Sammy the Bull Discusses Roy DeMeo, Greg Scarpa and More

Sammy “The Bull” Gravano has opened up the vault of mafia secrets. He seems to be holding little, if anything back. On his youtube channel, he gives the details of murder after murder. Sammy also opens up about his dealings with some of the most notorious mobsters ever like Roy DeMeo, Greg Scarpa and Tommy “Karate” Pitera. 

Although the truthfulness of Gravano is often held in question, he has provided many details about the mafia from the 1960s through the 1990s. Here are some of the most interesting and revealing stories he’s told thus far:

Why Louie Milito was killed

Gravano has discussed his childhood friend and crew member Louie Milito many times. As teenagers, they were members of the infamous New York City street gang called The Rampers. Even though The Rampers considered themselves independent of the mafia, many of the members became part of the mafia later on like Sammy and Louis.

Sammy went with the Colombo Family until a heated dispute got him transferred over to the Gambino Family. Sammy was the bigger rising star and he was inducted into the family before Louie. He then was vocal about Louie being made, which happened later on. Louie was the triggerman on several of Sammy’s early murders. 

Despite the long history of business and friendship between Louie and Sammy, they had a falling out in the mid 1980s. Louie had been surpassed by Old Man Paruta and Stymie D’Angelo as Sammy’s top crew members. He was frustrated by what he felt was a snub and began branching out on his own, distancing himself from Sammy and crew. 

This was around the time that Sammy and John Gotti killed Paul Castellano. Louie played his cards all wrong. He had quietly fostered a relationship with the Castellano side. Gravano said Gotti’s underboss Frank DeCicco wanted Louie dead. DeCicco was soon killed in a car bomb and Louie was temporarily spared. 

Milito had been put back on Sammy’s old crew which was now run by Big Lou Vallario. Louie resented taking orders from Vallario and made it known. Vallario went to Gotti, who told Sammy that it was time for Louie Milito to be killed. Enough was enough, Milito had long since become more trouble than he was worth in Gotti’s opinion. 

Sammy didn’t try to stop the hit, in fact he requested that he would be present when Louie’s murder took place. His reasoning was that he wanted Louie to die honorably. Louie was summoned to Vallario’s bar where hitman John Carneglia snuck up behind him and put a bullet in his head. Milito was one of at least 3 Gravano crew members that Sammy was involved in killing. 

The hit on Nicky Cowboy Mormando

Nicholas Mormando aka “Nicky Cowboy” was another top shooter in Sammy’s crew. He came around a little bit after most of Sammy’s crew was formed. They didn’t call him Cowboy for nothing, he had a serious reputation for violence, and also one as a drug addict. Sammy had his doubts about Nicky from the start but still let him in the crew.

Mormando earned his keep many times in the crew. One of those times was the unsanctioned murder of Frank Fiala, a very unstable man who tried to buy Sammy’s nightclub the Plaza Suite. Fiala pulled a gun on Sammy, sealing his own death warrant. Nicky served as a backup shooter on the Fiala hit. 

Nicky also stood by Sammy when it became known that Paul Castellano may punish or kill Gravano and his crew for doing the unsanctioned hit. Despite his loyalty to the Gravanoi crew, Nicky’s drug habit got him put in exile. He became very unpredictable. He had developed a massive crack cocaine habit.

At this point, Nicky had multiple things working against him. Fellow Gravano crew member Mickey DeBatt had also become addicted to crack and Sammy blamed Nicky for it. Also, Nicky had assembled his own little team of drug dealers and hijackers who started operating right on Gravano’s territory. That was the last straw for Sammy.

Gravano employed his favorite hitman Old Man Paruta, who killed Nicky Cowboy in January 1985. “I told him there would be consequences for drugs. He knew that. He agreed to that” said Sammy on his podcast. Unlike other murders of Gravano crew members, Gravano showed zero sympathy or regret when discussing Mormando’s murder.

Sammy The Bull vs The Grim Reaper

Sammy and notorious Colombo Family hitman Greg Scarpa aka “The Grim Reaper” crossed paths many times over the years as they rose in their respective families. Gravano was well aware of Scarpa’s fierce reputation. Conversely, Sammy was one of the few guys Scarpa respected and maybe had a bit of fear towards.

One night, Greg and his crew were hanging out in one of Sammy’s many nightclubs. Scarpa was using the spot to have a meeting with an associate which turned hostile. After an exchange of words, Scarpa and his guys pummeled the man. They destroyed everything in their path, causing thousands of dollars worth of damage to the club. 

Sammy and his captain Toddo Aurello arranged for a sit down with Scarpa and his captain. They discussed the incident with Sammy expressing that he didn’t appreciate Scarpa damaging his business. Scarpa for maybe one of the few times was regretful,  at least outwardly. His captain ordered him to apologize to Sammy which Scarpa did without hesitation. 

When they were alone, Scarpa sincerely thanked Sammy for giving him a break. Sammy could sense that if he had pressed the issue, Scarpa might have a serious problem even in his own family. It was a fairly minor incident between two future legendary mobsters. They would have another issue when an associate of Scarpa’s killed Stymie D’Angelo, Sammy’s crew member. 

The killing of Stymie enraged Gravano. He was ready to start an all out war with the Colombos, who at first attempted to stop Sammy from killing the guy. Sammy told the entire Colombo hierarchy that when he found Stymie’s killer, he would kill him and whoever was with him on the spot. The Colombos relented and Greg had his son Greg Jr. kill the man. 

A Sit Down with Roy DeMeo

There was one man in the mafia that Gravano, Gotti and everyone else were weary of. His name was Roy DeMeo aka the Butcher of Brooklyn. Roy was a Gambino Family captain whose crew were suspected in over 100 murders. Rumors spread all over the family that DeMeo was killing people at his bar and then dismembering the bodies in an adjacent apartment. 

Roy fed these rumors. He once told Sammy his team did “over 200 hits”. He hammed it up a bit by telling him that his coffee boy was on six murders. Gravano knew if DeMeo was exaggerating it wasn’t by much. Sammy knew about many of DeMeo’s victims including Frank Amato, who was dating Paul Castellano’s daughter until he fell out with Big Paul. 

One day Sammy and Louie Milito met with Roy DeMeo and Roy’s  boss Nino Gaggi to discuss collaboration on a stolen car ring. As Louie and Nino carried the conversation, Roy’s attention seemed elsewhere. Sammy asked Roy if he was bored. Roy responded by telling him how he was fantasizing about how quickly he could kill everyone in the restaurant. 

With the place being filled with senior citizens, Sammy found the comment disturbing but he didn’t show his opinion. Roy DeMeo was someone he knew not to get into any kind of conflict with. Too unpredictable and highly volatile. Rumor was Roy killed guys right outside his bar for the mere crimes of calling Roy an asshole or some other insult. Those rumors later proved to be true.

On the way back from the meeting, Sammy discussed with Louie Milito that he felt Roy was so obsessed with murder that he had become a serial killer. 

Sammy decided from that day on, he and his crew would be armed and ready any time they were slated to be in the company of DeMeo or his men. Roy would be killed by his own crew in 1983 after the car theft ring was busted. Paul Castellano was also wary of DeMeo and didn’t think that he would stand up under the legal pressure. 

Failed hit on Crazy Joe Gallo

One of the biggest hidden gems revealed on Sammy’s channel was about the time he was tasked with killing none other than “Crazy Joe” Gallo. Sammy was already an established hitman and Colombo Family associate. Carmine Persico and the Colombos trusted the young hood to pull off the biggest hit in the mafia. 

This was during the 2nd Colombo Family war after Joe Gallo got out of prison. Sammy at the time was a Colombo associate in the crew of Shorty Spero. He was told that they picked him for the job because Gallo didn’t know him. It was decided that Sammy, backed up by a team, would stake out Gallo’s apartment and kill him there.

After waiting outside the building, he saw Gallo with his model girlfriend. He was prepared to kill Gallo right in front of the girlfriend and the doorman. As he went to make his move, 3-4 cars full of Gallo’s crew pulled up, with all of them armed and ready. Sammy knew that this just changed from a high risk hit to a suicide situation. He didn’t pull the trigger that night. 

He was worried about the response of Persico and Shorty Spero. They would pleasantly surprise him by praising him for not attempting the hit under the circumstances. They told him they would have laughed if Sammy tried because they’d know he “was a jerkoff”. Sammy’s days with the Colombos were extremely violent so he was just happy to be alive after the incident. 

Gravano wouldn’t be given any followup orders on killing Gallo. Shortly after the failed hit, Sammy had a falling out with one of Shorty Spero’s family members. The beef became too big to resolve and it was decided the men could no longer be in the same crew together. It was at this time that Sammy was transferred to the Gambino Family crew run by Toddo Aurello.