William Devino
Encyclopedia
William "Billy Batts" Devino (January 19, 1921 – June 12, 1970) was a New York
mobster with the Gambino crime family
who was a longtime friend of John Gotti
in the 1960s. After spending six years in prison, Devino was murdered by the mobster Tommy DeSimone
, with the help of his associates Jimmy Burke and Henry Hill
.
, little is known about Devino's early life other than that he grew up in the same area as DeSimone and Hill. In 1959, Devino became an associate with the Gambino crime family and in 1961 became a full member, or made man
. Devino was a protegé street soldier for Carmine Fatico
and later John Gotti
.
In 1964, Devino went to Bridgeport, Connecticut to complete a drug deal for Joseph "Joe The Crow" DelVecchio and Oreste "Ernie Boy" Abbamonte. When he arrived in Bridgeport, undercover police arrested Devino and charged him with possession and exchange of narcotics. Devino was later convicted and sentenced to 6 years in the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut
. Devino was released from prison on June 9, 1970.
, Henry Hill said they threw a "welcome home" party at Robert's Lounge
, which was owned by Jimmy Burke, Hill stated that Devino saw Tommy DeSimone and jokingly asked him if he still shined shoes and Tommy perceived it as an insult. Hill also said that Devino provoked DeSimone because he wanted to impress some mobsters from another crime family. Several minutes later, when the issue was all but forgotten, Tommy leaned over to Henry and Jimmy and said "I'm gonna kill that fuck." and Henry saw that he was serious about it. Two days later, on June 11, 1970, Devino went over to "The Suite" a nightclub owned by Hill in Jamaica, Queens
to have a drink with Henry, Tommy, and Jimmy and several other mobsters. Later that night, Tommy took his girlfriend home and Jimmy started to get Devino comfortable. Twenty minutes later Tommy arrived with a thirty-eight handgun and a plastic mattress cover.
The common belief, perpetuated by the 1990 movie Goodfellas
, is that DeSimone murdered Devino for insulting him at "The Suite". However, the supposed real reason for the Devino murder, only hinted in the film, was that Burke had taken over Devino's loanshark business while Devino was in prison. According to Hill, Devino had been complaining to Joe Gallo
about getting back this racket. Not wanting to return the lucrative business to Devino, Burke decided to eliminate him instead. Before Devino was attacked, Jimmy tightened his arms around Devino and he was pistol-whipped by Tommy and was so inebriated that he was unable to defend himself. In the book Wiseguy
Hill said that before DeSimone started to beat Batts, DeSimone yelled, "Shine these fucking shoes!". At the time of the murder in 1970, Devino was 49 years old and was a respected and a feared made man
in John Gotti
's crew and in the Gambino crime family
.
After Devino was attacked and presumed killed, DeSimone, Burke, and Hill placed his body in the trunk of Hill's Pontiac Grand Prix
and drove away from the bar. While they were driving, the car had a minor collision with a van on the Van Wyck Expressway in Queens. Soon after the collision, the men started hearing thudding sounds from the trunk and realized that Devino was still alive. They then stopped at DeSimone's mother's house to collect a knife, some lime
, and a shovel. She made them drink coffee, chat and have some breakfast while the critically wounded Devino was still clinging to life in the trunk. Upon arriving at a forested plot of land just across the New York/Connecticut border, owned by a friend of Burke's, the three men opened the trunk of the car and Tommy and Jimmy murdered Devino, while Hill looked on. Once Devino was dead, the men buried him under a dog kennel
. Hill later said that Burke and DeSimone "didn't actually shoot him, they just stabbed him, thirty or forty fucking times, it was fucking horrible."
s to be built. Burke ordered Hill and DeSimone to exhume Devino's half-decomposed corpse and dispose of it elsewhere. In Wiseguy, Hill said the body was eventually crushed in a mechanical compactor at a New Jersey junkyard, which was owned by Clyde Brooks. However, on the commentary for the film Goodfellas
, he states that Devino's body was buried in the basement of Robert's Lounge, a bar and restaurant owned by Burke, and only later was put into the car crusher.
On or about January 14, 1979, DeSimone was murdered. It was widely speculated that the Gambino family ordered the death of DeSimone, a mob associate with the Lucchese crime family
, for his role in the murder of Devino. Since Devino was a made man, he could not have been killed without permission from the Gambino leadership. Unlike Devino, DeSimone was not a made man and was vulnerable. Paul Vario
told the Gambinos who murdered the two men. This was done out of revenge for DeSimone attempting to rape Henry Hill's then-wife, Karen, who was having an affair with Vario while her husband was imprisoned. An alternative theory is that the Gambino family did not know about the Devino murder and that Gambino captain John Gotti
may have just wanted revenge for DeSimone's murder of Ronald Jerothe
, another Gambino associate and good friend of Gotti's.
When Henry Hill was facing a heavy sentence for cocaine
trafficking, he turned state's evidence
and testified at the trials of James Burke and Paul Vario. Charges were attempted to be prepared against Burke for the murder of Devino. However, they did not stand on account of Hill being the sole surviving witness to the murder, with DeSimone having died several years before.
film Goodfellas
, he was portrayed by Frank Vincent
.
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
mobster with the Gambino crime family
Gambino crime family
The Gambino crime family is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia . The group is named after Carlo Gambino, boss of the family at the time of the McClellan hearings in 1963...
who was a longtime friend of John Gotti
John Gotti
John Joseph Gotti, Jr was an American mobster who became the Boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. Gotti grew up in poverty. He and his brothers turned to a life of crime at an early age...
in the 1960s. After spending six years in prison, Devino was murdered by the mobster Tommy DeSimone
Thomas DeSimone
Thomas "Two-Gun Tommy" Anthony DeSimone was an Italian-American gangster and associate of the Lucchese crime family in New York. Also known as "Tommy D" or "Tommy Two-Guns", he was a grandson and nephew of Los Angeles mob bosses Rosario DeSimone and Frank DeSimone...
, with the help of his associates Jimmy Burke and Henry Hill
Henry Hill (mobster)
Henry Hill is a former American mobster, Lucchese crime family associate, and FBI informant whose life story was documented in the book Wiseguy, written by crime reporter Nicholas Pileggi, and in the 1990 Martin Scorsese film, Goodfellas, in which Hill was played by Ray Liotta.-Early life:Henry...
.
Life
Born in BrooklynBrooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, little is known about Devino's early life other than that he grew up in the same area as DeSimone and Hill. In 1959, Devino became an associate with the Gambino crime family and in 1961 became a full member, or made man
Made man
A made man, also known as a Mafioso , made guy, man of honor, or uomo d'onore , is someone who has been officially inducted into the Sicilian or American Mafia . They may also be referred to by some as a goodfella or wiseguy...
. Devino was a protegé street soldier for Carmine Fatico
Carmine Fatico
Carmine "Charley Wagons" Fatico was a Caporegime in the New York Gambino crime family. Fatico is best known as an early mentor to Gambino boss John Gotti.-Biography:...
and later John Gotti
John Gotti
John Joseph Gotti, Jr was an American mobster who became the Boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. Gotti grew up in poverty. He and his brothers turned to a life of crime at an early age...
.
In 1964, Devino went to Bridgeport, Connecticut to complete a drug deal for Joseph "Joe The Crow" DelVecchio and Oreste "Ernie Boy" Abbamonte. When he arrived in Bridgeport, undercover police arrested Devino and charged him with possession and exchange of narcotics. Devino was later convicted and sentenced to 6 years in the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut
Danbury, Connecticut
Danbury is a city in northern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It had population at the 2010 census of 80,893. Danbury is the fourth largest city in Fairfield County and is the seventh largest city in Connecticut....
. Devino was released from prison on June 9, 1970.
Murder
In the book WiseguyWiseguy (book)
Wiseguy is a 1986 non-fiction book by crime reporter Nicholas Pileggi that chronicles the story of Mafia mobster-turned-informant Henry Hill...
, Henry Hill said they threw a "welcome home" party at Robert's Lounge
Robert's Lounge
Robert's Lounge was a saloon that was owned by Lucchese crime family associate James 'Jimmy the Gent' Burke. Robert's Lounge was located at 114-45 Lefferts Boulevard in South Ozone Park, Queens, near the John F. Kennedy International Airport Air Cargo Center...
, which was owned by Jimmy Burke, Hill stated that Devino saw Tommy DeSimone and jokingly asked him if he still shined shoes and Tommy perceived it as an insult. Hill also said that Devino provoked DeSimone because he wanted to impress some mobsters from another crime family. Several minutes later, when the issue was all but forgotten, Tommy leaned over to Henry and Jimmy and said "I'm gonna kill that fuck." and Henry saw that he was serious about it. Two days later, on June 11, 1970, Devino went over to "The Suite" a nightclub owned by Hill in Jamaica, Queens
Jamaica, Queens
Jamaica is a neighborhood in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York, United States. It was settled under Dutch rule in 1656 in New Netherland as Rustdorp. Under British rule, the Village of Jamaica became the center of the "Town of Jamaica"...
to have a drink with Henry, Tommy, and Jimmy and several other mobsters. Later that night, Tommy took his girlfriend home and Jimmy started to get Devino comfortable. Twenty minutes later Tommy arrived with a thirty-eight handgun and a plastic mattress cover.
The common belief, perpetuated by the 1990 movie Goodfellas
Goodfellas
Goodfellas is a 1990 American crime film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is a film adaptation of the 1986 non-fiction book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi, who co-wrote the screenplay with Scorsese...
, is that DeSimone murdered Devino for insulting him at "The Suite". However, the supposed real reason for the Devino murder, only hinted in the film, was that Burke had taken over Devino's loanshark business while Devino was in prison. According to Hill, Devino had been complaining to Joe Gallo
Joe Gallo
Joseph Gallo , also known as "Crazy Joey" and "Joe the Blond", was a celebrated New York City gangster for the Profaci crime family, later known as the Colombo crime family...
about getting back this racket. Not wanting to return the lucrative business to Devino, Burke decided to eliminate him instead. Before Devino was attacked, Jimmy tightened his arms around Devino and he was pistol-whipped by Tommy and was so inebriated that he was unable to defend himself. In the book Wiseguy
Wiseguy (book)
Wiseguy is a 1986 non-fiction book by crime reporter Nicholas Pileggi that chronicles the story of Mafia mobster-turned-informant Henry Hill...
Hill said that before DeSimone started to beat Batts, DeSimone yelled, "Shine these fucking shoes!". At the time of the murder in 1970, Devino was 49 years old and was a respected and a feared made man
Made man
A made man, also known as a Mafioso , made guy, man of honor, or uomo d'onore , is someone who has been officially inducted into the Sicilian or American Mafia . They may also be referred to by some as a goodfella or wiseguy...
in John Gotti
John Gotti
John Joseph Gotti, Jr was an American mobster who became the Boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. Gotti grew up in poverty. He and his brothers turned to a life of crime at an early age...
's crew and in the Gambino crime family
Gambino crime family
The Gambino crime family is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia . The group is named after Carlo Gambino, boss of the family at the time of the McClellan hearings in 1963...
.
After Devino was attacked and presumed killed, DeSimone, Burke, and Hill placed his body in the trunk of Hill's Pontiac Grand Prix
Pontiac Grand Prix
Picking up where the Pontiac Ventura model left off, the Grand Prix first appeared in the Pontiac line for 1962. It was essentially a standard Pontiac Catalina coupe with minimal outside chrome trim and a sportier interior...
and drove away from the bar. While they were driving, the car had a minor collision with a van on the Van Wyck Expressway in Queens. Soon after the collision, the men started hearing thudding sounds from the trunk and realized that Devino was still alive. They then stopped at DeSimone's mother's house to collect a knife, some lime
Agricultural lime
Agricultural lime, also called aglime, agricultural limestone, garden lime or liming, is a soil additive made from pulverized limestone or chalk. The primary active component is calcium carbonate...
, and a shovel. She made them drink coffee, chat and have some breakfast while the critically wounded Devino was still clinging to life in the trunk. Upon arriving at a forested plot of land just across the New York/Connecticut border, owned by a friend of Burke's, the three men opened the trunk of the car and Tommy and Jimmy murdered Devino, while Hill looked on. Once Devino was dead, the men buried him under a dog kennel
Kennel
A kennel is the name given to any structure or shelter for dogs. A kennel is a doghouse, run, or other small structure in which a dog is kept...
. Hill later said that Burke and DeSimone "didn't actually shoot him, they just stabbed him, thirty or forty fucking times, it was fucking horrible."
Aftermath
Six months after Devino's murder, Burke found out that his friend sold the Connecticut property in order for condominiumCondominium
A condominium, or condo, is the form of housing tenure and other real property where a specified part of a piece of real estate is individually owned while use of and access to common facilities in the piece such as hallways, heating system, elevators, exterior areas is executed under legal rights...
s to be built. Burke ordered Hill and DeSimone to exhume Devino's half-decomposed corpse and dispose of it elsewhere. In Wiseguy, Hill said the body was eventually crushed in a mechanical compactor at a New Jersey junkyard, which was owned by Clyde Brooks. However, on the commentary for the film Goodfellas
Goodfellas
Goodfellas is a 1990 American crime film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is a film adaptation of the 1986 non-fiction book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi, who co-wrote the screenplay with Scorsese...
, he states that Devino's body was buried in the basement of Robert's Lounge, a bar and restaurant owned by Burke, and only later was put into the car crusher.
On or about January 14, 1979, DeSimone was murdered. It was widely speculated that the Gambino family ordered the death of DeSimone, a mob associate with the Lucchese crime family
Lucchese crime family
The Lucchese crime family is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia . The family originated in the early 1920s with Gaetano "Tommy" Reina serving as boss up until his murder...
, for his role in the murder of Devino. Since Devino was a made man, he could not have been killed without permission from the Gambino leadership. Unlike Devino, DeSimone was not a made man and was vulnerable. Paul Vario
Paul Vario
Paul Vario was a caporegime of a crew in the Lucchese crime family. In the 1970s Vario held the position of consigliere in the family but later resigned. In 1980, longtime associate Henry Hill became a government witness and testified against Vario and members of his crew...
told the Gambinos who murdered the two men. This was done out of revenge for DeSimone attempting to rape Henry Hill's then-wife, Karen, who was having an affair with Vario while her husband was imprisoned. An alternative theory is that the Gambino family did not know about the Devino murder and that Gambino captain John Gotti
John Gotti
John Joseph Gotti, Jr was an American mobster who became the Boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. Gotti grew up in poverty. He and his brothers turned to a life of crime at an early age...
may have just wanted revenge for DeSimone's murder of Ronald Jerothe
Ronald Jerothe
Ronald Jerothe also known as "Foxy" was an American mobster and member of the Bergin Crew, who operated out of John Gotti's club, the Bergin Hunt and Fish Club, in Ozone Park, Queens...
, another Gambino associate and good friend of Gotti's.
When Henry Hill was facing a heavy sentence for cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
trafficking, he turned state's evidence
State's Evidence
State's Evidence is an independent film created in 2004 and released in 2006, directed by Benjamin Louis and starring Douglas Smith, Alexa Vega, Majandra Delfino, Kris Lemche, Cody McMains, and Drew Tyler Bell.-Plot summary:...
and testified at the trials of James Burke and Paul Vario. Charges were attempted to be prepared against Burke for the murder of Devino. However, they did not stand on account of Hill being the sole surviving witness to the murder, with DeSimone having died several years before.
In popular culture
The book Gangsters and Goodfellas, written by Hill, states that Devino's birth name was William Paul Devino. However, FBI Agent Edward McDonald said they didn't know his real name, and for all they knew "Billy Batts" was his real name. In the 1990 Martin ScorseseMartin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
film Goodfellas
Goodfellas
Goodfellas is a 1990 American crime film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is a film adaptation of the 1986 non-fiction book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi, who co-wrote the screenplay with Scorsese...
, he was portrayed by Frank Vincent
Frank Vincent
Frank Vincent is an American actor, musician, author and entrepreneur. He is a favorite performer of director Martin Scorsese, having played important roles in three of Scorsese's most acclaimed films: Raging Bull , Goodfellas and Casino . He often plays a gangster and works both in features and...
.
Additional Reading
- Pileggi, NicholasNicholas PileggiNicholas Pileggi is an Italian-American author and screenwriter.-Career:Pileggi is best known for writing the book Wiseguy, which he adapted into the movie Goodfellas, and for writing the book and screenplay Casino. The movie versions of both were co-written and directed by Martin Scorsese...
. Wiseguy: Life in a Mafia Family. New York: Simon & SchusterSimon & SchusterSimon & Schuster, Inc., a division of CBS Corporation, is a publisher founded in New York City in 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. It is one of the four largest English-language publishers, alongside Random House, Penguin and HarperCollins...
, 1985. ISBN 0671723227 - Russo, Gus and Henry Hill. Gangsters and GoodFellas: Wiseguys and Life on the Run. Mainstream PublishingMainstream PublishingMainstream Publishing is a publishing company in Edinburgh, Scotland, founded in 1978. It is associated with the Random House Group, who bought Mainstream in 2005....
, 2004. ISBN 1840188812 - Goodfellas. Dir. Martin ScorseseMartin ScorseseMartin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
. Perf. Ray LiottaRay Liotta[File:Ray Liotta is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of Henry Hill in the crime-drama Goodfellas, directed by Martin Scorsese and his role as Shoeless Joe Jackson in Field of Dreams...
, Robert De NiroRobert De NiroRobert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...
, and Joe PesciJoe PesciJoseph Frank "Joe" Pesci is an American actor, comedian, and musician.He is known for playing a variety of different roles, from violent mobsters to comedic leads to quirky sidekicks...
. 1990. DVD. Warner Bros.Warner Bros.Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,... - The Real GoodfellaThe Real GoodFellaThe Real GoodFella is a programme that aired on British TV in April 2006. It was made by Class Films and is narrated by Richard Dillane.The show features Henry Hill, Martin Scorsese , Nicholas Pileggi , Gus Russo , Marie Jones , Alfie McNeil...
. Dir. George Simon. Narr. Richard DillaneRichard DillaneRichard Dillane is an English actor. He appeared as Merv, the husband of Margaret Humphreys in Jim Loach's fact-based movie Oranges and Sunshine, as Wernher von Braun in the BBC television docudrama Space Race, as Nero in Howard Brenton's play Paul at the National Theatre of GB and as Stephen...
. 2006. Channel 4 Television Corporation.