Paperback. By the age of 16, he was an alcoholic who drank Sambuca in the morning while working. 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). "I thought he was bored stiff," Imperioli says. He was born in Brownsville, Brooklyn to Sardinian-Italian emigrants from Olbia and christened as "Michele Gianfranco". 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], 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. Historica Wiki is a FANDOM Games Community. Devino was a feared gunman and had killed several people, but Tommy had earned respect as well and didnt take verbal punishment from anyone. Related: Goodfellas: The Mafia's Rules & Code of Honor Explained. He grew up surrounded by mafia influences. Burke attempted to reason with the foreman, who stood his ground and refused to be intimidated. During the 1960s, Jimmy Conway introduced him to Paul Cicero's crew of the Lucchese crime family, and he became a drinker at 16, a car thief, and a skilled burglar; his burglary skills and his long limbs led to him being nicknamed "Spider". 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 . 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. 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. ), or wondering what life would have been like had Pushing Daisies, Firefly, and Limitless not been cancelled. The airline had contracted to return the money to the U.S. for depositing with American banks. DeSimone's career in the Lucchese family is explored in the book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi, and inspired the character of Tommy DeVito, portrayed by Joe Pesci, one of the main characters of the 1990 film Goodfellas. Rosario became the boss of the Los Angeles family after Vito Di Giorgio was killed in Chicago in 1922. Not a Howard Stern fan, but it would be interesting to see. Goodfellas is often considered one of the best Mafia movies ever made. Spider's real name was Michael Gianco, and he became associated with the Lucchese family sometime in the 1960s. When she's not writing, you can find her trying to learn a new language, watching hockey (go Avs! Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. 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. 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. Spider insulted DeSimone a week before, and DeSimone retaliated by shooting him in the foot. Spiders real name was Michael Gianco, and he became associated with the Lucchese family sometime in the 1960s. His troubled family life involving organized crime shows many similarities with his executioner Thomas DeSimone's family. 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. Murders of Gianco, Cersani, and Jerothe 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. For becoming informants and betraying the La Cosa Nostra oath that they had made to their respected crime families, they were executed. DeSimone and Hill went to Kennedy Airport with an empty suitcase. A key scene in Tommy's arc in Goodfellas was when he killed Spider . On the day of the robbery, Hill and DeSimone drove to Kennedy airport with an empty suitcase, the largest Hill could find. DeSimones fifth murder occurred when Burke ordered the killing of his best friend, Dominick Remo Cersani. DeSimone promised to kill him and after two weeks, he beat Bentvena to death. Not illustrated. He added that Agro had tortured DeSimone slowly to death. He was considered to be nave, skinny and just 15 years old. A few weeks after the heist, DeSimone got the news he had been waiting almost his entire life for. 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. 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. [5] After Bentvena was severely beaten and presumed dead, DeSimone, Burke, and Hill placed his body in the trunk of Hill's car, stopping at DeSimone's mother's house for a knife, lime, and a shovel. Officially, no one knows what happened to him. Anthony and Robert had worked for the Gambino Mafia Family as associates. It is believed that Gianco's body was subsequently moved because it was not found in that location. Bentvenas joke instantly set DeSimone off. He is well known as an American-Italian mobster having worked for New York's Luchesse Mafia Family as an associate. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. 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. Free updates online. [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 next day, Burke made a second call and was told DeSimone had been killed. When Imperioli auditioned for the groundbreaking series, he was best known for playing Michael "Spider" Gianco, a minor role in Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas. [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]. Age at Time of Disappearance: 29 years old Siblings: Dolores, Phyllis, Robert, and Anthony 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. Biography Gianco after being shot DeSimone got so angry that he shot Gianco three times on the chest. Sometime before July 1970, DeSimone was playing poker in the basement of Robert's Lounge with Angelo Sepe and Jimmy Burke. Thomas Monaster/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images. Adrienne Tyler is a features writer for Screen Rant. Bentvena was a personal friend of Gotti and wanted DeSimone to suffer for killing his friend. They entered the terminal and headed to the unsecured area without hitches and opened the door with a duplicate key. For more information, please see our [9][10], On January 14, 1979, DeSimone's wife, Angela, reported him missing. In 1979, Anthony was murdered by another mobster, Thomas Agro. He kicked and swung and shit all over himself before he died." According to mob informantJoseph Joe Dogs Lannuzzi, Thomas Agro claimed he had murdered DeSimone and his brother Anthony after he turned informant. Pesci won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his depiction. When he was 15 years old, DeSimone was introduced to Paul Vario, a caporegime in the Lucchese family in 1965. DeSimone would kill several more times in his short life. Burke, enraged, made DeSimone bury Gianco in the unfinished section of the basement in Robert's Lounge. Privacy Policy. . Just as in the movie, DeSimones crew helped him bury the body, stopping at DeSimones mother house with the body still in the trunk. That was the largest cash robbery ever committed on U.S soil at that time. The theft was done unnoticed until the following Monday when a Wells Fargo truck went to pick up the cash which was to be delivered to the French American banking corporation. Tommy DeSimone strangled Jimmy Burke's best friend, Dominick. McMahon suggested that they should just walk in, as people often came to the terminal to pick up lost baggage. He is well known as an American-Italian mobster having worked for New Yorks Luchesse Mafia Family as an associate. Thomas DeSimone was born on May 24, 1950. He was going to be made. He would finally be someone that other mobsters had to respect. Burke nicknamed him "Spider" for his long, gangly arms and legs, as well as his skill as a burglar. 0:00 / 17:20 (NEW SERIES!!!) Spouse: Angelica Spione DeSimone (m. ?1979) 20 Things You Didnt Know About Boobs Breasts and Nipples Fact, Monte Rissell 12 Frightening And Dark Facts About The Serial Killer, 3.5 Million-Years-Old Bacteria To Remain Young, German Actress Infects Herself With 3.5 Million-Years-Old Bacteria. Another murder of DeSimone got played in Goodfella movie, where DeSimone had murdered Michael Spider Gianco, by putting three bullets in the chest. DeSimone had a huge appetite and quick temper and could drink every day gallon of milk. Henry Hill did an interview with Howard Stern a while back, and "Spider's sister", called in and not only claimed to be his sister, but also reportedly begged Henry to tell her where the body was. 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. And while many movies based on true stories take liberties with the characters, Pescis characteris a pretty faithful representation of a very real and terrifying mobster: Tommy Two Guns DeSimone. The suspected gunmen, John Gotti. 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. Through Vario, DeSimone met Henry Hill and together, they worked on a number of criminal schemes. 2 comments share save Among those characters who died in Goodfellas and by the hand of Tommy was Spider (Michael Imperioli), a young man who made a brief but unforgettable appearance in the movie. 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. Henry Hill recounts a story when Tommy DeSimone killed young Michael "Spider" Gianco. That kind of impulsive violence would follow DeSimone and get him in trouble later in an incident that was depicted in Goodfellas. It was great. He had several kills to his credit, including Gambino Mafia Familys made man called Billy Batts Devino in 1970. His brother had also been an informant for the FBI, which meant that DeSimone always felt the need to prove himself. On The Howard Stern Show, Hill said that Gianco was buried next to Robert's Lounge along with other bodies. Henry Hill maintains that Jon Gotti, future don of the Gambino family, killed DeSimone himself. Vario made him an official member of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union and was hired on as a bartender by Casey Rosado at Robert's Lounge and Bruno Facciolo's restaurant 'Bruno's'. [7] Peter Vario (Paul Vario's son) and Bruno Facciolo took him to an unknown location, where he was murdered. The money was stored in a cement-block strong room at Air France's cargo terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport, with a round-the-clock private security guard. Im doing a APA paper on the History of the American Mafia and I need to know who publish this and when was it publish? After the heist, DeSimone was ordered to kill Parnell Stacks Edwards for failing to hide the delivery truck. Under the club, in the basement, was another graveyard for wiseguys. 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. Both of his brothers were associates of the Gambino crime family; Anthony was murdered by mobster Thomas Agro in 1979. Spider being the kid that Joe Pesci mowed down in the movie Goodfellas. 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