Sammy Gravano, Mafia Hitman And Informant
Jeffrey Markowitz/Sygma/Getty ImagesSammy Gravano testifying against his boss John Gotti in 1992.
Salvatore Gravano was not only one of the most notorious Mafia hitmen, but also one of the most infamous rats in the history of organized crime. Before he broke the code of silence and became a witness against Gambino crime family boss John Gotti, however, Gravano murdered at least 19 people and was known as “Sammy the Bull.”
Born on March 12, 1945, in Brooklyn, New York, Gravano first caught the attention of the Mafia when he was 10 years old. Local gangsters had watched him take on two older bullies who had stolen his bike, noting that he fought “like a little bull.” He joined the mob in earnest after dropping out of high school and a tour in Vietnam.
Hired by the Colombo family, Gravano was initially tasked with a string of robberies. In 1970, he graduated to murder when the bosses ordered him to kill a colleague they had discovered to have been been disloyal. However, Gravanno’s rapid rise began causing internal tension, and he defected to the Gambino family in 1976 — to infamous results.
Bettmann/Getty ImagesThe body of Mafia boss Paul Castellano in Manhattan on Dec. 16, 1985.
The Mafia hitman murdered his own brother-in-law two years later when it was found he had a serious drug problem. Police never recovered more of his corpse than one of his hands. Meanwhile, Gravano continued loan sharking, made millions in the corrupt construction industry, and opened his own club in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn.
Things soured in 1982 when his boss, Paul Castellano, sold the venue to a local drug dealer named Frank Fiala. Gravano was so enraged that he had his crew shoot Fiala in the head in urinated into his lifeless mouth. Needless to say, after that, Castellano knew Gravano and him no longer saw eye to eye. This came to a head in 1985.
Gravano met with rising underboss John Gotti to discuss a hit on Castellano, which successfully took place on Dec. 16, 1985 at the Sparks Steak House in Manhattan. For the next few years, Gravano dutifully served as Gotti’s muscle and murdered anyone he was told to — until both were arrested on racketeering charges in 1990.
Hearing that his boss was plotting to pin the litany of murders on Gravano, Sammy The Bull agreed to testify against Gotti and revealed 10 of the 19 murders he had committed were ordered by Gotti. This led Gotti to be incarcerated for life. Meanwhile, Gravano receive a reduced sentence of five years.
