John Gotti & Roy DeMeo Team Up For A Hit

In recent years, the story of Roy DeMeo has drawn growing interest. DeMeo is known as the serial killer of the Gambino Family. Surveillance tapes caught John Gotti’s brother Gene saying that John did not want to take on Roy and his “army of killers”. But Gotti and Roy were not enemies, and they once committed a murder together early in their criminal careers.

A Bit About Roy

One of Sammy “The Bull” Gravano’s most popular youtube videos is titled Roy DeMeo: I Think He’s Becoming A Serial Killer. In it, Sammy talks of a sitdown he and Louis Milito had with Nino Gaggi and Roy DeMeo. As Gaggi and Milito discussed stolen cars, DeMeo was off to the side fantasizing about killing the elderly people in the restaurant. 

Sammy left that meeting feeling that Roy was a full blown serial killer and a “sick motherf*cker”. He had known Roy for a few years and heard a ton of stories about him. This encounter convinced him to keep Roy at a safe distance in the future. Sammy never expressed any fear or reserve about another gangster, other than Roy. 

One thing Gravano hasn’t mentioned thus far is what, if any relationship existed between Roy and John Gotti. The consensus is that Gotti was scared of him. Most of this was because of that FBI wiretap. John had balked at a contract to kill Roy. It sounded like Gotti was just as weary of Roy as Sammy Gravano was. They both had good reasons.

It was through research for Gotti book Mob Star that Gene Mustain and Jerry Capeci found the story of Roy DeMeo. They looked into this mysterious killer who even the notorious Gotti crew was hesitant to take on. As they investigated, they found a crew that was deadlier than anything since Murder Inc. of the 1930s. Murder Machine hit the shelves in 1992. 

Gotti, DeMeo and Gravano were all up and coming soldiers of the Gambino Family in the late 1970s. Each was carving out a name for themself, Roy in a literal sense. He was actually becoming known around this time for being a killer and making bodies disappear. His thirst for brutality was on another level and everyone in the family knew about it. 

The Demise of Vito Borelli

The paths of Gotti and DeMeo would align on a big piece of Gambino Family business in the fall of 1980. Paul Castellano’s daughter’s boyfriend at the time was a wiseguy named Vito Borelli. Paul despised Vito, who he suspected of cheating on and abusing his daughter. Borelli also had been heard ridiculing Paul himself, comparing him to famous chicken man Frank Perdue. 

Borelli was an associate of the Bonanno Family, but apparently not too important. Paul reached out to them to see if they would help set Vito up and they agreed. This was not just any mob hit. What was unique was the number of men involved in the plot and present on day of. Several Gambinos teamed up with the Bonannos, who lured Borelli to a warehouse in Manhattan. 

It was alleged that John Gotti and hitman Joe Watts who pulled the triggers on Vito Borelli. Frank DeCicco, Angelo Ruggiero and John Carneglia from the Gambino Family were present. Two big name Bonanno Family captains were in attendance, Joe Massino and Dominick Napolitano aka “Sonny Black”. Future turncoat “Good Looking” Sal Vitale was also there. 

Sal Vitale later testified that he and DeCicco transported Vito’s dead body to another location in Queens where Roy DeMeo awaited. DeCicco later told Sammy that DeMeo’s crew soon arrived with knife cases and cut Vito Borelli’s body up into pieces, bagged it all up and then carried everything out in a matter of minutes. 

Vitale laid out the details of this murder more than two decades later, but several mobsters knew about it. Roy told his driver Freddie DiNome, who later testified against the DeMeo Crew. Sonny Black had told Joe Pistone about how he did a big important job for Paul Castellano. He was excited to have friends in such high places. 

Sonny would be dead just months later when Pistone was revealed to be an undercover FBI agent. Joe Massino would go on to become boss of the Bonannos, and then the first boss to become a cooperating witness. The other shooter Joe Watts would have a long run as a hitman associate for the Gambino Family, working for both Gotti Sr. and Gotti Jr. 

The killing of Borelli was perhaps one of the last examples of the Gotti/Dellacroce and Castellano factions of the Gambino Family working together. For the time, this brutal act was considered a job well done. The DeMeo Crew impressed Sammy and DeCicco with their ruthless efficiency doing the Gemini method with Borelli’s body. 

Paul Castellano had a thing about killing the men who courted his daughter. Vito Borelli wasn’t the only one, he also had Connie’s husband Frank Amato killed and likely dismembered in the same year. On September 20, 1980, Amato had a meeting with Roy DeMeo at the Gemini Lounge in Brooklyn. He was never seen again, like dozens of other poor souls  who were lured there. 

A Potential Gotti vs DeMeo War

When Carlo Gambino passed away in 1976, he promoted his cousin Paul Castellano to be the new boss of the Gambino Family. This decision created simmering waves all the way up and down the family. Paul Castellano was not a very popular choice with the majority rank and file, especially John Gotti. 

Paul’s coronation immediately put John Gotti and Roy DeMeo on opposite sides of the family. Ther Gambinos had broken into two factions. On one side was Castellano and his supporters which included Roy and Nino Gaggi. On the other side was the underboss Neil Dellacroce faction with John Gotti. 

The more savvy guys in the family like Frank DeCicco and Sammy Gravano navigated freely between the two factions. Although most captains in the family felt Paul was greedy and dismissive, they didn’t criticize him openly. They did it behind his back. And John Gotti would later capitalize on the lack of respect that they had for Paul. 

Even Roy had well known issues with Paul. Castellano never liked Roy and it showed in their interactions. Despite being one of the best earners and certainly the Gambino’s top hitman, Roy was feeling neglected by his boss. He had the feeling Paul would do away with him if the money slowed down, and he was right. Paul only allowed Roy to stay around for the money and enforcement. 

By early 1982, Roy and his crew were in big trouble. His massive international stolen car ring had been busted and they were under investigation which included several murders. A couple members of his crew had become informants. Paul Castellano worried that Roy was not going to stand up against the pressure he was receiving from law enforcement. 

There was at least one face to face meeting between Gotti and DeMeo that year. This took place at the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan. It was at a wedding reception of Nino’s daughter. FBI agents and detectives were present and recording the event. They caught Gotti and Roy in conversation. They assumed Gotti was trying to get close to Roy for the reason of killing him. 

Gotti would’ve had to have known he was playing with fire if he was at all considering fulfilling the contract on Roy. This was a man who  told other Gambinos that he and his crew had around 200 hits. Roy knew his days were short by this time. He was wearing a bullet proof vest and carrying a shotgun everywhere. 

Legendary NYPD Detective Art Ruffles explained the dynamic this way: “Roy didn’t trust John Gotti, he was the most afraid of John Gotti. But John Gotti was afraid of Roy.” There’s no doubt Roy knew that Gotti would likely be one of the guys sent to kill him. But in the end, Castellano didn’t press Gotti about it, he went with a more accomplished and reliable hitman, Frank DeCicco.

The DeMeo Crew Eliminated

There is much speculation about whether Gotti would’ve had Paul killed if Roy was still alive. If Roy was around during that time, would Gotti, Gravano and Frank DeCicco still have enough power to get the job done? Likely so, and the key to that was DeCicco. Frank was the one who successfully arranged Roy’s murder in January 1983.

John Gotti may have been afraid to kill DeMeo but DeCicco was not. He reached out to Nino Gaggi and the Gemini twins Joey Testa and Anthony Senter. Gaggi was Roy’s boss and the twins were part of his crew. DeCicco told the twins there was a contract on the whole crew but they would get a pass if they killed Roy, which they did. 

DeCicco kept his word and let the Gemini twins live. They went on to become made men in the Lucchese Family, doing many more hits for Gaspipe. It’s unknown if they ever did the infamous “Gemini method” again, or if that died with Roy. With this dangerous crew out of the way, suddenly Paul seemed more vulnerable. Roy had been by far his best killer for almost a decade. 

Anthony Senter and Joey Testa are believed to be the men who were with Roy DeMeo on the day of the Vito Borelli murder. In an unbelievable twist of fate, both men have been paroled after more than 35 years in prison. NYC detectives from that era believe that Anthony and Joey aka the Gemini twins have killed and dismembered 70-80 people. And they are now out of prison.

But what if Roy had lived?

There is the possibility that they would have been able to get Roy to switch over to their side. This would have put Roy’s loyalty to Nino to the real test. Nino was a longtime Paul loyalist who rose to captain under Castellano’s wing. Unlike Nino, Roy had begun to hate Paul. Roy had to do way more than anyone to get made in the family only because Paul didn’t like him. 

Roy would have either been offered a deal to be part of the Castellano hit team, or they would’ve killed Roy. They’d know they could either get him to switch or it would be all out war with the DeMeo Crew. Between the Gotti crew, Gravano crew and DeCicco’s crew, DeMeo’s crew would’ve been wiped out. Him switching sides would have been a wise move. 

DeMeo was no fool. He would’ve weighed his options. War with Gotti, DeCicco and Gravano or a potential fallout with Gaggi and Paul’s side. He was much more likely to survive a war with the aging Gaggi and Castellano, being he was their enforcer. Nino was alive during Castellano’s execution. He didn’t make any moves or threats  because Roy and his crew were gone.