Roy DeMeo

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Prison photo from 1981

Roy Albert DeMeo (born September 7, 1942 in Bath Beach, Brooklyn , New York City , † January 10, 1983 ) was an Italian-American mobster of the La Cosa Nostra in the Gambino family . As a simple " soldato " in the mafia hierarchy, he was the head of the so-called DeMeo crew , who the FBI accuses of at least 70 murders between 1973 and 1983. Most of the victims were never found because the crew disposed of the bodies in a special way.

Life

Early years

Roy Albert DeMeo was born in Bath Beach, Brooklyn in 1942 to a working-class family from Italy . As a teenager he began to earn money as a loan shark with usury . At the age of 17 this was already a full time job for him. He married early and had three children.

Gambino family

The Gambino soldier Anthony Gaggi became aware of the successful gangster and suggested that he join his crew. In the late 1960s, DeMeo had two pillars: on the one hand, the usurious credit business with Gaggi and, on the other hand, a gang of young drug dealers and car thieves that he led.

The latter essentially consisted of Joseph "Dracula" Guglielmo (DeMeo's cousin), Joseph Testa, Anthony Senter and Joseph's younger brother Patrick Testa.

DeMeo joined the Brooklyn Credit Union . This job served him on the one hand as a cover, on the other hand he also embezzled money and invested it in his usurious credit business. When the crew was threatened by a police informant, they committed their first murder.

Gemini method

In the years that followed, the crew developed a method of dismembering the corpses and making them unrecognizable for identification. The crew called this modus operandi the "Gemini method". According to later statements by members of the crew, the victim was lured into an adjoining room of the Gemini Lounge bar in the Flatlands, Brooklyn. There DeMeo shot the victim in the head with a gun with a silencer and wrapped a towel around him to stop the flow of blood. The victim was then bled to death in a bathtub for about 40 minutes and then dismembered. The body parts were then buried in Brooklyn landfills , especially on Fountain Avenue Dump , where they have not yet been found. The victims were murdered for a wide variety of reasons, usually for business reasons, but also for private vindictiveness.

Another criminal career

In 1975 DeMeo became a partner in a peep show in New Jersey , which he took over because the original owner could no longer pay his debts. DeMeo also traded in porn films depicting sodomy . He met the later killer Richard Kuklinski know. When his leader Anthony Gaggi found out about these films, he forbade DeMeo - under threat of death - to continue producing or distributing them. DeMeo did not obey the ban, but since he continued to deliver money to Gaggi, nothing more happened.

Drug trafficking was also a risky business for DeMeo, as the Gambino family had banned drug trafficking; here too he was threatened with death by non-compliance. The Brooklyn Credit Union union treasury was pillaged by DeMeo in such a way that the union was essentially bankrupt .

DeMeo also ran a used car dealership and robbed trucks en route to or from John F. Kennedy International Airport .

In the fall of 1976, the head of the Gambino family Carlo Gambino died . Paul Castellano followed him as family boss. As a result, Gaggi was named capo , which was an advantage for DeMeo; however, he himself did not enjoy the absolute trust of Castellano. This concentrated more on the so-called "white collar crime" and is said to have spoken out against DeMeo's further promotion. DeMeo was disappointed and looked for more ways to earn money for the family in order to move up.

The alliance with the Westies

DeMeo sought an alliance with the Westies , an Irish criminal gang led by James Coonan . Therefore, today there is speculation whether Roy DeMeo could be behind the murder of Michael "Mickey" Spillane , an internal competitor of Coonan. DeMeo managed to meet the Westies leadership with Paul Castellano. The Westies made a regular tribute payment to the Gambino family, took on murder assignments for them and in return were able to act unhindered in certain business areas.

After this success, DeMeo was accepted as a full member of the family ("Made Man"), which gave him greater protection and more income opportunities. DeMeo remained a liaison with the Westies and - despite his admission - continued to illegally deal with drugs.

In addition, as a member, DeMeo was again expressly obliged to obtain permission from the top of the family if he wanted to commit murders; but he did not obey this rule either. Rumors circulated within the Gambino family that by the end of 1977 the DeMeo crew had committed over 100 murders, including at least one $ 5,000 for a murder and some courtesy murders for free.

In November 1978, Edward Grillo was murdered despite being part of the crew. Since he was heavily in debt, it was feared that he might become a Pentito and offer himself to the FBI as a key witness . Grillo was the crew's first internal murder victim; his body was dismembered.

The next internal victim was Chris Rosenberg, a loyal companion of DeMeo who had joined the crew in 1966 at the age of 16. He had murdered a member of a Colombian drug cartel without the permission of the family leaders and now had to die for mafia political reasons in order to keep the peace between the criminal organizations. DeMeo reportedly hesitated weeks before carrying out this murder.

During this time, DeMeo also murdered a completely innocent bystanders whom he mistook for a Colombian killer and shot after a wild chase. According to DeMeo's son Albert, who later wrote the book "For The Sins of My Father" , DeMeo cried when he realized his mistake.

Eppolito murders

In late 1979, DeMeo and Anthony "Nino" Gaggi were involved in a conflict with James Eppolito and James Eppolito Jr. Both were members of Gaggi's crew. James, himself a high-ranking member of the Gambino family, blackened Gaggi and DeMeo at Castellano for dealing in drugs. This would have resulted in the death penalty. Castellano, however, took Gaggi's side and released Eppolito for shooting. Gaggi and DeMeo then murdered James Eppolito and James Eppolito Jr.

They were observed by a witness and Gaggi was convicted on the basis of the witness’s testimony. DeMeo later murdered this witness.

Decline and death

In 1982, the FBI began monitoring DeMeo because of the large number of disappearances in his vicinity or with whom he had contact. It was possible to overhear a conversation between Gambino soldier Angelo Ruggiero and Gene Gotti, a brother of John Gotti . During this conversation it was discussed that Paul Castellano wanted to have DeMeo removed. However, he had difficulty finding someone who wanted to do this "job".

DeMeo was an experienced killer who was always surrounded by large numbers of equally experienced contract killers. Frank DeCicco was eventually hired, but is said to have hired someone on DeMeo's crew.

DeMeo's son Albert wrote that his father became paranoid in the last days of his life and is said to have already put his personal belongings aside. A religious pamphlet discovered by the son suggested that Roy DeMeo may have made a confession . On January 10, 1983, he went to Patrick Testa's shop to meet his crew - Testa was also a member of the crew. Eight days later, DeMeo was found shot dead in a trunk . The FBI suspected Anthony Gaggi , but he was not charged. According to the 2008 autobiography of Anthony Casso, DeMeo was shot dead by Joseph Testa and Anthony Senter in Patrick Testa's house in East Flatbush. Contract killer Richard Kuklinski often worked with DeMeo and later claimed he murdered DeMeo.

The DeMeo crew were soon crushed by the judiciary: Henry Borelli, Joseph Testa and Anthony Senter were all sentenced to life imprisonment for a total of 25 proven murders. The conviction was also made possible because former members Frederick DiNome and Dominick Montiglio had testified in court.

In 1984 the FBI recorded a conversation with Colombo member Ralph “Little Ralphie” Scopo , in which he claimed that the Gambino family was afraid that DeMeo could become a Pentito and testify against the family.

Adaptations

  • DeMeo's life is described in the books Murder Machine by Gene Mustain and Jerry Capeci and For the Sins of My Father by Roy's son Albert DeMeo.
  • In the 2012 film The Iceman about the life of the murderer Richard Kuklinski , based on the book of the same name by Philip Carlo, DeMeo is played by Ray Liotta . In the film, the character of Chris Rosenberg is portrayed as Josh Rosenthal by David Schwimmer . The story of the Puerto Rican vacuum cleaner salesman who was killed out of paranoia and who was mistaken for a Colombian killer by DeMeo is also taken up in the film.

Documentation

literature

  • Al DeMeo: For The Sins of My Father: A Mafia Killer, His Son, and the Legacy of a Mob Life , 2003, ISBN 978-0-7679-1129-0
  • Howard Abadinsky: Organized Crime . 5th Edition, Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1997.
  • Richard Gambino: Blood of my Blood: The Dilemma of the Italian American . NY: Doubleday, 1974.
  • Jeff Harvey, "'Real Life Soprano' DeMeo gives Glimpse into Mob," Old Gold and Black Reporter, Wake Forest University, Nov. 21, 2002.
  • Joseph O'Brien: Boss of Bosses: The Fall of the Godfather: The FBI and Paul Castellano . NY: Dell, 1992.
  • Nicholas Pileggi: Wiseguy: Life in a Mafia Family . New York: Pocket, 1985.
  • Anthony DeStefano: The Last Godfather: Joey Massino & the Fall of the Bonanno Crime Family . California: Citadel, 2006.
  • Selwyn Raab: The Five Families: The Rise, Decline & Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empire . New York: St. Martins Press, 2005.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/JTRD-24X
  2. ↑ Capeci, Jerry (2004). The complete idiot's guide to the Mafia (2nd edition). Indianapolis, IN: Alpha Books. Pages 14 ff. ISBN 1-59257-305-3 .
  3. ↑ Carlo, Philip: The Ice Man: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer , HarperCollins Publishers , 2006, Sydney ISBN 978-0-7322-8496-1 ISBN 0-7322-8496-1
  4. ^ Carlo, Philip: ICE MAN: Confessions of a Mafia Killer. Piper Verlag, May 2011. ISBN 978-3-492-26434-1
personal data
SURNAME DeMeo, Roy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES DeMeo, Roy Albert (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American mafioso
DATE OF BIRTH September 7, 1942
PLACE OF BIRTH Bath Beach, Brooklyn , New York City
DATE OF DEATH January 10, 1983