Originally Posted By: Ivan
Originally Posted By: HairyKnuckles
His real name seems to have been William Devino.


What was the original source for his real name? I first saw this "DeVino" thing on the Wikipedia page for Tommy DeSimone, which includes the following somewhat questionable anecdote:

DeSimone committed what is believed to have been his first murder on March 15, 1968. He was walking down the street with Hill when DeSimone spotted Howard Goldstein, a passing pedestrian, unknown to either gangster. Hill recalls DeSimone turning to him and saying, "Hey Henry, watch this." DeSimone yelled, "Hey cocksucker!" and pulled out a .38 caliber pistol, and shot and killed Goldstein. Hill exclaimed, "That was cold-blooded, Tommy!" DeSimone replied, "Well, I'm a mean cat."


I´ve just learned, with great help from posters on another forum, that William Devino´s name actually was William J. Bentvena. That figures why there has been so hard to come over any info on Billy Batts. I have no clue why Pileggi or Hill named him Devino in the book "Wiseguy". Considering he was dead by the time when the book was written, I can´t imagine the publishers were scared of future lawsuits. (I don´t know.)
There is info on Bentvena on the internet, but thus far I haven´t been able to locate any pictures of him. Would be cool to know how he looked like!


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