Childhood friends Anthony Senter and Joey Testa began working in Gambino mobster Roy DeMeo's crew in the 1970s, and they may have played a role in as many as 200 murders.
Public DomainJoey Testa (left) and Anthony Senter, better known as the Gemini Twins.
Anthony Senter and Joseph Testa had each other’s backs from an early age. Growing up in Brooklyn, the two were childhood friends who became embroiled in the criminal underworld in their early teen years. As they got older, their involvement with the mob only grew — as did their bond.
Because they were always seen together at Gemini Lounge, Senter and Testa became known as the “Gemini Twins.” The bar was the preferred hangout spot of Roy DeMeo’s notorious crew of killers, of which Senter and Testa were a part. It was also where the men murdered most of their victims.
Together, the Gemini Twins proved to be doubly deadly, first as hitmen under DeMeo and later as members of the Lucchese crime family when DeMeo was assassinated (possibly by Senter and Testa themselves).
However, like many of their contemporaries, Anthony Senter and Joey Testa ultimately found themselves behind bars for multiple murder charges. They were sentenced to life in prison — but now, both men are walking free once more.
How Childhood Friends Anthony Senter And Joey Testa Became Mafia Hitmen
RedditAnthony Senter (top left) and Joey Testa (top right) with other members of the DeMeo crew, including Roy DeMeo himself (to the left of Testa).
Born just two months apart in 1955, Anthony Senter and Joey Testa grew up on the streets of Brooklyn and quickly became friends. Senter was born to Italian immigrants. His uncle, Robert Senter, already had mob connections with both the Gambino and Colombo families. Testa, meanwhile, was one of nine children born to a truck driver father and a housewife mother. His brother Patrick later joined the DeMeo crew as well.
In their teenage years, Senter and Testa frequently caused trouble, mostly getting into fights with other boys in their neighborhood and stealing cars. In fact, by the time Senter was 15, he had reportedly been convicted of vehicle theft three times.
These early criminal experiences certainly influenced Senter and Testa’s ultimate life path, as the two young men would eventually find their way into the crew of notorious murderer and Gambino family member Roy DeMeo. Given his reputation for stealing vehicles, Senter was a perfect candidate for DeMeo’s group of villains, and he and Testa were brought in thanks to DeMeo associate Chris Rosenberg.
Public DomainMobster Roy DeMeo is believed to have been behind more than 200 murders.
Initially, their role in the DeMeo crew was simply to steal cars. However, DeMeo quickly realized the two new recruits could be even more useful to him. They soon became a core part of his crew — and they, like their boss, earned a reputation for violence.
Anthony Senter And Joey Testa’s Violent Mob Career
Roy DeMeo’s son, Albert, described his first impression of the Gemini Twins in his book about his father’s criminal career, For the Sins of My Father. He wrote, “Anthony was an accomplished car thief who brought in a lot of money, but I didn’t like him. There was something slick and phony about him. I didn’t trust him. Anthony was a stereotype of a young wiseguy… Anthony drove or wore every dime he made. What he didn’t spend on cars or clothing he spent on women.”
As for Testa, Albert DeMeo wrote, “Joey was like a duplicate of Anthony, except his hair was a little straighter and he was an inch taller.”
The Gemini Twins joined up with Roy DeMeo’s crew, which was infamously deadly, even for mobsters. DeMeo and his men perfected the art of killing with their “Gemini Method.” They would lure their victim through a side door of Gemini Lounge and into a small apartment. Someone waiting just inside would shoot the unfortunate guest in the head at point-blank range and quickly wrap a towel around the wound to keep it from bleeding onto the floor. A second person would immediately stab the victim in the heart to stop the blood flow.
New York City Department of Records & Information ServicesGemini Lounge, where Anthony Senter and Joseph Testa were often seen together.
Members of the DeMeo crew would then drag the body to the bathroom, where they drained all of the blood, cut the corpse into pieces, placed the body parts into plastic bags, packed the bags into boxes, and dropped the boxes at a busy dump where they would never be found. Anthony Senter and Joey Testa likely participated in dozens of these murders.
The first victim they took on DeMeo’s orders was allegedly Andrei Katz, an auto repair shop owner, on June 13, 1975. Katz was abducted, taken to the meat department of a grocery store, stabbed in the heart, and dismembered by the crew.
In 1977, Senter and Testa reportedly killed a woman named Cherie Golden after her boyfriend became an informant. That same year, they allegedly murdered 23-year-old Jerome Hofaker after he got in a fight with one of Testa’s brothers.
The Gemini Twins weren’t charged with either of those murders, but they were convicted in the deaths of Charles Mongitore and Daniel Scutaro, two employees at a Brooklyn auto shop. The DeMeo crew was after Mongitore because he was pressing charges against the son of a Gambino soldier. In June 1980, Senter, Testa, and several other men showed up at Mongitore’s workplace, shot him 14 times, and slit his throat. When Scutaro walked in while they were cleaning up their mess, they killed him, too.
However, the bloody reign of the Gemini Twins and the DeMeo crew wouldn’t last forever.
The Grisly Murder Of Roy DeMeo
In April 1979, Roy DeMeo chased down and killed an 18-year-old vacuum cleaner salesman named Dominick Ragucci after mistaking him for a Cuban hitman. The incident marked the beginning of the end for DeMeo, as his fellow Gambino mobsters decided he could no longer be trusted. His paranoia made him too much of a liability — but it turned out that DeMeo had good reason to be paranoid.
The Mob Museum/FacebookDominick Ragucci, the college student killed publicly by Roy DeMeo.
On Jan. 10, 1983, DeMeo met up with a few of his men at Patrick Testa’s body shop in Brooklyn. He never returned home. Ten days later, his body was found in the trunk of his Cadillac, which had been abandoned in the parking lot of a boat club. He had been shot in the head multiple times, including once behind both ears — which was allegedly a signature method of the Gemini Twins.
Though police initially suspected Anthony Gaggi, Lucchese boss Anthony “Gaspipe” Casso told a different story. According to him, Gambino boss Paul Castellano wanted DeMeo dead, and he worked out a deal with Casso to make it happen. Casso then made a deal of his own with Senter and Testa. He used DeMeo’s closest men against him, and when DeMeo sat down at Patrick Testa’s shop that day, Anthony Senter and Joseph Testa opened fire.
Bettmann/Getty ImagesGambino boss Paul Castellano allegedly ordered the hit on Roy DeMeo.
Reportedly, Castellano wanted DeMeo’s whole crew taken out, likening them to serial killers. However, Casso realized how dangerous that would be, and he assured Senter and Testa that if they took care of DeMeo, they would be spared. Casso was true to his word, and with Roy DeMeo dead, Anthony Senter and Joseph Testa became members of the Lucchese crime family.
However, by 1986, Senter and Testa’s murderous streak had begun to catch up to them.
The Gemini Twins’ Arrest And Trial
Mob Stories/YouTubeJoey Testa (left) and Anthony Senter together in New York, circa 1980s.
As federal investigators began to crack down on the Gambino crime family in the mid-1980s, they unraveled a sprawling web of murders all related to the DeMeo crew. They traced at least 75 deaths and disappearances to the group, but some people believe that number could be as high as 200.
At the time, Rudy Giuliani was the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and he was working the cases against several Gambino family members — including Senter and Testa.
As the New York Post reported in 2023, Giuliani was clear on his opinion about Anthony Senter: “He was a stone-cold killer who liked to kill. And I believe he liked to participate in some ways in the dismemberment of the bodies that took place afterwards.”
Glasshouse Images / Alamy Stock PhotoRudy Giuliani during his time as a U.S. Attorney.
Senter and Testa were convicted of racketeering and 10 counts of murder and sentenced to life in prison. However, after 35 years behind bars, both men were granted parole — and the news was not well-received.
Anthony Senter And Joey Testa Are Free Men Once Again
“[Senter] is 68. That’s not a life. He has an awful lot of life to live, and that’s not right,” said Denise Hofaker, the cousin of Jerome Hofaker, upon hearing the news that Anthony Senter would be released from prison in June 2024.
But if that weren’t shocking enough, it wasn’t just Senter who got out of jail early. Joey Testa was also paroled in April 2024.
According to Testa’s lawyer, part of the reason for his early release was the “serious medical problems” he had been dealing with for years, though she noted that Testa “has done well in prison,” too.
Members of Testa’s family said they were happy to see him released. However, it should also be noted that his godson and nephew, Tony Testa, has tried in the past to spin his family’s story into some form of popular culture. He bills the Testas as “the Kennedys of Cosa Nostra” and has released two albums as a self-proclaimed “mob rapper.”
Tony Testa/InstagramTony Testa, nephew of mob hitman Joey Testa.
Some people have speculated that Senter and Testa’s release could be an indicator that they are going to reveal new information about their mob hits. “There’s a rumor going around that when those guys get out, they’ll spill the beans,” said a former Gemini Lounge patron. “They know where a lot of bodies are buried. There is no reason for them to be let out unless they’ve been cooperating with someone.”
So far, Senter and Testa have not revealed any new information about their crimes, though this could change in the future.
After reading about the Gemini Twins Anthony Senter and Joseph Testa, go inside the death of notorious mobster John Gotti. Or, learn about 13 of the most infamous mob bosses in history.
