo's son Albert also wrote a book about his life growing up called For the Sins of My Father, published in 2002.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite news</ref> DeMeo is portrayed by Michael A. Miranda in the 2001 film Boss of Bosses.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Ray Liotta plays DeMeo in the 2012 film adaptation of Anthony Bruno's book about Richard Kuklinski, The Iceman: The True Story of a Cold-Blooded Killer.<ref name=":8">Template:Cite news</ref> Danny A. Abeckaser plays DeMeo in the 2023 film Inside Man.
Personal lifeEdit
Template:Quote box DeMeo married Gladys Rosamond Brittain (1939–2002) in 1960.<ref name="p31"/> In 1966, he moved into a custom-built home in Massapequa, where he lived with his wife and three children.<ref name="p24">Template:Cite book</ref> The couple had two daughters and a son.Template:Sfn
DeMeo was raised Catholic but stopped practicing the religion in later life. His children were raised in his wife's Lutheran faith.Template:Sfn By all accounts, he was a devoted family man.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Describing growing up, Albert DeMeo recalled, "I grew up in a very normal household."<ref name=":6">Template:Cite news</ref>
Albert became a stockbroker but suffered a nervous breakdown after the release of Murder Machine in 1992. He was later diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. One of DeMeo's daughters became a clothing designer, and the other a medical doctor.<ref name=":1" />
List of murders allegedly committed by the DeMeo crewEdit
| Name | Date | Reason | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paul Rothenberg | July 29, 1973 | 43-year-old pornographer and extortion victim Rothenberg was shot twice in the head in an alley in Flower Hill, Long Island by DeMeo and Nino Gaggi after being suspected of cooperating with authorities.<ref name="Smut King Shot">Smut King Shot to Death in Nassau Stewart Ain and Paul Meskil, New York Daily News (July 30, 1973) Template:Webarchive</ref><ref name="Rothenberg Linked">Rothenberg Linked to Mob Michael Alexander, Newsday (July 31, 1973) Template:Webarchive</ref>Template:Sfn<ref name="Bloodbath unleashed">Bloodbath unleashed by Roy Demeo's 'Murder Machine' Brad Hunter, Toronto Sun (November 27, 2021) Template:Webarchive</ref> | |
| Joseph Umile | December 4, 1973 | 41-year-old Umile was shot four times in the chest and once in the head by DeMeo and dumped from a car onto a street in Flatlands, Brooklyn following a dispute over money.<ref name="Man Is Shot">Man Is Shot, Body Dumped On Sidewalk New York Daily News (December 5, 1973) Template:Webarchive</ref><ref name="DeMeo Crew Murders">DeMeo Crew Murders LCN Bios (May 13, 2018) Template:Webarchive</ref> | |
| Andrei Katz | June 13, 1975 | 22-year-old Katz was kidnapped in Manhattan and taken to Pantry Pride Supermarket in Rockaway, Queens where he was stabbed to death and dismembered by DeMeo, Henry Borelli, Anthony Senter and Joseph Testa after he testified before a Grand Jury in May 1975.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> | |
| Joseph Brocchini | May 20, 1976 | 43-year old Lucchese family soldier Brocchini was shot 5 times in the head inside of his office at Parliament Auto Sales in Woodside, Queens by DeMeo and Henry Borelli as a result of previously arguing with and punching DeMeo.<ref name="Porno Figure Found">Porno Figure Found Shot Dead Bernard Rabin and Robert Carroll, New York Daily News (May 20, 1976) Template:Webarchive</ref><ref>The King Is Dead; Long Live The Smut Empire William Federici and Thomas Collins, New York Daily News (April 14, 1977) Template:Webarchive</ref>Template:Sfn | |
| Vincent Governara | June 12–19, 1976 | 34-year-old Governara was shot multiple times in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn by DeMeo and Nino Gaggi as revenge for breaking Gaggi's nose in a fistfight about 1964; Governara had made disrespectful sexually harassing comments to Gaggi's sister-in-law, precipitating the fight. He died in hospital a week after being shot.<ref name="Group's Activities Detailed">Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Sfn<ref name="Crime and punishment">Crime and punishment Ian Gittins, The Guardian (July 1, 2005) Template:Webarchive</ref> | |
| George Byrum | July 13, 1976 | Killed by DeMeo for tipping off thieves that led to Nino Gaggi's vacation home in Florida being robbed; 42-year-old Byrum was shot in the face and stabbed 11 times in a motel room at the Ocean Shore Motel in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida.<ref name="Murder victim identified">Murder victim identified The Miami News (July 16, 1976) Template:Webarchive</ref>Template:Sfn<ref>Revenge Killing in Miami: The 1976 Mob Murder of George Byrum Template:Webarchive Justin Dugard, MafiaHistory.us</ref><ref>Mafia Files: Case Studies of the World's Most Evil Mobsters Al Cimino (2014)</ref> | |
| Charles "Ruby" Stein | May 5, 1977 | 61-year old loan shark and Genovese/Colombo associate, killed by DeMeo crew member Danny Grillo and Jimmy Coonan at the 596 Club in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan after Coonan fell into Stein's debt; Grillo shot Stein 6 times.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn His body was dismembered by members of the Westies gang and disposed of in the East River.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Stein's torso washed ashore at Rockaway Beach, Queens on May 15, 1977.<ref name="Torso Found">Torso Found in Bay Newsday (May 16, 1977) Template:Webarchive</ref><ref name="Top Mob Shark">Torso Found In Bay Is That of Top Mob Shark Martin Gottlieb and Paul Meskil, New York Daily News (July 18, 1977) Template:Webarchive</ref>Template:Sfn | |
| Mickey Spillane | May 13, 1977 | 44-year-old Irish mob boss Spillane was shot five times and killed outside his apartment building in Woodside, Queens by DeMeo and Danny Grillo as a favor to Jimmy Coonan.<ref name="Woodside Murder Victim">Woodside Murder Victim Linked to Loansharking Newsday (May 15, 1977) Template:Webarchive</ref><ref name="West Side Funeral">West Side Funeral of Mob Figure Traces Divergent Paths in Area Howard Blum, The New York Times (May 17, 1977) Template:Webarchive</ref>Template:Sfn | |
| Jerome Hofaker | June 16, 1977 | 23-year old Hofaker was shot five times and killed by Anthony Senter and Joseph Testa outside his girlfriend's house in Canarsie, Brooklyn for getting into a fight with Joey's brother Dennis Testa.<ref name="Canarsie Man Found Shot">Canarsie Man Found Shot To Death On Avenue J Sidewalk Canarsie Courier (June 16, 1977) Template:Webarchive</ref>Template:Sfn<ref name="Notorious hitman paroled">Notorious Gambino mob 'Gemini Twins' hitman linked to 11 murders, dismemberments paroled after getting life sentence Jon Levine, Mary Kay Linge and Georgia Worrell, New York Post (December 9, 2023) Template:Webarchive</ref><ref name="Notorious hitman to be released">Notorious mafia hitman linked to 11 murders to be released from jail News.com.au (December 10, 2023) Template:Webarchive</ref> | |
| John Quinn & Cherie Golden | July 20, 1977 | DeMeo crew shot and killed 34-year-old John Quinn once in the back of the head with a .32 caliber handgun and his 19-year old girlfriend Cherie Golden three times in the head with a .38 caliber handgun after Quinn testified before a Grand Jury.<ref name="Gang Figure's Girl">Slain Gang Figure's Girl Missing, Feared Dead Vincent Lee and Paul Meskil, New York Daily News (July 24, 1977) Template:Webarchive</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Quinn's body was found the same night it was dumped along a road in Dongan Hills, Staten Island, while Golden's was found in a car in Gerritsen Beach, Brooklyn on July 24, 1977.<ref name="Body in car"/><ref name="Body of Woman">Body of Woman, 19, Is Identified as Date Of Slain Gang Figure Lou Parajos, New York Daily News (July 26, 1977) Template:Webarchive</ref>Template:Sfn | |
| Daniel Conti | October 29, 1977 | 28-year-old Conti was shot and killed by DeMeo and Conti's brother-in-law Peter LaFroscia after concerns he would cooperate due to an investigation being opened into a failed hijacking attempt involving the DeMeo crew.Template:Sfn His body was discovered in the trunk of an automobile that was being stripped for parts in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.<ref name="Body Found in a Car Trunk">Body of Man Who Was Shot to Death Found in a Car Trunk in Brooklyn The New York Times (October 31, 1977) Template:Webarchive</ref> Conti was shot in the eye and the neck.<ref name="Identify Body in Car Trunk">Identify Body in Car Trunk New York Daily News (October 31, 1977) Template:Webarchive</ref> | |
| John Costello | November 1977 | 20-year old Costello was shot several times in the head by DeMeo and Peter LaFroscia after concerns he would cooperate with law enforcement into an illegal hijacking involving the DeMeo crew.Template:Sfn His body was found in a car trunk in Park Slope, Brooklyn.<ref name="Slain Man">Slain Man Found in Car New York Daily News (November 15, 1977) Template:Webarchive</ref> | |
| Michael Mandelino & Nino Martini | March 19, 1978 | Both were shot multiple times in the head by the DeMeo crew. 37-year old Mandelino was accused of setting up Peter LaFroscia for robbery and 38-year old Martini had no involvement.<ref name="2 Bodies Identified">2 Bodies in Brooklyn Car Identified The New York Times (April 1, 1978) Template:Webarchive</ref><ref name="2 Victims Traced">2 Car-Trunk Victims Traced New York Daily News (April 1, 1978) Template:Webarchive</ref>Template:Sfn | |
| Patrick Presenzano/Prisinzano | March 23, 1978 | 31-year old Bonanno associate, son of Bonanno family capo Angelo Prisinzano; beaten, shot and killed then throat slit from ear to ear by Roy DeMeo in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, after refusing to return stolen jewellery from an associate of DeMeo.<ref name="Three Men Found Slain">Three Men Linked to Mobs Found Slain in Brooklyn Leonard Buder, The New York Times (March 24, 1978) Template:Webarchive</ref><ref name="Killings part of mob war">Killings seen as part of mob war The Central New Jersey Home News (March 24, 1978) Template:Webarchive</ref><ref name="Mob At War">Mob At War For Power Indianapolis News (March 24, 1978) Template:Webarchive</ref>Template:Sfn | |
| Michael DiCarlo | May 16, 1978 | Lucchese associate, his death was ordered by a Lucchese capo for raping a young boy. He was shot, stabbed, beaten and sodomized by DeMeo, Joseph Guglielmo, Danny Grillo, Henry Borelli, Anthony Senter and Joseph Testa. His body was dismembered.Template:Sfn | |
| Kevin Guelli | June 9, 1978 | 28-year old cocaine dealer, shot and killed by DeMeo crew member Chris Rosenberg after he attempted to scam him out of $10,000.Template:Sfn | |
| Joseph Scorney | September 28, 1978 | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> His body was put into a concrete filled barrel and dumped off a pier. Arena was sentenced to 18 years in prison in 1985 for his murder.<ref name=":5"/>Template:Sfn |
| Danny Grillo | November 14, 1978 | 44-year old DeMeo crew member Grillo was killed and dismembered by Chris Rosenberg, DeMeo, Anthony Senter and Joseph Testa for racking up gambling debts and acquiring a drug addiction.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn | |
| Gary Gardine | November 30, 1978 | 25-year old Gardine was shot and killed by Chris Rosenberg after he failed to pay him back from a marijuana deal. Gardine was found inside the trunk of his torched car.Template:Sfn | |
| Peter Waring | February 7, 1979 | 30-year old cocaine dealer, he was shot, stabbed and dismembered by DeMeo, Henry Borelli and Paul Dordal at the Gemini Lounge for being a suspected informant.Template:Sfn | |
| Scott Cafaro | February–March 1979 | Shot multiple times, DeMeo crew hired by rape victim's family to kill Cafaro.Template:Sfn | |
| Fred Todaro | February 19, 1979 | 60-year old Todaro was shot by Roy DeMeo and stabbed by Chris Rosenberg after his nephew hired the DeMeo crew to murder him due to dispute over the building in which they duplicated pornographic films.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Sfn | |
| Charles Padnick, William Serrano & 2 Unnamed | March 17, 1979 | Shot and killed by Chris Rosenberg during 12-kilo cocaine deal; Rosenberg was shot in the head and arm, but survived.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Sfn | |
| Jamie Padnick | March 19, 1979 | Shot, killed and dismembered at the Gemini Lounge by DeMeo crew after he travelled to New York to investigate his father's disappearance.Template:Sfn | |
| Dominick Ragucci | April 19, 1979 | 18-year-old college student, mistaken for a Cuban hitman parked outside his home. DeMeo chased him from Massapequa Park, New York, to Suffolk County, Long Island, shot 7 times by DeMeo after he crashed his car.<ref name="Murder and the Mob"/>Template:Sfn | |
| Chris Rosenberg | May 11, 1979 | Shot and killed by Roy DeMeo and Anthony Senter to avoid a war with the Cuban drug cartels over the March 1979 cocaine rip-off murders caused by Rosenberg.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Sfn | |
| James Eppolito & Eppolito Jr. | October 1, 1979 | Nino Gaggi was given permission by Gambino boss Paul Castellano to kill 62-year old Gambino capo Eppolito and his son after he implicated DeMeo and Gaggi in narcotics involvement and cheating 33-year old Eppolito Jr. out of $7,000 in a cocaine deal. Both of them were shot in the back of the head inside of a car in Coney Island, Brooklyn.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Sfn | |
| Khaled Daoud & Ronald Falcaro | October 12, 1979 | Both were lured to Frederick DiNome's auto shop in East Flatbush, Brooklyn then shot, killed and dismembered for being competitor of stolen car ring and suspected of cooperating with law enforcement against DeMeo.<ref name="After Gory Murders, Time Out For Pizza"/><ref name=":5" /><ref name="Reward">Reward for Two Missing Men Newsday (December 20, 1979) Template:Webarchive</ref>Template:Sfn | |
| Joseph Coppolino | March 7, 1980 | 37-year old Coppolino was stabbed and decapitated by Roy DeMeo after suspected of implicating DeMeo to law enforcement in seized 23-ton marijuana shipment.Template:Sfn | |
| Patrick Penny | May 12, 1980 | 21-year old Patrick Penny was shot 9 times in the head by DeMeo and Richard DiNome after he testified against Nino Gaggi.<ref name=al/><ref name="Group's Activities Detailed"/>Template:Sfn | |
| Charles Mongitore & Daniel Scutaro | June 5, 1980 | 30-year old Mongitore was shot 14 times by Henry Borelli and Roy DeMeo then slit his throat, after he refused to drop an assault charge on the son of Gambino soldier Salvatore Mangialino. His friend 25-year old Daniel Scutaro was killed after he asked for the whereabouts of Mongitore. Both bodies were found in the trunk of a car near Holy Cross Cemetery, Brooklyn.<ref name="Murder and the Mob"/><ref>United States of America v. Paul Castellano Justia (June 6, 1985)</ref>Template:Sfn | |
| Frank Amato | September 20, 1980 | Gambino boss Paul Castellano ordered his son-in-law's death after hitting his pregnant daughter Constance, shot and killed by Roy DeMeo, body dismembered by the DeMeo crew.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Sfn | |
| Vito Borelli | Fall 1980 | Gambino boss Paul Castellano ordered his death after Borelli made a statement on Castellano's appearance and made the comparison to Frank Perdue in front of his daughter. He was shot in the face and body at a building in Manhattan owned by Anthony Rabito and former Bonanno underboss Salvatore Vitale allegedly drove his body to a garage in Queens, where he saw DeMeo holding a knife to dismember Borelli.<ref name="Murder of Borelli">Murder of Vito Borelli (Fall 1980) LCN Bios (December 26, 2017) Template:Webarchive</ref>Template:Sfn<ref name="Kerr">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Sfn | |
| James Bennett | April 29, 1981 | 65-year old Lucchese associate set to testify against DeMeo crew member Richard Mastrangelo, shot twice in the head by Anthony Senter and Joseph Testa.<ref name="Witness is slain">Witness is slain on Brooklyn street hours before drug case testimony Josh Barbanel, The New York Times (April 30, 1981) Template:Webarchive</ref><ref name="Reputed leader">Reputed leader of a crime family is indicted by U.S. Arnold H. Lubasch, The New York Times (March 31, 1984) Template:Webarchive</ref> | |
| Joseph Viggiano | December 4, 1981 | Shot, killed and dismembered on the 11th floor office of Show World Times Square, Manhattan by Gus Kalevas and Roy DeMeo, owed money to Kalevas.Template:Citation needed | |
| Albert & Paul Viggiano | December 21, 1981 | The father and brother of Joseph Viggiano, both were shot to death on a sidewalk in Canarsie, Brooklyn by Roy DeMeo while investigating the disappearance of Joseph.<ref name="Link two killings">Link two killings to mob porn war Don Gentile, New York Daily News (January 6, 1982) Template:Webarchive</ref> Albert Viggiano was a Genovese member.<ref name="2 killed on street">2 killed on street in B'klyn Patrick Doyle and Richard Rosen, New York Daily News (December 22, 1981) Template:Webarchive</ref> | |
| Constance Burke | April 4, 1982 | 33-year old Burke, a federal informant, went missing after leaving the Gemini Lounge on April 4, 1982, and her remains were discovered in Canarsie, Brooklyn on June 9, 1982, after federal investigators were alerted to the whereabouts by another informant.<ref name="Missing relatives">Missing relatives worry two families Jerry Schmetterer, New York Daily News (April 11, 1982) Template:Webarchive</ref><ref name="Snitch Reveals Graves">Snitch Reveals Underworld Graves Philadelphia Daily News (June 11, 1982) Template:Webarchive</ref><ref name="Informant Leads Feds">Informant Leads Feds To 3 Bodies The Town Talk (June 11, 1982) Template:Webarchive</ref> | |
| John & Anthony Romano | July 4, 1982 | Shot and killed by DeMeo after believing the Romano brothers set up DeMeo crew member Peter LaFroscia for robbery in 1978.Template:Sfn | |
| Albert Somma | October 18, 1982 | 38 year old Gambino family associate Somma accused the DeMeo crew of drug dealing. He was found in October shot multiple times in the back and head off a highway in Lake George, New York.Template:Citation needed | |
| Richard DiNome, John Baida & Frederick Seiden | February 24, 1984 | Believed to be a potential cooperating witness, DiNome was shot execution-style along with associates Baida and Seiden, by Anthony Senter and Joseph Testa, in DiNome's Gravesend, Brooklyn home after he was indicted by a federal grand jury.<ref name="Slaying Victim"/><ref name="Gravesend man">Gravesend man and two others are found slain Douglas C. McGill, The New York Times (February 6, 1984) Template:Webarchive</ref>Template:Sfn |
ReferencesEdit
SourcesEdit
- Abadinsky, Howard. Organized Crime. 5th Edition, Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1997
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- O'Brien, Joseph. Boss of Bosses: The Fall of the Godfather: The FBI and Paul Castellano. NY: Dell, 1992.
- Raab, Selwyn. The Five Families: The Rise, Decline & Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empire. New York: St. Martins Press, 2005.
External linksEdit
- Roy Albert DeMeo Federal Bureau of Investigation Records
- Mobsters: Roy DeMeo - Full Episode (S2, E1) | A&E
- My father the mobster - Albert DeMeo, The Guardian
- Albert DeMeo: "For The Sins of My Father" - The Diane Rehm Show
Template:Gambino crime family Template:American Mafia Template:Authority control