http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...ok-reveals.html John Gotti personally executed the real-life Joe Pesci 'Goodfella' on the night he was due to be 'made' - after the victim tried to rape a fellow gangster's wife, new book reveals
By Dailymail.com Reporter
15:48 BST 12 Jul 2015, updated 08:44 BST 13 Jul 2015
A new book about the notorious $5 million Lufthansa robbery in 1978 - which inspired the hit film Goodfellas - has revealed for the first time the role that John Gotti played in the heist, and how the personally killed rival Tommy DeSimmone.
The book, The Luftansa Heist - released August 1 - has been written by gangster Henry Hill, who claims to have received the information surrounding the death of hit man DeSimmone from Sal Polisi, a friend of Gotti's he met in Witness Protection.
Hill collaborated on the 1986 book Wiseguy, which was adapted to film in 1990 and renamed Goodfellas, but says he held back the story of Gotti killing DeSimmone, fearing retribution, The New York Post reported Sunday.
Gambino: 'Dapper Don' John Gotti personally murdered infamous hit man Tommy DeSimmone, of rival gang the Lucchese family, because of his involvement in the Lufthansa robbery and for assaulting the wife of another gangster, Henry Hill, who is releasing a new book
Gambino: 'Dapper Don' John Gotti personally murdered infamous hit man Tommy DeSimmone, of rival gang the Lucchese family, because of his involvement in the Lufthansa robbery and for assaulting the wife of another gangster, Henry Hill, who is releasing a new book
Gotti, the 'Dapper Don' of the Gambino crime syndicate, died of throat cancer in prison in 2002.
The infamous Lufthansa heist saw gang members steal around $5 million in cash and $875,000 worth of jewelry at JFK airport in 1978, brutally attacking airport workers guarding the cash.
At the time it was the biggest heist in US history and none of the money was ever recovered.
The theft was planned by Hill and Jimmy 'The Gent' Burke, who worked under Lucchese family crime boss Paul 'Paulie' Vario.
In Goodfellas, Hill was played by Ray Liotta, Burke by Robert De Niro, and Vario by Paul Sorvino.
Being a Gambino, Gotti was not believed to have any involvement in the heist.
However Hill's book reveals that the airport was considered shared turf between the Lucchese and Gambino families, so Gotti was cut in on the heist.
Over a meeting at Prudenti's Vicin' O Mare, an Italian restaurant in Long Island City, Queens, Hill and Burke agreed to give Gotti $200,000 of the proceeds.
In return, Gotti would organize a warehouse where the cash and the jewelry could be moved from the getaway van to a 'switch car' to further throw the police off the scent.Gotti would then destroy the van at an auto-salvage yard he ran in Brooklyn.
Gotti, who at the time was still at a 'captain' in the Gambino family, did not tell his bosses about the $200,000 and kept the money for himself.
He then blew the cash gambling at the Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens.
During the heist, the robbers wore ski masks to hide their faces, but DeSimmone lifted his to wipe away some sweat.
The mask was off long enough for a witness to see his face and help police do a suspect sketch, which enraged Burke and Vario.
However they needed DeSimmone to murder a list of people involved in the heist to cover up any loose ends.
DeSimmone was ordered to kill Parnell 'Stacks' Edwards, who was supposed to deliver the getaway van to Gotti to be destroyed the heist, but instead
