John Favara (March 4, 1929 – disappeared July 28, 1980,

declared dead in absentia A presumption of death occurs when an individual is believed to be dead, despite the absence of direct proof of the person's death, such as the finding of remains (e.g., a corpse or skeleton) attributable to that person. Such a presumption is t ...

in 1983) was the backyard neighbor of

Gambino crime family The Gambino crime family (pronounced ) is an Italian American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the American Mafia. ...

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

and later

boss Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, ...

John Gotti John Joseph Gotti Jr.Capeci, Mustain (1996), pp. 25–26 ( , ; October 27, 1940 – June 10, 2002) was an American '' mafioso'' and boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. He ordered and helped to orchestrate the murder of Gambin ...

, in

Howard Beach, New York Howard Beach is a neighborhood in the southwestern portion of the New York City borough of Queens. It is bordered to the north by the Belt Parkway and Conduit Avenue in Ozone Park, to the south by Jamaica Bay in Broad Channel, to the east by 1 ...

. He disappeared on July 28, 1980, over four months after he struck and killed Gotti's 12-year-old son, Frank Gotti, with his car.

Death of Frank Gotti

On March 18, 1980,

's middle son, 12-year-old Frank Gotti, had met with a friend who owned a

minibike A minibike is a two-wheeled, motorized, off-highway recreational vehicle popularized in the 1960s and 1970s, but available continuously from a wide variety of manufacturers since 1959. Their off-highway nature and (in many countries) typically ent ...

, who was allowing his friends to take turns borrowing it. When the friend permitted Gotti to take his turn, Gotti took the bike immediately, to the surprise of his friend, who had not yet given his instructions on appropriate handling of the motorized bike. Gotti darted out into the street and was hit by a car driven by John Favara, Gotti's backyard neighbor. Due to Gotti's failure to wait for his friend's tutorial and entering the street at a blind spot, his death was ruled an accident and criminal charges were never filed against Favara. However, Favara subsequently received

death threat A death threat is a threat, often made anonymously, by one person or a group of people to kill another person or group of people. These threats are often designed to intimidate victims in order to manipulate their behaviour, in which case a d ...

s and was attacked with a baseball bat by Victoria Gotti Senior, the deceased's mother, when Favara visited the Gottis to apologize.Davis, pp. 190–191Capeci, Mustain (1996), pp. 66–67 When the Gotti children grew up and had children of their own, each of them named one of their sons Frank in honor of their brother.

Disappearance

On July 28, 1980, Favara was abducted and disappeared. According to the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

(FBI), before Favara and his family were able to move, he was shoved into a van by several men near his place of business. There were several witnesses to the abduction, and accounts ranged from his being beaten with a baseball bat, shot with a silenced .22 caliber pistol, or both. Accounts differed on what was done with Favara's body. One account said that while Favara was alive, he was

dismembered Dismemberment is the act of completely disconnecting and/or removing the limbs, skin, and/or organs from a living or dead being. It has been practiced upon human beings as a form of capital punishment, especially in connection with regicid ...

with a chainsaw, stuffed into a barrel filled with concrete and dumped in the ocean, or buried somewhere on the lot of a

chop shop A chop shop is a business, often mimicking a body shop, that illicitly disassembles stolen motor vehicles and sells their parts. Chop shops are often linked to car-theft rings as part of a broader organized crime enterprise. In the United Stat ...

. After the abduction, Favara's wife and two sons moved out of Howard Beach; Favara was declared

legally dead ''Legally Dead'' is a 1923 American drama film directed by William Parke and written by Harvey Gates. The film stars Milton Sills, Margaret Campbell, Claire Adams, Eddie Sturgis, Faye O'Neill, and Charles A. Stevenson. The film was released o ...

in 1983. In November 2004, informants led the FBI to excavate a parking lot in The Hole, suspected to be a mob graveyard and the site of Favara's body. While two bodies were found, Favara's was not among them. Gotti is widely assumed to have ordered the murder, despite the fact that he and his family had departed for a

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

vacation three days before Favara's disappearance. When questioned by two detectives on Favara's disappearance, Gotti said: "I'm not sorry the guy's missing. I wouldn't be sorry if the guy turned up dead." Previously, prosecutors believed Favara's remains were stuffed in a barrel of concrete and tossed off a

Sheepshead Bay Sheepshead, Sheephead, or Sheep's Head, may refer to: Fish * '' Archosargus probatocephalus'', a medium-sized saltwater fish of the Atlantic Ocean * Freshwater drum, ''Aplodinotus grunniens'', a medium-sized freshwater fish of North and Central ...

pier,Gotti Hit Of 'Acid': Son's Killer In Vat
Accessed January 8, 2009 but

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

federal court papers filed by federal prosecutors the week of January 5, 2009, contain allegations that mob

hitman Contract killing (also known as murder-for-hire) is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or people. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of compensation, moneta ...

Charles Carneglia Charles Carneglia (born August 10, 1946) is an American mobster in the Gambino crime family. Carneglia was born in Queens on August 10, 1946. Charles Carneglia and his brother John owned a junkyard in the East New York section of Brooklyn that ...

killed Favara and disposed of his body in acid.

Portrayal in popular media

Favara's murder is depicted in the 1996 HBO production '' Gotti''. In the film, Gotti, portrayed by

Armand Assante Armand Anthony Assante Jr. (; born October 4, 1949) is an American actor. He played mobster John Gotti in the 1996 HBO television film '' Gotti'', Odysseus in the 1997 miniseries adaptation of Homer's ''The Odyssey'', Nietzsche in '' When Niet ...

, is shown pointedly admonishing

underboss Underboss () is a position within the leadership structure of certain organized crime groups, particularly in Sicilian Mafia, Sicilian and Italian-American Mafia crime families. The underboss is second in command to the Crime boss, boss. The un ...

Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano, played by William Forsythe, that his son's death was an accident and to "leave it alone". Upon learning of his identity, Gravano is shown beating and shooting Favara (played by actor Tony De Santis) in a pedestrian underpass, then fleeing. The incident is also shown in the 2018 film '' Gotti'' starring

John Travolta John Joseph Travolta (born February 18, 1954) is an American actor. He began acting in television before transitioning into a leading man in films. List of awards and nominations received by John Travolta, His accolades include a Primetime Em ...

. The incident bears similarities to the opening episode of Showtime's '' Your Honor'', in which a

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

mafia boss's son was hit by a car on a motorbike, which leads the father to take revenge.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Favara, John 1980 in New York City 1980s missing person cases 1980 murders in the United States American murder victims 1980 crimes July 1980 July 1980 in the United States 1980s kidnappings in the United States Missing person cases in New York City People from Queens, New York People murdered by the Gambino crime family People murdered in New York City People declared dead in absentia

Death of Frank Gotti

Disappearance

Portrayal in popular media

See also

Notes and references