The story is a little too perfect and the kind of thing you'd make up about Tommy DeSimone. Thomas DeSimone (May 24, 1950 disappeared January 14, 1979) was an American criminal associated with New York City's Lucchese crime family who is alleged to have participated in both the Air France robbery and the Lufthansa heist. . Of course, the truth was that DeSimone was walking into a trap. In 1970 he killed a made man with the Gambino crime family named Billy Batts Devino. In 1970, while serving drinks to some mobsters at Robert's Lounge, Gianco forgot to give Tommy DeVito his Crown Royal, angering him. He was introduced into the Vario Crew by Jimmy Burke sometime in the 1960s and later became associated with the Bonanno crime family, performing jobs for the powerful Bonanno capo Vincent Asaro. Tommy or "Two-Gun Tommy" because he always had two guns, had three siblings, a sister named Delores and two brothers, Robert and Anthony DeSimone. Siblings: Dolores, Phyllis, Robert, and Anthony DeSimones fifth murder occurred when Burke ordered the killing of his best friend, Dominick Remo Cersani. In 1965, Tommy a skinny and naive fifteen-year-old became involved with a Lucchese crime family crew headed by capo Paul Vairo. Thomas had a sister, Dolores, and two brothers who were both Gambino crime family associates, Robert DeSimone and Anthony DeSimone. That kind of impulsive violence would follow DeSimone and get him in trouble later in an incident that was depicted in Goodfellas. Tommy or Two-Gun Tommy because he always had two guns, had three siblings, a sister named Delores and two brothers, Robert and Anthony DeSimone. [citation needed], DeSimone's fifth murder occurred when Burke ordered the murder of his best friend, Dominick "Remo" Cersani. Spider being the kid that Joe Pesci mowed down in the movie Goodfellas. The airline had contracted to return the money to the U.S. for depositing with American banks. DeSimone and Hill entered the unsecured area unchallenged and unlocked the door with a duplicate key. Over the next few weeks, DeSimone served as a hitman, silencing anyone who could tie Burke to the robbery. Devino was a feared gunman and had killed several people, but Tommy had earned respect as well and didnt take verbal punishment from anyone. Several of his cousins from his father's side pursued a career in organized crime (it is thought that they were low-level associates that served in the Bonanno crime family). He was killed over an ordinary issue by Thomas DeSimone. 1937 - January 17, 1979) was a New . Edward did not do as he was asked and DeSimone shot him five times in the head. I did a quick search on newspapers dot com for anything related to a Michael Gianco going missing in 1970 in New York state. Burke had a friend who owned a dog kennel in Upstate New York, and Bentvena was buried there.[5]. Hearing sounds from the trunk, they realized that Bentvena was still alive, so DeSimone and Burke beat him to death with the shovel and a tire iron. Both Robert and Anthony were associates for the Gambino crime family. He mostly served the crew drinks during their card games, and one bad night, he was shot on the thigh when Tommy (whose real last name was DeSimone) ordered him to dance. This story is recounted in Goodfellas. The stolen vehicles would then later be shipped from the New York Harbor to Port-au-Prince, Haiti through Edguardo's Sea-Land Service Inc. situated in South Ozone Park, Queens. Spider had a short life and a brutal death by one of the most dangerous and impulsive gangsters of the Lucchese crew, and his death was as shocking as Imperiolis in Goodfellas. Hill also indicated in both the book Wiseguy and the DVD commentary to Goodfellas that DeSimone had already been killed when Martin Krugman disappeared on January 6, 1979. But what DeSimone didnt know was that his own murderous past was about to catch up with him. People Murdered by the Lucchese Crime Family: Richard Eaton, Parnell Edwards, Michael "Spider" Gianco, Theresa Ferrara, Joseph Pinzolo by Books Llc. [15], It has been theorized DeSimone is buried in The Hole, a suspected "Mafia graveyard" on the Brooklyn-Queens border near Kennedy airport, where the body of Al Indelicato was found in 1981 and where the bodies of Philip Giaccone and Dominick Trinchera were recovered by police in 2004.[16][17]. "Walking down the street, he looked like he was bringing you a sandwich instead of a .38," Hill said. He added that Agro had tortured DeSimone slowly to death. [7] Burke's son Frank would drive one of the back-up vehicles while Parnell "Stacks" Edwards, a musician and career criminal, was given the task of disposing of the getaway van afterwards. The Gambinos claim they only found out about the murders after DeSimone had tried to. [7] Peter Vario (Paul Vario's son) and Bruno Facciolo took him to an unknown location, where he was murdered. is what they are, Tony "Joe Batters" Accardo - De Facto Boss of the Chicago Outfit, Giacomo Black Jack Tocco - Last of the Old School Detroit Partnership, Joseph Iacobacci - "Joe Loose" of the Cleveland Mob, John "Sonny" Franzese - A Colombo Family Legend. Phyllis was James Burke's mistress from the time she was aged 16. He then met henry hill through Vario and they did quite a few criminal schemes together. A key scene in Tommy's arc in Goodfellas was when he killed Spider . Michael 'Spider' Gianco was serving as a bartender at a card game. Gianco was a young mob associate who was serving as a bartender when he forgot DeSimones drink. Other Name(s): Two-Gun Tommy, Tommy D, Animal, Spitshine Tommy After the heist, DeSimone was ordered to kill Parnell Stacks Edwards for failing to hide the delivery truck. His father owned a printing shop but later lost it because of hiscompulsive gambling addiction. 2004-2022 American Mafia is a Registered Trademark in the United States, The Beginning Of A New Age/Era & The Legacy Of Lucky Luciano, The Day It Came Together Vitos Last Stand, Tommy DeSimone Who depicted killings from the movie The Goodfella. It was at the age of 18 that Tommy killed Howard Goldstein. Wyatt Redd is a freelance writer from Nashville, Tennessee. In January of 1979, DeSimone disappeared. He spent all day around Robert's Lounge collecting numbers and selling fireworks, credit card fraud, selling beer to minors and preparing coffee and sandwiches for high-stake card games. Murders of Gianco, Cersani, and Jerothe. Henry Hill maintains that Jon Gotti, future don of the Gambino family, killed DeSimone himself. On August 6, 1975, 17-year-old Laurel Jean Mitchell vanished after leaving her job at the Cokesbury Inn, a small restaurant in North Webster, Indiana. and our DeSimone was popular with the other and had several nick names like Tommy D and Two Gun Tommy as he always carried with him two guns. Next: Goodfellas: Every Character Who Dies (& Why). When she's not writing, you can find her trying to learn a new language, watching hockey (go Avs! His early life But according to several sources within the mafia, he was murdered in revenge for the killing of Bentvena. Hill claims the body was bured in Roberts Longue and his body has never been found. DeSimone had beaten his ex-girlfriend up so Jerothe threatens to kill him for beating his sister so DeSimone went to his apartment and killed him. In another incident that made it into the movie, DeSimones impulse for violence had deadly consequences for Michael Spider Gianco. Just as in the movie, DeSimones crew helped him bury the body, stopping at DeSimones mother house with the body still in the trunk. Cookie Notice Henry Hill, his fellow associate and friend had described him as pure psychopath. Every time she manages to commit to a TV show without getting bored, an angel gets its wings. [3] In 1967, Robert McMahon, an Air France employee, tipped off Burke, Hill, and DeSimone to an incoming delivery of between $400,000 and $700,000 in cash on Friday, April 7. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. [9][12][13], When Hill became an FBI informant in 1980, he told authorities that DeSimone had been murdered by the Gambino family. [4], After his release from prison in 1970, according to the mafia memoir Wiseguy, Henry Hill describes the "welcome home" party for William Bentvena at Robert's Lounge, a nightclub owned by Jimmy Burke: Bentvena jokingly asked DeSimone "if he still shined shoes", which DeSimone perceived as an insult, and leaning over to Hill and Burke intoned, "I'm gonna kill that fuck. Burke had learned Remo was working with the NYPD and planned to set up Burke in a sting. When Jimmy called to see if the ceremony had occurred (the code phrase was to ask if Tommy had seen his godmother yet), Burke was told that it had been called off due to heavy snowfall. In "Goodfellas," Joe Pesci's Tommy DeVito is a complete psychopath. DeSimone began working for Paul Vario around the age of 15, becoming involved in truck hijackings, dealing and fencing stolen property, extortion, fraud, and (of course) murder. Guillermo del Toro said hi to her once. Goodfellas: Was Michael Imperioli's Spider Real? DeSimone and Diamond, angry and worked up about having to drive all the way to New Jersey, ended up beating the man to death. Disappeared:January 14, 1979 When Imperioli auditioned for the groundbreaking series, he was best known for playing Michael "Spider" Gianco, a minor role in Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas. It was on 24 th May 1950 that Thomas DeSimone was born. According to Hill, the crew was holding a party for William Billy Bats Bentvena, a made man in the Gambino family who had just been released from prison. DeSimone had dated Jerothe's sister and had beaten her up, prompting Jerothe to threaten to kill him. Unless a body is found, that death will remain unsolved as Hill, who died on June 12, 2012, was the last person alive who could prove a murder took place. Michael Gianco was born in Brownsville, Brooklyn, New York Cityin 1954 to a family of Italian immigrants from Olbia, Sardinia. Warner Brothers/Getty Images Ray Liotta as Henry Hill, Robert De Niro as James "Jimmy the Gent" Conway (Jimmy Burke), Paul Sorvino as Paul "Paulie" Cicero . Henry claimed that in the week after Christmas that he and Jimmy Burke had gone down to Florida to straighten out a drug deal gone bad. Tommy was known for having a really bad temper and for being extremely impulsive, which was what ultimately led to his death. She is an Audiovisual Communication graduate who wanted to be a filmmaker, but life had other plans (and it turned out great). He is well known as an American-Italian mobster having worked for New Yorks Luchesse Mafia Family as an associate. DeSimone was portrayed by Joe Pesci in the 1990 movie Goodfellas, renamed Tommy DeVito. Also, another person had been murdered and buried within the saloon, who was Michael Gianco, popularly called the 'Spider'. YouTubeTommy DeSimone and Joe Pesci in Goodfellas. DeSimone was alleged to have taken part in the December 1978 Lufthansa heist from JFK International Airport where $6,000,000 was stolen from a warehouse. DeSimone would kill several more times in his short life. DeSimone's third murder, described by Hill, was of a young man named Michael "Spider" Gianco, who was serving as a bartender at a card game. [6] Burke decided on DeSimone, McMahon, Angelo Sepe, Louis Cafora, Joe Manri, and Paolo LiCastri as the robbers. Was this just a story that Hill made up? The money was usually carried in linen bags, each containing US$60,000, and the airline shipped up to $1 million a week in this manner. During his time working with the Lucchese crime family, Henry became acquainted with some big names in the mafia, as were Jimmy The Gent Conway (Robert De Niro) and Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci), this last one a very violent and impulsive man, and it was because of him that Henry (and the audience) was witness to many deaths. True Story Explained, Goodfellas: The Mafia's Rules & Code of Honor Explained, Goodfellas: Every Character Who Dies (& Why), Quantum Of Solace's Original Ending Would've Totally Changed Craig's 007, Why Pirates of the Caribbean Producer Wants Johnny Depp Back, Harry Potter: Why Peeves Wasnt In The Movies. Goodfellas is often considered one of the best Mafia movies ever made. Michael "Spider" Gianco was born in 1954. He had four siblings: Dolores, Phyllis, Robert, and Anthony. . The different murders carried out by DeSimone were done in Hollywood style, the reason why, he was better known among his friends and associates as Tommy Goodfella. DeSimone killed several other people after Spider. On December 18, 1974, he murdered his ex-girlfriends brother Ronald Jerothe. He had impulsive violence which continued to show as he grew. [7], After the heist, Edwards was instructed to drive the vehicle to New Jersey, where it (along with any potential evidence inside) was to be destroyed in a junkyard belonging to Gotti. By the age of 16, he was an alcoholic who drank Sambuca in the morning while working. DeSimone's third murder is described by Hill in Nicholas Pileggi's book Wiseguy, and also is portrayed on film in Goodfellas.A young man named Michael "Spider" Gianco was serving as a bartender at a card game, where he and DeSimone had an argument (after Gianco forgot about DeSimone's drink) that resulted in DeSimone pulling out a handgun and demanding . He was murdered by the mobster Tommy DeVito in 1970. According to mob informantJoseph Joe Dogs Lannuzzi, Thomas Agro claimed he had murdered DeSimone and his brother Anthony after he turned informant. His grandfather Rosario DeSimone was a Los Angeles mob boss in 1922, and his uncle Frank DeSimone was the Los Angeles crime family mob boss in 1956. 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