"With my mom gone, there's not much for me here anymore," he said. Nonetheless, DeMeo was getting paranoid about the possible threat to his life and even considered faking his own death and escaping the country. The story of DeMeo and his crew also appears in books such as Murder Machine and For the Sins of My Father. He told his son Albert, whose 17th birthday was January 10, that his father was marked for death. Over the years, the area has been home to such mob bosses as Carlo Gambino and John Gotti Jr. Then Arena, a hitman DeMeo had hired, started singing. [87][88] Vito Arena left New York in 1989 after serving 6 years of an 18-year sentence after his testimony. The living was good at the new house on Whitewood Drive, with lavish cookouts and opulent Christmas and birthday gifts. It became known as the "Gemini method" and appalled even seasoned mobsters, including Paul Castellano, who succeeded Gambino as boss of New York's largest crime family in 1976. It's mostly brokers and bankers now.". During the later half of 1975, DeMeo became a silent partner in a peep show cum prostitution establishment which was based in New Jersey. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. Roy's boy was apparently a chip off the old block. [72] According to mob turncoat Sammy Gravano, eventually the contract was given to Frank DeCicco, but DeCicco and his crew could not get to DeMeo either. Gene Gotti mentions that his brother, John, was wary of taking the contract, as DeMeo had an "army of killers" around him. This is his story. [47] Unlike Grillo, Rosenberg's body was not dismembered or made to disappear. 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. One day in 1979, Roy killed an innocent salesman after mistaking him for an assassin from a Colombian drug cartel. I used to watch the DeMeos' parties from my back yard across the canal. '", "In Brooklyn, everyone knew who the mob guys were," he said. For the Sins of My Father . His body was eventually found in Brooklyn in January 1983; he was assumed to have been killed by a member of the Gambino family. [31], DeMeo's sources of income, as well as his crew, continued to grow. In January 1983, when Al was a junior in high school, Roy called him into his study and announced that he would be killed. But the plan was never put in motion. It was this collective of criminals that became known both in the underworld and in law enforcement circles as the DeMeo crew. DeMeo helped Rosenberg increase his business and profits by loaning him money so that he could deal in larger amounts. He began dealing in narcotics as well though it was prohibited by the Gambino family. He was killed in a 1991 robbery in Texas. A police investigation into the Gambinos profitable international car theft ring led to joint local and federal probes into a string of Mob homicides. As a young man, Roy DeMeo became acquainted with criminal Anthony Gaggi who had associations with the Gambino crime family. 25-year old Gardine was shot and killed by Chris Rosenberg after he failed to pay him back from a marijuana deal. [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 had three children. "It was like a soldier going to war," he said. He finally had a nervous breakdown and got into therapy, which he credits with helping him turn his life around. [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. During the 1970s and early 1980s, he headed the notorious "DeMeo crew", which operated out of the Gemini Lounge on Flatlands Avenue. The pay phone out front, now ripped out, was one of those where Al would wait for his dad's calls when Roy was in hiding. The waterfront home of Carlo Gambino, the "boss of bosses," could also be seen from my family's house. 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. But it was now far from his mind. Paul Castellano was named the new boss, and Aniello Dellacroce became the underboss. Roy Albert DeMeo was an Italian-American mobster in the Gambino crime family of New York City. 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 went on to kill more people in the ensuing years and his killing spree continued through the 1970s. He taught his followers the process of murdering and dismembering their victims to ensure that the victims were dispatched fast and were never found. According to DeMeos son Albert, DeMeo started crying upon discovering that Ragucci was actually an innocent boy. He used his position to launder the money earned through his criminal activities. Castellano involved himself in white-collar crime and looked down on street-level members such as DeMeo. [58][59] DeMeo put together a group of five active partners in the operation, all of whom earned approximately $30,000 a week each in profit. Some of the crimes he committed are beyond imagining, the stuff of nightmares. AL DeMeo last saw his father Roy when he went to identify his body in the mortuary. [77][78] According to Scopo, Castellano also "had to put (DeMeo) away" because he "was crazy and had cast-iron balls". Making meatballs is great for passing the time and waiting for the guy in the tub to finish bleeding out as well. He wasnt just a brute, he was a hard worker. [27], Some victims were killed in other ways for varying reasons. - Death Photos. 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. Before an indictment could be handed down against him, he utilized false affidavits from businesses owned by friends and acquaintances claiming he was on their payrolls as an employee. "My father hurt people, and they hurt him. 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. 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. He was a crazy man, he recalled, and his wife divorced him. He also continued. DeMeo, who had established himself as a . Gaggi was also promoted, which was an advantage for DeMeo. Al looked down and talked about moving to Florida. Our selections are limited and the methodology subjective. But Nino had to obey Castellanos hit command. Fearing that the proprietor would confess to the police, DeMeo called him for a meeting and shot him in a nearby alley. Dr. He is infamous for heading the DeMeo crew, a gang suspected by the FBI of murdering as many as 100 people (although some estimates have put the number as high as 200) between 1973 and 1983. In this extract from his gripping memoir, Albert De Meo recalls the conflict and confusion of growing up with a devoted father who was also a feared member of the Gambino crime family with more . One photo in the book shows Al standing over a bear he killed on a hunting trip. Ultimately, Paul Castellano was indicted for ordering his murder. That night, he failed to attend his daughter Dione's birthday party, which caused his family to be suspicious. The Top 5 are: "Machine Gun" Jack McGurn, Abe "Kid Twist" Reles, Roy DeMeo, Joe "The Animal" Barboza and Giovanni Brusca. 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. In 1991, while an armed Arena tried to rob a store in Houston, a clerk shot and killed him. Arena later testified in federal court about when DeMeo and another shooter killed two unsuspecting car ring members inside a dark building in 1979. 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. His first murder was allegedly committed in 1973 when he was 30. The Iceman. Joe The Animal Barboza: No. His education: James Madison High School. "That's Al DeMeo," they would say. [36] By 1977, DeMeo became distraught by this situation and searched for opportunities that would ensure larger returns for his superiors. June 14, 2022 / / intel iris xe graphics for video editing. Paul Rothenberg (42y) (July 29, 1973) Motive: Suspected cooperator. He teamed up with Danny Grillo, a hijacker who had just been released from prison, and began hijacking delivery trucks from the JFK Airport. The mob presence didn't seem to make the neighbors nervous. After the death of Castellano, Nino Gaggi became the lead defendant but he too soon died later of natural causes. /r/Mafia features stories, interviews, documentary and news articles about organized crime around the world. His father used only pay phones and always carried large amounts of cash in envelopes. In 1979, the scheme was nearly stopped by a legitimate car dealer who threatened to inform the police. [12] By 1972, Rosenberg had introduced his friends to DeMeo and they began working for him as well. Once inside the person would be led to the back of the bar where there was an . [7] Between the ages of fifteen and twenty-two, he also worked at a local grocery store, where he trained as an apprentice butcher. Dawn L. DeMeo is a pulmonologist in Boston, Massachusetts and is affiliated with Brigham and Women's Hospital. The older one became a clothing designer, and the younger one went to an Ivy League school and became a doctor. It would be during this time he is noticed by a Gambino crime family soldier named Nino Gaggi who takes him under his wing. One of Roy's daughters became a clothing designer, and the other one a medical doctor.[2]. He was approached by an associate of the Gambino family who told him that he could earn ever more if he worked directly for the Gambino Family. "I got a plate in my head, but I lived to write the book," he told the owner. Castellano, to whom Gaggi was a close ally, sided against Eppolito in the situation and gave Gaggi permission to do what he pleased. The DeMeos lived in a section of town called Bar Harbour, on a stretch of Whitewood Drive lined with waterfront homes with white columns, elaborate stonework and fancy cars in the driveways. Some things Roy DeMeo said/did were anomalies. "Here you could be anything. His daughter was kinda hot, not that id want to deal with Roy though. Arena, released from prison in 1988 based on his damning testimony, moved to Texas. [2] The crew was responsible for a very large number of murders, possibly as many as . [8][9] Roy's older brother Anthony Frank "Chubby" DeMeo, a U.S. Marine Corps corporal, was killed in action during the Korean War on April 23, 1951, aged twenty. Shot and killed by Danny Grillo and Roy DeMeo as a favor to James Coonan. Richard Kuklinski was a monster, a brutal and sadistic killer and torturer. He completed his schooling from James Madison High School in 1959. They carried his body and laid it in the trunk of the Cadillac, draping the chandelier over the corpse. You will put me in a garbage bag and throw me away 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. 20-year old Costello was shot to death by Peter LaFroscia and Roy DeMeo after concerns he would cooperate with law enforcement into an illegal hijacking involving the DeMeo crew. [92] The couple had two daughters and a son. On May 11, 1979, Rosenberg reported to the Gemini clubhouse for the crew's usual Friday night meeting. Killed by Roy 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. [66] He and DeMeo shot the two to death in Eppolito Jr.'s car en route to the Gemini Lounge on October 1, 1979. One of the more interesting facts about DeMeo is that he was by all accounts a normal guy at home with his family, at least until the Cuban Crisis exposed them to his violent world. As of 1984, the FBI estimated that half the 1,600 members of La Cosa Nostra in America resided in the New York area. Now, 19 years later, Al has filled in the blanks. Roy DeMeo got married shortly after completing high school. [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. Feeling he could trust no one, Roy asked his son to help conduct his business. He also began dealing in illegal pornography which he sold to the various connections he had. Roy DeMeo was a member of the Gambino Crime Family through the 1960's to the early 1980's. He was first spotted by Gambino associate Nino Gaggi who tempted him into the family through loanshark projects. Then they would drag the body to the bathroom and later chop it into pieces. [12] Through the late 1960s, DeMeo's organized crime prospects increased on two fronts. [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. [18][20] 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 the back by a butcher knife. Al said yes and answered some questions. 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. 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. 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. Ten days later, on January 20, DeMeo's Cadillac Coupe DeVille was discovered in the parking lot of the Varuna Boat Club in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. A crew of serial killers. He utilized his position to launder money earned through his illegal ventures. The Museum is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with a mission to advance the public understanding of organized crime's history and impact on American society. In 1988, Nino died from heart trouble in jail while on trial for racketeering. The smiling teenager is holding an automatic assault rifle. Over time he would lead his own crew, known as the DeMeo crew who were suspected of . September 20, 2018. A former New York garment dealer, Burton Kaplan, sat down with DEA agents in 2004 to tell them an incredible story about two retired New York Police Department detectives. [14], 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. [79] Albert DeMeo believed that his father was killed by members of his own crew. [33], In the fall of 1976, the Gambino family went through a massive change when its boss Carlo Gambino died of natural causes. Roy was living large. 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. Growing up in this atmosphere young Roy DeMeo, not unlike Henry Hill . The FBI had been surveilling the warehouse and some of the men unloading vehicles there and had shortly thereafter obtained a search warrant. The team also pushed illegal drugs. 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. The FBI also came to know that a hit was ordered on DeMeo by Paul Castellano. Huge earner.. hes notorious for his killings but his earning ability is underrated. [90], DeMeo is the subject of the 1992 book Murder Machine by Jerry Capeci and Gene Mustaine. In June 1982, Arena showed police where to find the body of one of the crews victims, a low-level hoodlum encased in a cement-filled oil barrel submerged in Moriches Bay off of Long Island. The crew's headquarters was the Gemini Club in Brooklyn, where they disposed of the bodies by draining them of blood in the shower and then slicing them into pieces, to put in garbage bags. Roy DeMeo had moved his family out to Massapequa from Brooklyn early on, to give them a better life, Al DeMeo said. T he police had prised open the boot of his father's maroon-coloured Cadillac and . His body was placed in the trunk of a car and, with low winter temperatures, it soon froze. [2] DeMeo is portrayed by Michael A. Miranda in the 2001 film Boss of Bosses. "Writing the book helped me put that life behind me," he said. Thus, he joined them and soon gained considerable notoriety for his assassinations performed in the Gemini Method. 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. In 1959 DeMeo graduated from James Madison High School with an accomplished loan shark business bringing in hundreds of dollars each week. [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. People started pointing and whispering again, and Al's world imploded. I've never seen this particular pic. What those eyes have seen and what those hands have done. [2] The crew was responsible for a very large number of murders, possibly as many as 200, with the majority of them committed by DeMeo himself. Some said the Mafiosi in the neighborhood made it feel safer, both because of the mob security and the increased surveillance by law enforcement officers. 38 year old Gambino family associate Somma accused the DeMeo crew of drug dealing. Gardine was found inside the trunk of his torched car. [21] After being decapitated, Katz's head was then crushed when it was put through a machine normally used for compacting cardboard boxes. The FBI's FOIA Library contains many files of public interest and historical value. Demeo was a one-time butcher's . The body parts were wrapped in plastic bags and then 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. 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.
