Murder is overlooked. "Why, I thought we were going to stay up here for the whole summer? An unsanctioned murder usually cost you your life. . On the tape, Mr. Gotti said, in an expletive-laced quotation, "You tell this punk, I, me, John Gotti, will sever" his "head off! Dad didn't say Paul was his boss in one of New York's biggest, most blood-letting, most feared crime families, or that the construction business wasn't building somebody a little house, but more like construction racketeering, loan-sharking, and extortion. Don't buy this book. Neither of us said a word.Later that week, Dad ordered my mother to pack up my brother and me and head to the farm in Cream Ridge. He agreed to that said Sammy on his podcast. All rights reserved (About Us). Her future husband was a hairdresser and petty thief. As with most reality TV personalities, many who claim to find Karen Gravano abhorrent still manage to catch her in action on Mob Wives every Sunday night. She now lives in Boca Raton. Aunt Fran would read us those stories, and she'd add to them with her own fanciful fabrications. During the summer, Dad commuted back and forth. His genuine name was Liborio "Louie" Milito. The family had a 5,000-square-foot house and luxury cars. Rumor was Roy killed guys right outside his bar for the mere crimes of calling Roy an asshole or some other insult. Karen Gravano's new book Mob Daughter has many of them wishing they could do the same to her. Roy responded by telling him how he was fantasizing about how quickly he could kill everyone in the restaurant. For a time, Dad was there practically every night, but with his construction business demanding more of his time, he was looking to unload the place.Frank offered my father a million dollars for the club. Uncle Eddie wasn't around, which was also odd. His reasoning was that he wanted Louie to die honorably. [26] The third season received critical acclaim, scoring 94 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on 16 reviews. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Self-proclaimed "Mafia Wife" author Lynda Milito said "Mob Wives" reality show star Karen Gravano is "giving Staten Island a bad name. I preach survival. Based in Hollywood, Elaine Viets is the author of Shop Till You Drop: A Dead End Job Mystery. Gravano has discussed his childhood friend and then crew member Louie Milito many times. Gerard and I loved our eggs sunny-side up, which we called "dunky" eggs because of the nice puddle of yolk to dunk our toast in.By the time we got the egg issue straightened out, Dad was at the breakfast table acting normal. I could feel my father staring at me like he knew I had been listening. Read about Karen Gravano's interview with "20/20" and watch the full story on "20/20" Friday at 10 p.m. Portrayed by method man in godfather of Harlem 181 71 r/Mafia Join 1 mo. to accept a deal with FX, C.K. not much is known about Milito's early life. But readers soon see Lynda's true love was money. This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. . You're the oldest. Lynda was born to Jewish parents and grew up in Brooklyn. I didn't know why he addressed people as Bo, not Bro. Louie Milito Liborio "Louie" Milito was Sammy Gravano's top soldier and also one of his best friends. Ms. Gravano copped to charges related to the operation and got three years probation. I was starting to put the pieces together. I knew they were probably talking about Paul Castellano. He didn't mention being a businessman like Paul was putting your life on the line. "I'm not in the mood." Rumors spread all over the family that DeMeo was killing people at his bar and then dismembering the bodies in an adjacent apartment. You can have one over the weekend. Yes. "I'll see you guys soon," he said. With nineteen confessed murders, the former Gambino Crime Family underbossand John Gotti's right-hand manis the highest ranking gangster ever to turn State's evidence and testify against members of his high-profile crime family. "I'll search around," she said Mr. Gravano said to her when she told him she could not find her father. "I thought you were going riding," he said. One particular house in this fancy neighborhood belonged to Gambino family crime boss Paul Castellano. Conversely, Sammy was one of the few guys Scarpa respected and maybe had a bit of fear towards. my father would say. He had been a criminal partner of Sammy since their teens and also later became a made man in the Gambino Family. But she does not seem like a trapped wife. He wore sweats and gold chains, and he had tattoos, Jesus on one arm and a rose on the other. serves as the show's lead and plays the only character who appears in every episode. When Dad found out, he wasn't upset. directed, cast, and edited the first episode of the show with a budget of $250,000, provided by FX. When Louie Milito was born in 1915, in Philadelphia Monthly Meeting, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, his father, Carlo Milito, was 32 and his mother, Isabella Amato Milito, was 31. There was always something to do there. Enough is enough, said Rosanne Massa, of Bensonhurst, about her brother, Michael Debatt a good kid, she said who went to Catholic High School, and played football on scholarship and then sadly got wrapped up in that world and murdered by Gravano in 1987. Dad's mother also lived there, in an apartment downstairs.Aunt Fran was closer to my father than his sister Jean. Roy would be killed by his own crew in 1983 after the car theft ring was busted. Louie is loosely based on comedian Louis C.K. The allure of the lifestyle, as its called by Karen on the show, seems to even have some of the potential plaintiffs tuning in. In her book, fat is a crime. The glamorous "made man" made money pilfering phone coin boxes. An older man named "Toddo" was usually at one of the tables in the back. [13][14] In addition to starring, C.K. He loved driving around different neighborhoods, pointing out houses he liked and sharing his renovation ideas. The Life Summary of Louie. He was hipper than the other kids' dads. He'd started tearing apart the new house the minute we had taken ownership, knocking down walls and putting in improvements, like nice European tiles. My mom seemed a little preoccupied. "I told you we shouldn't have done this. I whined. I crawled away and went back into the house through the front door.At that moment, my father walked back into the kitchen. From Karen Gravano, a star of the hit VH1 reality show Mob Wives, comes a revealing memoir of a mafia childhood, where love and family come hand-in-hand with murder and betrayal. He was talking to my mother in a hushed voice. She met with her mother, she said, and they cried because they suspected "something was wrong.". accepted the modest offer of $200,000 (covering his own fee as well as production costs) to do a pilot with FX, since FX allowed him full creative control. The stand-up segments received strong praise, as did the show's perceived "indie film" style, with some likening the show to the work of Woody Allen. Lynda Milito with Reg Potterton. I was there just a few weeks when a classmate invited me over to her house to play. He just didn't act like a gangster. The pieces are interspersed with short clips of Louie's stand-up, usually performed in New York comedy clubs, mainly the Comedy Cellar and Carolines in Manhattan. They didnt call him Cowboy for nothing, he had a serious reputation for violence, and also one as a drug addict. . He was worried about the response of Persico and Shorty Spero. Karen Gravano is also one of the four main cast members of trashy VH1 reality show Mob Wives. The show has been met with critical acclaim and was included in various critics' TV show top-ten lists when it premiered in 2010. I was just asking. Gravano knew if DeMeo was exaggerating it wasnt by much. I thought it was weird the way the men all kissed each other on one cheek and then exchanged a firm handshake. Those rumors later proved to be true. I am real; they are liars. As a stand-up comedian in New York City, Louie's social circle on the show consists mainly of other comedians, and many notable comedians (such as Nick DiPaolo, Todd Barry, Jim Norton, Sarah Silverman, Chris Rock, and Jerry Seinfeld) have had recurring roles as fictionalized versions of themselves. That's when I came upon the pistol Dad had stuffed beneath the mattress. When I was six, I found a gun in my parents' bedroom in our apartment on Sixty-first Street in Bensonhurst. "I got made, in Toddo Aurellow's crew, before he did. Dad jumped out and ran into our house, and I ran in after him. "Where's Daddy?" Following the testimony of Ms. Milito, the prosecution presented evidence about another murder that Mr. Gotti is charged with authorizing at Mr. Gravano's request. It was way fancier and more ornate. The track was an exact replica of the Freehold Raceway in New Jersey. We shared lots of laughs. He always seemed relaxed, as though he didn't have a care in the world.He'd bring friends and their families from New York. It was about an hour and forty-five minutes south of Staten Island in the historic town of Cream Ridge. It was way fancier and more ornate. It was an enormous monster of a house, unlike any other in the neighborhood. A few days after we first heard about Frank Fiala, my father didn't show up for dinner. "Wow," I said. I asked my mother.She looked up from her pot of tomato sauce. An older man named "Toddo" was usually at one of the tables in the back. "Mom was in the front seat with Dad, and my younger brother, Gerard, and I were buckled in the back. he'd ask. A capo was only allowed to select one guy in his crew when the books opened. Kaiser had done absolutely nothing wrong. Mom said we'd have to use one from the refrigerator, but she wasn't going to tell us who was getting which. I was confused. Sammy told the entire Colombo hierarchy that when he found Stymies killer, he would kill him and whoever was with him on the spot. Lynda Milito was the Mafia wife of Liborio (Louie) Milito, a made man with the Gambino crime family. "Go help your mom clean up," my father told me at the end of dinner. He just didn't act like a gangster. Those people are resembling their own background. Fran was always warm and loving. My father had just finished the renovations on a three-bedroom house he'd bought for us in Bulls Head, a predominantly blue-collar neighborhood just over the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and not far from the two-bedroom apartment we had been renting in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn.My father was obsessed with construction and remodeling. It was surrounded by a beautiful stone porch that had a big table and lots of outdoor chairs. I didn't know it then, but it was a local mobster hangout, also known as a men's "social club." "I want Sammy Gravano . I remembered thinking how glad I was that my father worked in the same business as Paul, so that maybe one day we could get a mansion like that. It is written, directed, created, edited, and produced by comedian Louis C.K.,[3] who also stars in the show as a fictionalized version of himself, a comedian and newly divorced father raising his two daughters in New York City. "The Hill" had large manicured homes dotting its steep streets and was about ten minutes from our three-bedroom house on Leggett Place. She said she doesn't believe mob boss John Gotti ordered the hit after learning from Gravano that her husband was allegedly bad-mouthing him. "I feel bad for Staten Island," said Mrs. Milito, formerly of Todt Hill now ensconced in Boca Raton, Fla. "She is giving Staten Island a bad name. ""I don't know. None of them had their wives and kids along.I ran around to the kitchen to say hello to my father. Enjoy 1. Nicholas Mormando aka Nicky Cowboy was another top shooter in Sammys crew. It was Sunday and Dad had us all packed into the car for an afternoon of house hunting. It was an enormous monster of a house, unlike any other in the neighborhood. When her husband disappeared, she demanded his shylocking book and other assets from his cronies. I was so excited to see my friends. I was into horseback riding and spent hours with Snowflake, my beautiful white pony. One of the guys stole it for our wedding present, and Louie changed the title and tags." It was just before dinner when I heard the crunch of gravel on the driveway. I'd have to wait to learn this angle of the business.By the fall, my father announced that I was going to be transferring to a new school. It was a fairly minor incident between two future legendary mobsters. I was also feeling guilty about hearing stuff that was clearly not meant for me to hear. When I was six, I found a gun in my parents' bedroom in our apartment on Sixty-first Street in Bensonhurst. Uncle Eddie and several other members of Dad's work crew got out of the other vehicles. I'd never done that before, listening in on one of my father's conversations with his friends. I stopped reading the minute my father sat down at the breakfast table. It spanned the entire five thousand square feet of the building and had a bar, a dance floor, and a private VIP lounge. Read about Karen Gravano's interview with "20/20" and watch the full story on "20/20" Friday at 10 p.m. I knew my father had served in the army during the Vietnam War because I'd seen his dog tags. He had developed a massive crack cocaine habit. What was my father talking about?I heard Uncle Eddie interrupt. My father could be in trouble. Sammy knew that this just changed from a high risk hit to a suicide situation. Beginning in the third season, some episodes do not feature any stand-up performances or the opening credit sequence. And as she grew up, while her peers worried about clothes and schoolwork, she was coming face-to-face with crime and murder. Milito's body was never found. She remembers being in the hospital in Brooklyn with her Grandma Dostis yelling at her mother to make sure she stayed awake to keep from dying. This, ultimately, is the lesson to be learned from MAFIA WIFE. AbeBooks.com: MAFIA WIFE. Scarpa was using the spot to have a meeting with an associate which turned hostile. There were no women around, ever. The club looked like a big kitchen, with tables and chairs set out around the room and a few pictures, mostly scenes of Italy, hanging on the walls. The hens laid brown eggs, which had taken me a while to get used to, but I grew to love them. The club looked like a big kitchen, with tables and chairs set out around the room and a few pictures, mostly scenes of Italy, hanging on the walls. Sammy The Bull Gravano has opened up the vault of mafia secrets. Fiala pulled a gun on Sammy, sealing his own death warrant. The life that Louie Milito chose for himself, and for his family, will undoubtedly have repercussions for generations. Gotti was an acting capo for Neil while he was in the can but still an associate at the same time. [16] In the second season, the budget was increased to $300,000 per episode. "Something had come up and he couldn't meet me for dinner," she said. "Well I had to do what I had to do," I heard my father say. "She doesn't know what she's talking about. ". He just told me not to talk about it anymore. By the fall, my father announced that I was going to be transferring to a new school. serves as the show's sole writer and director, an unusual combination in American TV production. It's how he addressed everyone, even me. I didn't bother to tell her what I'd seen. Am I talking as a Mafia wife? Stymie was Joe D'Angelo, my father's closest friend.Dad said he had met him on the "street." Stymie was wearing a sweatshirt over his shirt. We went to the barn to feed my horse and say good-bye. C.K. Here are some of the most interesting and revealing stories hes told thus far: Gravano has discussed his childhood friend and then crew member Louie Milito many times. Nor did the bride object when Louie hid an automatic in her Tupperware. Racing to the kitchen, I went to ask my mother about my startling discovery. The stand-up in the show consists of original material recorded for the series, and is usually shot from the stage rather than from the more traditional audience perspective. He hosted "secret" meetings at their house, and had countless whispered conversations with "business associates." Sammy and notorious Colombo Family hitman Greg Scarpa aka The Grim Reaper crossed paths many times over the years as they rose in their respective families. It's said Gene Gotti being made before John (John was in the can when the . He wore sweats and gold chains, and he had tattoos, Jesus on one arm and a rose on the other. I started thinking of all the things I'd seen and heard over the years that hadn't made sense, like the time when I was six and found the gun under his mattress and him being out late and hanging out with people who looked different from my friends' fathers. Lynda says she wanted Louie to lead an honest life. I wanted to stay and listen some more, but I was worried about being seen. Sign in or become a Bklyner member to join the conversation. Normally, he pretended he had to bribe me to rub his head, pay me. Sammy knew about many of DeMeos victims including Frank Amato, who was dating Paul Castellanos daughter until he fell out with Big Paul. Dad and Fran were closer in age and seemed to have more in common. still hasn't found his niche", "Louie - Fox's Canadian Press Release Gives Street Date, Extras for Season 1 DVD/Blu Combo Set", "Louie - DVD Release for 'The Complete 3rd Season' is Scheduled", "Louie - 'The Complete 4th Season' DVDs Are NOW AVAILABLE! "One particular house in this fancy neighborhood belonged to Gambino family crime boss Paul Castellano. Mom was in the front seat with Dad, and my younger brother, Gerard, and I were buckled in the back. Nicky served as a backup shooter on the Fiala hit. I didn't know it at the time, but all the friends were involved in the Mafia. "I've had it, I've really had it," said Lynda Milito of Florida, the widow of Gambino capo Louie Milito, who authored her own 2003 tell-all "Mafia Wife: My Story of Love, Murder and Madness." Ms. Milito insists she never profited her . I'd been waiting for him to get home so I could ask him if my best friend, Toniann, could sleep over. Following him out to the porch, I continued to study him, observing how he was interacting with the guys. From Hairdresser To Mafia Killer: The Louie Milito Story The Narrator 1.38K subscribers 41K views 1 year ago The story of Louie Milito's rise and fall in the Gambino Crime Family. ""You are," he smiled. 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