Criminal Career
As a young man, Roy DeMeo became acquainted with criminal Anthony Gaggi who had associations with the Gambino crime family. DeMeo also had his own crew for drug trafficking and car thefts. His own gang was called the Gemini Crew.
It was Gaggi who introduced Roy DeMeo to the Gambino family, after telling him that he would earn a lot more if he worked directly for them. Over the next few years, he continued his loansharking business and also led his own crew of young men. His gang included men like Chris Rosenberg, Richard "Iceman" Kuklinski, Joseph Guglielmo, Henry Borelli, Anthony Senter, and Joey Testa.
DeMeo also joined the Boro of Brooklyn Credit Union, where he found a position on the board of directors. He used his position to launder the money earned through his criminal activities.
His first murder was allegedly committed in 1973 when he was 30. He and Gaggi were silent partners in a porno film lab, which was raided by the police. Fearing that the proprietor would confess to the police, DeMeo called him for a meeting and shot him in a nearby alley.
He went on to kill more people in the ensuing years and his killing spree continued through the 1970s. He taught his followers the process of murdering and dismembering their victims to ensure that the victims were dispatched fast and were never found.
DeMeo not only killed anyone who got in his way, but also started performing hits to earn money. He became notorious as a hit-man. Most of the murders were committed at the Gemini Club, and his style of killing became known as the Gemini Method.
According to their modus operandi, one member would lure their victim to the club, after which the others would gang up on him and kill him by shooting and stabbing. Then they would drag the body to the bathroom and later chop it into pieces. The pieces would be then packed into cardboard boxes and dumped elsewhere.
During the later half of 1975, DeMeo became a silent partner in a peep show cum prostitution establishment which was based in New Jersey. He also began dealing in illegal pornography which he sold to the various connections he had. When Gaggi found out about these activities, he threatened him to stop. However, DeMeo continued his practices. He began dealing in narcotics as well though it was prohibited by the Gambino family.
His sources of income continued to increase as he also added an automobile firm named Team Auto Wholesalers to his loan shark business. He teamed up with Danny Grillo, a hijacker who had just been released from prison, and began hijacking delivery trucks from the JFK Airport.
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In 1976, Carlo Gambino, the lead of the Gambino family, passed away due to natural causes. Paul Castellano was named the new boss, and Aniello Dellacroce became the underboss. Gaggi was also promoted, which was an advantage for DeMeo.
DeMeo formed an alliance with another gang known as the Westies, and after a turn of events, they agreed to become a de facto arm of the Gambino family. They would gain ten percent of all profits in exchange for taking up murder contracts for the Gambino family.
Around this time, DeMeo committed his most public murder. By mistake, he killed a student cum door-to-door salesman named Dominick Ragucci. He assumed Ragucci to be a Cuban assassin and shot him to death following a car chase.
According to DeMeo’s son Albert, DeMeo started crying upon discovering that Ragucci was actually an innocent boy. As Rosenberg was indirectly responsible for his death, Gaggi ordered DeMeo to kill him. Rosenberg was eventually shot after which his body was left on the side of Cross Bay Boulevard.
Downfall & Death
In the early 1980s, the FBI officials began a massive investigation into the Gambino family. The officers were also tipped off by the information that several of the missing victims were seen entering the Gemini club before their disappearances.
The FBI also came to know that a hit was ordered on DeMeo by Paul Castellano. However, he was finding it extremely difficult to find anyone willing to kill DeMeo. Nonetheless, DeMeo was getting paranoid about the possible threat to his life and even considered faking his own death and escaping the country.
DeMeo’s body was found on 20th January 1983 inside the trunk of his abandoned car. He had been shot multiple times. The police initially suspected Gambino associate Anthony Gaggi of killing him. However, in the following weeks and months, many other suspects emerged as well. Ultimately, Paul Castellano was indicted for ordering his murder.
