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  The Butcher

  Anatomy of a Mafia Psychopath

  Philip Carlo

  This book is dedicated to ASAC Jim Hunt and the members of the Pitera task force out of Group 33 in the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New York office—Ken Feldman, Tom Geisel, Bruce Travers, Mike Agrifolio, John McKenna, John Welch, Eric Stangeby, Rob Barber, Mike Grabowski, John Wilson, Tim McDonald, Dave Toracinta, and Violet Szelecky. Every day, these brave men and women put their lives on the line fighting the scourge that drugs are, warring with extremely wealthy, diabolical, highly motivated drug lords from all over the world.

  “Right now, the federal government is fighting a war on drug abuse under a distinct handicap, for its efforts are those of a loosely confederated alliance facing a resourceful, elusive, worldwide enemy.”

  —Richard Nixon, July 1973, upon creation of the Drug Enforcement Administration

  “There’s never been anyone like him. He was like a vampire. We believe he killed over sixty people. We followed him for three years. He always wore black. His face was very white. One night we saw him doing chins on a fire escape in a dark alley at four o’clock in the morning. It was an unsettling sight.”

  —Agent David Toracinta

  “If anyone deserved the death penalty, it was Tommy Pitera.”

  —Federal Prosecutor David Shapiro

  “Greed was the engine that fueled his criminal enterprise.”

  —Assistant U.S. Attorney Elisa Liang

  “After what he did to Phyllis, I hated the fucker.”

  —Frank Gangi

  “When he talked, he sounded just like a girl.”

  —Lenny the pizza guy

  “Three men could keep a secret, if two of them are dead.”

  —Santo Trafficante, Tampa, Florida, Mafia boss

  “Just say no.”

  —Nancy Reagan

  Contents

  Epigraph

  Author’s Note

  Acknowledgments

  Cast of Characters

  Map of Gravesend and Bensonhurst

  Prologue

  Part I Seeds

  1 Sanctuary

  2 Dark Secrets

  3 It’s Good to Know Karate

  4 The Making of a Dragon Slayer

  5 The Apple Doesn’t Fall Far from the Tree

  6 Cherry Blossoms and Samurai

  7 The Bonannos

  Part II Killers Fear Him

  8 The Green Hornet and the Bonannos

  9 The Bonanno Vampire

  10 The Perfect Storm

  11 Armed, Dangerous, and Aggressive

  12 Gravesend: The Cemetery

  13 Buy and Bust

  14 Pizza Two

  15 Street Monkey

  16 The Vampire of Avenue S

  17 Surveillance

  18 Phyllis

  19 Three-Time Loser

  20 Group 33

  21 The Guvenaros

  22 The Gravedigger

  23 The Art of Walk-and-Talks

  24 Happenstance

  25Party Girl

  26 Speedballs

  27 Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda

  28 No Remorse, No Conscience, No Scruples

  29 Fire-Breathing Dragon

  30 The Loss of a Tentacle

  31 The Body in the Alley

  32 The Cleaner

  33 “You’re Not My Boss”

  34 Dynamic Duo

  35 Stick Shift

  36 Willie Boy

  37 The Garage

  38 B & E

  39 Rats

  Part III The Beat Goes On

  40 The Cop Killer

  41 Spider’s Web

  42 1–900-Fuck-Me

  Photographic Insert

  43 He’s a Real Bad Dude

  44 Day Trip

  45 The Rock of Gibraltar

  46 The Meatwagon

  47 Lion’s Share

  48 DUI

  49 Revelations

  Part IV Traumas and Trials

  50 The William T. Davis Wildlife Refuge

  51 Cheap Suitcases

  52 The Execution of Tommy Karate Pitera

  53 Tight-Lipped Pitera

  54 The United States of America Versus Pitera

  55 Yea or Nay

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Other Books by Philip Carlo

  Credits

  Copyright

  About the Publisher

  In respectful memory of the DEA agents brought down in the war on drugs:

  Everett Hatcher

  Frank Tummillo

  Thomas Devine

  Enrique Camarena

  Charles A. Wood

  Stafford Beckett

  Joseph Floyd

  James T. Williams

  James E. Brown

  James R. Kerrigan

  Spencer Stafford

  Anker M. Bangs

  Wilson M. Shee

  Mansel R. Burrell

  Hector Jordan

  Gene A. Clifton

  Richard Heath Jr.

  Emir Benitez

  Gerald Sawyer

  Leslie S. Grosso

  Larry D. Wallace

  Octavio Gonzalez

  Thomas J. Devine

  Marcellus Ward

  William Ramos

  Raymond J. Statsny

  Terry W. McNett

  George M. Montoya

  Paul S. Seema

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  * * *

  Contained in this book are particularly unsettling crime-scene photos of Tommy Karate Pitera’s victims. We realize the photos are horrible and shocking, but we feel the hardcore reality of exactly what Pitera did, the Mafia culture that begot him, is important for the reader to see and know and experience. Exclusively, the DEA provided author Philip Carlo with these photographs; they have never been given to any journalist before.

  Here, now, we enter the macabre, bloody netherworld of Tommy Karate Pitera.

  * * *

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  The Butcher: Anatomy of a Mafia Psychopath would not have been possible without the kind help and never-ending cooperation of ASAC Jim Hunt of the Drug Enforcement Administration. Thanks to his steel bear-trap memory and his willingness to sit down with me and my assistant, Kelsey Osgood, for endless hours, we were able to understand and portray this very complex, epic tale involving the war on drugs—the Bonanno crime family on one side, and the DEA on the other, mortal enemies both. I came to believe that Jim Hunt is a real live hero—a man like him is one in a million. The agents who work under Jim, out on the streets with Jim, like him and respect him and told me they’d rather have Jim Hunt watching their backs than anyone else.

  I wish to also express my heartfelt gratitude to Kelsey Osgood for her quick wit, sharp intelligence, her ready willingness to do whatever she was asked. Without Kelsey, this book would not have been possible. I also wish to thank Matt Bialer at Sanford Greenburger for his enthusiasm and encouragement, dedication and loyalty. Matt comes from the old school of literary agents—he truly cares for his clients, their work, and artistic sensibilities. My thanks to Matt Harper at HarperCollins for his constant good cheer and excellent editorial input. Many thanks also to my family, my parents, Dante and Nina Carlo, for understanding why I missed so many family functions. Also many thanks to my Los Angeles agent, Jerry Kalajian, for always being there, for promptly returning phone calls, and for his guidance, experience, and friendship. My heartfelt gratitude to my wife, Laura Carlo, for her help and support, input and understanding, for her sitting down with me and line reading, out loud, this whole book. Also, my heartfelt thanks to Mike Kostrewa, for always being there, day and night. I would be remiss if I didn’t thank the kind people at the Savoy Hotel, where much of this book was w
ritten: Carlos Mendes, Fernao Carvalho, Sergio Coniglio. Also, many thanks to Raf Pasquet and the wonderful, amazingly hospitable Boucher brothers, Michael and Perry. I would also like to thank the mean streets of Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, where I received most of my education, where I learned about the culture of La Cosa Nostra—its walk and talk, mind-set, bloody rhyme and rhythm.

  CAST OF CHARACTERS

  THE GOOD GUYS

  Agent Jim Hunt Pitera investigation case agent

  Agent Tommy Geisel Jim Hunt’s partner

  Joe Hunt Jim’s grandfather

  James Hunt Sr. Jim’s father, DEA agent

  Bruce Travers Group 33 agent

  Mike Agrifolio Group 33 agent

  John Welch Group 33 agent

  Dave Toracinta Group 33 agent

  Jack Macready DEA ASAC

  Ken Feldman Group 33 supervisor

  Jon Wilson Group 33 agent

  Eric Stangeby Group 33 agent

  Violet Szeleczky Group 33 agent

  Billy Fredricks ATF agent

  William Tomasulo NYPD detective

  George Terra NYPD detective

  Matt O’Brian NYPD detective

  Timmy MacDonald DEA agent

  John McKenna DEA agent

  Sergeant Martin Head of Canadian Mounties in Montreal

  Sergeant MacDonald Head of Canadian Mounties in Toronto

  David Shapiro Federal prosecutor

  Fred Sandler Hunt’s first DEA supervisor

  Elisa Liang Federal prosecutor

  Andrew Maloney U.S. attorney

  Reena Raggi Judge

  Mark Cohen Federal prosecutor

  THE BAD GUYS

  Tommy Pitera Bonanno family capo

  Frank Gangi Pitera associate

  Billy Bright Pitera associate, Gangi’s partner in drug dealing

  Shlomo Mendelsohn Israeli drug dealer, Pitera associate

  Anthony “Bruno” Indelicato Bonanno family capo

  Joseph Bonanno Former head of the Bonanno family

  Anthony Spero Bonanno family underboss

  Alphonse “Sonny Red” Indelicato Bonanno family capo, father of Bruno

  John Gotti Gambino boss

  Eddie Lino Gambino war captain

  Frank Lino Bonanno capo, Pitera boss, Eddie’s cousin

  Angelo Favara Pitera associate

  Judy Haimowitz Pitera associate

  Arthur “Bopp” Guvenaro Gangi and Bright’s drug-dealing associate

  Louie “Bopp” Guvenaro Arthur’s brother

  Emmanuel Adamita Sicilian drug dealer

  Talal Siksik Israeli drug dealer, Pitera associate

  Moussa Aliyan Israeli drug dealer, Pitera associate

  Joe “Dish” Senatore DEA informant

  Richie David Pitera associate

  Joey “Pizza” Tekulve Pitera associate

  Vincent “Kojak” Giattino Pitera associate

  Manny Maya Pitera associate

  Frank Rubino Eddie Lino business associate

  Lloyd Modell, aka Lorenzo Modica Pitera associate

  Frank Martini Pitera associate

  Carlos Acosta Colombian drug dealer

  Fernando Aguilera Colombian drug dealer

  Paul Castellano Former head of the Gambino family

  Joe Butch Corrao Gambino underboss

  Ross Gangi Genovese captain, Frank Gangi’s cousin

  Richard Leone Pitera associate

  Solomon Stern Richard Leone associate

  Hector Estrada Queens-based drug dealer

  Vincenzo Lore Gambino and Bonanno associate, drug dealer, fugitive

  Yves LeSalle, aka Gilles Canadian drug dealer, fugitive

  John Gotti Jr. Son of John Gotti

  Greg Reiter Gotti Jr. associate

  Michael Harrigan Former Gotti Jr. associate

  Mark Reiter Greg Reiter’s father

  Thomas Carbone Pitera associate

  Michael Cassesse Pitera associate

  Andrew Miciotta Pitera associate

  Barbara Lambrose Tommy Pitera’s girlfriend

  Wilfred “Willie Johnson Boy Government informer

  OTHERS

  Phyllis Burdi Frank Gangi’s girlfriend

  Carol Boguski Tommy Pitera’s wife

  Celeste LiPari Tommy Pitera’s common-law wife

  Sophia Gangi Frank Gangi’s wife

  Patty Girl Scifo Pitera associate

  Marek Kucharsky Polish boxer

  Andy Jakakis Friend of Frank Gangi’s

  Joey Balzano Good looking drug user

  Renee Lombardozzi Joey Balzano’s girlfriend

  Vinnie DeMarco DEA informer

  Maria Polkowski DEA informer

  Matthew Mari Criminal defense attorney

  David Ruhnke Criminal defense attorney

  Cheryl Mackell Criminal defense attorney

  Map of Gravesend and Bensonhurst

  PROLOGUE

  Gravesend, Brooklyn, is a seven-thousand-acre swath of land sandwiched between Bensonhurst and Coney Island. The area initially drew its name from a small graveyard located at McDonald Avenue and Neck Road. Beaten and battered and worn down now, the graveyard is still there today. Gravesend was settled by the Dutch in 1640. Between the years 1641 and 1645, before the area was an English settlement, the Dutch had a campaign to rid the area of its indigenous peoples. The Dutch remorselessly murdered them, beheaded them, dismembered them, and gleefully burned them alive at the stake.

  Gravesend was strategically close to estuaries fed by the nearby Atlantic Ocean. It was well located for importing and exporting various goods and commodities. The forests of Gravesend were abundant in all manner of game, moose, deer and beaver, wild pig, and huge numbers of rabbits. (Nearby Coney Island is Dutch for “Rabbit Island.”) The waters of the Atlantic were teeming with many varieties of fish. During the summer months, the pristine, unpolluted Atlantic literally boiled with huge schools of anchovy, cod, mackerel, bluefish, bass, fluke, and flounder. Tons of succulent lobster and blue claw crabs were there for the taking. Mountains of oysters, mussels, and clams were easily accessible. The vast, blue skies of seventeenth-century Brooklyn were filled with edible fowl—quail, duck, and geese. The dark, fertile soil was ideal for bountiful crops. With the exception of the brutal and unforgiving winters, Gravesend was a place of sweet abundance.

  As Brooklyn grew to be a large, bustling metropolis, so did Gravesend. In the early twentieth century, the New York Mafia began using the more desolate areas of Gravesend as a convenient dumping ground for bodies. Joe “The Boss” Masseria, Salvatore Maranzano, Lucky Luciano, Murder Incorporated, the five New York crime families—Genovese, Profaci, Bonanno, Lucchese, and Anastasia—all gladly used Gravesend as a convenient place to leave their victims—stabbed, ice-picked, butchered, beaten, battered, and shot to death.

  Up to the day of his arrest, Sammy “The Bull” Gravano had his office smack in the heart of Gravesend, at Highland and Stillwell avenues. The Lucchese, Genovese, Gambino, Colombo, and Bonanno crime families all had secretive black-windowed social clubs in Gravesend and Bensonhurst. Here, mafiosi played cards, drank strong espresso, planned new crimes, murders and hijacks, settled disputes. Thus, Gravesend, Brooklyn, took on a more sinister, morbid connotation to its inhabitants and to the people in nearby Bensonhurst and Coney Island. Here, people minded their own business. Here, no one saw anything. The citizenry could readily be likened to the three wise monkeys…they saw no evil, spoke no evil, heard no evil.

  Because Gravesend and its neighbor Bensonhurst had larger populations of “made men” than anywhere else in the world, including Sicily, one of the by-products of their work—bodies—was always a concern. Where to hide them; how to get rid of them permanently; whether or not to blatantly leave them out in the open. These were decisions that either had to be made quickly, on the spot, or planned in advance. As vacant lots all across Brooklyn were filled with two- and three-story red-brick homes, the impromptu burial grounds of the area systematica
lly disappeared. The mob, as a collective whole, had to look for new places to hide their victims.

  Thus, it was logical that nearby Staten Island came into play. On Staten Island, there were still huge tracts of uninhabited land, blackened swamps, fields covered with tall green grass in the summer that turned a golden, wheatlike hue in the winter. Here, too, were thousands of acres of thick forests of oak, hickory, maple, and beech trees. More important, though, were the state wildlife sanctuaries, which were protected by the government from any kind of development. No construction was allowed; no utility lines would be laid. Surrounded by hundreds of acres of empty land, there was little threat someone idling by would stumble across a body or members of the mob burying one. Inadvertently, the government had invented the perfect place to get rid of bodies for the Mafia, and it didn’t take long for particularly cunning members of La Cosa Nostra to take advantage of this convenience.

  Always wily, always quick to exploit a situation, the Mafia turned Staten Island’s wildlife sanctuaries into its private burial grounds. Interestingly, all five New York crime families used the sanctuaries. One would think members of the mob would keep secret cemeteries private, not tell anyone about them, but just the opposite proved true. They actually shared the sanctuaries with one another. Members of all the five families came to Staten Island with bodies in the trunks of their cars. They drove Cadillacs and Lincolns, Mercedeses and Jaguars, and arrogantly made their way to private burial grounds scattered all over Staten Island, in the south, the north, the east, and the west. They were so sure and confident that they often came across the Verrazano Bridge in broad daylight with bodies and long-handled shovels in the trunks of their cars, as Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Dean Martin, and golden oldies came from their radios. Never speeding, always carefully abiding by traffic rules and regulations, signs and lights, they made their way to these prearranged burial sites, sometimes singing along with Sinatra. Occasionally, there were graves already prepared; most often, however, shallow graves would be quickly dug in the secret-holding sanctuaries.