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.
Thomas Pitera's mugshot after the DEA violently arrested him
Moment of Truth: Tommy Karate, nose busted, comprehending his career's end.

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.)


Philip Carlo's The Butcher also butchers Thomas Pitera, some say



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.
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...



Comments

  1. Replies
    1. Best compliment I ever received ... "wow " is exactly what I was shooting for, so thanks, "anonymous"...

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  2. Great article. There is not allot out there on Tommy Karate. I read Philip Carlo's book, THE BUTCHER... it's pretty horrific and reminds me of Capeci and Mustain's book MURDER MACHINE. Tommy Karate is also very briefly mentioned in Jimmy Breslin's book, THE GOOD RAT.

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    1. Thanks to you too! You 're the kind of readers that inspire me to put all the time and effort into this blog.... send me your email addresses if you want my free ebook...

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    2. You keep writing it, and I'll keep reading it.

      Thank you!

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  3. At least Tommy isn't a rat,which is more than you can say for a lot of them.

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  4. Tommy was no rat -- I agree 101% with you on that... but his actions are horrible ... he crossed a line only the soulless can cross.

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    1. Agree. Pitera was facing the needle, and he held his mud. That takes courage, and I respect that. But, you said it very well, "he crossed a line only the soulless can cross." He needs to stay right where he is.
      Great article!

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  5. Tommy was old school. A good fella. A serious guy. Not a rat. He did what he had to do.He didn't need a gun. His heart and hands were lethal. Wasted talent. Chicago Joe.

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    1. He was a bit on the psychotic side too, Alexander. The totems he took. Classic serial killer behavior.

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  6. In life were we come face to face with certain obstacles kill or be killed, sometimes things are easyer said then done, but that's the life of the streets you can only read about it so it doesn't happen to you. this is what real men are. tommy lived by his hands and went down by the hands that guide the pen and paper. this article opens eyes great job :)

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  7. Tommy was the last of a dying breed, one of the last "man's man" to walk this earth. People criticize him by the murders he comitted... IT'S THE EFFIN COSA NOSTRA, WHAT DO YOU THINK THEY DO?!?!? They don't send out bills or notices of deferred payments. You get in the way, you get whacked, it's fairly simple. just because he was involved in the messy part of the mob, people like Frank call him a crazed killer and psycho (not to mention Frank THE FAG Gangi is talking like a tough guy these days about how "he would of killed Tommy" if he could go back in time. Yeah, Yeah Frankie, talk the shii now that Tommy is behind bars, you're a real tough guy BRAH!!
    Bottom line, Tommy had the balls that most of the other guys these days don't possess, which is why LCN is in suck a weak state...

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    1. great comment!!! i am his nephew, gangi and jimmy calandra are both rats!!!!!!!!! were still out there on the avenue but not doin stuff like he was.....he was def the last of a dieing breed!!!

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    2. Your his Nephew? Wow, Nice to meet you man! One day our paths may cross my friend. As well as for those 2 names you mentioned, I wouldn't even give them the time of day. The rest of their lives they will be trying to act like they are tough guys to try and cover the fact that they squealed and are worthless to anyone.

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  8. Tommy Pitera would be diagnosed as a psychopath and sociopath by any psychologist. It's a bit easier to face the chair or life in prison when you don't have emotions and by some definitions aren't really even human to begin with. I like a lot of gangsters...but I don't admire Ted Bundy and I don't admire Tommy Pitera. This guy was murdering for a lot more than just business...I guess that's why this article is titled "More Serial Killer Than Goodfella".

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    Replies
    1. "... 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]."

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  9. This man needs to be freed. No question, no doubt.

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  10. I'm laughing my ass off here too...we talking about the same guy who asked his best friend to help get a small girl to a location where he the tough big shot karate expert had to use a gun while she was sleeping to murder her?.....

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  11. HE KEPT HER HEAD in his freezer. The guy was a ghoul.

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  12. These Castelle Brothers Are Mob Rats!! There On WWW.WHOSARAT.COM The FBI'S Top ("TE") Echelon Criminal Informant Program Since 1986... http://www.fivefamiliesnyc.com/2011/11/police-search-home-of-staten-island.html#comment-form

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  13. Someone is trying to defend a rat^^^ Must be Jimmy Ball-less right here.

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  14. ^^^R.A.T.^^^

    Tough guy with no balls to kill. Jimmy Calandra, the brown stain on the back of LCN's underpants that squealed like a stuffed pig. Talk tough on here big boy, you've earned it.

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  15. Well, well, well. Lot's of well informed, mafia expert, tough guys here. Tommy Pitera's nephew? Right, and I'm Tommy Pitera's father.
    Tommy Pitera will deservedly spend the rest of his life in a cage. Real cool guy, he killed people and sold dope. Thats really something to look up to. Pull your head out of your asses, kids. Go to school, get a job, get laid. Forget about this nonsense.

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  16. The whole family is scum. I'm talking real dirt - parasites. His cousin who's a doctor, even testified on his behalf during his (Tommy Pitera's) trial. The doctor tried to intimidate a woman connected with the Bonanno and Genovese family so that she wouldn't sue him. She sued the "MF" anyway. Ran the POS out of New York!! LOL

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  17. The lot of you are funny. You all must feel good bout yourselves. Tommy was a very serious guy ,who ,who knew him, would never talk to him to his face like you guys are. Yup a real bad guy he was. To bad his choices of buddies went a stray.I guess you people can still tell your silly story's bout Tommy,becuz he aint getten out.I think even if he did ,Tommy would do as he did before ,laugh it off as a waste of his time .

    Just a a old friend of the old days .

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    Replies
    1. Now THIS is a stand-up guy, remembering things the way they were, not making up stuff that never was.

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  18. LoL oh your Anonymous. Yup your a NOBODY. But you do talk a load of smack. Like to use 3rd grade insults , please just go and read your crime novels and leave the bad guy stuff alone, your really not good at it. Take care ,watch your step, it dangerous out there .

    Just a old friend from the old day .

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  19. The thing is; if it's you who's facing some real heavy jailtime how does anyone know who's gonna Rat.We can all say we wouldn't Rat but Draconian jail sentences has changed completely the notion of being a stand-up guy.

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  20. this dude needs an movie based on what he did. All they ever put out is Bundy, Dahmer movies. i find Mob stories more interesting.

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  21. truth is stranger than fiction. did anyone besides Frankie lino know that tommy karate's biological cousin Barbara was married to
    barry rosen the Iranian hostage and both were invited to the white house courtesy of Ronald Reagan ? Of course, tommy karate had no
    relationship with his cousin prior to his arrest. Frankie lino
    mentioned barry rosen at JM's trial (which is in the massino transcripts )when asked what year the hit was. He said 1981 I remember becauseit was the year Reagan freed barry rosen and the Iranian hostages. Yet, Frankie knew tommy was estranged from Barbara rosen his cousin and made sure he did not portray tommy in a positive light so he did not mention barry rosen
    was a relative through marriage.

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  22. The sensationalized book, documentary and notoriety made tommy's own family members lose contact with him and deny their existence. Can you blame them ?

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  23. Bottom line is I don't like WOPS

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    1. You don't like people "Without Papers?" What kind of paper do you have??

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    2. yup easy to say hiding behind a laptop. I like to know who do you like . This guy likes rolling papers . by the sounds of it . Most likely we've smacked him once lol.

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  24. This guy might be a psycho or scum, but it's guys like these that make people fear Cosa Nostra. Cosa Nostra is only about 20 percent muscle anyway, maybe 10 percent nowadays. An organization
    that has to think twice when it's has to whack someone can't be too intimidating. There's other groups out there that will kill for a lot less. Everybody wants the money and the glory, but when it comes time to pay, all the excuses come out. The truth is everyone knows what they're getting into when they get into it. Too many weak hearts out there. If you can't live in your bathroom, don't try to join the mafia. That's about the size of your living space when you get locked up. Peace out, OLD SCHOOL

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    1. The mob is all muscle - even Al D'Arco ball batted heads in. The mob couldn't exist without having the fear of hell on earth behind them. They have even discussed changing the rules. One old time street boss - I believe Fat Tony is the guy but I don't know for sure - had been advocating killing the families of rats to finally put an end to that trend. Don't kid yourself.

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  25. He was a stone cold killer with some strange habits like keeping "totems" from his victims which is a serial killer trait. At the sametime he was one smartest of our recent famous hoods. He conducted himself like a covert CIA agent. He used multiple cars, never talked on the phone, covered his mouth when he did "walk and talks" would not let anyone he did not personally know get close to him to discuss business. If Gotti had conducted business like Pitera he would have died in his bed at home. One glaring exception to his behavior was allowing a drunk, loudmouth coke head like Frank Gangi into his crew. He'll have the rest of his life to regret that choice.

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  26. DON'T YOU PEOPLE HAVE ANYTHING BETTER TO DO THAN BASH TOMMY? ALOT OF YOUR INFORMATION IS INCORRECT AND OUT AND OUT LIES , SOME OF PEOPLES STORYS ARE JUST MADE UP . TOMMY IS A GUY WHO GOT A BAD RAP . FRANK GANGI IS WALKING FREE , WHILE TOMMY DOES HIS TIME FOR HIM . ALL OF YOU ARE SO NEGATIVE . WHY NOT GIVE THE GUY A CHANCE TO TELL HIS SIDE OF THE STORY . WOULDN'T YOU LIKE TO BE ABLE TO TELL YOUR SIDE OF THE STORY IF IT WERE YOU IN HIS SHOES . HE DESERVES TO TELL HIS SIDE . I PERSONALLY LIKE HIM .

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    Replies
    1. I'd love to get his side - you know how I'd go about getting it?

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    2. So Anonymous, did Tommy kill women? Did he not take Totems from his victims? Did he not murder a lot of people and you like this guy? He got a bad rap? Dude, Tommy was a nutjob, plain and simple. His complex from being bullied as a kid turned him into an animal. How can you like this man? So, please, enlighten us about what a good guy he was. I for one am willing to listen to his side. Let's hear it!

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  27. LOL, he definitely could use a grammar class, couldn't he? Obviously, he'd never say that to Pitera's face. I don't like Pitera. He kills women, civilians and that's not good. One thing for the Mafia guys to kill each other but its in very bad taste to kill women and civilians. I think Pitera is about two french fries short of a Happy Meal, lol.

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  28. Lol and that would not be such a bad thing if he got his. Well, he's safe now, isn't he? I'm surprised the mob let this loose cannon go on as long as he did.

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  29. Its easy for people to write somebody like Jimmy calandra off as a rat but when those sorry f*cks are ready to blow ur brains out cuz they don't wanna "take a chance" & the thought of rating hadn't even entered your mind yet, what the f**k would YOU do? Go out like a sucker & be slaughtered by some derranged physco outta thier own paranoia?!!! Gtfoh!!!!!!

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  30. You were a cop, Tina? Worked OC? I'd love to chat with you -- shoot me an email if you're interested...

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  31. "Broke down his door", huh? Pitera was arrested on a car-stop, not in a house. If Calandra is going to be a liar AND a rat, at least try to be a good liar, because you're a terrible rat! Pointing fingers at everyone else just to get yourself out of trouble.......a real man......a real stand up guy.

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  32. Wow.....I can see right through this guy. He's got insecurities about being either a rat or a punk, or both. You never would've said that to Pitera's face, not even as a rat in a courtroom testifying against him with 5 court officers between you & Pitera.

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  33. Carstop - that a UK term? An American would say red light or stoplight... interesting...

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  34. THIS IS FUNNY! LOL

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  35. for the mob experts, inside philip carlo's book the "butcher" manny maya is identified in a picture with another associate who is unidentified male.
    same picture is on the cover. can deny it but canarsians would say looks alot like paul vario jr ( pork chops). could be wrong. you decide

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  36. According to philip carlo's last book "the Killer Within: In the Company of Monsters" an excerpt stated Carlo invited Chuck Zito who invited Paul Vario Jr to attend the book party for "Butcher:Anatomy of a Marfia Psychopath." Paul Vario Jr also a respected actor brought his "good friend" Manny Maya ("Tommy's main man" and former co-defendant) to attend the launching of Carlo's book Butcher at Locanda Verde.
    Paul Vario Jr may possibly be the unidentified male subject standing next to male identified as Manny Maya in Carlo's book Butcher:Annatomy of a Mafia Psychopath as presumed by Anonymous if he was close enough to attend attend the book party and bring his "good friend" Manny Maya along.

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  37. Tommy was a real gangster,he just had a different way of doing things. Some people better hope he never sees the light of day.

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