Roy Albert DeMeo (September 7, 1942 – January 10, 1983) was a ranking member of the
Gambino crime familyThe Gambino crime family is one of the "Five Families", or borgata, that control organized crime activity in New York City. It is part a United States-wide criminal network known as the Mafia . The group is named after Carlo Gambino, boss of the family at the time of the McClellan hearings in 1963...
, one of the largest and most feared crime families in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
.
He is most infamous for heading a crew of car thieves, drug dealers and murderers suspected by the
Federal Bureau of InvestigationThe Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency. The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
(FBI) of somewhere between 75-200 murders from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s. The crew also gained notoriety due to their use of
dismembermentDismemberment is the act of cutting, tearing, pulling, wrenching or otherwise removing, the limbs of a living thing. It may be practiced upon human beings as a form of capital punishment, as a result of a traumatic accident, or in connection with murder, suicide, or cannibalism...
as a method of disposing of their victims. For a time, Roy DeMeo lived on a waterfront estate on Whitewood Drive in the Bar Harbour section of
Massapequa Park, New YorkThe Village of Massapequa Park is located within the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, New York, USA. The population was 17,499 at the 2000 census.-History:...
.
Early life and criminal career
Roy Albert DeMeo was born in 1942 in
Bath Beach, BrooklynBath Beach is a neighborhood in the New York City Borough of Brooklyn in the United States. It is located at the southwestern edge of the borough on Gravesend Bay.-Geography:...
into a working class Italian immigrant family. As a teen, he began a small loansharking operation which turned into a full time job by the age of 17. DeMeo graduated from
James Madison High SchoolFor schools with a similar name, see Madison High School.James Madison High School is a public high school located at 3787 Bedford Avenue, in the Marine Park section of Brooklyn, New York, and educates grades 9 through 12. It is part of Region 6 in the New York City Department of Education...
in 1959 and began working in criminal enterprise while maintaining legitimate business practices. He married shortly after high school and fathered three children. He worked his way up the criminal career ladder through a continued loansharking operation.
By the early 1960s, DeMeo had quit his legitimate job at a Banner Dairy Supermarket to focus on loansharking and any other opportunities for income that presented themselves. He conducted most of his business at a neighborhood bar, Phil's Lounge. In 1965, he became a silent partner of the bar, now renamed the
Gemini LoungeThe Gemini Lounge was a bar and at one time the headquarters of a notorious Gambino Mafia Family crew headed by Roy DeMeo that is suspected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation of between 75-200 murders from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s...
. The Lounge served as the DeMeo crew's primary headquarters for the next several years, with an apartment building directly behind the bar being the site of dozens of murders and dismemberments committed by the crew.
Roy was a husky man with dark hair and gentle brown eyes standing at 5'9". He was a strong man. He enjoyed the outdoors and would take his children to a nature conservatory in Brooklyn. Every Sunday he would cook breakfast for his entire family. He married a Lutheran woman, although he was a devout Catholic and raised his children as Catholic. He made his specialty dish
zabaglioneZabaione , is an Italian dessert made with egg yolks, sugar, a sweet wine , and sometimes cream, mascarpone, or whole eggs. It is a very light custard, which has been whipped to incorporate a large amount of air...
for dinners. He was a handy-man around the house digging gardens. He built a playfort for his children and a 15-by-30-foot above ground swimming pool with a wooden deck around it.
When Albert was five years old, his father began taking him on some of his Sunday errands. He was always rescuing small animals. He regularly read
The New York Post and the
Daily News. In the early 1960s DeMeo had minor connections to members and associates of the
Lucchese FamilyThe Lucchese crime family is one of the "Five Families" that controls organized crime activities in New York City, U.S., within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia...
, it was not until he met
Anthony 'Nino' GaggiAnthony Frank "Nino" Gaggi was a high-ranking member of the New York Gambino crime family who supervised the infamous DeMeo crew, noted for their lucrative auto theft schemes and multiple murders....
in 1966 that he began a criminal career that led to the
Cosa NostraThis article is about American Mafia. For other uses, see Mafia .The American Mafia This article is about American Mafia. For other uses, see Mafia (disambiguation).The American Mafia This article is about American Mafia. For other uses, see Mafia (disambiguation).The American Mafia (usually called...
. At the time, Nino was a well-respected soldier in the
Gambino FamilyThe Gambino crime family is one of the "Five Families", or borgata, that control organized crime activity in New York City. It is part a United States-wide criminal network known as the Mafia . The group is named after Carlo Gambino, boss of the family at the time of the McClellan hearings in 1963...
, prospering from a large and varied assortment of loanshark customers as well as
silent partnerSilent partner may refer to:*An anonymous member of a business partnership, or one uninvolved in management*The Silent Partner, the name of several films*Silent partner , a piece of climbing equipment...
positions in a number of legitimate businesses.
DeMeo saw a future with the Luccheses as a drab prospect and quickly put his full attention toward cultivating a working relationship with Gaggi, their first piece of business together being a co-loan to a used car dealership.
Through the late 1960s, DeMeo's
organized crimeOrganized crime or criminal organizations can be defined as a transnational grouping of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for the purpose of generating a monetary profit...
prospects increased on two fronts. He continued in the loansharking business with Anthony Gaggi, and began developing a crew of young men involved in car theft and drug trafficking. It was this collective of criminals that would become known both in the underworld and in law enforcement circles as the DeMeo Crew. The first member of the crew was
Harvey 'Chris' RosenbergHarvey "Chris" Rosenberg was a notorious member of a crew run by Gambino crime family soldier Roy DeMeo that is suspected of 75–200 murders in the mid 1970s to the early 1980s...
, who met DeMeo in 1966 at the age of 16.
Rosenberg was dealing drugs at a Canarsie gas station, and Roy helped him increase his business and profits by loaning Chris money so that he could deal the narcotics in larger amounts. By 1972, Chris had introduced his friends to Roy and they began working for him as well. These early members of the crew included Joseph "Dracula" Guglielmo (Roy's cousin), Joseph Testa,
Anthony SenterAnthony Senter is an American criminal who became of a member of the DeMeo crew in the New York Gambino crime family.-Biography:Born in Canarsie, Brooklyn, Anthony Michael Senter was a nephew of Gambino caporegime Robert Senter. His uncle Robert was the owner of Canarsie Recycling Company located...
and Joseph's younger brother
Patrick TestaPatrick 'Patty' Testa was a New York gangster who belonged to the violent DeMeo crew of the Gambino crime family before transferring to the Lucchese Family...
.
Roy joined the Boro of Brooklyn Credit Union that same year, gaining a position on the board of directors shortly afterward. He utilized his position to
launder moneyMoney laundering is the process of creating the appearance that large amounts of money obtained from serious crimes, such as drug trafficking or terrorist activity, originated from a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions with varying definitions...
he had 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. Roy also built up his loansharking business with funds stolen from credit union reserves. His collection of loanshark customers, while still primarily those in the car industry, soon included other businesses such as a dentist's office, an
abortion clinicAn abortion clinic is a medical facility that performs or specializes in abortions. Such clinics may be public medical centers or private medical practices...
, 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.
First murder
According to the book
Murder Machine by
Jerry CapeciGerald "Jerry" Capeci is an American journalist and author who specializes in coverage of the Five mafia crime families of New York...
and Gene Mustain, DeMeo committed his first murder in July 1973 at the age of 30, shooting to death Paul Rothenberg, the proprietor of a
pornographyPornography or porn is the depiction of explicit sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual excitement.Over the past few decades, an immense industry for the production and consumption of pornography has grown, with the increasing use of the VCR, the DVD, and the Internet, as well as the...
film lab in which Roy was a silent partner. After Rothenberg's lab had been raided by police and he was arrested, DeMeo's mentor
Anthony GaggiAnthony Frank "Nino" Gaggi was a high-ranking member of the New York Gambino crime family who supervised the infamous DeMeo crew, noted for their lucrative auto theft schemes and multiple murders....
(also a silent partner in Rothenberg's business) began to suspect that he would fold under police pressure to cooperate. This suspicion was rightly held, as immediately after the arrest he had already begun the process of official cooperation with authorities, informing the police that both DeMeo and 'a man named Nino' were extorting him.
He had yet to sign an official agreement however, and more than one meeting with law enforcement was set up and then called off, with the last one canceled being on Friday, July 27, 1973. That same day, DeMeo contacted Rothenberg and set up a meeting at a local diner scheduled for Sunday, July 29. When Rothenberg showed up for the meeting, DeMeo ordered him out of his car and into an alleyway at gunpoint, then shooting him in the head two times with a
silencerA suppressor, sound suppressor, sound moderator, or silencer, is a device either attached to or part of the barrel of a firearm to reduce the amount of noise and flash generated by firing the weapon...
-equipped pistol.
Although law enforcement suspected DeMeo played a role in the slaying, and even tailed DeMeo to a meeting with Rothenberg's official partner in the pornography lab shortly after the murder, the case was never resolved and DeMeo was never charged. It is widely believed that this was the first murder committed by DeMeo.
However, according to the book The Ice Man:Confessions of a Contract Killer (written by Philip Carlo based on hours of interviews with
Richard KuklinskiRichard "The Iceman" Kuklinski was a convicted murderer and notorious contract killer who was of Polish and Irish ancestry. He worked for several Italian-American crime families, and claimed to have murdered over 200 men over a career that lasted 30 years; he killed his first victim at age 13...
), Demeo had Richard Kuklinski murder Paul Rothenberg. In return, Demeo dropped a $50,000 debt that Kuklinski owed, and solidified his relationship with Anthony Gaggi, putting him on the path to becoming an official, or made, member of the Gambino crime family.
Andrei Katz murder
In late 1974, a conflict that had erupted between the Roy's crew and a young bodyshop owner named Andrei Katz had continued to escalate. In May 1975, Roy was informed by a police officer that, as a result of this conflict, Andrei was cooperating with authorities. In June he was lured to a place where he could be confronted. After being abducted, he was stabbed to death and then dismembered. An accomplice who helped bait Katz confessed her role and Joseph Testa and
Henry BorelliHenry Joseph Borelli also known as "Dirty Henry" is a New York mafioso with the Gambino crime family who became a core member of the violent DeMeo crew.-DeMeo Gang:...
were both arrested. They would secure an acquittal at trial in January 1976.
This was the first known murder committed by the DeMeo crew, and for years was thought to have been the first occasion where Roy or members of his crew had dismembered a body for disposal. In 2003 however, new information was provided to the
Federal Bureau of InvestigationThe Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency. The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
(FBI) by
BonannoThe Bonanno crime family is one of the "Five Families" that controls organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia .-The formation of the family:...
UnderbossCapo Bastone or "Sotto Capo", known as the "Underboss" is second in command to the Capo Crimini. It is a rank in the American and Italian Mafia. The Underboss is sometimes a family member, such as a son, that will take over the family if the don is sick, killed, or sent to prison...
Salvatore VitaleSalvatore "Good Looking Sal" Vitale was a New York City caterer and former underboss of the Bonanno crime family of La Cosa Nostra before becoming a government informant....
, who claimed that in 1974 he was ordered to deliver the corpse of a man who had just been murdered to a garage in
QueensQueens is the largest in area, the second-largest in population, and the easternmost of the Five Boroughs which form New York City. The Borough of Queens' boundaries are identical to those of the County of Queens , a subdivision of the State of New York in the Northeastern United States.Located on...
so that it could be disposed of. When he arrived at the location, Vitale claims, Roy DeMeo was present along with several other men who may have been early members of the DeMeo Crew. Vitale also claims that Roy had with him a knife, presumably to dismember the corpse. This information suggests that DeMeo and his followers may have been involved in murder and dismemberment earlier than previously thought by law enforcement.
Gemini Method
As the 1970s continued, Roy 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 Roy and crew to ensure that victims would be dispatched quickly and then made to disappear.
The method of execution was dubbed the Gemini Method, named after the
Gemini LoungeThe Gemini Lounge was a bar and at one time the headquarters of a notorious Gambino Mafia Family crew headed by Roy DeMeo that is suspected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation of between 75-200 murders from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s...
, the primary hangout of the DeMeo crew as well as the site where most of the crew's victims were killed. The exact process of the Gemini Method, revealed by multiple crew members and associates who became government witness in the early 1980s, was as follows: typically, the victim would be lured through the side door of the Lounge, and into the apartment that made up the back portion of the building. At this point, a crew member (almost always Roy DeMeo according to crew member turned government witness
Frederick DiNomeFrederick DiNome was a professional drag racer and a member of the DeMeo crew, headed by capo Roy DeMeo...
) 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 in order to staunch the blood flow.
Immediately after, another member of the crew (originally
Chris RosenbergHarvey "Chris" Rosenberg was a notorious member of a crew run by Gambino crime family soldier Roy DeMeo that is suspected of 75–200 murders in the mid 1970s to the early 1980s...
up until his 1979 murder, according to government witness testimony) would stab the victim in the heart in order to prevent any 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 its clothing and dragged into the bathroom where it was left while the remaining blood drained out and/or congealed within the body. This was to eliminate the messiness of the next step, when crew members would place the body onto plastic tarps laid out in the main room and proceed to dismember it, cutting off the arms, legs and head.
The body parts would then be put into bags, placed in cardboard boxes and sent off to the Fountain Avenue Dump in
BrooklynBrooklyn is one of the five boroughs of New York City, located southwest of Queens on the western tip of Long Island. An independent city until its consolidation with New York in 1898, Brooklyn is New York City's most populous borough, with 2.5 million residents, and second largest in area...
, where so many tons of garbage were dropped each day that it was a near impossibility for the bodies to ever be discovered. During the initial stages of an early 1980s Federal/State task force targeting the DeMeo Crew, a plan by authorities to excavate sections of the dump in order to locate remains of victims was aborted when it was deemed too costly and likely to fail at locating any meaningful evidence.
Although this Gemini method was the most common method the crew practiced, some victims would be 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 of New York to serve as a message and warning. As well, there were 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 yacht owned by one of DeMeo's men was used on at least one occasion to dispose of bodies as well.
In the latter half of 1975, Roy became a silent partner in a
peep showA peep show or peepshow is an exhibition of pictures, objects or people viewed through a small hole or magnifying glass. This may or may not be a sex show, although the latter kind has eventually become the most common usage of the term since the advent of cinema and television, which largely...
/
prostitutionProstitution is the act or practice of engaging in sex acts for hire. In most cultures, prostitution is viewed by many as a deviant profession, either illegal or socially discouraged...
establishment in
New JerseyNew Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered on the north by New York, and to the east by the Hudson River, Upper New York Bay, the Kill Van Kull, Newark Bay, the Arthur Kill, Raritan Bay, Sandy Hook Bay, Westchester County, New York City, Long Island, and...
after the owner of the business became unable to pay his loansharking debts. Roy also began dealing in pornography, including bestiality, which he sold to his New Jersey establishment as well as connections he had in
Rhode IslandRhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
. When his superior
Nino GaggiAnthony Frank "Nino" Gaggi was a high-ranking member of the New York Gambino crime family who supervised the infamous DeMeo crew, noted for their lucrative auto theft schemes and multiple murders....
found out about Roy's involvement in such
tabooA taboo is a strong social prohibition relating to any area of human activity or social custom that is sacred and forbidden. Breaking the taboo is usually considered objectionable or abhorrent by society. The term comes from the Tongan language, and appears in many Polynesian cultures...
films, he ordered Roy to stop on threat of death. Roy did not stop however, and Gaggi continued to accept his weekly payments. Gaggi's nephew
Dominick MontiglioDominick Montiglio is a former associate of the Gambino crime family, once the most feared of New York City's Mafia families....
claimed that the subject was simply never mentioned between the two men after the initial confrontation, and as long as Roy continued to provide copiously for his boss the violation of his order was never addressed.
Another forbidden subject between Roy and his boss Nino was narcotics. In the Gambino Family, as most of the other
MafiaThe Mafia is a Sicilian criminal society which is believed to have emerged in late 19th century Sicily, and the first such society to be referred to as a mafia . It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct...
Families in the country, drug-dealing was an act punishable by death for any members caught being involved, owing to the stiffer sentences imposed for such crimes. It was feared by the administrations of the Mafia Families that those facing such harsh penalties would be more likely to flip, or become cooperators for the government. Gaggi and DeMeo, like many others however, continued to deal in narcotics despite the warning due to the massive amounts of profits earned.
By this time, Roy's drug operations had expanded greatly from his initial operations in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He had recently started selling
cocaineCocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system and an appetite suppressant...
out of the
Gemini LoungeThe Gemini Lounge was a bar and at one time the headquarters of a notorious Gambino Mafia Family crew headed by Roy DeMeo that is suspected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation of between 75-200 murders from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s...
and was also the financer of a large
marijuanaCannabisalso known as marijuana or marihuana, and ganja , among many other namesrefers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug...
operation that imported the drug from
ColombiaColombia , officially the Republic of Colombia , is a constitutional republic in northwestern South America. Colombia is bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the northwest by Panama; and to the west by the Pacific Ocean...
in 25-pound
bale-Places:* Bale , a small town in Croatia* Bale Province, Ethiopia, a former province in Ethiopia* Bale Zone in Oromia, Ethiopia* Bale, Norfolk in England* Bale, Poland* Balé Province, Burkina Faso* Basel, the Swiss city, for which the French name is Bâle...
s. The marijuana would be delivered from offshore freighters and sold out of a Canarsie bodyshop. Roy's weekly
tributeA tribute is wealth one party gives to another as a sign of respect or, as was often case in historical contexts, of submission or allegiance...
s to Nino continued to increase from his drug operations and Nino continued to feign ignorance as to the source of the money.
As 1975 drew to a close, Roy was almost
indictedIn the common law legal system, an indictment is a formal accusation that a person has committed a criminal offence. In those jurisdictions which retain the concept of a felony, the serious criminal offence would be a felony; those jurisdictions which have abolished the concept of a felony often...
due to
Internal Revenue ServiceThe Internal Revenue Service is the United States federal government agency that collects taxes and enforces the internal revenue laws. It is an agency within the U.S. Department of the Treasury and is responsible for interpretation and application of Federal tax law. The official U.S...
(IRS) investigations into his income. Months earlier, the Boro of Brooklyn Credit Union had been pushed into
insolvencyInsolvency means the inability to pay one's debts as they fall due. Usually used in Business terms, insolvency refers to the inability for a company to pay off its debts.Business insolvency is defined in two different ways:...
as a result of DeMeo and his colleague's plundering of its finances. As a result Roy quit the Credit Union, avoiding law enforcement attention that increased as the Union was merged into another one. Despite this, Roy's had already gained the attention of the IRS earlier in the year. Before an indictment could be handed down against him however, he utilized false
affidavitAn affidavit is a formal sworn statement of fact, signed by the author, who is called the affiant or deponent, and witnessed as to the authenticity of the affiant's signature by a taker of oaths, such as a notary public or commissioner of oaths. The name is Medieval Latin for he has declared upon...
s from businesses owned by friends and acquaintances claiming that he was on their payrolls as an employee. These affidavits served to account for some of his income and he and the IRS reached a settlement.
In May 1976, another murder was committed by the DeMeo crew. Joseph Brocchini, a
madeA made man, also known as a wiseguy, made guy, man of honor, or Mafioso is someone who has been officially inducted into the Mafia .-Overview:...
member in another of New York's
Five FamiliesThe Five Families are the five major Italian-American Mafia crime families which have dominated organized crime in New York City since the 1930s. Prior to this was the Maranzano Family and the Masseria Family which ultimately ended up with the two families fighting each other during a period known...
, was involved in an argument with Roy related to a pornography business both were involved in. The argument turned into a physical altercation when Brocchini punched DeMeo in the face, giving him a black eye. Mafia protocol prevented DeMeo, still only an associate of the Gambino Family, from retaliating in any way against Brocchini or he would be killed. DeMeo went to his boss Nino and explained the situation.
Dominick MontiglioDominick Montiglio is a former associate of the Gambino crime family, once the most feared of New York City's Mafia families....
, Nino's nephew who was now fully working for his uncle, claimed to have been present at this meeting, where DeMeo allegedly swore revenge regardless of the rules.
Nino responded that they would never be given permission but reportedly agreed with Roy's intentions, merely advising him to ensure that the murder could not be traced back to them. On May 20, 1976, Roy and Henry Borelli shot Brocchini five times in the back of the head in the office of a used-car dealership he owned. The office was ransacked and the other employees were blindfolded and handcuffed prior to the shooting in order to give the illusion that the murder was the result of an armed robbery gone bad.
In the following month Vincent Governara, a young man with no organized crime ties, was shot down by Roy and Anthony Gaggi. Gaggi had held a long-standing feud with Governara and had told his nephew Dominick Montiglio to keep a lookout for him. One night Dominick spotted Governara's car outside of a building hosting a
craps gameCraps is a dice game in which players place wagers on the outcome of the roll or a series of rolls of two dice. Players may wager money against each other or a bank . Because it requires very little equipment, street craps can easily be played in informal settings.-History:Craps developed from a...
in the New York neighborhood of Bensonhurst. Once informed of his nephew's discovery, Nino, along with Roy and Dominick, excused themselves from a birthday party being held at the time for Dominick's wife and drove back to the location where Governara's car had been seen. There, the trio waited until Governara left the game and approached his car, at which point Nino and Roy shot him several times. Governara died in the hospital a week later.
One month later in July, Roy flew to
FloridaFlorida is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the north. It was the 27th state admitted to the United States...
and murdered George Byrum, another man targeted for revenge by Nino Gaggi. Byrum had provided information to robbers that led to Nino's Florida home being robbed. Roy lured Byrum to a hotel under the pretenses of a business deal. As soon as Byrum walked into the room he was shot to death by DeMeo. Roy, Nino, and a Gambino soldier operating out of Florida originally planned to dismember the corpse in the hotel room and transport it out in suitcases. This plan was quickly abandoned due to the presence of construction workers near the hotel room and the body was found shortly thereafter lying in the hotel's bathtub with its head halfway sawed off.
Roy'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 crew and sold them off at a New Jersey car lot that he owned. He also involved himself with
hijacking' is a form of hijacking, where the crime is of stealing a motor vehicle and so also armed assault when the vehicle is occupied. Historically, such as in the rash of semi-trailer truck hijackings during the 1960s, the general term hijacking was used for that type of vehicle abduction, which did not...
, targeting trucks that were delivering or receiving shipments from the
John F. Kennedy International AirportJohn F. Kennedy International Airport is an international airport located in Queens County, New York in southeastern New York City about 12 miles from Lower Manhattan...
. His crew now included
Edward 'Danny' GrilloEdward "Danny" Grillo was a member of a Gambino crime family crew headed by soldier Roy DeMeo...
, a hijacker who had just been released from prison.
Roy also allegedly added to his body count according to various sources, including an FBI informant who reported that Roy DeMeo was a "ruthless killer" who had killed at least one dozen people and dismembered their bodies to make them disappear. Nino Gaggi's nephew
Dominick MontiglioDominick Montiglio is a former associate of the Gambino crime family, once the most feared of New York City's Mafia families....
, who sometimes drove Roy on errands, also claims that during one trip around this time Roy had pointed to a recently built gas station and stated that he and his crew had buried the bodies of two victims under its foundation.
In the fall of 1976, the Gambino Family went through a massive change when its boss
Carlo GambinoCarlo "Don Carlo" Gambino, was a mafioso who became boss of the Gambino crime family, that still bears his name today. He was one of several national bosses gathering at the 1957 Apalachin Convention. Gambino was known for being low-key and secretive...
died of natural causes.
Paul CastellanoPaul "Big Paul" Castellano , also known as "The Howard Hughes of the Mob" and "Big Pauly" , was a Mafia boss in New York City. He succeeded Carlo Gambino as head of the Gambino crime family, then one of New York's largest Mafia families...
was named the boss of the Gambino Family, with
Aniello DellacroceAniello John "Mr. Niel" Dellacroce, also known as "Father O'Neil", "The Archangel of Darkness", "The Tall Guy", and "The Polack" was an Italian immigrant gangster, and underboss of the Gambino crime family.-Early years:...
retaining the position of
UnderbossCapo Bastone or "Sotto Capo", known as the "Underboss" is second in command to the Capo Crimini. It is a rank in the American and Italian Mafia. The Underboss is sometimes a family member, such as a son, that will take over the family if the don is sick, killed, or sent to prison...
. The implications of this were twofold for Roy. His superior, Nino was elevated to the position of
CapoA caporegime or capodecina, usually shortened to just a capo is a term used in the Mafia for a high ranking made member of a crime family who heads a "crew" of soldiers and has major social status and influence in the organization...
, taking over the crew of men Paul headed before becoming boss. This promotion was beneficial for Roy, whose mentor was now even closer to the ruling Gambino hierarchy. Another advantage was that now that Carlo Gambino had died, new associates would be eligible for membership into the Family.
Paul did not immediately "open the books" for new members however, opting instead to promote existing members and change around leadership of the crews he now presided over. He also reportedly told Gaggi he was against the idea of Roy ever being made for a number of reasons. Castellano's illegal activities focused more on
white-collar crimeWithin the field of criminology, white-collar crime has been defined by Edwin Sutherland as "a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation" . Sutherland was a proponent of Symbolic Interactionism, and believed that criminal behavior was...
, and it was said by both law enforcement and other mafioso that he looked at himself as more of a businessman than a gangster. He looked down on the street guys, such as Roy, who were involved in things like auto theft and hijacking. Additionally, Paul felt Roy in particular was unpredictable and did not feel he could be controlled. Nino's attempts at persuading Paul to consider inducting Roy were continually rejected because of this.
Despite the considerable contributions Roy had already made to the Gambino Family, not least of which were his tens of thousands of dollars worth of weekly payments to Nino Gaggi, by Spring of 1977 DeMeo was still not a made, or official, member. Reportedly distraught at his situation, Roy continued to look for more opportunities to bring in larger amounts of profit to his superiors.
The Westies alliance
DeMeo found what he needed to ensure that he would be officially inducted into the Gambino Family when he formed an alliance with a gang of Irish-American criminals known as the
WestiesThe Westies are a predominantly Irish American organized crime association operating from the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan's West Side in New York City. They were most influential from 1965 — 1986...
soon to be headed by
James CoonanJames "Jimmy C" Coonan is an Irish-American mobster and racketeer from Manhattan, New York who is currently serving a 75 year prison term.-Biography:...
. Coonan's only obstacle to assuming control of the westside and its lucrative money making enterprise was
Mickey SpillaneMichael Spillane much better known as Mickey Spillane was an Irish-American mobster from Hell's Kitchen, New York...
, the mainstay of criminal activities in the area for 20 odd years.
In May 1977, Roy and crew member Danny Grillo murdered Spillane at the behest of Coonan, who then became the top criminal figure in the westside. Roy, sensing an opportunity to create a vast source of income for his superiors, informed Nino Gaggi of the possibilities of a partnership between the Westies and the Gambino Family. Shortly afterwards, Coonan and his second in command
Mickey FeatherstoneFrancis "Mickey" Featherstone was an Irish American mobster and member of the Westies, an organized crime gang from Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan in New York City. The Westies were bossed by Jimmy Coonan, a vicious thug and killer determined to take over the neighborhood rackets. Featherstone had...
were called to a meeting with Paul Castellano, becoming a de-facto arm of the Gambino crime family and agreeing to share 10 per cent of all profits. In exchange, the Westies would be privy to several lucrative union deals and take on murder contracts for the Italians.
It was his pivotal role in the Westie/Gambino alliance that reportedly convinced Castellano to give Roy his "button", or formally induct him into the crime family. DeMeo was made in mid-1977, being put in charge of handling all Family business with the Westies. He was also ordered to get permission before committing any murders, and to avoid drug-dealing. Despite this warning, DeMeo's crew continued to sell large amounts of
cocaineCocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system and an appetite suppressant...
,
marijuanaCannabisalso known as marijuana or marihuana, and ganja , among many other namesrefers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug...
, and a variety of narcotic pills, a violation many members of all
Five FamiliesThe Five Families are the five major Italian-American Mafia crime families which have dominated organized crime in New York City since the 1930s. Prior to this was the Maranzano Family and the Masseria Family which ultimately ended up with the two families fighting each other during a period known...
continued to commit through the late 1970s and early 1980s due to the tremendous profits gained.
Although he had been ordered by his superiors that he had to get permission before any murders, DeMeo continued to commit unsanctioned killings. In July 1977 Roy and his men committed a double homicide, shooting to death Johnathan Quinn, a successful car thief suspected of cooperating with law enforcement, and Cherie Golden, Quinn's 19-year old girlfriend. DeMeo and his men dumped the bodies in locations where they would be discovered to serve as a warning against cooperation with authorities. When questioned by his superiors as to the motive of killing a young woman, Roy claimed she was a risk and may have cooperated had the police pressured her.
By 1978, Roy was heard bragging to associates that he had murdered one hundred people. It was also during this year that he put out word among not just the Gambino Family but the other New York Cosa Nostra families as well that he and his crew were available for murder contracts. In at least one case, the crew charged a relatively paltry fee of $5,000. Other murders were committed for free, Roy describing them to crew members as "professional favors". He added to his crew
Frederick DiNomeFrederick DiNome was a professional drag racer and a member of the DeMeo crew, headed by capo Roy DeMeo...
, who served as his chaffeur but also became involved in the Crew's various illegal activities. DiNome was reportedly fiercely loyal to Roy, who had befriended him when the two were teenagers.
In November 1978 DeMeo and his crew murdered one of their own members,
Edward 'Danny' GrilloEdward "Danny" Grillo was a member of a Gambino crime family crew headed by soldier Roy DeMeo...
. Grillo, who had fallen into heavy debt with DeMeo, was killed after Roy and Nino Gaggi felt that he was becoming susceptible to police coercion to cooperate against the crew. Grillo, who was dismembered and disposed of like many of the crew's murder victims, was the first occurrence of intra-crew discipline.
The next crew member who was murdered by Roy and the others was
Chris RosenbergHarvey "Chris" Rosenberg was a notorious member of a crew run by Gambino crime family soldier Roy DeMeo that is suspected of 75–200 murders in the mid 1970s to the early 1980s...
, Roy's second-in-command within the group and reportedly his most loyal ally. Rosenberg 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 Colombian drug cartel and violence was threatened between the Colombians and the Gambino family unless Rosenberg was murdered.
Roy was ordered to kill Chris but stalled for weeks. During this period of time Roy committed his most public murder, the victim being a college student with no criminal ties named Dominick Ragucci who was paying for his tuition by being a door-to-door salesman. DeMeo saw Ragucci parked outside his house and assumed it was an assassin. After a car chase, which according to Albert DeMeo's book "For the Sins of My Father", consisted of Freddy DiNome at the wheel with Roy DeMeo and Joesph Guglielmo hanging out of the windows firing wildly (Guglielmo even shot holes in the cars floorboards in his excitement). Ragucci was shot to death by Roy when his car became too damaged to continue driving. Roy, convinced it was an assassin from the drug cartel, returned home and gathered his family. He drove them out of New York and left them at a hotel for a short time.
In the meantime his murder of the college student had infuriated his superior Nino Gaggi, who ordered him again to kill Chris Rosenberg before there were any other innocent victims. In May 1979 Rosenberg, who reportedly had no knowledge of the Colombian situation, arrived at a meeting of the DeMeo Crew and was shot in the head by Roy. Crew member
Anthony SenterAnthony Senter is an American criminal who became of a member of the DeMeo crew in the New York Gambino crime family.-Biography:Born in Canarsie, Brooklyn, Anthony Michael Senter was a nephew of Gambino caporegime Robert Senter. His uncle Robert was the owner of Canarsie Recycling Company located...
then finished Chris off when he managed to get up after Roy shot him.
Unlike Grillo, Rosenberg's body was not dismembered or made to disappear. The Colombians had demanded that his murder make the papers otherwise they would not believe it had actually occurred. Roy's men placed Rosenberg's body in his car and left it on the side of Cross Bay Boulevard (near Gateway National Wildlife Refuge) to be found. Roy's son Albert DeMeo would later write a book in which he stated that Chris's murder affected his father deeply. Likewise, testimony from
Frederick DiNomeFrederick DiNome was a professional drag racer and a member of the DeMeo crew, headed by capo Roy DeMeo...
and
Vito ArenaVito Arena was an associate of the Gambino crime family, one of the five Italian Mafia families located in New York. For a short time, he was a member of the DeMeo crew, a notorious group of car thieves, drug dealers and murderers led by Gambino soldier Roy DeMeo that were responsible for between...
claims that Roy expressed his regret at having to kill Chris and at times even appeared depressed over it.
Empire Boulevard operation
As 1979 continued Roy DeMeo began to expand his business activities, in particular his auto theft operation, which would soon become the largest in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
's history. Dubbed the Empire Boulevard Operation by FBI agents, the operation consisted of hundreds of stolen cars being shipped from ports in New Jersey to
KuwaitThe State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab emirate bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south and Iraq to the north and west. The greatest distance from north to south is 200 km and from east to west 170 km . The name is a diminutive of an Arabic word meaning "fortress built near water." It has a...
and
Puerto RicoPuerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is a self-governing unincorporated territory of the United States located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of the Virgin Islands...
. Roy put together a group of five active partners in the operation, all of whom earned approximately $30,000 a week each in profit.
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 ArenaVito Arena was an associate of the Gambino crime family, one of the five Italian Mafia families located in New York. For a short time, he was a member of the DeMeo crew, a notorious group of car thieves, drug dealers and murderers led by Gambino soldier Roy DeMeo that were responsible for between...
, a long-time car thief and armed robber who began working for Roy in 1978 after murdering his old partner. Like DiNome, Arena would become closely involved with the DeMeo Crew by the end of the 1970s. In 1979, the scheme 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 the proper authorities with information.
Eppolito murders
In late 1979, Roy and Nino Gaggi became involved in a conflict with James Eppolito and James Eppolito Jr., two made Gambino members in Gaggi's crew. They were both respectively the paternal uncle and cousin of the corrupt former
New York City Police DepartmentThe New York City Police Department , established in 1845, is currently the largest police force in the United States, with primary responsibilities in law enforcement and investigation within the five boroughs of New York City...
detective, Louis Eppolito. Louis Eppolito's father, Ralph Eppolito, was James Eppolito's brother and also a made member of the Gambino family.
Eppolito met with Paul 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 in the situation and gave Gaggi permission to do what he pleased. He and Roy DeMeo shot the two to death in Eppolito Jr.'s car en route to the
Gemini LoungeThe Gemini Lounge was a bar and at one time the headquarters of a notorious Gambino Mafia Family crew headed by Roy DeMeo that is suspected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation of between 75-200 murders from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s...
on October 1, 1979. 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.
Because Roy had split up with Gaggi as they left the scene, he was not arrested or identified by the witness. Gaggi would be charged with murder and the attempted murder of a police officer but through jury tampering was convicted only of assault and given a 5 to 15 year sentence in Federal Prison. DeMeo would murder the witness shortly after Gaggi's sentencing in March 1980.
The Empire Boulevard Operation had continued to expand through 1979 and 1980 until the warehouse serving as its headquarters was raided by agents from the
NewarkBrick City redirects here. For the township in Ocean County, see Brick Township, New Jersey.Newark is the largest city in New Jersey, and the county seat of Essex County. Newark has a population of 281,402, making it the largest municipality in New Jersey and the 65th largest city in the U.S...
branch of the FBI in the summer of 1980. The FBI had been surveilling the warehouse and some of the men unloading vehicles there and had shortly thereafter obtained a search warrant. 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. Roy ordered Borelli and DiNome to plead guilty to the charges in hopes that it would stop any further investigations into his activities by the FBI or other law enforcement agencies.
Downfall and murder
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 LoungeThe Gemini Lounge was a bar and at one time the headquarters of a notorious Gambino Mafia Family crew headed by Roy DeMeo that is suspected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation of between 75-200 murders from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s...
. It is around this time that an FBI bug in the home of Gambino Family soldier
Angelo RuggieroAngelo Salvatore Ruggiero Sr. pronounced was a caporegime of the Gambino crime family and close friend of John Gotti.-Mob family roots:...
picked up a conversation between Angelo and
Gene GottiGene Gotti is a New York mobster who belongs to the Gambino crime family who was a major drug trafficker in New York. Born to John and Fannie Gotti, Gene has four brothers: John, Peter, Richard, and Vincent Gotti. Gene became a Gambino associate around 1966, a made man in 1976, Capo in 1985, and...
, a brother of
John GottiJohn Joseph Gotti, Jr. was the boss of the Gambino crime family after the murder of the previous boss Paul Castellano. John Gotti was the most powerful crime boss during his era...
.
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. Gene Gotti mentions that his brother John was wary of taking the contract, as DeMeo had an "army of killers" around him. It is also mentioned in this same secretly recorded conversation that, at that time, John had killed fewer than 10 people, while DeMeo had killed at least 38. According to mob turncoat Salvatore Gravano, eventually the contract was given to
Frank DeCiccoFrank DeCicco pronounced was a New York mobster and labor racketeer belonging to the Gambino crime family who eventually plotted the murder of boss Paul Castellano...
, but Frank and his crew couldn't get to DeMeo either. DeCicco allegedly handed the job to Roy's own men.
According to the book
Murder Machine, in his final days Roy DeMeo was seen wearing a leather jacket, a shotgun concealed underneath. On January 10, 1983, DeMeo went to crew member
Patrick TestaPatrick 'Patty' Testa was a New York gangster who belonged to the violent DeMeo crew of the Gambino crime family before transferring to the Lucchese Family...
's bodyshop for a meeting with his men. A few days later, on January 18, he was found murdered in his abandoned car's trunk. He had been shot multiple times in the head and also had a bullet wound in his hand, assumed by law enforcement as being from throwing his hand up to his face in a self-defense reflex when the shots were fired at him.
Anthony GaggiAnthony Frank "Nino" Gaggi was a high-ranking member of the New York Gambino crime family who supervised the infamous DeMeo crew, noted for their lucrative auto theft schemes and multiple murders....
was suspected by law enforcement officials of being the one who personally killed DeMeo, although it is highly likely crew members Joseph Testa and Anthony Senter were present as well.
Gaggi was not charged with this crime, although he was charged with a number of other murders. He died of a heart attack during his trial in 1988, aged 62. It should be noted, however, that according to
Anthony CassoAnthony "Gaspipe" Casso was a New York money machine mobster and the former powerful Underboss of the Lucchese crime family. Later he became a government informant.-Early life:...
's 2008 biography, Roy DeMeo was killed at Patrick Testa's East Flatbush home by Joseph Testa and Anthony Senter following an agreement with Casso, who was given the contract by Gotti and DeCicco after they were unable to kill DeMeo during the fall of 1982. The Casso biography notes that DeMeo was seated, about to receive coffee, when Testa and Senter opened fire. Anthony Gaggi was not present.
In April,1984,
Colombo crime familyThe Colombo crime family is one of the "Five Families" that controls organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia...
soldier
Ralph ScopoRalph "Little Ralphie" Scopo was a New York mobster and a member of the Colombo crime family who ran a powerful New York union local for the mob....
was overheard explaining to an associate that DeMeo had been killed by his own family because they merely suspected that he would not be able to stand up to legal charges that resulted from his stolen car ring. The motive as suggested by Scopo is widely accepted by law enforcement and other sources.
DeMeo's crew was soon rounded up and the core members
Henry BorelliHenry Joseph Borelli also known as "Dirty Henry" is a New York mafioso with the Gambino crime family who became a core member of the violent DeMeo crew.-DeMeo Gang:...
, Joseph Testa, and Anthony Senter were imprisoned for life after two trials that saw them convicted of a collective total of 25 murders, in addition to extortion, car-theft and drug trafficking. The convictions were secured in large part by testimony of former members
Frederick DiNomeFrederick DiNome was a professional drag racer and a member of the DeMeo crew, headed by capo Roy DeMeo...
and
Dominick MontiglioDominick Montiglio is a former associate of the Gambino crime family, once the most feared of New York City's Mafia families....
.
Paul Castellano was indicted for ordering the murder of DeMeo, as well as a host of other crimes, but he was killed in December 1985 while out on bail in the middle of the first trial. The murder was ordered by John Gotti, who thus became the new boss of the Gambino family.
The FBI and NYPD say that DeMeo and his Gemini Crew murdered at least 70 people between 1973 and 1983, but the true total could be as high as 200. The vast majority were disposed of so thoroughly that they were never found.
Richard KuklinskiRichard "The Iceman" Kuklinski was a convicted murderer and notorious contract killer who was of Polish and Irish ancestry. He worked for several Italian-American crime families, and claimed to have murdered over 200 men over a career that lasted 30 years; he killed his first victim at age 13...
, a convicted contract killer and the focus of three HBO Undercover programs, also worked with Roy DeMeo. In fact, Kuklinski made this claim in the second of the three HBO documentaries. He filled several contracts for DeMeo, and also claimed that he was the one who murdered him. He shot him five times (twice in the head), and pistol-whipped his corpse, leaving him in the trunk of his car to be found.
Sale of personal belongings and artifacts
Through a family friend, personal items claimed to having belonged to Roy DeMeo, including artifacts from the Gemini Lounge, were sold on
ebayeBay Inc. is an American Internet company that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide. A majority of the sales take place through a set-time auction format, but subsequent methods include...
in 2007 and into 2008, and again in September 2009, by his son, Al DeMeo, with an accompanying notarized
certificate of authenticityA Certificate of Authenticity is a seal or small sticker on a proprietary computer program, t-shirt, jersey, or any other memorabilia item, especially in the world of computers and sports, which is designed to demonstrate that the item is authentic...
.
Among the items regularly sold are personally-owned neckties, personally signed checks, monogrammed personal belongings, etc.
Sources
- Murder Machine by Gene Mustain & Jerry Capeci
Gerald "Jerry" Capeci is an American journalist and author who specializes in coverage of the Five mafia crime families of New York...
, 1993, ISBN 0-451-40387-8
- For The Sins of My Father: A Mafia Killer, His Son, and the Legacy of a Mob Life, by Al DeMeo, 2003, ISBN 978-0-7679-1129-0
External links