Joseph Paruta
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Joseph Paruta, also known as "Old Man" (December 3, 1929 – October 1986), was a respected
soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a Conscription, conscripted or volunteer Enlisted rank, enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, a warrant officer, or an Officer (armed forces), officer. Etymology The wo ...
in the
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. ...
and considered a "key member" of
Sammy Gravano Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano (born March 12, 1945) is an American former mobster who rose to the position of underboss in the Gambino crime family of New York City before becoming a government witness. As the underboss, Gravano played a majo ...
's
Bensonhurst, Brooklyn Bensonhurst is a residential neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bordered on the northwest by 14th Avenue, on the northeast by 60th Street, on the southeast by Avenue P and 22nd ...
crew. He is the only known mobster who asked for a
mercy killing Euthanasia (from : + ) is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different euthanasia laws. The British House of Lords select committee on medical ethics defines euthanasia as "a ...
after becoming terminally ill with lung cancer. The proposition was not agreed upon by John Gotti but Paruta died before the mercy killing was performed.


Biography

Paruta was born in Bensonhurst on December 3, 1929 to first-generation emigrants from Geraci Sicula, Italy of a
Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...
family from
Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...
. He was the oldest of three children, who grew up in poverty. Paruta was originally an associate who served in the crew of Gambino crime family capo Salvatore Aurello. He served in the Gambino crime family under the tutelage of
Carlo Gambino Carlo Gambino (; August 24, 1902 – October 15, 1976) was a Sicilian crime boss who was the leader and namesake of the Gambino crime family of New York City. Following the Apalachin Meeting in 1957, and the imprisonment of Vito Genovese i ...
and later
Paul Castellano Constantino Paul Castellano (; June 26, 1915 – December 16, 1985) was an American crime boss who succeeded Carlo Gambino as head of the Gambino crime family of New York City. Castellano ran the organization from 1976 until his murder on Decem ...
. Sammy Gravano later said, "Everybody called Joe the 'Old Man'. He was only about fifteen years older than me (Gravano was born on March 12, 1945) but he already had white hair and looked kind of decrepit. He was tough and loyal. Old Man Paruta would kill for me as quick as he would get me a cup of coffee. Over the years, there was nothing I couldn't ask of him." His capo Sammy Gravano would later say that "he was like my own personal
Luca Brasi Luca Brasi is a fictional character in Mario Puzo's 1969 novel ''The Godfather'', as well as its 1972 film adaptation. In the film, he was portrayed by Lenny Montana, an ex-wrestler and former bodyguard and enforcer for the Colombo crime fami ...
," in reference to the fictional enforcer and hitman of the
Corleone family The Corleone family are fictional characters in both the novels and the films created by Mario Puzo, first appearing in his 1969 novel, ''The Godfather''. They are an organized crime family originating from the Sicilian town of Corleone, and ...
in ''
The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American Epic film, epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling The Godfather (novel), 1969 novel. The film stars an ensemble cast inc ...
''. Following puberty he started noticeably suffering from premature aging which made him appear several decades older. He was a short man in stature with thin arms and legs with a thick torso. By middle age he started to lose his telltale white hair as the Werner's syndrome worsened. He had a hoarse voice and his skin started to thicken and suffer from
cataracts A cataract is a cloudy area in the lens of the eye that leads to a decrease in vision of the eye. Cataracts often develop slowly and can affect one or both eyes. Symptoms may include faded colours, blurry or double vision, halos around ligh ...
. He suffered from smoker's cough that was brought on by his years of smoking cigarettes. He was married to an
Italian-American Italian Americans () are Americans who have full or partial Italians, Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeastern United States, Northeast and industrial Midwestern United States, Midwestern ...
woman named Dorothea, who he nicknamed "Dottie" and had several children. He was a family man who would regularly take his family out to dinner at Tali's restaurant every week and have a large dinner.
Frank DeCicco Frank DeCicco (November 5, 1935 – April 13, 1986), also known as "Frankie D" and "Frankie Cheech", was an American mobster and eventual underboss for the Gambino crime family in New York City. Criminal career Background The son of Vincent "Bo ...
later told Gravano an amusing anecdote about a robbery that Paruta, himself and several other criminal associates had arranged to pull off. He stated,
It seems in his early days, Frank (DeCicco) was going on a robbery with some guys. And for this particular score, they needed a lockpicker. Someone told Frank that Paruta was just the person they were looking for. Frank was surprised. He said to Paruta, "Why haven't I heard this before about you?" Old Man Paruta just smiled in response and said there wasn't a better lock guy around than him. So they're in the place and Frankie nods at Paruta, who steps forward and what he does is, he kicks in the door. "See, what did I tell you?" Paruta said. Frank was stunned. He couldn't stop laughing. And if that ain't enough, Paruta holds out for his end of the loot. His reasoning is that they never would have got inside the place without his talents. So you know a guy like that is all right.
He had a mild mannered nature and never demonstrated anger towards his fellow associates. After the murder of Frank Fiala by Sammy Gravano, Edward Garofalo, Thomas Carbonaro, Michael DeBatt and Nicholas Mormando, they assembled at his saloon, Doc's. Sammy Gravano said about Paruta,
I loved the old man, Joe Paruta. My feeling for him went way beyond any oath of Cosa Nostra. He was the only one during all the plotting for the Castellano hit-all the what if this, what if that--that I confided in, was able to walk with, talk with, relax with. In one second, he agreed to take down Paul and Tommy in that diner like I asked him to before we changed the plan. He never asked me any questions if I wanted him to do something. He would take any risk. After Stymie (Joseph D'Angelo) got shot, he practically never left my side. I think about him a lot, and I never know whether to laugh or cry.... To me, Joe never seemed to change. He always looked the same, old and decrepit, always chain-smoking.... The old man had his little gambling and shylock operations and he had a piece of Tali's. He was satisfied. He never asked for anything more.


Premature aging

It is suspected that Joseph suffered from
Werner syndrome Werner syndrome (WS) or Werner's syndrome, also known as "adult progeria",James, William; Berger, Timothy; Elston, Dirk (2005). ''Andrews' Diseases of the Skin: Clinical Dermatology''. (10th ed.). Saunders. . is a rare autosomal recessive disord ...
, a rare
autosomal An autosome is any chromosome that is not a sex chromosome. The members of an autosome pair in a diploid cell have the same morphology, unlike those in allosomal (sex chromosome) pairs, which may have different structures. The DNA in autosome ...
recessive In genetics, dominance is the phenomenon of one variant (allele) of a gene on a chromosome masking or overriding the effect of a different variant of the same gene on the other copy of the chromosome. The first variant is termed dominant and ...
disorder that is characterized by the appearance of premature aging. By 1959, at the age of thirty Joseph had the telltale condition of the syndrome by having a "birdlike" facial appearance. This made him stand out among the mob associates in Gravano's crew and made him the target of teasing due to his elderly appearance. Other signs that Paruta displayed was cancer and
heart disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels. CVDs constitute a class of diseases that includes: coronary artery diseases (e.g. angina pectoris, angina, myocardial infarction, heart attack), heart failure, ...
. It is unknown if Paruta was ever diagnosed with having the condition.


Cancer

After the DiB (Rober DiBernardo) hit, his smoker's cough got worse and worse. Sammy made arrangements through some doctors he knew and checked him into the
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK or MSKCC) is a oncology, cancer treatment and research institution in Manhattan in New York City. MSKCC is one of 72 National Cancer Institute–NCI-designated Cancer Center, designated Comprehen ...
at 1275 York Avenue in
Manhattan, New York Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
for testing. The prognosis was that he had terminal
lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...
that had spread through the rest of his body. The doctors gave him only a year left to live. The chief doctor later confided to Sammy Gravano that he had lied to Paruta's family and that he only had three months to live. Gravano felt that he had to honor his friend. Even after being diagnosed with terminal cancer he did not stop smoking even when staying at the cancer centre.


Initiation into Gambino crime family

His dying wish was that he become initiated into the Gambino crime family and die a
made man In the Sicilian and American Mafia, a made man is a fully initiated member of the Mafia. In order to become eligible to be "made", an associate must fulfill several requirements, such as being Italian or of Italian descent and sponsored by ...
. Sammy sent word to John Gotti through his brother Gene for permission to fulfill his last wishes and make his dream of becoming a "made man" true. Gravano personally conducted the ceremony in his room at the cancer centre. When it came time for him to prick his finger for the blood to mix with the holy card, Sammy could hardly get a drop. He was now reduced to a living skeleton.


The death of Joseph D'Angelo

By 1982, Paruta was starting to act depressed over the murder of his friend Joseph D'Angelo who had been shot to death over a bar room dispute with an associate of the Colombo crime family. Sammy Gravano became concerned of his friend's mental well being. He lost interest in gambling and stopped visiting the horse races at the Aqueduct racetrack in the afternoon like he always had done. He told Gravano when asked about his depression, "Stymie ain't here no more. I'll be with you at your side until the day I die."


Loyalty to the Dellacroce faction and Gravano

On December 2, 1985 Aniello Dellacroce died. Sammy Gravano stated, "Even before this, we decided we had to split up and go underground. If there was a leak, somebody had to survive and keep playing. Frankie (Frank DeCicco) said him and me would move into Joe Watts' basement. Joe and his wife and kids would stay upstairs. John (John Gotti) and Angie (Angelo Ruggiero) could do what they wanted. I told Debbie I had to leave for a while, maybe for weeks, maybe for months, years. Don't ask. I don't know how long. Nobody in my crew knows anything, except Old Man Paruta. We stayed in contact with John and Angie using certain phone numbers."


Plot to murder Castellano and Bilotti

After the Roy DeMeo trial started, Thomas Bilotti was known to pick up Paul Castellano and drive him to a restaurant where they sat in a table near the back and discussed business before heading to court in Manhattan. Both Paul and Thomas did not know who Paruta was. Gravano and Watts planned to have Paruta walk into the restaurant and go right past them into the men's washroom. In there, someone would plant a ski mask. He would put the ski mask on and come out with two guns. They would be sitting there eating and discussing their trial when Paruta would just run out shooting. The rest of them would be outside, inside, surrounding the vicinity of the restaurant supporting him with backup. Later Frank DeCicco reported that Paul Castellano had sent him a message to be at a meeting at Spark's Restaurant in Manhattan. It was here that the actual execution would later be orchestrated and carried out. Paruta would not be chosen as one of the shooters in this planning of the murder of Castellano and Bilotti.


Standing up for Sammy Gravano

After a violent encounter with an outlaw biker in his Bensonhurst, Brooklyn bar, Joseph Paruta offered to help murder a biker who attacked Sammy and almost murdered him. After remaining a fugitive from the mob, the biker returned to Bensonhurst after a few years.
Sammy Gravano Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano (born March 12, 1945) is an American former mobster who rose to the position of underboss in the Gambino crime family of New York City before becoming a government witness. As the underboss, Gravano played a majo ...
said: "He reaches out for Paruta's kids and asks that they sit down with their father. He knows their father is connected, but he doesn't know he's with me. He says he had this trouble with Sammy the Bull and he knows he's a marked man. He wants Paruta to talk for him, and Paruta says, 'Sure, you're good friends with my kids, I'll talk to this Sammy for you. Just take it easy. Go about your business. Stay low key and I'll reach out for Sammy.' Paruta's son obviously knew their father was bullshitting him. The kids know Paruta is with me and everything that means." The murder contract was later called off and the outlaw biker's life was spared.


Gangland slaying of Robert DiBernardo

On June 5, 1986,
Robert DiBernardo Robert "DiB" DiBernardo (May 31, 1937 – June 5, 1986) was an American caporegime in the Gambino crime family, who was reputed to control much of the commercial pornography in the US. During the 1984 US presidential election, publicity about Di ...
was lured to the basement offices of Sammy Gravano's drywall company on Stillwell Avenue in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. Acting as if it was just a regular business meeting, Gravano told Paruta to get DiBernardo a cup of coffee. Paruta got up, but instead of getting the coffee, Paruta took a .380 caliber semi-automatic pistol with a silencer from a cabinet behind DiBernardo and shot him in the back of the head.


Gangland slaying of Nicholas Mormando

Nicholas Mormando became hooked on crack cocaine. Sammy later said about Nicholas:
He became like a renegade. He went berserk. He didn't want to be in the crew no more. He was going to start his own little gang. I couldn't take a chance on him running around. He knew too much. So I got permission from John (John Gotti) to kill him. We finally got Nicky to come by Tali's, and he went with Huck (Thomas Carbonaro) to pick up Old Man (Joseph Paruta), who was still alive then. Joe got in the backseat and shot Nicky twice in the back of the head. Me and Eddie (Edward Garofalo) were trailing in a car behind. We dumped the body in a vacant lot. It was found the next day.
The murder of Nicholas Mormando remained unsolved until Sammy Gravano agreed to become a stool pigeon and testify against John Gotti at his racketeering trial. By the time Gravano was implicated in the murder, Paruta had succumbed to terminal lung cancer.


Mercy killing

In 1984, during one of Gravano's bedside visits to Paruta, he asked him to kill him. He told Sammy, "Kill me, Sammy. Kill me, please." He tried to get Gravano to understand that a swift bullet was the best gift a true friend could give him. He couldn't stand the pain any more. But like every murder of a made man (which Paruta was), even a mercy killing, he had to get permission. He sent a message through Gene Gotti to John Gotti. He tried to prepare Gene and explain the situation as best as he could. Although Gravano never found out what Gene told John when they discussed Paruta, Gotti denied the mercy killing. He said that there was no way he would authorize a murder contract on a made man under the circumstances they were facing. Sammy brought Gotti's discussion to Paruta who did not accept the answer. He begged Sammy and prevailed on him that the friendship between them was above everything and that the only way he could prove his friendship was by carrying out the murder. Sammy ordered his brother-in-law Edward Garofalo to get a gun with a silencer. Sammy gave Paruta one day's notice to have his family away from the house on the day he was to be murdered. Thomas Carbonaro would be stationed outside the house in a car ready for a swift getaway. Edward and Gravano would go through a back door that would be left open by Paruta. The two of them would go up to the bedroom where Joseph was confined to having fallen very ill at this point. Edward would sit him in a comfortable position and then join Carbonaro in the car outside when Gravano would shoot him. Sammy later said,
It was all set. I was home waiting to be picked up by Huck and Eddie. My wife was there. The night before I had been real irritable. When Debbie mentioned this, I put her off. I said I had things on my mind. Now I stepped outside for a second, and when I came back, she said she had sad news. Eddie had just called. He said that Old Man Paruta suddenly took a turn for the worst. He was rushed to the hospital by ambulance, but died on the way. He was only fifty-nine. My man of loyalty, of heart and soul, a man of honor, were gone.
His friend and family
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 ...
Frank DeCicco would later be murdered a year later. The deaths of D'Angelo, Paruta and Frank DeCicco would all play a heavy toll on Sammy Gravano. With DeCicco's murder, Gravano would no longer have any of his original close friends or crew left having all met their demise either by his hand or at hands of others. The deaths of his criminal associates would later play a factor in deciding to testify against the
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. ...
and his former boss and friend
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 ...
. After Paruta died, he would help support his wife and children financially over the years. He was the only member of Gravano's crew not to meet their fate by being murdered. He was the last member of Gravano's original Bensonhurst, Brooklyn crew that he had inherited from Salvatore Aurello after Frank DeCicco was murdered by a car bomb in 1986, two years earlier.


Replaced by Louis Vallario

After Joseph died, Gambino crime family capo
Louis Vallario Louis Vallario, also known as "Big Louie" and "Big Lou" (born June 16, 1942), is a member of the Gambino crime family who was a top aide to boss John Gotti and Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano in the late 1980s. Criminal history Vallario was ...
said to Gravano, "I know what you're feeling. I can't fill Stymie's (Joseph D'Angelo)'s shoes, or Paruta's. I wouldn't even try. But I promise I'll be there for you."


In popular culture

In the movie ''
Witness to the Mob ''Witness to the Mob'' is a television film which premiered on Sunday, May 10, and concluded on Monday, May 11, 1998. Plot Based on a true story, the film follows the rise of Sammy "The Bull" Gravano in the ranks of the Gambino crime family, o ...
'', Paruta is portrayed by actor Richard Bright.


References

* '' Underboss: Sammy the Bull Gravano's Story of Life in the Mafia'' by
Peter Maas __notoc__ Peter Maas (June 27, 1929 – August 23, 2001) was an American journalist and author. He was born in New York City and attended Duke University. Maas had Dutch and Irish ancestry. He was the biographer of Frank Serpico, a New York ...
* ''Newswalker: A Story for Sweeney'' by R. Thomas Collins Jr.


External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20090515083451/http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/1995/04/26/1995-04-26__vinny_oil__is_sought_in_slay.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Paruta, Joseph 1929 births 1986 deaths American gangsters of Italian descent Gambino crime family People from Bensonhurst, Brooklyn People of Tuscan descent People of Venetian descent