Some killings became turning points. The Albert Anastasia barbershop hit in 1957. The 1972 Joe Gallo killing at Umberto’s Clam House. The Carmine Galante murder in 1979 that ended one Bonanno succession and started another. The Three Capos killing on May 5, 1981 that ended Joseph Pistone’s undercover access. The Paul Castellano killing outside Sparks Steak House in 1985. The Frank DeCicco bombing in 1986. Infamous Hits documents the assassinations and contract murders that marked the operational history of organized crime in America — the planning, the execution, the legal aftermath, and the long tail of their consequences. Articles in this section pull from contemporaneous reporting, from federal court filings on the prosecutions that followed, from cooperator testimony where it exists, and from the medical examiner and police files that constitute the documentary record. We treat these killings as documented events rather than as legends. We name the shooters where they have been identified, we name the victims, we name the ordering boss, and we cite the source. We do not dramatize the violence. The Castellano hit is more interesting historically than it ever was cinematically.
Scorsese matched every frozen corpse in the Layla montage to a phrase of the piano coda. He didn’t know the pianist would later murder his own mother with a hammer.
Eighty-two days after the 20/20 Night Club murders, the FBI pulled Joseph Pistone out. The hit Donnie Brasco compressed into 45 seconds is the reason the operation had to end.
Roy DeMeo built the most efficient killing operation the Gambino family ever produced. The FBI suspected his crew of 75 to 200 murders. His own protégés killed him using the method he taught them.
Michael Mann based Heat on the real Neil McCauley, a professional thief killed in a police shootout. But the Hollywood version was far more romantic than reality.
Casino’s Nicky Santoro was terrifying on screen. The real Tony Spilotro was worse. His brutality started years before Las Vegas — and the movie barely scratched the surface.
Robert De Niro’s Jimmy Conway was terrifying on screen. The real Jimmy Burke was worse. After the Lufthansa heist, he systematically eliminated everyone who could connect him to the crime.
In Goodfellas, Stacks Edwards was killed for sleeping through the van cleanup. The real story of Parnell ‘Stacks’ Edwards reveals a man whose downfall started long before the Lufthansa heist.
Louis Eppolito was a decorated NYPD detective by day and a Lucchese family hitman by night. He even landed a small role in Goodfellas while secretly working as a mafia assassin.
