The Top 5 are: "Machine Gun" Jack McGurn, Abe "Kid Twist" Reles, Roy DeMeo, Joe "The Animal" Barboza and Giovanni Brusca. DeMeo's son Albert wrote that in his final days, DeMeo was paranoid and knew that he would be killed soon. /r/Mafia features stories, interviews, documentary and news articles about organized crime around the world. The stolen cars were sold overseas. Dawn L. DeMeo is a pulmonologist in Boston, Massachusetts and is affiliated with Brigham and Women's Hospital. A crew of serial killers. They were found guilty of murdering two people who threatened to expose the car theft ring. [75] He had been shot multiple times in the head and had a bullet wound in his hand, assumed by law enforcement to be a reflexive defensive wound caused when his killers opened fire on him. Roy Albert DeMeo was an Italian-American mobster in the Gambino crime family of New York City. He assumed Ragucci to be a Cuban assassin and shot him to death following a car chase. "It's like I've taken back control of that part of my life and given some closure to it.". The richness of the stories, the amount of dependable research material and how the individuals fit into the greater context of their times mattered more to us than the number of victims they chalked up. [80][81] Paul Castellano was indicted for ordering the murder of DeMeo, 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. 25-year old Gardine was shot and killed by Chris Rosenberg after he failed to pay him back from a marijuana deal. However, he was finding it extremely difficult to find anyone willing to kill DeMeo. Three weeks before, authorities had raided Rothenbergs film processing business and questioned him about his bank checks to DeMeo. There was plenty of time. He has written a book about growing up in Massapequa as the son of Roy DeMeo, one of the Mafia's most feared hit men. The landfill, opposite the Starrett City Apartment Complex on Pennsylvania Avenue in the heavily African-American East New York section of Brooklyn, across the Belt Parkway, was closed in 1985, and capped over since, all signs (and odors) that a landfill had existed gone, replaced by a parkland. The richness of the stories, the amount of dependable research material and how the individuals fit into the greater context of their times mattered more to us than the number of victims they chalked up. Her neighbor two doors down, Edward Curran, a 37-year-old stockbroker, said that when he first bought his home several years ago, his co-workers at the New York Stock Exchange all told him this was mob territory. Both were shot multiple times in the head by the DeMeo crew. In 1988, Nino died from heart trouble in jail while on trial for racketeering. Dr. [23], As the 1970s continued, DeMeo cultivated his followers into a crew experienced with the process of murdering and dismembering victims. The body was identified as that of Andrei Katz two days later through the use of dental records. Here you can find a wide range of drills that are tailored to fit your . Method: Shot twice in back of head with handgun. Roy DeMeo was a capo of the Gambino crime family who led a crew responsible for as many as 200 deaths from 1973 to 1983. In the early 1980s, the FBI officials began a massive investigation into the Gambino family. (He called her Gina in the book and also changed the names of his sisters and best friends to spare them embarrassment. As Al DeMeo stood in front of the Massapequa Diner, dressed in black, in casual designer clothes. 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. His perfected way of murdering and packaging bodies was named the Gemini method for the location and procedures used. It was Gaggi who introduced Roy DeMeo to the Gambino family, after telling him that he would earn a lot more if he worked directly for them. [6] The economist Walter Block and future presidential candidate Bernie Sanders were among his graduating year classmates. My younger brother would stand in front of the DeMeo house, serenading Al's sister and dancing for the surveillance cameras that Roy DeMeo had installed to watch for potential assassins. 44-year old DeMeo crew member Grillo was killed and dismembered by Chris Rosenberg, DeMeo. "I mean, it's not the Amityville Horror," she said. DeMeo joined a Brooklyn credit union that same year, gaining a position on the board of directors shortly afterward. During the 1970s and early 1980s, he headed the notorious "DeMeo crew", which operated out of the Gemini Lounge on Flatlands Avenue. Immediately after, another member of the crew (originally Chris Rosenberg, up until his 1979 murder, according to government witness testimony) would stab the victim in the heart to prevent more blood from pumping out of the gunshot wound. He was killed in a 1991 robbery in Texas. When Al was 6, Roy gave him a .22 pistol and some sage Mafia advice: "Twice in the head, and make sure he's dead." Jerry Capeci is considered one of the world's foremost authorities on the Mafia and organized crime. Regardless of whether you're a beginner looking for basic drills to get started with, a junior high school team searching for more advanced drills, or a professional looking for intricate drills to take your game to the next level, this guide has something for everyone. Nino ordered the hit. Intimidation? 18-year-old college student, mistaken for a Cuban hitman parked outside his home. Finally, he said, "Ay, you're the guy with the book?" Gaggi's attempts at persuading Castellano to make DeMeo were continually rejected. Anthony 'Nino' Gaggi and his crew, headed by Roy DeMeo, set an early example for Montiglio, reportedly murdering 200 people and dismembering their bodies at Brooklyn's Gemini Lounge, also known as . Roy Demeo was born on September 7, 1942 (age 41) in New York, United States. AL DeMeo last saw his father Roy when he went to identify his body in the mortuary. For Massapequans and residents of other Long Island communities where Mafiosi lived, the book provides startling revelations about an iceberg the neighbors only saw the tip of in places like Bar Harbour, one of several Long Island destinations for wiseguys with the money to leave the traditionally "mobbed-up" sections of Brooklyn for big, comfortable houses in anonymous suburban bedroom communities. 38 year old Gambino family associate Somma accused the DeMeo crew of drug dealing. These affidavits served to account for some of his income, allowing him to reach a settlement with the IRS. Roy Albert DeMeo (/dmeo/; September 7, 1940[1] January 10, 1983) was an Italian-American mobster in the Gambino crime family of New York City. This was the life he entered into. [15] Bonanno 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. He was a member of the Gambino crime family and was the leader of the DeMeo Crew, a gang suspected of killing around a hundred people in the 1970s and the early 1980s. The police initially suspected Gambino associate Anthony Gaggi of killing him. DeMeo crew shot and killed 34-year old John Quinn once in the back of the head with a. Castellano, to whom Gaggi was a close ally, sided against Eppolito in the situation and gave Gaggi permission to do what he pleased. "I had to call my broker and ask, 'Did I buy Roy DeMeo's house? [47] Unlike Grillo, Rosenberg's body was not dismembered or made to disappear. [63], In late 1979, DeMeo and Nino Gaggi became involved in a conflict with James Eppolito and James Eppolito Jr., two made Gambino members in Gaggi's crew. "This is the life my father chose," Al said, sitting in a back room at Il Cortile, the renowned restaurant on Mulberry Street in Little Italy. After his arrest, Kuklinski wasn't shy. 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 Gambino family and share ten percent of all profits. The pieces would be then packed into cardboard boxes and dumped elsewhere. DeMeos character appears in the 2012 film The Iceman which was about the notorious killer Richard Kuklinski. But not his son. Some cooperated with the office of Southern District U.S. Attorney Rudolph Guiliani. 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. [77][78] According to Scopo, Castellano also "had to put (DeMeo) away" because he "was crazy and had cast-iron balls". 34-year old Governara was shot multiple times by DeMeo and Nino Gaggi as revenge for breaking Gaggi's nose in a fistfight in the late 1960s, later died in hospital. Shot and killed by Danny Grillo and Roy DeMeo as a favor to James Coonan. [54] Albert DeMeo 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 come out for two days. When Al was 6, his father gave him and his sisters envelopes with $5,000 in cash in them as Christmas gifts. DeMeo also joined the Boro of Brooklyn Credit Union, where he found a position on the board of directors. October 21 2002 12:11 AM. He slept with a gun under his pillow and walked the house at all hours with gun drawn. He began dealing in narcotics as well though it was prohibited by the Gambino family. [44] Grillo, who was dismembered and disposed of like many of the crew's murder victims, was the first known occurrence of internal crew discipline. After graduating he expanded his growing criminal business by adding car theft and other activities, with the support of Gambino crime family member Anthony Gaggi. Roy Albert DeMeo was a New York mobster who was a member of the Gambino crime family. 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. He became notorious as a hit-man. Even so, he said, living in Massapequa allowed him to take care of business but still do some regular teen-ager things. 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. [10] His father died of a heart attack on December 12, 1960 when Roy was nineteen, and his mother subsequently returned to Italy with Roy's youngest brother to live with relatives near Naples.[6]. In this third installment in our series on the Top 5 most notorious Mob hitmen, we focus on a particularly gruesome era in the 1970s and early 80s in the Brooklyn and Long Island areas of New York. That first rubout invigorated DeMeos simmering sociopathic demeanor. [84] Richard DiNome was killed in 1984. Now, 19 years later, Al has filled in the blanks. [43] DeMeo and his crew murdered Edward Grillo, who had fallen into heavy debt with DeMeo and was believed to be becoming susceptible to police coercion. He drove the streets of Brooklyn in a new 1983 Cadillac registered in his wifes name. He was portrayed by Chris Evans, who has also played Bryce Langley in Fierce People, Lucas Lee in the 2010 Scott Pilgrim vs. On weekends, Roy and Al would visit the Gemini Lounge, or head to Little Italy to drink espresso and eat pastries, Al with his hair slicked back, dressed in his own suit and wearing a pinkie ring identical to his dad's. Welcome to the ultimate guide to basketball drills! The story of DeMeo and his crew also appears in books such as Murder Machine and For the Sins of My Father. He had been shot multiple times. [80] In March 1986, six were found guilty, with Henry Borelli and other person found guilty of two counts of murder. No sooner had DeMeo removed his jacket than Nino opened fire. [38] DeMeo, sensing an opportunity to create a vast source of income for the Gambino family, persuaded Gaggi to consider a partnership with the Westies. He also was major player in the Times Square porn operation from the early Seventies and was involved in a sex trade, pedophilia and human trafficking operation in Brick, N.J. Re: Roy DeMeo death in trunk [ Re: CNote ] #1024802. Detective Pat Kane believed the Iceman killer murdered as many as 300 men, saying, "He killed who he wanted, whenever he wanted.". Kaplan, a 71-year-old longtime Mob associate and former mastermind of a $10 million marijuana sales ring, had completed only eight years of his 27 . Another advantage was that with Gambino deceased, new associates would be eligible for membership into the family. When Gaggi found out about these activities, he threatened him to stop. Around this time an FBI bug in the home of Gambino family capo Angelo Ruggiero picked up a conversation between Ruggiero and Gene Gotti, a brother of John Gotti. When an 18-year-old door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesman came to DeMeos house, DeMeo, believing the college kid was a Cuban drug cartel hitman from an ongoing dispute, fired shots at him. Some things Roy DeMeo said/did were anomalies. The smiling teenager is holding an automatic assault rifle. R01HL089438 (DEMEO, DAWN L) Jul 1, 2008 - Jun 30, 2014. [92] The couple had two daughters and a son. Ronald Joseph DeFeo Jr. (September 26, 1951 - March 12, 2021) was an American mass murderer who was tried and convicted for the 1974 killings of his father, mother, two brothers, and two sisters in Amityville, Long Island, New York.Condemned to six sentences of 25 years to life, DeFeo died in prison on March 12, 2021.The case inspired the book and film versions of The Amityville Horror. DeMeo, who had established himself as a . He also became involved in criminal activities while running a legitimate business side by side. Roy also taught his son the finer points of hot-wiring cars. Nino took notice of DeMeos misstep of murdering an innocent civilian. "I got a plate in my head, but I lived to write the book," he told the owner. But the plan was never put in motion. The implications of this were twofold for DeMeo. 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 of New York to serve as a message and warning. 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. Paul Castellano was named the new boss, and Aniello Dellacroce became the underboss. [87][88] Vito Arena left New York in 1989 after serving 6 years of an 18-year sentence after his testimony. He has written a book about growing up in Massapequa as the son of Roy DeMeo, one of the Mafia's most feared hit men. Paul Castellano was named the boss, with Aniello Dellacroce retaining the position of underboss. [citation needed] 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. By July 1976, DeMeo added an automobile firm by the name of Team Auto Wholesalers to his loanshark customers. 1. "[90], Albert DeMeo became a stockbroker, but had a nervous breakdown after the release of Murder Machine in 1992. Castellano involved himself in white-collar crime and looked down on street-level members such as DeMeo. 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. He was murdered along with an uninvolved acquaintance before he could provide law-enforcement authorities with information. He covered the crime beat for both the New York Daily News and the New York Post (and was the only newspaperman to sneak his way into Carlo Gambino's funeral in 1976) for more than 20 years. His daughter was kinda hot, not that id want to deal with Roy though. DeMeo and his crew perfected the Gemini Method. As a teenager, he starts loansharking while enrolled in James Madison High School. He headed a group referred to as the "DeMeo crew", which 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". [55] After Rosenberg's murder, DeMeo spent six weeks hiding out with Guglielmo in a safe house near 42nd Street in Times Square, Manhattan, growing a full beard and disguising himself with a baseball cap and sunglasses when out in public. Over the years, his crew picked up a fearsome reputation for dismembering people and making them disappear. Arena later testified in federal court about when DeMeo and another shooter killed two unsuspecting car ring members inside a dark building in 1979. [37], DeMeo secured his induction into the Gambino family by forming an alliance with an Irish-American gang known as the Westies. He completed his schooling from James Madison High School in 1959. His father had friends with names like Frankie Elbows and Mikey Hammer, and sometimes those friends would come to the house bloody from gunshots. The book describes Roy DeMeo's rise from teen-age loan shark in Brooklyn to capo in the Gambino crime family, leading a crew known as the DeMeo gang that did contract murders and ran one of the biggest auto theft rings in New York history. But Nino had to obey Castellanos hit command. Demeo was a one-time butcher's . Family, Spouse, Dating, and Relationships of . Roy was living large. Genetic Features of Gender Differences in COPD. Around this time, DeMeo committed his most public murder. In compliance with the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) requirements, some of these records are no longer in the physical possession of the FBI, eliminating the FBI's capability to re-review and/or re-process this material. He quit his job and began day trading. https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/roy-demeo-11839.php. Role: Principal Investigator. Roy DeMeo is the main antagonist in the fictional 2012 biopic The Iceman, based on the late real life hitman of the same name. He wore his blond hair slicked back. DeMeo was ordered to kill Rosenberg but stalled for weeks. I went into this book with noble intentions, but I realise now that I can't fix my father's image. NIH. It was this collective of criminals that became known both in the underworld and in law enforcement circles as the DeMeo crew. [3], Roy Albert DeMeo was born on September 7, 1940 in Flatlands, Brooklyn, to a working-class Italian immigrant family of Neapolitan origin. [4] The fourth of five children of Eleanor (a housewife) and Anthony DeMeo (a laundry company deliveryman),[5] DeMeo graduated from James Madison High School in 1959, during which time he began earning money as a loanshark. Roy had become a liability to the Gambino crime family. The vast majority of their victim's bodies were disposed of so thoroughly that they were never found. DeMeo not only killed anyone who got in his way, but also started performing hits to earn money. Shot, killed and dismembered at the Gemini Lounge by DeMeo crew after he travelled to New York to investigate his father's disappearance. DeMeo began funding drug dealers through his loans and . Senter, DeMeos righthand man who once chopped a body into nine pieces for disposal, and Testa each got life sentences plus 20 years in federal prison. [60] Aside from stolen automobiles, DeMeo was also shipping cigarettes and pornographic magazines to the Middle East. But it was now far from his mind. Shot multiple times, DeMeo crew hired by rape victim's family to kill Cafaro. The whispers are back. The waterfront home of Carlo Gambino, the "boss of bosses," could also be seen from my family's house. 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. [48][49][50] 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. DeMeo was made in mid-1977 and put in charge of handling all family business with the Westies. Over the years, the area has been home to such mob bosses as Carlo Gambino and John Gotti Jr. He was quiet and serious for a seventh-grader. The Gambino crime family soldier oversaw a bloodthirsty crew of killers that was eyed in as many as 200 gangland murders from the 1970s to the early 1980s. [35], Castellano did not immediately "open the books" for new members, opting instead to promote existing members and shuffle around the crews' leaders. Two of his former buddies in murder, Anthony Senter and Joseph Testa, were among five also found guilty of participating in 11 slayings. DeMeo formed an alliance with another gang known as the Westies, and after a turn of events, they agreed to become a de facto arm of the Gambino family. Roy Albert DeMeo was born on September 7, 1942 in Bath Beach Brooklyn to working class Italian immigrants. [90], DeMeo is the subject of the 1992 book Murder Machine by Jerry Capeci and Gene Mustaine. [69] DeMeo murdered the witness shortly after Gaggi's sentencing in March 1980.[70]. One of Roy's daughters became a clothing designer, and the other one a medical doctor.[2]. It recounts a loving father-son relationship. [13] 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. If you are a fan of Roy Demeo, tell us more about Him Advertisement. Role: Principal Investigator. The site of the butchering was the Gemini Lounge, a locals bar he secretly owned on Flatlands Avenue in the Canarsie area of east Brooklyn. Robert Pronge is the secondary antagonist in the fictional 2012 biopic, The Iceman, based off the real life hitman of the same name. [56], As 1979 continued, DeMeo began to expand his business activities, in particular his auto theft operation, which soon became the largest in New York City's history. He is portrayed by the late Ray Liotta, who has also played Ray Sinclair in Something Wild, Henry Hill in Goodfellas, Pete Davis in Unlawful Entry, Ryan Weaver in Turbulence, Dorothy Macha in Revolver, Samuel Rhodes in Identity, Jack Blade in Wild Hogs, Gallian in In . DeMeo dressed in a long overcoat with a pocket concealing a sawed-off shotgun. "Writing the book helped me put that life behind me," he said. Nino and Roy were the most feared mobsters in New York in the late 70's. Roy and his crew ran rampant and only answered to Nino and Paul. He has written a book about growing up in Massapequa as the son of Roy DeMeo, one of the Mafia's most feared hit men. Email blog@themobmuseum.org. 4 on list of Top 5 most notorious Mob hitmen. [72] In the conversation, it is discussed that Paul Castellano had put out a hit on DeMeo, but was having difficulty finding someone willing to do the job. [47] DeMeo and crew members Joseph Guglielmo and Freddy 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. He wasnt just a brute, he was a hard worker. [74] DeMeo's partially frozen body was found in the trunk with a chandelier on top of it. "I try not to go out too much around here," he said recently in an interview at the Massapequa Diner, where he and his father used to discuss strategy. His first murder was allegedly committed in 1973 when he was 30. 3 on list of Top 5 most notorious Mob hitmen. [45], 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 World film, Ransom Drysdale in Knives Out, and Lloyd Hansen in The Gray Man. Specializing in skin allergies, Dr. DeMeo is also a top practitioner in dealing with asthma, hay fever, food and drug allergies and allergies to metals and cosmetics. His education: James Madison High School. He would go into hiding and keep in touch via pay phones at local spots like the Massapequa Diner or the old Mays department store, both on Sunrise Highway. The officers were also tipped off by the information that several of the missing victims were seen entering the Gemini club before their disappearances. If his enemies didn't get him, his colleagues would. In 1979, the scheme was nearly stopped by a legitimate car dealer who threatened to inform the police. Roy DeMeo was born on 7 September 1942 in Brooklyn, and he gained his start in organized crime through loansharking. Known as the Iceman and feared throughout the underworld, he was for many years a top mafia hitman, murderer, enforcer and torturer. He was a crazy man, he recalled, and his wife divorced him. He also introduced colleagues at the credit union to a lucrative side-business, laundering the money of drug dealers he had become acquainted with. The FBI had been surveilling the warehouse and some of the men unloading vehicles there and had shortly thereafter obtained a search warrant. [citation needed] DeMeo considered faking his own death by having his son shoot him and laying low. He was so deadly that he was 3 on the list of the Top 5 Mob hitmen in America, and he and his crew were credited with killing between 100 to 200 persons in their operation. A witness driving by right as the shots were fired within the parked car managed to alert a nearby police officer, who arrested Gaggi after a shootout between the two that left Gaggi with a bullet wound in his neck. That year, Castellano and Nino were among 21 defendants, including some survivors of DeMeos crew, to face federal allegations in the car theft ring, 25 related murders, drug trafficking, loansharking, extortion, fraud and prostitution (although not all would stick). Roy Albert DeMeo was born into a working-class Italian immigrant family on September 7, 1942 in Bath Beach, Brooklyn. After leaving James Madison High School DeMeo married and fathered three children. [24][2], 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. Our selections are limited and the methodology subjective. All Facts. In 1983, Roy DeMeo began being investigated by federal prosecutors. "It was like a soldier going to war," he said. In the book, Al describes his initial determination to avenge his dad's murder, but after being run off the road and beaten up on Sunrise Highway by masked assailants who he believes were members of his father's crew, he decided not to take on the mob. 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. Killings performed by DeMeo and his troop of sick sadists would rival that of Brooklyns Murder Inc. of the 1930s. One photo in the book shows Al standing over a bear he killed on a hunting trip. As of 1984, the FBI estimated that half the 1,600 members of La Cosa Nostra in America resided in the New York area. "Here you could be anything. 28-year old Scorney was shot and bludgeoned with a sledgehammer by Vito Arena and Richard DiNome after refusal to join DeMeo's auto-theft operation. He gave interviews to prosecutors, psychiatrists, reporters, criminologists, and newscasters anyone who wanted to talk to him. (Gene Mustain and Jerry Capeci, authors of Murder Machine: A True Story of Murder, Madness, and the Mafia, coined the phrase the Gemini method to describe DeMeos system for killing and dismembering victims.).