Gambino family DeMeo was initially an associate of the
Brooklyn faction of the
Lucchese crime family, which controlled towing companies, junkyards and
car theft operations in Flatlands and
Canarsie.
Anthony "Nino" Gaggi, a
soldier in the
Gambino crime family, noticed DeMeo in 1966 and told him that he could make even more money with his successful business if he shifted his allegiance to the Gambinos. Through the late 1960s, DeMeo's
organized crime prospects increased on two fronts: he continued in the loansharking business with Gaggi and began developing a crew of young men involved in car theft. It was this collective of criminals that became known both in the underworld and in law enforcement circles as the "DeMeo crew." The first member of the DeMeo crew was sixteen-year-old
Harvey "Chris" Rosenberg, who met DeMeo in 1966 when he was dealing
cannabis at a Canarsie gas station. DeMeo helped Rosenberg increase his business and profits by loaning him money so that he could deal in larger amounts. Additional members of the crew came to include
Joseph and
Patrick Testa,
Anthony Senter, Richard and Frederick DiNome, Henry Borelli, Joseph "Dracula" Guglielmo (DeMeo's cousin), and later, Vito Arena and
Carlo Profeta. 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. He was also listed as an employee for a Brooklyn company called S & C Sportswear Corporation. DeMeo frequently told his neighbors that he worked in construction, food retailing and the used car business.
Bonanno family underboss Salvatore Vitale claimed to the
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that in 1974 he was ordered to deliver the corpse of a man who had just been murdered to a garage in
Queens so that it could be disposed of by DeMeo. In late 1974, a conflict escalated between the DeMeo crew and Andrei Katz, a young auto repair shop owner who was partners with DeMeo in a stolen car ring. In January 1975, Katz visited the Brooklyn
District Attorney's Office and voluntarily provided information pertaining to Rosenberg's involvement in car theft. DeMeo learned about the meeting immediately afterward from a
New York City Police Department (NYPD) auto crimes detective on his payroll. He ordered Borelli to contact a female acquaintance, Babette Judith Questel, about being used as bait. In May 1975, Katz appeared before a Brooklyn
grand jury and divulged what he knew about the DeMeo crew's illegal activities. On June 13, 1975, Questel was used to successfully lure Katz to her apartment for what he thought was a date, where upon arrival he was immediately abducted by members of the DeMeo crew. He was then taken to the meat department of a
supermarket in
Rockaway Beach, where he was stabbed multiple times with a
butcher knife. After being
decapitated, Katz's head was then put through a machine normally used for compacting cardboard boxes, where it was crushed. The body parts were wrapped in plastic bags and 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. Police reported to the press that a grisly, brutal killing had occurred, but that was the extent of the information given. The body was identified as Katz's two days later through the use of dental records.
Gemini Method As the 1970s progressed, DeMeo 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 the DeMeo crew to ensure that victims would be dispatched quickly and then made to disappear. The style of execution was dubbed the "Gemini Method," after the Gemini Lounge, a bar which served as the crew's primary hangout, as well as the site where most of their victims were killed. Following dismemberment, the body parts would then be put into bags, placed in cardboard boxes and sent to the
Fountain Avenue landfill in Brooklyn. So many tons of garbage were dropped each day at the dump that it would be nearly impossible for the bodies to be discovered. During the initial stages of an early 1980s investigation targeting the DeMeo crew, a plan by authorities to excavate sections of the dump to locate remains was aborted when it was deemed too costly and unlikely to locate any meaningful evidence. The landfill, opposite the Starrett City Apartment Complex on Pennsylvania Avenue in
East New York, was closed in 1985,
capped over and converted into parkland. Some victims were 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 to serve as a message and warning. There were also occasions where it would not be possible to lure the intended victim into the Gemini Lounge, in which case other locations would have to be used. A
cabin cruiser owned by Richard DiNome was used on at least one occasion to dispose of remains at sea.
Further criminal career In the latter half of 1975, DeMeo became a silent partner in a
peep show and
prostitution establishment in
Bricktown,
New Jersey, after the owner of the business became unable to pay his loansharking debts. DeMeo also began dealing in
bestiality and
child pornography, which he sold to his New Jersey establishment as well as connections in
Rhode Island. When Gaggi found out about DeMeo's involvement in such
taboo material, he demanded that DeMeo stop under the threat of death. As 1975 drew to a close, DeMeo was the subject of
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) investigations into his income. Months earlier, DeMeo's credit union had been pushed into
insolvency as a result of the plundering of its finances by DeMeo and his crew; DeMeo quit the credit union as a result. Before an
indictment could be handed down against him, DeMeo utilized false
affidavits from businesses owned by friends and acquaintances claiming he was on their payrolls as an employee. These affidavits served to account for some of his income, allowing him to reach a settlement with the IRS. DeMeo's sources of income, as well as his crew, continued to grow. By July 1976 he added a used car firm called Team Auto Wholesalers to his loanshark customers. The owner of Team Auto, Matthew Rega, also purchased stolen vehicles from the DeMeo crew and sold them off at a New Jersey car lot that he owned. DeMeo also involved himself with
hijacking delivery trucks from
John F. Kennedy International Airport. His crew now included Edward "Danny" Grillo, a hijacker who had just been released from prison. In the fall of 1976, the Gambino family went through a massive change when its
boss,
Carlo Gambino, died of natural causes.
Paul Castellano, the head of the family's Brooklyn faction, was named as Gambino's successor, while
Aniello Dellacroce, the head of the
Manhattan faction, retained the position of underboss. The implications of this were twofold for DeMeo. Gaggi was elevated to the position of
caporegime (captain), taking over the crew of men Castellano previously headed. This promotion was beneficial for DeMeo, whose mentor was now even closer to the family leadership. Another advantage was that with Gambino deceased, new associates would be eligible for official membership into the family. Castellano did not immediately "open the books" for new members, opting instead to promote existing members and reshuffle his
capos to new crews. He also allegedly opposed the idea of DeMeo being "
made", looking down on street-level members and instead involving himself in
white-collar crime. Additionally, Castellano felt DeMeo was uncontrollable. Gaggi's attempts at persuading Castellano to initiate DeMeo were continually rejected. By 1977, DeMeo became distraught by this state of affairs and searched for opportunities that would ensure larger returns for his superiors.
The Westies alliance and Rosenberg DeMeo secured his induction into the Gambino family by forming an alliance with an
Irish-American gang known as
the Westies, based in
Hell's Kitchen. The leader of a rival Irish gang,
Mickey Spillane, was causing delays for the construction of the
Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, much to the frustration of Castellano, who had an interest in the project. After the unsolved murder of Spillane in May 1977, Westies leader
James "Jimmy" Coonan assumed control of the Irish mob rackets on Manhattan's
West Side. DeMeo, sensing an opportunity to create a vast source of income for the Gambino family, persuaded Gaggi to consider a partnership with the Westies. Shortly afterwards, Coonan and his second-in-command
Mickey Featherstone were called to a meeting with Castellano, in which they agreed to become a
de facto arm of the family and share ten percent of all profits. In exchange, the Westies would be privy to several lucrative
union deals and take on murder contracts for the family. It was his pivotal role in the Westie–Gambino alliance that reportedly convinced Castellano to give DeMeo his "button," or formally induct him into the family. DeMeo was made in mid-1977 and put in charge of handling all family business with the Westies. He was ordered to get permission before committing any murders and to avoid drug dealing. His crew, however, continued to sell large amounts of cocaine, cannabis and a variety of
narcotic pills. DeMeo also continued to commit unsanctioned killings, such as the 1977 double homicide of Johnathan Quinn, a car thief suspected of cooperating with law enforcement, and Cherie Golden, Quinn's nineteen-year-old girlfriend. The DeMeo crew dumped the bodies in locations where they would be discovered to serve as a warning against cooperation with authorities. In 1978, Frederick DiNome, previously DeMeo's
chauffeur, joined the crew. DeMeo and his crew murdered Grillo, who had fallen into heavy debt with DeMeo and was believed to be becoming susceptible to police coercion. Grillo, who was dismembered and disposed of like many of the crew's victims, was the first known occurrence of internal crew discipline. The next member to be killed was Rosenberg, who had set up a drug deal with a
Cuban man living in
Florida and then murdered him and his associates when they traveled to New York to complete the sale. The Cuban had connections with a Cuban
drug cartel, raising the possibility of violence between the Gambino family and the Cubans unless Rosenberg was dealt with. DeMeo was ordered to kill Rosenberg but stalled for weeks. During this period, DeMeo committed his most public murder. The victim was a college student with no criminal ties named Dominick Ragucci, who was paying for his tuition as a door-to-door salesman. DeMeo and crew members Joseph Guglielmo and Frederick DiNome pursued Ragucci in a seven-mile car chase on
Route 110 through
Amityville and
Farmingdale, after which the student was shot to death by DeMeo. After returning home and gathering his family, DeMeo drove them out of Long Island and left them at a hotel in
upstate New York for two weeks. According to his son Albert, DeMeo broke down crying when he discovered he had murdered an innocent teenager and did not eat for several days afterwards. The public execution also put a strain on DeMeo's relationship with his wife Gladys, who had previously been able to ignore her husband's criminal activities. Infuriated by the Ragucci murder, Gaggi ordered DeMeo to kill Rosenberg before there were any other innocent victims. On May 11, 1979, Rosenberg reported to the Gemini Lounge for the crew's usual Friday night meeting. Shortly after his arrival, DeMeo fired a single bullet into the unsuspecting Rosenberg's head. The usually ice-cold DeMeo hesitated when the still-living Rosenberg managed to rise off the floor and onto one knee, but Senter then moved in and finished him off with four shots to the head. Albert later recounted that Rosenberg's murder deeply affected his father, and that when DeMeo came home after the killing, he went into his study room and didn't emerge for two days. After the murder, DeMeo spent six weeks hiding out with Guglielmo in a
safe house near
42nd Street in
Times Square, growing a full beard and disguising himself with a baseball cap and sunglasses when out in public.
Empire Boulevard operation As 1979 continued, DeMeo began to expand his business activities, in particular his car theft operation, which soon became the largest in New York's history. Dubbed the Empire Boulevard Operation by the FBI, it consisted of hundreds of stolen cars being shipped from
Port Newark to Kuwait and
Puerto Rico. DeMeo 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 stolen cars, DeMeo was also shipping cigarettes and pornographic magazines to the Middle East. Aside from the active partners, other associates and crew members performed the actual theft of the automobiles off the streets of New York. 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. Like DiNome, Arena became closely involved with the DeMeo crew by the end of the 1970s. In 1979, the Empire Boulevard Operation was nearly stopped by a legitimate car dealer who threatened to inform police. The car dealer was murdered along with an uninvolved acquaintance before he could provide authorities with information.
Eppolito murders In late 1979, DeMeo and Gaggi became involved in a conflict with James Eppolito and James Eppolito Jr., two made Gambino members in Gaggi's crew. They were the paternal uncle and cousin, respectively, of corrupt former NYPD detective
Louis Eppolito, whose father, Ralph, brother of James Sr., was also a made member of the Gambino family. The elder Eppolito met with 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 and gave Gaggi permission to do what he pleased. Gaggi and DeMeo shot both Eppolitos to death in the younger Eppolito's car en route to the Gemini Lounge on October 1, 1979. A witness driving by right as the shots were fired within the parked car alerted a nearby police officer, who arrested Gaggi after a shootout between the two that left Gaggi with a bullet wound in his neck. Since DeMeo had split up with Gaggi as they left the scene, he was not arrested or identified by the witness. Gaggi was charged with murder and the
attempted murder of a police officer, but through
jury tampering was convicted only of
assault and given a five- to fifteen-year sentence in federal prison. DeMeo murdered the witness shortly after Gaggi's sentencing in March 1980. By 1982, the FBI was investigating the enormous number of
missing and murdered persons who were linked to DeMeo or who had last been seen entering the Gemini Lounge. Arena began cooperating with a state and federal
task force investigating the DeMeo crew after he was arrested on June 4, 1982, for a string of robberies. Fearing that they would be arrested as a result of Arena's testimony, DeMeo and members of his crew went into hiding during the summer and fall of 1982. DeMeo eventually emerged from hiding to consult with lawyers as he anticipated an
indictment stemming from the
Southern District of New York's investigation into his crew's activities. Due to Arena's knowledge of the chain of command in the Gambino family, Gaggi and Castellano became concerned upon learning that he had turned state's evidence, and Castellano began conspiring to have DeMeo killed. Around this time, an FBI
bug in the home of Gambino soldier
Angelo Ruggiero picked up a conversation between him and
Gene Gotti, a brother of
John Gotti. In the conversation, it was discussed that Castellano had put out a hit on DeMeo, but was having difficulty finding someone willing to do the job. while DeMeo had killed thirty-seven that they had known about. Ten days later, on January 20, 1983, DeMeo's
Cadillac Coupe DeVille was discovered in the parking lot of the Varuna Boat Club in
Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. The car was towed to a nearby police station, where it was searched by detectives in the NYPD's
Organized Crime Control Bureau. DeMeo's partially frozen body was found in the trunk with a
chandelier on top of it. Albert also believed that his father was killed by members of his own crew. According to Scopo, Castellano also "had to put him away" because DeMeo "was crazy and had cast-iron balls." Lucchese family underboss-turned-government witness
Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso claimed that Castellano ordered John Gotti and Frank DeCicco to kill DeMeo, but they were unable to get close to him. DeCicco suggested Casso could do it, as he knew Senter and Joseph Testa well. Casso ordered them to kill DeMeo, assuring them that there would be no retribution and that afterwards they would join him in the Lucchese family. DeMeo visited the home of Patrick Testa to collect some money he was owed. Joseph and Senter were both there. As DeMeo sat down and waited for a cup of coffee, they shot him dead. According to Casso, Castellano ordering DeMeo's execution sealed Castellano's own fate, as Gotti and DeCicco were planning to kill him, and would do so
on December 16, 1985. Casso said they would never have dared to move against Castellano while DeMeo was still alive. == Aftermath ==