Henry Hill, his fellow associate and friend had described him as pure psychopath. He would deliver them to Brooks at the Bargain Auto Junkyard in Starrett City, Brooklyn on Flatlands Avenue. DeSimones extended family was also involved in the mafia. He found out where Stacks was hiding and shot him several times in the head and chest. She said she last saw Tommy a few weeks earlier when he borrowed money from her. Paperback. Of course, Goodfellas is based on the real story of mobster Henry Hill. Desimone was known for carrying his gun in a paper bag. They buried Remo next to Burkes bar and a bocce ball court next door. However, DeSimone wasnt shy about using his gun. I know this because I was friends with the associates brother and the brother showed me the burial area in his basement. DeSimone promised to kill him and after two weeks, he beat Bentvena to death. He grew up surrounded by mafia influences. Unless Henry Hill made that story up. Goodfellas is based on a true story, and as such, it features many characters based on real-life gangsters, while others were a combination of them so, was Michael Imperiolis character, Spider, also a real person? According to the code of the mafia, murdering a made man without permission meant death. Henry Hill recounts a story when Tommy DeSimone killed young Michael "Spider" Gianco. YouTubeThe death of Joe Pescis Tommy DeVito (Tommy DeSimone) in Goodfellas. Burke had learned Remo was working with the NYPD and planned to set up Burke in a sting. He was sure he'd screwed up the audition, recalling a poker-faced Chase giving him notes. 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. Thomas Tommy DeSimone had been presumed dead since he disappeared on January 14, 1979. 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. 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. DeSimone and Hill entered the unsecured area unchallenged and unlocked the door with a duplicate key. They entered the terminal and headed to the unsecured area without hitches and opened the door with a duplicate key. In 1979, Anthony had been killed. In spite (or maybe because) of his casual brutality, DeSimone remained an important part of Varios crew. It's also maybe he just got the kid's name wrong? The suspected gunmen, John Gotti. Vario subsequently ordered DeSimone to kill Edwards. This marked the beginning of the real-life goodfellas story for Tommy. He added that Agro had tortured DeSimone slowly to death. 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. DeSimone is thought to have been killed on January 6, 1979, when Martin Krugman, the person responsible for telling Henry Hill about the Lufthansa money went missing. Anthony and Robert had worked for the Gambino Mafia Family as associates. He supposedly committedhis first murder at just 17. Officially, no one knows what happened to him. Warner Brothers/Getty ImagesRay Liotta as Henry Hill, Robert De Niro as James Jimmy the Gent Conway (Jimmy Burke), Paul Sorvino as Paul Paulie Cicero (Paul Vario), and Joe Pesci as Tommy DeVito (Tommy DeSimone) in the 1990 film Goodfellas. Get started 1900 United States Federal Census. It was on 24 th May 1950 that Thomas DeSimone was born. He then met henry hill through Vario and they did quite a few criminal schemes together. Jemeker Thompson Is She The Most Dreaded Female Drug Lord? When Jerothe found out about it, word got back to Tommy that Jerothe had said he was going to kill him. According to Sal Polisi, DeSimone was killed by Agro (in the presence of Gotti), and that Agro slowly tortured him to death. [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. However, on 14th January 1979, according to his wife, Angela, Tommy went missing and presumed to have been killed probably on 6th January 1979, the reasons cited for the same being several. On January 14, 1979, DeSimones wife, Angela reported him missing. Every time she manages to commit to a TV show without getting bored, an angel gets its wings. DeSimone would kill several more times in his short life. Devino was regarded to be among the most feared gunmen, who had killed many people. It was after this murder that Henry Hill considered DeSimone a psychopath.Fact|date=November 2007 DeSimone was never convicted of murdering Gianco, whose corpse was never discovered. Gianco had a hostile relationship with Tommy DeSimone because of the respect Gianco had among the elder mobsters like Vario, Burke, Carmine Tramunti, Vincent Asaro, Bruno Facciola and Fredrick DeLucia. Disappeared:January 14, 1979 Thomas Anthony DeSimone was born on May 24, 1950. DeSimone grew up in New York surrounded by mafia influences. By the age of 16, he was an alcoholic who drank Sambuca in the morning while working. YouTubeTommy DeSimone and Joe Pesci in Goodfellas. Asaro is notable for having been in Robert's Lounge when bartender Michael "Spider" Gianco was shot in the foot a scene memorably recreated in "Goodfellas" as Joe Pesci's character . Then learn about the executions, informants, and flamboyance of the American Mafia in the 1980s. See All Available Copies See All Available Copies. Not illustrated. Another murder of DeSimone got played in Goodfella movie, where DeSimone had murdered Michael Spider Gianco, by putting three bullets in the chest. Gianco was a young mob associate who was serving as a bartender when he forgot DeSimones drink. A few weeks later, he and his crew tracked Billy Bats down and viciously murdered him. Pages: 29. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Known For: Criminal activities associated with the Lucchese crime family who was alleged to have participated in both the Air France robbery and the Lufthansa heist. Michael "Spider" Gianfranco-Gianco ((1954 - 1970), Brownsville, Brooklyn – South Ozone Park, Queens), was a Lucchese crime family and Bonanno crime family associate who was a protegee of Jimmy Burke. Gianco was considered a "miniature fence" for stolen goods by the other adolescents in Queens. After some weeks, DeSimone joked to Gianco about his wounded leg and Gianco didnt take so well so he told DeSimone to go fuck himself. According to mob informant Joseph "Joe Dogs" Iannuzzi, Thomas Agro claimed in 1985 that he had murdered DeSimone, as well as his brother Anthony after he turned informant. You'd think there'd at least be a missing person for some 16 year old right. In 1994, Hill, in his book Gangsters and Goodfellas, gave an expanded story of the events leading up to DeSimone's death, which was in part due to Tommy's trying to rape Hill's wife, Karen. A friend and fellow Lucchese associate Henry Hill described Tommy as a pure psychopath. He committed his first murder at the age of 18 when he shot Howard Goldstein in cold blood as he walked down the street. As it turns out, Tommy DeSimone was even crazier in real life. [citation needed], On December 11, 1978, an estimated $5.875 million (equivalent to $24.4million in 2021) was stolen from the Lufthansa cargo terminal at Kennedy airport, with $5 million in cash and $875,000 in jewelry, making it the largest cash robbery committed on U.S. soil at the time. DeSimone lost his temper and fatally shot Gianco three times in the chest, angrily demanding of Burke if that was "good enough for [him]". Adrienne Tyler is a features writer for Screen Rant. Thomas had a sister, Dolores, and two brothers who were both Gambino crime family associates, Robert DeSimone and Anthony DeSimone. In 1970, while serving drinks to some mobsters at Robert's Lounge, Gianco forgot to give Tommy DeVito his Crown Royal, angering him. After a truck heist, a foreman had refused to allow Burke to unload the stolen cargo in his warehouse and vehemently protested because they had no union cards. There are different theories about DeSimones alleged murder. He was an Italian- American mobster that worked as an associate of the Lucchese crime family of New York and was one of the real-life goodfellas. He began to follow the examples of his family members after he joined the mobster crew. Because of his mob connections, he was not made to pay his union dues, and received the position even though he was not old enough to drink. His brothers were both associates of the Gambino crime family. and our Upon this, DeSimone had risen to the ranks of a made man. Required fields are marked *. Based on the book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi, Goodfellas chronicles the life of Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), from his days as a teenager fascinated by the mafia presence in his Italian-American neighborhood in Brooklyn to running errands for Paul Cicero (Paul Sorvino) and his crew and later his full involvement with them, culminating with him becoming an FBI informant. Nationality: American Wikimedia CommonsThe mugshots of Henry Hill and Paul Vario. In his adolescence he became a runaway youth. Next, read more about Henry Hill and the Goodfellas crew. Agro also suggested murdering the eldest and last remaining brother, Robert. He was abandoned by his parents and slept in the basement on days he had nowhere to go. McMahon suggested that they should just walk in, as people often came to the terminal to pick up lost baggage. If yourin the life you must obey the rules, no compromising will be tolerated. 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. DeSimone quickly pulled out a gun and shot Gianco in the foot after demanding that he dance for him. Phyllis was James Burke's mistress from the time she was aged 16. Privacy Policy. He was said to have committed his first murder at the age of 17 when he pulled out his gun and killed a total stranger on the street. Gianco and DeSimone had an argument (after Gianco forgot DeSimone's drink) that resulted in DeSimone pulling out a handgun and shooting him in the thigh. Michael "Spider" Gianco (1954-1970) was a Lucchese crime family associate who worked as a bartender at Robert's Lounge in New York City. DeSimone later told Hill that he was using Gianco for "target practice", testing out his new Colt .45 revolvers. DeSimone was a man who did not like to be insulted. They were subsequently arrested by the authorities while involved in minor crimes and became informants. When DeVito told Gianco to dance his way back to the table, Gianco told him to fuck himself. His family eventually settled in Queens. Bentvenas joke instantly set DeSimone off. Once again wanting to prove himself, DeSimone shot Gianco three times in the chest. In "Goodfellas," Joe Pesci's Tommy DeVito is a complete psychopath. It has been assumed that Tommy DeSimone was buried in a suspectedmafia graveyardon the Brooklyn-Queens border near Kennedy Airport. When Spider returned to his job as a bartender, he and DeSimone exchanged more words. Thomas Monaster/NY Daily News Archive via Getty ImagesJames Burke (Jimmy the Gent), arrested and taken to Federal Court. Tommy had remained behind in New York because he was going to be made. McMahon told them it would be a perfect time for the robbery by midnight when the security guard would be on his meal break. After a break to heal, Gianco returned wearing a leg cast, and DeSimone didnt miss the opportunity to tease him again and ordered him to dance. Gotti's role as the assassin was repeated in the 2015 book The Lufthansa Heist, co-written by Hill and journalist Daniel Simone,[9] although this account claims that DeSimone's death was instantaneous from three gunshots to the head. The mobster was born on 24 may, 1950 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. Gianco would be paid $100 dollars per car on delivery. This gave their relative Michael much hardship when growing up. very low witted illiterate. 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. According to Hill, He looked like he was bringing you a sandwich instead of a .38.. Frank, a criminal defense attorney turned mobster, replaced the deceased Jack Dragna in 1956 and became the second DeSimone family member to assume control of the Los Angeles family. Several scenarios have come to light describing why Tommy was murdered. Did these victims invite this inevitable disposition? He sold the property 2 years before his death but the body is still in the basement. This led Spider to tell him the same wordsas in Goodfellas, and Jimmy (real last name: Burke) started pushing DeSimones buttons by praising Giancos courage. In1967, an Air France employee Robert McMahon tipped off Burke, Hill, and DeSimone about an incoming delivery of between $400,000 and $700,000 in cash. 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. these are usually. Spider only appeared twice in Goodfellasand in the same scenario: a card game, attended by Henry, Jimmy, Tommy, and other associates. This associate is now dead from natural causes. DeSimone pulled out one of his Colts and shot him three times in the chest. It is interesting that in this first iteration of the story, Spider is never called "Michael Gianco", he is only referred to by his nickname. DeSimone was described by Hill as a total psychopath who could do anything to feel better and respected. As for what happened to Giancos body, Burke was so pissed at DeSimone for killing him that he ordered him to dig a hole in the cellar of the bar (Roberts Lounge, owned by Burke) and bury him there, but his remains were never found. She is an Audiovisual Communication graduate who wanted to be a filmmaker, but life had other plans (and it turned out great). Tommy was known for having a really bad temper and for being extremely impulsive, which was what ultimately led to his death. DeSimones fifth murder occurred when Burke ordered the killing of his best friend, Dominick Remo Cersani. [6] Burke decided on DeSimone, McMahon, Angelo Sepe, Louis Cafora, Joe Manri, and Paolo LiCastri as the robbers. DeSimone strangled Cersani with piano wire. Tommy ended up shooting him on the foot, but Spider was back a week later, serving them drinks during another card game and wearing a cast on his foot. Full name: Thomas James DeSimone Most sources cite Hill but I'm not even sure if Spider was even real. The death of Joe Pescis Tommy DeVito (Tommy DeSimone) in. 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. 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. According to Sal Polisi, DeSimone was killed by Agro in the presence of Gotti. A family friend named Jimmy Burke guided him to participate in few rackets and trained him to become a successful mafia. His surname is an Italian compound name composed of Gianni "God is gracious" and Franco meaning "free"." Under the club, in the basement, was another graveyard for wiseguys. "[5] Two weeks later, on June 11, 1970, Bentvena was at The Suite, Hill's nightclub in Queens. 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