Tommy Karate Pitera, Bonanno Mobster, Was More Serial Killer Than Goodfella
Thomas (Tommy Karate) Pitera, made member of the Bonanno crime family, in his most recent effort to get out of prison, sought to use DNA evidence to shift blame for several murders on a former partner in crime.
Pitera's appeal was crushed (just like his nose when the DEA arrested him) by a dead judge, who while alive penned the legal documents that validated the denial.
As Forbes reported: "A federal court of appeals yesterday denied a criminal defendant’s Motion To Compel Post-Conviction Relief in the form of DNA testing of six items related to the crimes at issue.
"The defendant/appellant, Thomas Pitera, alleges that genetic testing of those items would exonerate him by showing that the guilty party was in fact Frank Gangi, whom the court determined to be his accomplice. In United States v. Pitera (2d Cir. Apr. 3, 2012), the Second Circuit determined after very careful analysis that under the standards established by the Innocence Protection Act (“Act”), any such testing would not raise a reasonable probability that Pitera did not commit the gruesome murders in question in furtherance of a criminal enterprise."
Pitera, already 20 years into his sentence, has seemingly made seeking "post-trial relief" his life's work. He has several times tried to acquire it, failing with every attempt.
Pitera is not among your more widely known mobsters, and if not for a Philip Carlo book and an episode of Mobsters, it is likely only close readers of New York tabloids and Jerry Capeci's Ganglandnews.com site would know who this guy is.
For those who don't fall in the above category, here is a little recap of Tommy Karate:
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Moment of Truth: Tommy Karate, nose busted, comprehending his career's end.
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Pitera's appeal was crushed (just like his nose when the DEA arrested him) by a dead judge, who while alive penned the legal documents that validated the denial.
As Forbes reported: "A federal court of appeals yesterday denied a criminal defendant’s Motion To Compel Post-Conviction Relief in the form of DNA testing of six items related to the crimes at issue.
"The defendant/appellant, Thomas Pitera, alleges that genetic testing of those items would exonerate him by showing that the guilty party was in fact Frank Gangi, whom the court determined to be his accomplice. In United States v. Pitera (2d Cir. Apr. 3, 2012), the Second Circuit determined after very careful analysis that under the standards established by the Innocence Protection Act (“Act”), any such testing would not raise a reasonable probability that Pitera did not commit the gruesome murders in question in furtherance of a criminal enterprise."
Pitera, already 20 years into his sentence, has seemingly made seeking "post-trial relief" his life's work. He has several times tried to acquire it, failing with every attempt.
Pitera is not among your more widely known mobsters, and if not for a Philip Carlo book and an episode of Mobsters, it is likely only close readers of New York tabloids and Jerry Capeci's Ganglandnews.com site would know who this guy is.
For those who don't fall in the above category, here is a little recap of Tommy Karate:
Thomas "Tommy Karate" E. Pitera (born December 2, 1954) was a member of the Bonanno crime family -- the same one that has been in the headlines thanks to the sitcom --er, reality TV show -- "Mob Wives." Renee's father, Anthony "TG" Graziano, who as is well known now, was taken down, along with quite a few other Bonannos, and maybe a Gambino or two, by Hector Pagan, who was a steady character on "Mob Wives" owing to his status as TG's own little guy and Renee's ex-husband. (Incidentally, it looks like Pagan will never have to take the stand and most of the gangsters caught in his web are getting off lightly, with a couple of years followed by supervised release, which is easy for me to say, as I'm not doing the time, and for 70-year-olds like TG, a couple years can make a big difference.)
But Tommy Karate's arrest and crimes will never in any way become fodder for reality TV (or a sitcom) owing to his reputation for being a fiendish, bloodthirsty homicidal maniac having more in common with Roy DeMeo -- even Jason Vorhees and Michael Meyers -- than mafiosi like TG and even Joe Massino, "The Last Don" who became an informant when faced with a sentence that could include a sojourn in the death house. Pitera is in the minority of American Cosa Nostra in that he derived pleasure from torture, killing and his body-disposal method, which mimicked in many ways the DeMeo crew's "Gemini method."
He is suspected by law enforcement of as many as 60 murders. His nickname is derived from his love of martial arts, including karate -- a skill which he learned at a young age and practiced with great skill for the rest of his mob life. Pitera's love of being able to defend himself with his hands likely had more to do with insecurity stemming from years of being bested by high school bullies than from any desire having to do with competition or athleticism.
Also fueling the insecurity: "He had a particularly high pitched effeminate falsetto voice that was compared by biographer Philip Carlo to Michael Jackson's but having even more falsetto. Mob associate Frank Gangi thought Pitera sounded more like Mickey Mouse or Minnie Mouse."
According to Carlo, Pitera, whatever his motivation, took martial arts very seriously, spending more than two years training in Tokyo under one Hiroshi Masumi. During this time in Japan, he even grew his hair long to emulate his hero, Bruce Lee.
After returning from Japan, Pitera hooked up as an associate with the Bonannos and quickly evolved into one of the most feared connected guys on the streets, made or not.
During the 1980s Pitera became a made man with the Bonannos for Anthony Spero, who put him with Frank Lino (a survivor of the three-capo takedown, quick thinking enough to sprint out of the basement room before a bullet could find him).
It is alleged in the Carlo book that Pitera shot to death Wilfred "Willie Boy" Johnson as he walked to his car. Johnson had been a close associate of Gambino crime boss John Gotti since the days when the two of them had been petty burglars and thieves. The two men indeed were very close. But in 1985, Gotti discovered that Johnson had been a government informant since 1966. Pitera murdered Johnson as a favor to Gotti (who at the time was close friends with then-Bonanno boss Joe Massino, who would later claim that Gotti wanted him, Massino, dead, but that is another story).
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But Tommy Karate's arrest and crimes will never in any way become fodder for reality TV (or a sitcom) owing to his reputation for being a fiendish, bloodthirsty homicidal maniac having more in common with Roy DeMeo -- even Jason Vorhees and Michael Meyers -- than mafiosi like TG and even Joe Massino, "The Last Don" who became an informant when faced with a sentence that could include a sojourn in the death house. Pitera is in the minority of American Cosa Nostra in that he derived pleasure from torture, killing and his body-disposal method, which mimicked in many ways the DeMeo crew's "Gemini method."
He is suspected by law enforcement of as many as 60 murders. His nickname is derived from his love of martial arts, including karate -- a skill which he learned at a young age and practiced with great skill for the rest of his mob life. Pitera's love of being able to defend himself with his hands likely had more to do with insecurity stemming from years of being bested by high school bullies than from any desire having to do with competition or athleticism.
Also fueling the insecurity: "He had a particularly high pitched effeminate falsetto voice that was compared by biographer Philip Carlo to Michael Jackson's but having even more falsetto. Mob associate Frank Gangi thought Pitera sounded more like Mickey Mouse or Minnie Mouse."
According to Carlo, Pitera, whatever his motivation, took martial arts very seriously, spending more than two years training in Tokyo under one Hiroshi Masumi. During this time in Japan, he even grew his hair long to emulate his hero, Bruce Lee.
After returning from Japan, Pitera hooked up as an associate with the Bonannos and quickly evolved into one of the most feared connected guys on the streets, made or not.
In Sonny Red Faction
Pitera belonged to a family faction headed by captains Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato, Dominick Trinchera and Philip Giaccone, the three capos who ended up murdered in the infamous basement triple-whacking planned out by Massino and Dominick Napolitano, who were protecting themselves as well the family's imprisoned boss, Philip "Rusty" Rastelli, with full commission approval to "defend yourselves," as then-Gambino boss Paul Castellano informed Joe Massino win Massino sought out his approval.During the 1980s Pitera became a made man with the Bonannos for Anthony Spero, who put him with Frank Lino (a survivor of the three-capo takedown, quick thinking enough to sprint out of the basement room before a bullet could find him).
It is alleged in the Carlo book that Pitera shot to death Wilfred "Willie Boy" Johnson as he walked to his car. Johnson had been a close associate of Gambino crime boss John Gotti since the days when the two of them had been petty burglars and thieves. The two men indeed were very close. But in 1985, Gotti discovered that Johnson had been a government informant since 1966. Pitera murdered Johnson as a favor to Gotti (who at the time was close friends with then-Bonanno boss Joe Massino, who would later claim that Gotti wanted him, Massino, dead, but that is another story).
Spero's notoriously violent Bath Beach crew was involved in extortion, loan sharking, drug dealing and murders. Pitera's crew in particular was known for robbing drug dealers and then reselling their drugs. Pitera even had the cojones to murder Colombian drug kingpins for the ability to resell their cocaine. And in a scene that could've been taken out of "Murder Machine" the book about the DeMeo crew, Pitera once killed a Middle-Eastern drug supplier right in his own Brooklyn apartment, then stripped the body, sliced it into pieces in the bathtub and buried it in a secret dumping ground.
"Investigators eventually found six of Pitera's victims in a mob graveyard in Staten Island near the William T. Davis Wildlife Refuge. Pitera had decapitated the bodies and buried the heads separately to impede their identification using dental records," Carlo wrote.
"Pitera's approach to murder and body disposal was cold-hearted and clinical. He used the Staten Island graveyard because he believed that the damp soil would accelerate decomposition. Pitera studied books on dissection and carried a special tool kit for cutting up bodies. He always insisted on burying corpses deep enough so that police dogs could not locate their scents. Before burying body parts, Pitera either wrapped them in plastic or placed them in suitcases. Pitera's one weakness was that he enjoyed keeping jewelry and other souvenirs of his work. This went beyond Mafia culture and was classic serial killer behavior [emphasis added]."
On June 4, 1990, Pitera was indicted for drug dealing and involvement in seven murders, including the 1988 Johnson murder, although as noted investigators have alleged that Pitera probably committed about 60 murders. In Pitera's apartment, Carlo has reported, FBI agents discovered more than 60 automatic weapons as well as knives and swords, and literature such as The Hitman's Handbook.
One of Pitera's crew members, Frank Gangi, the nephew of Genovese crime family capo Rosario Gangi, decided to testify against Pitera. Frank had been arrested for driving under the influence and while sitting in the holding cell, apparently stricken by guilt, decided to confess to all the murders he was involved in with Pitera, providing information on many Pitera murders.
"Investigators eventually found six of Pitera's victims in a mob graveyard in Staten Island near the William T. Davis Wildlife Refuge. Pitera had decapitated the bodies and buried the heads separately to impede their identification using dental records," Carlo wrote.
"Pitera's approach to murder and body disposal was cold-hearted and clinical. He used the Staten Island graveyard because he believed that the damp soil would accelerate decomposition. Pitera studied books on dissection and carried a special tool kit for cutting up bodies. He always insisted on burying corpses deep enough so that police dogs could not locate their scents. Before burying body parts, Pitera either wrapped them in plastic or placed them in suitcases. Pitera's one weakness was that he enjoyed keeping jewelry and other souvenirs of his work. This went beyond Mafia culture and was classic serial killer behavior [emphasis added]."
On June 4, 1990, Pitera was indicted for drug dealing and involvement in seven murders, including the 1988 Johnson murder, although as noted investigators have alleged that Pitera probably committed about 60 murders. In Pitera's apartment, Carlo has reported, FBI agents discovered more than 60 automatic weapons as well as knives and swords, and literature such as The Hitman's Handbook.
One of Pitera's crew members, Frank Gangi, the nephew of Genovese crime family capo Rosario Gangi, decided to testify against Pitera. Frank had been arrested for driving under the influence and while sitting in the holding cell, apparently stricken by guilt, decided to confess to all the murders he was involved in with Pitera, providing information on many Pitera murders.
Gangi described how Pitera had even murdered Gangi's girlfriend Phyllis Burdi, then cut Burdi's corpse into pieces in the bathroom. Her crime: She may have been "responsible" for the overdose death of Pitera's own girlfriend, a drug addict who certainly didn't need help. Look at her taste in men.
On June 25, 1992, Pitera was convicted of murdering six people and supervising a massive drug dealing operation in Brooklyn. (Pitera was acquitted in the Johnson murder.) In October 1992, Judge Reena Raggi sentenced him to life in prison, saying, "Mr. Pitera, nobody deserves to die as these people died."
As of April 2012, Pitera is serving a life sentence at the United States Penitentiary (USP) Allenwood, in Pennsylvania. Pitera's inmate number is 29465-053, according to the Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator, his attempts to spring himself on technicalities notwithstanding. Although should he and his lawyers ever become successful...
On June 25, 1992, Pitera was convicted of murdering six people and supervising a massive drug dealing operation in Brooklyn. (Pitera was acquitted in the Johnson murder.) In October 1992, Judge Reena Raggi sentenced him to life in prison, saying, "Mr. Pitera, nobody deserves to die as these people died."
As of April 2012, Pitera is serving a life sentence at the United States Penitentiary (USP) Allenwood, in Pennsylvania. Pitera's inmate number is 29465-053, according to the Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator, his attempts to spring himself on technicalities notwithstanding. Although should he and his lawyers ever become successful...