Thomas Uva and Rosemarie Uva (often misspelled Rosemary or Rose Marie) were married ex-cons from Ozone Park, Queens and considered a modern day "Bonnie and Clyde''



Thomas Uva had gotten out of prison in May 1992 at the age of 28. He and his 31 year old wife, who worked as the getaway driver, started holding up mafia social clubs throughout New York City that were owned by the Gambino crime family and the Bonanno crime family. As a result, mafia families put out an "open contract" to kill the couple.
On the morning of Christmas Eve 1992, the two decided to go out on a last minute Christmas shopping drive. They left their Ozone Park home and got into their car. As they got to the intersection of Woodhaven Boulevard and 103rd Avenue, Dominick Pizzonia, a Gambino family capo, allegedly shot the couple several times in the head.Their bodies were discovered moments later when the car rolled through the intersection, collided with an oncoming vehicle, and came to rest against the front curb of nearby residence. The victims, and their killer, all lived in the same neighborhood of Ozone Park, about half a mile from the murder scene. There have also been speculations that the murders were done by Bonanno family soldiers, Anthony Donato and Vincent Basciano.On May 11, 2007, Dominick Pizzonia was convicted of plotting to kill the couple but the federal jury found the government did not prove he had actually killed them. Former Bonanno family underboss Sal Vitale said that he and Joseph Massino had a conversation with John Gotti Jr who told them, "we took care of it".For years, investigators suspected Junior Gotti played a role in the murder but was never charged and Gotti denied he had any involvement.

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/mob-hits-and-misses/

Mob Hits and Misses
By MIKE NIZZA

Mafia clans are known to fight over turf, but credit for a double murder? F.B.I. documents cited by The Associated Press today recount a conversation between two rival families.
”We did that,” a captain in the Bonanno organized crime family asserted during a meeting.
”No, we did it,” then-acting Gambino family boss John A. ”Junior” Gotti responded.
The answer is: When the victims really, really embarrassed all of them. William K. Rashbaum of The New York Times retold the story:
In the annals of New York City crime, few undertakings were more ill-advised, foolhardy and just plain dangerous than the one that prosecutors say was chosen by Thomas and Rose Marie Uva, a young married couple from Queens.
The Uvas set out more than a dozen years ago to solve their financial difficulties in a most unusual fashion: walking into mob social clubs with an Uzi submachine gun and separating the Mafiosi within from their ill-gotten gains.
Mr. Uva, 28, even forced his marks to drop their pants, a prosecutor said. In 1992, they died in Ozone Park, Queens, shot to death while sitting in a 1990 four-door Mercury Topaz.
The debate over credit emerged in the trial ofDominick ”Skinny Dom” Pizzonia, who is accused in the killings. His defense strategy involves creating enough confusion to add up to reasonable doubt, it seems.An F.B.I. report presented at the trial suggests that bragging rights for the hit were ultimately won by Mr. Gotti. That’s bad news for Mr. Pizzonia, who is suspected of working for the Gotti family.Whether the strategy will convince the jury remains to be seen. Closing arguments are expected today.

I really can´t shake it...
Were they out of drugs and needed a new thrill?
Man...

i think they were robbing to supplement their drug habits.