TTP | He Gone!

He was impeccably dressed, unimaginably ruthless and had an apparent affinity for non-stick cookware. Nine years and ten days ago, mob big boss applesauce John Gotti died in a federal prison hospital.

The 61-year-old “Teflon Don” wasn’t shanked, strangled or beaten, but was instead taken down by the most vicious and indiscriminatory of all killers, cancer. Much like Capone decades before him, Gotti loved the media spotlight and his national notoriety. Where other mobsters hid, he proudly strutted.

Gotti’s life and mythology would influence Hollywood hits like Goodfellas and The Sopranos. But proving you can never run from karma, his legacy would also leave us with such reality TV turds as Growing Up Gotti and Mob Wives. What have we learned? Keep it clean, folks! Crime certainly does not pay.

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noun.     the code of silence in the Mafia, from the Italian word for "humility."  

Used incorrectly in a sentence: Vinnie was conflicted over what to do with Nicky – kick his ass Omerta him.

In March 1980, Gotti’s 12-year-old son, Frank, was killed when a neighbor, John Favara, hit him with his car. Frank supposedly had pedaled out from behind a dumpster into the street. The death was ruled accidental.

Four months later, while the Gottis were on vacation, Favara was beaten and shoved into a van. He was never seen again. The Gottis denied any knowledge of his disappearance.

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