Why the Decavalcantes Hit "Johnny Boy"
Riggi made Johnny Boy acting boss, then made him dead after D'Amato's mistress began discussing what happened in the bedroom. New Jersey mobster John "Johnny Boy" D'Amato was murdered in 1992 while holding the title of acting boss of the Decavalcantes, a position he supposedly won thanks to some secret maneuvering by Gambino boss John Gotti. D'Amato's gumare, or mistress, told the wrong people that Johnny Boy was a homosexual and they killed him in a hit that supposedly inspired Sopranos creator David Chase to create the Vito Spatafore story line realized towards the end of the series. Described as a member of the fictional DiMeo crime family -- the crime family Tony Soprano was boss of -- Spatafore (played by Joseph R. Gannascoli) was married with two children and was a closeted homosexual close to the fiction New York mob boss, Phil Leotardo, played by Frank Vincent.