On January 14th, 1979, Tommy DeSimone walked out of his house in Queens, New York, and climbed into a car with two men he knew. He was 28 years old and believed he was on his way to becoming a made man in the Lucchese crime family. Instead, he was driving to his execution. His body was never found.
DeSimone was one-third of the crew that killed Billy Batts, a made man in the Gambino family, in 1970. The other two men involved were Jimmy Burke and Henry Hill. Nine years later, only Tommy paid with his life. Burke died in prison decades later. Hill lived to 69, sold his story, and became famous for cooperating with the government.
The mafia does not kill for revenge. It kills for survival. By 1979, keeping Tommy DeSimone alive was the most dangerous decision the Lucchese family could make.
DeSimone was born on May 24th, 1950, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His grandfather was a Los Angeles mob boss, and his uncle was a Gambino family member. Crime was an inheritance. By his teens, his family had moved to Brooklyn, and he was already running with criminals.
At 15, DeSimone was introduced to Paul Vario, a powerful capo in the Lucchese family. Vario ran a crew out of Brooklyn that controlled truck hijackings and loan sharking. DeSimone became a Vario associate, as did Henry Hill.
Hill later said the portrayal of Tommy in *Goodfellas* was 90 to 99 percent accurate, with one exception. Joe Pesci was 5'3". Tommy DeSimone was over six feet tall and built like a linebacker. He used his size to terrorize everyone around him. He was reckless, impulsive, and uncontrollable.
DeSimone’s first known murder happened in 1968, when he was 17. According to Hill, DeSimone shot and killed a stranger named Howard Goldstein. There was no motive. It was violence for the sake of violence.
By 1970, DeSimone was a full-time earner for the Vario crew, involved in truck hijackings at JFK Airport. But he had a problem. He could not stop killing. And he was killing the wrong people.
On June 11th, 1970, William Bentvena, known as Billy Batts, walked into the Suite Lounge in Queens. He was a made man in the Gambino family, recently released from prison after serving six years for narcotics trafficking. It was his welcome home party.
Batts remembered DeSimone from years earlier, when Tommy worked as a shoeshine boy. In front of everyone, Batts humiliated him. "Go home and get your shine box," he said. Batts was a made man. DeSimone was just an associate. He could not do anything about it.
Except Tommy did not care about the rules. Henry Hill tried to calm him down and walked him outside. They waited until the bar emptied. Around 3 a.m., they went back inside. DeSimone beat Batts unconscious with a pistol. Jimmy Burke joined in. They kicked and stomped him. Hill helped load the body into a trunk.
Batts was not dead yet. They drove to a location near the Connecticut border. When they opened the trunk, Batts was still breathing. DeSimone stabbed him repeatedly. Burke shot him four times in the chest. They buried him, then dug him up six months later and moved the body.
You do not kill a made man and walk away. Batts was Gambino. DeSimone, Burke, and Hill were Lucchese associates. Killing a made man from another family without permission was a declaration of war.
Later in 1970, just months after killing Batts, DeSimone was at another bar. A young kid named Michael Gianco, called Spider, worked there fetching drinks. One night, DeSimone was drunk and shot Spider in the foot for fun. Spider recovered and came back to work. A few weeks later, Spider made a smart remark. DeSimone pulled his gun and shot him three times in the chest. Spider died on the floor.
Hill later said that was the moment he realized DeSimone was a psychopath. He did not kill for business. He killed for sport.
In 1974, DeSimone murdered another Gambino associate named Ronald "Foxy" Jerothe. The motive was unclear, but the result was the same. Another body, another Gambino connection, another reason for the Gambino family to want him dead.
Then, on December 11th, 1978, six armed men walked into the Lufthansa cargo building at JFK Airport. They pulled off the biggest cash robbery in American history, stealing nearly $6 million in cash and jewelry. The mastermind was Jimmy Burke. DeSimone was part of the crew.
Each man was supposed to get $750,000. Most never saw a dime. Burke started killing everyone involved to keep the money for himself. By the summer of 1979, seven people connected to the heist were dead. But Burke did not kill DeSimone. He did not have to.
The Lucchese family told DeSimone he was going to be made. Becoming a made man was the ultimate goal. He got into a car with two men he trusted. They told him they were driving to the ceremony. They were not.
According to multiple sources, including Henry Hill, DeSimone was taken to a house in Queens. He walked into an empty room and realized it was a trap. John Gotti, a rising star in the Gambino family, was waiting. Some reports say Gotti shot DeSimone three times in the head with a silenced pistol. His body was never recovered.
The Lucchese family approved the hit. They had to. DeSimone had killed Billy Batts and Foxy Jerothe, both Gambino connected. The Gambino family demanded justice. The Lucchese family could not protect him anymore. They used the fake ceremony as bait, and Tommy walked right into it.
So why did Jimmy Burke and Henry Hill survive? Burke was Irish. He could never become a made man. He existed in a gray area. He was incredibly valuable, but he was not technically part of La Cosa Nostra. The Gambinos could not demand his death the same way they demanded Tommy’s.
Burke was also smart. After the Billy Batts murder, he laid low. He did not brag. He let Tommy be the face of the problem. Burke killed strategically. Tommy killed impulsively. Burke made money. Tommy made enemies. In the mafia, professionals survive. Psychopaths do not.
Burke was eventually convicted of multiple crimes. He died of natural causes in prison on April 13th, 1996. The mafia never touched him.
Henry Hill was half Irish and half Italian. Like Burke, he could never be made. He was involved in the Billy Batts murder, but he was the least involved. Tommy beat Batts. Jimmy shot him. Henry helped clean up. In the eyes of the Gambino family, Henry was a minor player. That distinction saved his life.
Hill was also smart enough to get out. In 1980, he was arrested on narcotics charges. He became a government informant. His testimony led to 50 convictions. He entered the witness protection program. The mafia could not touch him.
Even before he flipped, the Gambino family was not demanding his death. They wanted Tommy. Tommy was the problem. Henry was a footnote. And footnotes do not get executed.
Hill was kicked out of the witness protection program in 1987 after he blew his cover and continued committing crimes. He spent the next 25 years living in the open. The mafia knew where he was. They did not kill him because he was not worth the risk. He had already talked. Killing him would only bring more attention.
Hill died of heart disease on June 12th, 2012, one day after his 69th birthday. Natural causes. The mafia never came for him.
The mafia does not kill everyone involved in a problem. They kill the biggest liability. Tommy DeSimone was the biggest liability the Lucchese family had ever seen. He killed a made man. He killed Spider. He killed Foxy Jerothe. He was violent, impulsive, and unpredictable. He drew attention from law enforcement. He made enemies in multiple families.
By 1979, even Paul Vario could not shield him. The Lucchese family had a choice. They could protect Tommy and risk a war with the Gambinos, or they could give him up and maintain peace. The decision was easy.
Jimmy was too valuable to sacrifice. Henry was too insignificant. Tommy was chaos in human form. Chaos gets eliminated.
Tommy’s death sent a message. You cannot kill a made man. You cannot act without permission. You cannot put your ego above the organization. The rules are the rules.
Jimmy Burke understood that. He played by the rules just enough to stay alive. Henry Hill understood it too. He knew when to run and when to talk. Tommy DeSimone never understood. He thought his reputation would protect him. He thought being a killer made him untouchable.
He was wrong. On January 14th, 1979, Tommy DeSimone climbed into that car thinking he was about to achieve his dream. Instead, he walked into a room and was executed by the very people he thought would embrace him.
The mafia does not forgive. It does not forget. Tommy had nine years to prove he could be trusted. He spent those nine years proving the opposite. When the bill came due, there was nobody left to protect him.
Jimmy Burke and Henry Hill survived because they were smarter. They understood the game. Tommy never learned that lesson, and it cost him everything. The mafia does not kill for revenge. They kill for survival. Tommy DeSimone had to die. Jimmy Burke and Henry Hill did not. That is not luck. That is the rules.