De Meo Gang Murder Machine

De Meo Gang

Murder Machine by Gene Mustain and Jerry Capeci

There is honor amongst thieves -- and murderers. Crime does not pay. These are some of the cherished myths in fictionalized depictions of the Mafia. "The Godfather," directed by Francis Ford Coppola, depicts the Godfather Don Corleone bowing to the Mafia code of ethics that requires a man to honor any request on the day of his daughter's wedding. Even the more humorous depiction of the Italian Mafia in the popular television saga of "The Sopranos" shows constant, sophisticated negotiations of morality and ethics within the bloody society of the mob. The 'based on a true story' film "Goodfellas" shows how Mafia characters that are too ruthless are murdered by their own men rather than become 'made' men.

However, in the reality of organized crime, this stress upon an ethical code of conduct is far less important, it is more an ideal than how business is actually done. The book Murder Machine by Gene Mustain and Jerry Capeci depicts the DeMeo Gang, one of the most fearsome factions in the Gambino crime family. The lesson the book is that when one lives and dies by murder, any notion of ethics quickly dissipates. The book strips the veneer off of the Hollywood images of the Mafia Don. The men in the book are brutal hit men, not dapper dons or tormented Tonys. The tale of the gang highlights how violence begets more violence, and organized criminal activity merely provides an opportunity for cold-hearted killers to abandon any sense of compassion to their fellow men and women.

The DeMeo Gang killed over two hundred people, many of whom, contrary to the supposed code of organized crime ethics, were innocent civilians. The federal authorities never prosecuted the leader of the gang. Instead, the body of Roy DeMeo, the leader of the gang was found dead in the trunk of his car, after he did not attend his beloved daughter's birthday party as expected. He had been shot 'execution style,' five times. However, there is little sympathy for Roy shown by the authors of the book. Roy was quite willing to get his hands 'dirty' and commit atrocities with his own hands, rather than leave the work to his underlings. Like a true serial killer, he enjoyed killing, it was not something he did because he felt he 'had' to, to serve his boss. The sadistic methods concocted to kill in the book were not part of Mafia protocol rather they were devised by members of the gang, lead by Roy, for their own personal pleasure. Roy, a former blue-collar working 'stiff' had worked as a butcher before becoming a criminal, so this type of carnage came easy to him, and often times the gang would order pizza and soda, going through the motions of disposing of the bodies as if it was all in an ordinary day's work.

The book provides important historical information about the Gambino crime family that may be unknown to many readers. The Gambino crime family began to fall apart after the head of its founder died. It had split into two factions. This book centers on the more ruthless Brooklyn faction. Away from the scrutiny of the Manhattan police, for many years it could do what it wished. Gene Mustain and Jerry Capeci spare no details in detailing the cruel jokes these men told to one another while they engaged in their killing spree, nor the callousness of their attitudes towards their victims. The reason that these criminals were so effective at getting rid of bodies was because they were willing to do the unthinkable -- maim the corpses, and bury them piecemeal to avoid discovery. Some of the maiming they engaged in was gruesome without even a practical point to the violence. One of Roy's cousins was called Dracula, because he specialized in training the blood from the bodies.

The authors devote a great part of the book to detailing the biographies of these men, one of whom, the main informant for the book, had served a tour of duty as a Green Beret in Vietnam. The authors suggest that he may have been suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome, and could not adjust to the slower pace of civilian life. The brutality that had once been directed in service to the army was now directed in the service of an illegal organization. However, being a part of the DeMeo Gang allowed him to give full vent to his pent-up sadistic impulses, just like being in Vietnam.

Readers of the book may proceed with caution, as it has a single, main source, a turncoat of one of the Costa Nostra family Nino Gaggi. His version may be somewhat self-serving, and the authors are only getting his version of the dark and illegal operations of the family. However, this is an inevitable problem, perhaps, with any book on organized crime -- the individuals who turn state's evidence will 'write' the history, and there is no one who is willing to talk who is still involved in the organization to dispute what they say.