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| Thomas Pitera in Prison |
Pitera was born on December 2, 1954, whole he was a kid he
was a victim to being bullied, and this made Pitera into the mean and sadistic
person he became as an adult. Pitera
grew up in the Gravesend part of Brooklyn.
Pitera grew up a shy kid, and he was often bullied and beaten.
The years of beating and abuse turn Pitera into a cold
blooded person. In Junior high he
started watching martial arts movies, and he soon asked his parents to put him
in Karate classes. He studied karate
similar to how a monk studies their craft.
His confidence soon grew, and he no longer was the shy timid kid in the
school.
Karate
Pitera always admired the mobsters who hung out in the local
socials clubs in the social clubs located around Gravesend. He admired the respect
they commanded, and the wealth. In 1964
he entered a karate tournament; he faced 7 opponents and destroyed each one. He won a yearlong scholarship to study karate
in Japan. Soon after the scholarship was
over he stayed in Japan continuing his study of the martial art, and becoming
more skilled and disciplined. He often
studied books about the history of the Samurai warriors. While in Japan he worked at a chopstick factory
and adopted the ways of the people from Japan.
Thomas Pitera returned to New York City in 1976, he was build rock solid
with muscle, he was very disciplined, and he was no one to be messed with.
Local Mobsters
Pitera started to hang out at local bars in Gravesend, often
being around local mobsters. Tommy met
Anthony Bruno Indelicato at one of these bars.
Indelicato was big into the drug business for the Bonanno CrimeFamily. Pitera started working with
Indelicato dealing and delivering drugs. He often brings in drugs from Canada into the
US. He also became a juice collector for
the Bonanno family. He made a name for
himself in the family by roughing up drug deadbeats, and people who owed money
to the family. He used the skills he
learned while growing up karate, to put a fear into the deadbeats who owed
money. He earned the nickname Tommy
Karate. Bruno Indelicato was the
contract hitman for the Bonanno family; he eventually started learning the
craft. He studied on how to murder, dissect
and cut, and mutilate bodies. Pitera
studied up on a series called “How to kill” and this show him the many different
ways to kill and get rid of a body.
Bones
At 24 years old Pitera made his bones, he wanted to move up
in the family. He was given the contract
to kill. Pitera received an envelope,
with a name, photo, and location of the person.
Pitera tracked the mark to a street in Brooklyn; he walked up to him and
shot him.
Soon after the hit, he was introduced to Anthony Spero, a
high ranking capo in the Bonanno family.
Spero nominated Pitera into the family, and soon after he became a made
member of the Bonanno Crime family. He
was given a crew of drug dealers and started making more money for the family.
Thomas Salerno, was a drug dealer who was often late on his payments to the family, Pitera decided it was time for him to go. He parked the car in Gravesend near the cemetery to show his crew and drug dealers that he was not one to play with.
Thomas Salerno, was a drug dealer who was often late on his payments to the family, Pitera decided it was time for him to go. He parked the car in Gravesend near the cemetery to show his crew and drug dealers that he was not one to play with.
Pitera’s Downfall
In the early 1980s he was a high earner for the Bonanno
family and a hitman. Pitera married, had
a kid and soon divorced. They divorced
and he met and a Brooklyn lady named Celeste Lapari. They were the perfect couple the only
problem, Celeste was a drug addict. Celeste was the only person that Pitera
showed any affection and for being a cold blooded killer and mobster this was
very unusual. Pitera hated her being
addicted to drugs because as a dealer he knew what drugs did to people. He went and intimidated all of the local drug
dealers and warned them to stay away from Celeste and don’t sell her any drugs,
that didn’t work. Celeste had a friend
Phyllis Burdi who got the drugs for her and they often partied and got high
together. Pitera told them to stop
hanging out, and they did around him, behind his back Celeste and Phyllis would
still hang out.
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| Tommy and Celeste |
Method of Killing
Pitera would shoot someone, take the body into a bathtub and
let the blood drain out, dismember the body, stuff them in suit cases, and take
them out to his personal gravesite in Staten Island, the Davis wildlife refuge
because it was a wildlife refuge protected by the federal government, meaning
there would never be any construction on the area. Pitera stayed within Bonanno family rules
when getting rid of bodies, deadbeats and rats were often taken out.
During the 1980s Pitera tried to get Celeste off drugs, and
she often relapsed. On September 10, 1987
Celeste and Phyllis began partying in a Brooklyn Bar, and went back to Phyllis
apartment. Celeste shot up heroin to
fall asleep, they had been doing Cocaine and she needed to sleep. Celeste never woke up; Pitera was informed of
Celeste death by one of his closest friends Frank Gangi. Pitera blamed Phyllis Burdi, soon Gangi met
up with Phyllis at a bar. They partied, did drugs, and had sex. September 30, 1980, Gangi took Phyllis back
to his apartment, for two days they partied.
Gangi soon tells Pitera that he had Phyllis in his apartment. Pitera comes in kills Phyllis, severs her
head, dismembers the body, stuffs it on suitcases, and his crew buried her
remains in his personal cemetery. Pitera
kept the head in his freezer.
Gangi Turns Informant
Gangi soon started to have doubts about the life in the
mob. Gangi was pulled over and arrested
for DUI. While in jail he started talking
to a detective he knew. He became an
informant and gave up Thomas Pitera. March
15, 1989 Pitera heard a rumor that two members in his family were informants. Pitera soon murdered the members Richie Loene
and Saul stern. Pitera ambushed them in
one of the night clubs he owned. The men
walked in and never walked out. While Gangi was in jail he began to envision the atrocities that Pitera would do to anyone he felt betrayed by, Ganji became an informant.
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| Gangi |
Notable Hits
Pitera is believed to have committed over 60 murders here are some of the notable hits that he committed:
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| Willie "Boy" Johnson |
August 29, 1988 Willie Boy was a John Gotti associate, they met in prison and he often did jobs for the Gambino family, he was murdered by Pitera in the Flatlands section of Brooklyn.
Talal Siksik, a drug dealer, was shot to death at point blank range by Pitera in a Brooklyn apartment because he was thought to be a police informant. Gangi accompanied Pitera to the apartment knowing that Siksik would be killed there. Indeed, en route to the apartment, Gangi stopped with Pitera at the home of another crew member, Richard David, and there picked up the gun and silencer that would be used in the murder, as well as a hacksaw, plastic bags, and a suitcase for later disposal of the body.
Phyllis Burdi, a drug addict, was shot at point blank range by Pitera because he held her responsible for the death of his wife from a drug overdose. Although she had been hiding from Pitera, it was Gangi who located her and kept her at a particular site so that Pitera could come and kill her.
Marek Kucharsky, another criminal, was stabbed by Pitera and his throat slit by Gangi as the result of a petty dispute during which Gangi perceived Kucharsky to have insulted Pitera.
Marek Kucharsky, another criminal, was stabbed by Pitera and his throat slit by Gangi as the result of a petty dispute during which Gangi perceived Kucharsky to have insulted Pitera.
Joseph Balzano, a crew member, was killed when Pitera lost trust in him. Pitera and Gangi pretended they were taking him out to dinner to discuss various problems. Instead Gangi stabbed Balzano with an ice pick, whereupon Pitera shot him in the back of the head and slit his throat. Balzano's body was dumped in an alley near a gas station.
Pitera planned to torture and kill Andrew Jakakas because of Jakakas' insulting behavior toward himself and other organized crime members. Gangi, a close friend of Jakakas, decided to kill him first, purportedly to spare him Pitera's torture. Gangi and a confederate took Jakakas for a drive whereupon the confederate shot Jakakas in the back of the head. His body was left in a vacant lot in Brooklyn.
Arrest and Conviction
June 3, 1990, Pitera was arrested and on the 4th he was charged with seven murders and running a rug dealing crew. Pitera was sentenced to life in prison based on the testimony provided by Gangi. Today Pitera is serving a life sentence at the United States Prison in Pine Knot Kentucky. A very different life for Pitera, instead of running drugs, and killing people he lives his days in secluded prison.
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