New Details Surface Surrounding Death Of Tommy DeSimone, Played By Joe Pesci In Martin Scorsese’s ‘Goodfellas’

There's more to the "Goodfellas" movie than meets the eye. Tommy Devito, played by Joe Pesci, is not just a gangster character that was buried in a closed casket. Tommy Devito is based on Tommy DeSimone, and new details have surfaced surrounding his mysterious death back in 1979.

According to Den of Geek's Tony Sokol, Tommy DeSimone, or "Two-Gun Tommy," was taken out by John Gotti's family in a revenge killing for murdering Gotti's friend, Billy Batts, played by Frank Vincent in "Goodfellas." Martin Scorsese's classic gangster film is based off of Henry Hill's best-selling book "Wise Guy," which also documents Tommy DeSimone's violent end. But Den of Geek has uncovered details that suggest the Gotti crew wasn't behind DeSimone's death - it was someone else entirely.

"While the cops and the press say one thing about the disappearance of Tommy DeSimone, the street says something different," Sokol writes.

The article takes a closer look at DeSimone's life, his hot temper, the infamouse Lufthansa heist that led up to his death.

The Lufthansa heist at John F. Kennedy International Airport on December 11, 1978 pulled in over $5 million and was the biggest cash robbery in United States history, according to Den of Geek. The heist was thought to have been organized by gangster Jimmy Burke, played by Donald Sutherland in the 2011 film "The Big Heist." And while newspapers, "Wise Guy," and "Goodfellas" suggest Tommy DeSimone was killed for stabbing "Billy Batts" Bentvena, a source came out to tell a different story: DeSimone was killed by Burke and dumped into the Atlantic Ocean.

Greg Bucceroni, a former Gambino family associate and now a victims' advocate, told Den of Geek that reports of "Tommy DeSimone being murdered by John Gotti" are "wrong."

"DeSimone actually was murdered by Jimmy Burke at Burke's home back in 1979 while Burke was covering his tracks regarding the Lufthansa Heist in addition to John Gotti's investigating what Burke's and DeSimone's involvement was in the murder of Billy Batts," Bucceroni said.

"They were made guys with the Gambinos and Tommy had killed [Batts] without an okay," according to "Wise Guy." "Nobody knew Tommy had done it but the Gambino people had somehow gotten the proof. They had a sit-down with Paulie and they got Paulie's okay to Kill Tommy. ... Even Jimmy couldn't avenge Tommy."

According to Sokol, the book says Tommy was never seen again.

"Burke requested Richard Kuklinski associate Richie Bildstein to take DeSimone's dead body to a Philadelphia scrap metal yard to be disposed of in a pile of scrap metal that was soon afterwards sent to U.S. Steel Co in Pennsylvania to be melted down as scrap metal. Tommy DeSimone's body has never been found," Buceroni said.

Bucceroni believes he may have even seen the disposal of DeSimone's body. During a meeting in 1979 - the same year DeSimone went missing - in a mob front scrap metal yard in the Kensington section of Philadelphia, Bucceroni said he "witnessed Gambino mob associate Richard Bildstein dispose of a dead body in a crushed automobile and place the crushed vehicle into a large scrap metal pile awaiting shipment to U.S. Steel Co. to be sold as scrap metal after Bildstein returned from Queens, New York after meeting with mob associates Richard Kuklinski and Jimmy Burke.

"Although I never saw the face of the dead body, Bildstein alleged that it was DeSimone after Burke requested Bildstein to dispose of DeSimone's body due to DeSimone's often drunkard-drug induced bragging after the Lufthansa airport heist," Bucceroni explained.

According to the web site Find a Grave, DeSimone's grave cannot be located. The gangster was reportedly given a "non-cemetery burial."

As for Jimmy Burke's own fate, the gangster died in federal prison in 1996 while serving a 20-year prison term for murdering a drug dealer.

However, Bucceroni's recounting of the events should be taken with a grain of salt. Ralph Cipriano interviewed Bucceroni for his book about Philly mobster John Veasey, "The Hit Man."

Cipriano cut Bucceroni from the book because he found him "spectacularly unreliable" and determined "his facts did not seem to be reality-based," according to Philly.com.

"My past is my past, there's not much I can do about that," Bucceroni said. "It's what I do today that defines me." 

Tags
tommy desimone
tommy devito
Martin Scorsese
Goodfellas
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