Mobster Roy Albert DeMeo was from New York. He belonged to the Gambino crime family and was the head of the DeMeo Crew, a gang that is thought to have killed about 100 individuals between the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s. The majority of the victims’ corpses were severely dismembered and then disposed of, which is why they were never discovered. Around 70 of them are thought to have been murdered by DeMeo himself. Before entering the criminal underworld, he first ran a prosperous loansharking company. He was approached by a member of the Gambino family who suggested that he work directly for them in order to make even more money. He joined them as a result, and his assassinations using the “Gemini Method” quickly earned him widespread infamy. When his body was finally discovered in Brooklyn in January 1983, it was assumed that a Gambino family member had killed him. In the 2012 movie “The Iceman,” which was about the infamous murderer Richard Kuklinski, DeMeo’s character can be seen. Books like “Murder Machine” and “For the Sins of My Father” also mention DeMeo and his gang by name.
Early Childhood & Life
Born into a working-class Italian immigrant household on September 7, 1942, in Bath Beach, Brooklyn, Roy Albert DeMeo grew up in that neighborhood. In 1959, he graduated from James Madison High School.
At a young age, he launched a modest loansharking operation. He got involved in criminal activity while concurrently operating a legal company.
Roy’s Criminal History
Roy DeMeo met the felon Anthony Gaggi when he was a young man. Gaggi was connected to the Gambino crime family. DeMeo also had his own team for stealing cars and transporting drugs. The Gemini Crew was the name of his own group.
After advising Roy DeMeo that he would make much more money if he worked directly for the Gambino family, Gaggi presented DeMeo to them. He continued his loansharking operation over the ensuing years while also managing his own group of young men. Chris Rosenberg, Richard “Iceman” Kuklinski, Joseph Guglielmo, Henry Borelli, Anthony Senter, and Joey Testa were members of his group.
DeMeo additionally became a member of the Boro of Brooklyn Credit Union, where he was appointed to the board of directors. He used his status to hide the proceeds of his criminal enterprise. At the age of 30, he reportedly committed his first murder in 1973. He worked silently alongside Gaggi in a pornographic film lab that was raided by the authorities. DeMeo called the owner for a meeting and then shot him in a nearby alley out of fear that he would confess to the authorities.
In the years that followed, he continued to murder individuals, and his killing spree persisted through the 1970s. He demonstrated to his disciples how to kill and dismember their victims so that they would be quickly eliminated and never be discovered.
In addition to killing anyone who stood in his way, DeMeo began pulling hits to make money. He rose to fame as a hitman. His method of assassination, which was called the “Gemini Method,” was most frequently used at the Gemini Club.
A member of the group would lure their target into the club, and then the others would gang up on him to shoot and stab him to death. The corpse would be taken to the bathroom after which they would chop it up. The parts would then be placed somewhere else after being placed in cardboard boxes.
DeMeo joined a New Jersey-based peep show/cum prostitution business in the second half of 1975 as a silent associate. In addition, he started selling illicit pornography to his network of contacts. Gaggi threatened him to cease when he learned about these actions. DeMeo, however, kept up his routines. Despite the Gambino family’s prohibition, he also started selling drugs.
His sources of revenue kept growing as he expanded his loan shark business to include Team Auto Wholesalers, an automobile company. He joined up with recently released prisoner Danny Grillo to start stealing delivery trucks from JFK Airport.
The head of the Gambino family, Carlo Gambino, died from natural causes in 1976. Aniello Dellacroce was promoted to underboss, and Paul Castellano was appointed the new boss. Gaggi was also given a promotion, which benefited DeMeo.
Following an unexpected turn of events, DeMeo and the Westies decided to join forces as a de facto branch of the Gambino family. In return for accepting the Gambino family’s murder contracts, they would receive 10% of all earnings.
DeMeo committed his most well-known murder around this period. He accidentally murdered Dominick Ragucci, a door-to-door salesman and student. After a car pursuit, he shot Ragucci to death believing him to be a Cuban assassin.
DeMeo cried when he realized that Ragucci was a young child, according to Albert, DeMeo’s son. Gaggi instructed DeMeo to execute Rosenberg because Rosenberg shared some of the blame for his demise. At some point, Rosenberg was shot, and his corpse was then dumped on the side of Cross Bay Boulevard.
Death & Decline
The FBI officials launched a thorough probe into the Gambino family at the beginning of the 1980s. The information that several of the missing victims were seen entering the Gemini club prior to their disappearances also provided the police with a tip.
The FBI also learned that Paul Castellano had authorized a hit on DeMeo. He was having a terrible time locating someone who would kill DeMeo, though. Nevertheless, DeMeo began to feel paranoid about the threat to his life and even entertained the idea of staging his own demise in order to flee the nation.
On January 20, 1983, DeMeo’s corpse was discovered in the trunk of his abandoned vehicle. He had taken numerous gunshot wounds. Police originally thought Gambino associate Anthony Gaggi was responsible for his death. However, numerous additional candidates surfaced over the course of the ensuing weeks and months. Paul Castellano was ultimately charged with ordering his assassination.
Roy’s Individual Life
Roy DeMeo wed soon after graduating from high school. He had three kids in total.
Estimated Net Worth
Roy is one of the wealthiest and most well-known criminals. Roy Demeo’s net worth is $5 Million, per our study of data from sources like Wikipedia, Forbes, and Business Insider.
Trivia
In the 2012 movie “The Iceman: The True Story of a Cold-Blooded Killer,” Ray Liotta played the role of DeMeo.