Michael DeBatt
Encyclopedia
Michael "Mickey" DeBatt was a reputed Gambino crime family
mob associate who was involved in the gangland slaying of drug trafficker Frank Fiala.
n emigrant Mackie DeBatt in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
who grew up in the same neighborhood as future friends and criminal associates Sammy Gravano
and Frank DeCicco
. He had one sister named Rosanna DeBatt-Massa. He was very close to his sister over the years. Mackie is perceived to have been a "connected guy" with the Gambino crime family
but never officially inducted into the organization. He performed various tasks for Sammy Gravano and others throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Mackie was the successful owner of Tali's Restaurant and Lounge located at 6205 18th Avenue in Gravesend, Brooklyn. It is also suggested that his father Mackie suffered from the psychological disorder of being a pathological gambling addict. DeBatt did not inherit his father's gambling addiction. Although he had a steady source of legitimate income from his restaurant, he became indebted to many loansharks and bookmakers around Brooklyn. It is also shown that Mackie was able to afford to pay for his son's tuition and send him off to university. After his death the mobsters started to threaten and muscle his wife to settle his outstanding debts. Although his father did not want his son to become involved in organized crime, DeBatt became a close childhood friend and acquaintance of budding Gambino crime family mob associate Nicholas Mormando
, with whom he became involved in joint ventures after returning from his failed studies at Wake Forest University
. Close friend, mob wife Lynda Milito, the widow of murdered Gambino crime family mobster Liborio Milito said in her biography, "Michael DeBatt wasn't being allowed to earn with Sammy (Sammy Gravano
. So Louis Milito took Mike under his wing and made him a bouncer at The Plaza Suite
. He was a lost soul after the death of his father... He told everyone he was taking over the bar out of the kindness in his heart for the family, because of the debts and by taking over he was wiping out the debts." He later worked at a short-lived restaurant called The Golden Gate Restaurant on Knapp Street
in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn
as a maître d', a restaurant owned by Sammy Gravano and Louis Milito.
DeBatt was a huge and intimidating man. His life remained financially unstable, along with Sammy Gravano's until he took over ownership of his father's restaurant and settled his late father's loanshark and bookmaker debts. Sammy Gravano later said, "For one week he (himself) would be flush with cash, but two weeks later he would be broke. He never saved any money. He shopped for clothes, picked up tabs at restaurants and night clubs, handed out huge tips and dined on champagne and filet mignon at the Copacabana
. Sammy later said of himself, Michael and his young aspring mob associates, "Fucking kids, all dressed up like jerk-offs, running around, doing a little gambling, doing a little this and that "and then broke again and it's "macaroni and ricotta at home or spaghetti, past e olio, with the oil and garlic."
In the 1970s, DeBatt married an Italian-American woman after returning from university. They had a daughter in 1983. He moved into a home and lived with his wife and daughter at 1774 58th Street, not far from his restaurant and lounge, which he still operated. In 2001, when Sammy Gravano was brought to trial for being the ringleader of an ecstasy trafficking ring, his sister showed up in Federal District Court and told reporters, "I wanted to give him a little agita" and "I'm happy to see him in jail clothes. Anything he gets is a plus. It's better than the five years he got."
His father Mackie was a close friend of Sammy Gravano and Gambino crime family mob associate who became indebted to loansharks and bookmakers including and Sammy Gravano. Mackie died in December 1981 of natural causes leaving his wife, his son Michael and daughter Rosanna under financial strain and heavily indebted. His son Michael later stood up for his family and confronted the loansharks and bookmakers to protect his elderly mother and took on the sole responsibility of handling his late father's debts. Michael DeBatt's mother approached Sammy Gravano and pleaded with him, "Sammy, please help us." His father's friend and later personal mentor, became involved in the DeBatt family financial affairs at that point. He got rid of the threatening loansharks and bookmakers. He took over Mackie's bar to help settle the debt that DeBatt still had outstanding with himself. Along with working at Tali's Restaurant and Lounge he worked as a bouncer
at Sammy Gravano's classy nightclub, the Plaza Suite throughout the 1970s to 1985 when The Plaza Suite closed. Eventually with the help of Sammy Gravano and working on his own criminal endeavours, DeBatt was able to settle his father's outstanding debts to the loansharks and bookmakers.He closed the bar down and remodelled before opening it up as his own with Michael as the "front man" and manager of the lease.
Michael DeBatt later became a habitué of Sammy Gravano's other after-hours club, the Bus Stop also located in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. He became a protegé of Gravano's along with Joseph (Stymie) D'Angelo Sr.'s son, Joseph Jr.
to Wake Forest University
in North Carolina
to play for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons football
team. The Wake Forest Demon Deacons is a NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference
. While at the university he was trained and coached by Chuck Mills
. It seemed that DeBatt would pursue a career as a professional athlete and not become involved in organized crime like his father.
He successfully played on the team for a while as a linebacker
but eventually left before earning his certificate or diploma and returned to New York City
where he pursued a life as a career criminal in organized crime like his father had. It is unknown why he left Wake Forest University, whether it was from financial, academic or behavioral issues. He never discussed his failed university education among his criminal associates. It is unknown what field of study Michael had interest in pursuing at the university. As an avid football fan he would attend the minor league football games played by Frank Gotti, the son of Gambino crime family] boss John Gotti
along with Junior Gotti
, Victoria Gotti
and Peter Gotti
.
and hardly left his house at 1774 58th Street. At the trial of Sammy Gravano in 2003 his wife was too emotional distraught to attend, along with her daughter.
in 1984. He suffered from a paranoid
psychosis
brought on by the effects of the drugs. Gravano later surmised that his friend Nicholas Mormando
got DeBatt addicted to the potent narcotic. He later became involved in murder and committing robberies to support his habit. He became estranged from his wife and children. Gravano later said, "He went crazy. He didn't come down for days. And when he does, he's sweating, he's all jumpy. His wife came to me (Gravano) crying, "I don't know what happened to him. He sits in the house behind a window with the blinds down, and he's got a rifle." She also stated that he told her, "If they come, I'm gonna battle it out." While Sammy Gravano and his crew did not approve of drug use, they did not have problems channeling the tasks of dealing to associates. It is unknown exactly who supplied Michael, or if it was Nicholas Mormando.
for his illicit gains as a criminal. Tali's eventually became the main criminal headquarters for rising Gambino crime family capo Sammy Gravano in the mid-1970s until DeBatt's murder. After his murder, his sister sold the family's business. While the restaurant served as a meeting place and headquarters for the crew of then-capo Sammy Gravano and his associates, no murders were performed on the premises. In 1985 Tali's Restaurant and Lounge began to suffer after DeBatt became addicted to cocaine
and later crack cocaine
. From the potent narcotic he fell into a paranoid schizoid state and did not want to go to work anymore. He suffered from delusions that people were after him and he began to fear for his life and always had a gun on him. To support his habit he began pulling home invasions. While this was well known to Sammy Gravano and fellow criminal associates he was never arrested or convicted of burglary.
. He wanted to rent out The Plaza Suite to throw himself a birthday party. Fiala started to act very strange and unstable. He took DeBatt and other Plaza Suite employees on rides on his private Lear jet. He was in the nightclub all the time, consuming cocaine in large quantities and handing out bags of cocaine to patrons of the club.
At one point in time, DeBatt confronted Fiala who at the time was armed with an Uzi submachine gun and told him calmly and politely that there were no firearms allowed inside the nightclub. Later to keep a close observation of Fiala, Gravano told DeBatt to keep a close eye on Fiala. He told got close to Fiala and told him that he wanted to continue working as a bouncer after Fiala purchased the Plaza Suite, and told him Gravano always underpaid him. Fiala later told DeBatt in confidence, "Fuck this Sammy. Fuck this punk. When I take over, I'm doing this, that." After Fiala waved an Uzi at Gravano, Sammy was so enraged that he wanted him murdered immediately on June 27, 1982. He instructed Edward Garafola to round up Joseph D'Angelo, Liborio (Louie) Milito, Joseph Paruta
, Thomas (Huck) Carbonaro, Nicholas Mormando
and himself and rendezvous at D'Angelo's bar, Doc's. Sammy stationed his fellow associates in locations outside The Plaza Suite ready to ambush Fiala. To not arouse suspicion from Fiala or anyone in his group of partiers, DeBatt stayed positioned at the front door of the club maintaining the ruse of being a bouncer. At a prearranged signal from DeBatt, Joseph D'Angelo and Louis Milito leaped out from where they sat in a parked car at the corner around from the club on 86th Street and shoot him. As Louis and Joseph D'Angelo heard Sammy Gravano call out his name, they ran out of the alley shooting. After the shooting, pandemonium broke out on the street. Some people were trying to get off the street and back into the disco in fear of being shot. DeBatt stood by the door and acted like he was one of the panicking party goers yelling, "Get down! Get down! Somebody's shooting". He held the door shut so nobody could get in or out of the Plaza Suite.
When interviewed by homicide detectives DeBatt told them that he did not know who owned the Plaza Suite and had never seen or met the owners in person. Gravano congratulated DeBatt, his friend Nicholas Mormando and the others on a "beautiful piece of work." Since this was not a sanctioned murder by their boss Paul Castellano
, it could not go down that Mormando could be eligible to become a "made man" in the Gambino crime family for his involvement. He was never indicted or convicted for being accessory to the murder of Frank Fiala. After the murder of Fiala, Castellano was angry. He had DeBatt, Mormando and the others stay up at his New Jersey farm to lie low. After hearing the news that Castellano might order their executions over the unsanctioned murder, when given the chance by Sammy to leave, DeBatt and the others all said, "Sammy, we'll load up. We're ready." This shows that Michael displayed extreme devotion in following Gravano even when his own life was threatened.
The murder of Fiala was never solved until Sammy Gravano became a stool pigeon and testified in court of the murder during the trial of John Gotti
.
:
DeBatt continued to serve in the crew of Sammy Gravano after Mormando's murder. He continued to work with his friend's executioners until his own murder in 1987. It is thought that he was so far plagued by the effects of consuming copious amounts of cocaine and crack cocaine that he did not care.
, DeBatt became addicted to crack cocaine
and cocaine
sometime during the crack epidemic in 1984. He suffered from a paranoid psychosis brought on by the effects of the drugs. Gravano later surmises that Mormando got DeBatt addicted to the potent narcotic. He later became involved in murder and committing robberies to support his habit. He became estranged from his wife and children. Gravano later said, "He went crazy. He didn't come down for days. And when he does, he's sweating, he's all jumpy. His wife came to me (Gravano) crying, "I don't know what happened to him. He sits in the house behind a window with the blinds down, and he's got a rifle." She also stated that he told her, "If they come, I'm gonna battle it out." Sammy later stated:
So nobody would think that it was related to the Gambino crime family or any organized crime matter. After a Mafia-family wedding, Michael had gone back to Tali's with Thomas Carbonaro and Eddie Garafola
, expecting the wedding party to join them as usual. "But the only ones who went back there were four murderers", says his sister Rosanna. Thomas (Huck) Carbonaro shot Michael while he was stationed behind the bar counter at Tali's. He was shot several times in the head and neck with a handgun on November 3, 1987. He left behind a wife and several children. Michael's lifeless body was found face up on the floor in front of the restaurant's juke box by the night shift manager who was coming in to work. His pockets were emptied, his jewellery removed and the cash register cleaned out. Police investigators stated that while DeBatt had no criminal record, he was reputed to have associated with members of the Gambino crime family. Sammy's brother-in-law Eddie Garafola
and Louis Vallario
were present when the murder was fulfilled. Gravano waited at The Brown Derby, in Brooklyn with John Gotti when Edward came in and advised them both that the murder of Michael DeBatt had been carried out.
His murder remained unsolved until Sammy Gravano agreed to become a stool pigeon and testify against John Gotti to avoid prosecution for numerous crimes. He was the thirteenth victim of nineteen that Gravano confessed to the authorities of having orchestrated their murder or personally carried it out. Later, in 1995 Gravano's close friend and criminal associate Joseph (Stymie) D'Angelo, who helped DeBatt murder Frank Faila would be murdered in the same restaurant. Before the murder of DeBatt, Gravano arranged to have Nicholas (Nicky Boy) Mormando murdered for the same reasons. He had become heavily addicted to crack cocaine among other things, and was a liability to become a stool pigeon like DeBatt. In fifteen years since the murder of Michael, no one has been formally charged with the murder. He is survived by a wife and daughter who was four years old at the time of his death.
, and Joseph Colucci. According to court documents Sammy Gravano admitted to playing a direct or indirect role in their murders in the plea agreement that he made with the government when agreeing to become a stool pigeon. Along with Gravano, DeBatt's family and the others filed suits against the author of his autobiography Peter Maas
, Maas' literary agency I.C.M., the publisher of the autobiography, Harper Collins, and 20th Century Fox
that was allegedly preparing a film adaptation of the book. In the complaint it stated that the plaintiffs were seeking, ""monetary and punitive damages from all defendants for their intentional failure to comply with New York's Son of Sam Law
... and their deliberate scheme to circumvent same." Previously during the spring of 1997, the State Crime Victims Board and State Attorney General
Dennis Vacco launched a similar lawsuit against Sammy Gravano and many of the same co-defendants during their criminal trial.
Perrone called in Frances Bennett, a parapsychologist. She conducted interviews with all the staff, and set up infrared video cameras, tape recorders and a electro-magnetic field meter for four hours to observe these mysterious happenings. Bennett said her probe recorded voices of the dead, repeating the name "Mike" and saying, "I'll kill you." A man's face reflected in glass at the bar and another image seen at the entrance, an apparition of a man crouched down near the bar, and orbs of light said to be "a sign of individual spirits" moving around the restaurant along with tablecloths fluffing up and dropping back down on their own. Roseanne Massa has told reporters that she believes her brother may be haunting Danza's because Gravano spent less than five years in jail after confessing to orchestrating his gangland execution and eighteen others as part of a deal with federal prosecutors for testifying against Gambino crime family mob boss John Gotti.
In the NBC
miniseries Witness to the Mob
Mickey DeBatt is portrayed by actor Vincent Pastore
. In this movie they do not show his relationship with Nicholas Mormando
.
Gambino crime family
The Gambino crime family is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia . The group is named after Carlo Gambino, boss of the family at the time of the McClellan hearings in 1963...
mob associate who was involved in the gangland slaying of drug trafficker Frank Fiala.
Biography
DeBatt was born to first generation CalabriaCalabria
Calabria , in antiquity known as Bruttium, is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian Peninsula. The capital city of Calabria is Catanzaro....
n emigrant Mackie DeBatt in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
Bensonhurst is a neighborhood located in the southwestern part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn.-Geography:Sometimes erroneously thought to include all or parts of such neighborhoods as Bath Beach, Dyker Heights, and Borough Park, or to be defined by the streets where the concentration of...
who grew up in the same neighborhood as future friends and criminal associates Sammy Gravano
Sammy Gravano
Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano is a former underboss of the Gambino crime family. He is known as the man who helped bring down John Gotti, the family's boss, by agreeing to become a Federal Bureau of Investigation informant and turn state's evidence.Originally a mobster for the Colombo crime...
and Frank DeCicco
Frank DeCicco
Frank DeCicco also known as Frankie D and Frankie Cheech was a New York mobster and labor racketeer for the Gambino crime family...
. He had one sister named Rosanna DeBatt-Massa. He was very close to his sister over the years. Mackie is perceived to have been a "connected guy" with the Gambino crime family
Gambino crime family
The Gambino crime family is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia . The group is named after Carlo Gambino, boss of the family at the time of the McClellan hearings in 1963...
but never officially inducted into the organization. He performed various tasks for Sammy Gravano and others throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Mackie was the successful owner of Tali's Restaurant and Lounge located at 6205 18th Avenue in Gravesend, Brooklyn. It is also suggested that his father Mackie suffered from the psychological disorder of being a pathological gambling addict. DeBatt did not inherit his father's gambling addiction. Although he had a steady source of legitimate income from his restaurant, he became indebted to many loansharks and bookmakers around Brooklyn. It is also shown that Mackie was able to afford to pay for his son's tuition and send him off to university. After his death the mobsters started to threaten and muscle his wife to settle his outstanding debts. Although his father did not want his son to become involved in organized crime, DeBatt became a close childhood friend and acquaintance of budding Gambino crime family mob associate Nicholas Mormando
Nicholas Mormando
Nicholas Mormando, also known as "Nicky Cowboy" was a Gambino crime family mob associate who was involved in the murder of Frank Fiala and member of Sammy Gravano's Bensonhurst, Brooklyn crew.-Biography:Nicholas Mormando was the son of Italian-American emigrants from Morimondo in Milan, Italy...
, with whom he became involved in joint ventures after returning from his failed studies at Wake Forest University
Wake Forest University
Wake Forest University is a private, coeducational university in the U.S. state of North Carolina, founded in 1834. The university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina, the state capital. The Reynolda Campus, the university's main campus, is...
. Close friend, mob wife Lynda Milito, the widow of murdered Gambino crime family mobster Liborio Milito said in her biography, "Michael DeBatt wasn't being allowed to earn with Sammy (Sammy Gravano
Sammy Gravano
Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano is a former underboss of the Gambino crime family. He is known as the man who helped bring down John Gotti, the family's boss, by agreeing to become a Federal Bureau of Investigation informant and turn state's evidence.Originally a mobster for the Colombo crime...
. So Louis Milito took Mike under his wing and made him a bouncer at The Plaza Suite
The Plaza Suite
The Plaza Suite was a discothèque owned by Gambino crime family underboss Sammy Gravano in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, New York City.-Building history:...
. He was a lost soul after the death of his father... He told everyone he was taking over the bar out of the kindness in his heart for the family, because of the debts and by taking over he was wiping out the debts." He later worked at a short-lived restaurant called The Golden Gate Restaurant on Knapp Street
Knapp Street
Knapp Street is a major street in the Sheepshead Bay neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. It runs north to south, with its northern terminus at Gerritsen Avenue in Marine Park, and its southern terminus at Emmons Avenue in Sheepshead Bay. Knapp Street has an interchange with the Belt Parkway at...
in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn
Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn
Sheepshead Bay is a bay separating the mainland of Brooklyn, New York City from the eastern portion of Coney Island, the latter originally a barrier island but now effectively an extension of the mainland with peninsulas both east and west...
as a maître d', a restaurant owned by Sammy Gravano and Louis Milito.
DeBatt was a huge and intimidating man. His life remained financially unstable, along with Sammy Gravano's until he took over ownership of his father's restaurant and settled his late father's loanshark and bookmaker debts. Sammy Gravano later said, "For one week he (himself) would be flush with cash, but two weeks later he would be broke. He never saved any money. He shopped for clothes, picked up tabs at restaurants and night clubs, handed out huge tips and dined on champagne and filet mignon at the Copacabana
Copacabana (nightclub)
The Copacabana is a famous New York City nightclub. Many entertainers, among them Danny Thomas, Pat Cooper and the comedy team of Martin and Lewis, made their debuts at the Copacabana. The 1978 Barry Manilow song "Copacabana" is named after, and is about the nightclub. Part of the 2003 Yerba...
. Sammy later said of himself, Michael and his young aspring mob associates, "Fucking kids, all dressed up like jerk-offs, running around, doing a little gambling, doing a little this and that "and then broke again and it's "macaroni and ricotta at home or spaghetti, past e olio, with the oil and garlic."
In the 1970s, DeBatt married an Italian-American woman after returning from university. They had a daughter in 1983. He moved into a home and lived with his wife and daughter at 1774 58th Street, not far from his restaurant and lounge, which he still operated. In 2001, when Sammy Gravano was brought to trial for being the ringleader of an ecstasy trafficking ring, his sister showed up in Federal District Court and told reporters, "I wanted to give him a little agita" and "I'm happy to see him in jail clothes. Anything he gets is a plus. It's better than the five years he got."
His father Mackie was a close friend of Sammy Gravano and Gambino crime family mob associate who became indebted to loansharks and bookmakers including and Sammy Gravano. Mackie died in December 1981 of natural causes leaving his wife, his son Michael and daughter Rosanna under financial strain and heavily indebted. His son Michael later stood up for his family and confronted the loansharks and bookmakers to protect his elderly mother and took on the sole responsibility of handling his late father's debts. Michael DeBatt's mother approached Sammy Gravano and pleaded with him, "Sammy, please help us." His father's friend and later personal mentor, became involved in the DeBatt family financial affairs at that point. He got rid of the threatening loansharks and bookmakers. He took over Mackie's bar to help settle the debt that DeBatt still had outstanding with himself. Along with working at Tali's Restaurant and Lounge he worked as a bouncer
Bouncer (doorman)
A bouncer is an informal term for a type of security guard employed at venues such as bars, nightclubs or concerts to provide security, check legal age, and refuse entry to a venue based on criteria such as intoxication, aggressive behavior, or attractiveness...
at Sammy Gravano's classy nightclub, the Plaza Suite throughout the 1970s to 1985 when The Plaza Suite closed. Eventually with the help of Sammy Gravano and working on his own criminal endeavours, DeBatt was able to settle his father's outstanding debts to the loansharks and bookmakers.He closed the bar down and remodelled before opening it up as his own with Michael as the "front man" and manager of the lease.
Michael DeBatt later became a habitué of Sammy Gravano's other after-hours club, the Bus Stop also located in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. He became a protegé of Gravano's along with Joseph (Stymie) D'Angelo Sr.'s son, Joseph Jr.
Varsity football career
DeBatt's physical stature, endurance and strength earned him the reputation as an excellent athlete. During high school he was a varsity football player who showed tremendous skill on the field in high school. Unlike many of his criminal associates he successfully graduated from high school and had been awarded an athletic scholarshipAthletic scholarship
An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university awarded to an individual based predominantly on his or her ability to play in a sport...
to Wake Forest University
Wake Forest University
Wake Forest University is a private, coeducational university in the U.S. state of North Carolina, founded in 1834. The university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina, the state capital. The Reynolda Campus, the university's main campus, is...
in North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
to play for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons football
Wake Forest Demon Deacons football
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team represents Wake Forest University in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Wake Forest plays its home football games at BB&T Field....
team. The Wake Forest Demon Deacons is a NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference
Atlantic Coast Conference
The Atlantic Coast Conference is a collegiate athletic league in the United States. Founded in 1953 in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC sanctions competition in twenty-five sports in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association for its twelve member universities...
. While at the university he was trained and coached by Chuck Mills
Chuck Mills
Morton J. "Chuck" Mills is a former American football coach. He served as the head coach at Pomona College , Indiana University of Pennsylvania , the United States Merchant Marine Academy , Utah State University , Wake Forest University , Southern Oregon University , and the...
. It seemed that DeBatt would pursue a career as a professional athlete and not become involved in organized crime like his father.
He successfully played on the team for a while as a linebacker
Linebacker
A linebacker is a position in American football that was invented by football coach Fielding H. Yost of the University of Michigan. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up approximately three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage, behind the defensive linemen...
but eventually left before earning his certificate or diploma and returned to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
where he pursued a life as a career criminal in organized crime like his father had. It is unknown why he left Wake Forest University, whether it was from financial, academic or behavioral issues. He never discussed his failed university education among his criminal associates. It is unknown what field of study Michael had interest in pursuing at the university. As an avid football fan he would attend the minor league football games played by Frank Gotti, the son of Gambino crime family] boss John Gotti
John Gotti
John Joseph Gotti, Jr was an American mobster who became the Boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. Gotti grew up in poverty. He and his brothers turned to a life of crime at an early age...
along with Junior Gotti
Junior Gotti
John Angelo Gotti III or "Junior" Gotti is a former New York City mobster who in the 1990s, according to law enforcement claims, led the Gambino crime family of Cosa Nostra for his imprisoned father John J. Gotti, who died in 2002. Between 2004 and 2009 Gotti has been a defendant in four...
, Victoria Gotti
Victoria Gotti
Victoria Gotti is a writer, reality television participant and daughter of the Gambino crime family Mafia boss, John Gotti.-Early life:...
and Peter Gotti
Peter Gotti
Peter Gotti, also known as "One Eyed Pete", "Petey Boy", "One Eye" , is a New York mobster who is the former boss of the Gambino crime family and the older brother of deceased Gambino boss John Gotti.-Background:...
.
Married life and fatherhood
DeBatt married an Italian-American woman from the neighborhood in the 1970s after returning from his failed tenure at Wake Forest University. His wife bore him a daughter in 1984. He moved into a home and lived with his wife and daughter home at 1774 58th Street, not far from his restaurant and lounge which he still operated. In 1985 his marriage and Tali's Restaurant and Lounge began to suffer after DeBatt became addicted to cocaine and later crack cocaine. From the potent narcotic he fell into a paranoid schizoid state and did not want to go to work anymore. It is unknown if his wife knew about his addiction to cocaine and crack. He suffered from delusions that people were after him and he began to fear for his life and suffer from agoraphobiaAgoraphobia
Agoraphobia is an anxiety disorder defined as a morbid fear of having a panic attack or panic-like symptoms in a situation from which it is perceived to be difficult to escape. These situations can include, but are not limited to, wide-open spaces, crowds, or uncontrolled social conditions...
and hardly left his house at 1774 58th Street. At the trial of Sammy Gravano in 2003 his wife was too emotional distraught to attend, along with her daughter.
Cocaine and crack addiction
Like his friend Nicholas Mormando, DeBatt became addicted to crack cocaine sometime during the Crack epidemicCrack Epidemic
The United States crack epidemic refers to the surge of crack houses and crack cocaine use in major cities in the United States between 1984 and 1990...
in 1984. He suffered from a paranoid
Paranoia
Paranoia [] is a thought process believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concerning a perceived threat towards oneself...
psychosis
Psychosis
Psychosis means abnormal condition of the mind, and is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state often described as involving a "loss of contact with reality"...
brought on by the effects of the drugs. Gravano later surmised that his friend Nicholas Mormando
Nicholas Mormando
Nicholas Mormando, also known as "Nicky Cowboy" was a Gambino crime family mob associate who was involved in the murder of Frank Fiala and member of Sammy Gravano's Bensonhurst, Brooklyn crew.-Biography:Nicholas Mormando was the son of Italian-American emigrants from Morimondo in Milan, Italy...
got DeBatt addicted to the potent narcotic. He later became involved in murder and committing robberies to support his habit. He became estranged from his wife and children. Gravano later said, "He went crazy. He didn't come down for days. And when he does, he's sweating, he's all jumpy. His wife came to me (Gravano) crying, "I don't know what happened to him. He sits in the house behind a window with the blinds down, and he's got a rifle." She also stated that he told her, "If they come, I'm gonna battle it out." While Sammy Gravano and his crew did not approve of drug use, they did not have problems channeling the tasks of dealing to associates. It is unknown exactly who supplied Michael, or if it was Nicholas Mormando.
Career as a restaurateur
After his father died in 1981 he focused entirely on working restaurateur, taking over ownership management of his father's restaurant and working as the night-shift bartender. The restaurant would provide him with a legal means of income and keep him out of the public eye and being scrutinized by the Internal Revenue ServiceInternal Revenue Service
The Internal Revenue Service is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The agency is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, and is under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue...
for his illicit gains as a criminal. Tali's eventually became the main criminal headquarters for rising Gambino crime family capo Sammy Gravano in the mid-1970s until DeBatt's murder. After his murder, his sister sold the family's business. While the restaurant served as a meeting place and headquarters for the crew of then-capo Sammy Gravano and his associates, no murders were performed on the premises. In 1985 Tali's Restaurant and Lounge began to suffer after DeBatt became addicted to cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
and later crack cocaine
Crack cocaine
Crack cocaine is the freebase form of cocaine that can be smoked. It may also be termed rock, hard, iron, cavvy, base, or just crack; it is the most addictive form of cocaine. Crack rocks offer a short but intense high to smokers...
. From the potent narcotic he fell into a paranoid schizoid state and did not want to go to work anymore. He suffered from delusions that people were after him and he began to fear for his life and always had a gun on him. To support his habit he began pulling home invasions. While this was well known to Sammy Gravano and fellow criminal associates he was never arrested or convicted of burglary.
The slaying of Frank Fiala
Frank Fiala was a drug trafficker and a powerful and wealthy Gambino crime family associate. He is not to be mistaken as a relative of Gambino crime family capo James FaillaJames Failla
James "Jimmy Brown" Failla was a senior caporegime with the Gambino crime family who was a major power in the garbage hauling industry in New York City...
. He wanted to rent out The Plaza Suite to throw himself a birthday party. Fiala started to act very strange and unstable. He took DeBatt and other Plaza Suite employees on rides on his private Lear jet. He was in the nightclub all the time, consuming cocaine in large quantities and handing out bags of cocaine to patrons of the club.
At one point in time, DeBatt confronted Fiala who at the time was armed with an Uzi submachine gun and told him calmly and politely that there were no firearms allowed inside the nightclub. Later to keep a close observation of Fiala, Gravano told DeBatt to keep a close eye on Fiala. He told got close to Fiala and told him that he wanted to continue working as a bouncer after Fiala purchased the Plaza Suite, and told him Gravano always underpaid him. Fiala later told DeBatt in confidence, "Fuck this Sammy. Fuck this punk. When I take over, I'm doing this, that." After Fiala waved an Uzi at Gravano, Sammy was so enraged that he wanted him murdered immediately on June 27, 1982. He instructed Edward Garafola to round up Joseph D'Angelo, Liborio (Louie) Milito, Joseph Paruta
Joseph Paruta
Joseph Paruta, also known as "Old Man" and "Sammy Gravano's Personal Luca Brasi" was a mobster in the Gambino crime family and considered a "key member" of Sammy Gravano's Bensonhurst, Brooklyn crew. He is the only known mobster who asked for a mercy killing after becoming terminally ill with lung...
, Thomas (Huck) Carbonaro, Nicholas Mormando
Nicholas Mormando
Nicholas Mormando, also known as "Nicky Cowboy" was a Gambino crime family mob associate who was involved in the murder of Frank Fiala and member of Sammy Gravano's Bensonhurst, Brooklyn crew.-Biography:Nicholas Mormando was the son of Italian-American emigrants from Morimondo in Milan, Italy...
and himself and rendezvous at D'Angelo's bar, Doc's. Sammy stationed his fellow associates in locations outside The Plaza Suite ready to ambush Fiala. To not arouse suspicion from Fiala or anyone in his group of partiers, DeBatt stayed positioned at the front door of the club maintaining the ruse of being a bouncer. At a prearranged signal from DeBatt, Joseph D'Angelo and Louis Milito leaped out from where they sat in a parked car at the corner around from the club on 86th Street and shoot him. As Louis and Joseph D'Angelo heard Sammy Gravano call out his name, they ran out of the alley shooting. After the shooting, pandemonium broke out on the street. Some people were trying to get off the street and back into the disco in fear of being shot. DeBatt stood by the door and acted like he was one of the panicking party goers yelling, "Get down! Get down! Somebody's shooting". He held the door shut so nobody could get in or out of the Plaza Suite.
When interviewed by homicide detectives DeBatt told them that he did not know who owned the Plaza Suite and had never seen or met the owners in person. Gravano congratulated DeBatt, his friend Nicholas Mormando and the others on a "beautiful piece of work." Since this was not a sanctioned murder by their boss Paul Castellano
Paul Castellano
Constantino Paul "Big Paul" Castellano , also known as "The Howard Hughes of the Mob" and "Big Paulie" , was an American Mafia boss in New York City. He succeeded Carlo Gambino as head of the Gambino crime family, at the time, the nation's largest Mafia family...
, it could not go down that Mormando could be eligible to become a "made man" in the Gambino crime family for his involvement. He was never indicted or convicted for being accessory to the murder of Frank Fiala. After the murder of Fiala, Castellano was angry. He had DeBatt, Mormando and the others stay up at his New Jersey farm to lie low. After hearing the news that Castellano might order their executions over the unsanctioned murder, when given the chance by Sammy to leave, DeBatt and the others all said, "Sammy, we'll load up. We're ready." This shows that Michael displayed extreme devotion in following Gravano even when his own life was threatened.
The murder of Fiala was never solved until Sammy Gravano became a stool pigeon and testified in court of the murder during the trial of John Gotti
John Gotti
John Joseph Gotti, Jr was an American mobster who became the Boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. Gotti grew up in poverty. He and his brothers turned to a life of crime at an early age...
.
The murder of Nicholas Mormando
Sammy Gravano would later say about DeBatt's childhood friend and acquantance, Nicholas MormandoNicholas Mormando
Nicholas Mormando, also known as "Nicky Cowboy" was a Gambino crime family mob associate who was involved in the murder of Frank Fiala and member of Sammy Gravano's Bensonhurst, Brooklyn crew.-Biography:Nicholas Mormando was the son of Italian-American emigrants from Morimondo in Milan, Italy...
:
DeBatt continued to serve in the crew of Sammy Gravano after Mormando's murder. He continued to work with his friend's executioners until his own murder in 1987. It is thought that he was so far plagued by the effects of consuming copious amounts of cocaine and crack cocaine that he did not care.
Falling out with Gravano crew and murder
Like his friend Nicholas MormandoNicholas Mormando
Nicholas Mormando, also known as "Nicky Cowboy" was a Gambino crime family mob associate who was involved in the murder of Frank Fiala and member of Sammy Gravano's Bensonhurst, Brooklyn crew.-Biography:Nicholas Mormando was the son of Italian-American emigrants from Morimondo in Milan, Italy...
, DeBatt became addicted to crack cocaine
Crack cocaine
Crack cocaine is the freebase form of cocaine that can be smoked. It may also be termed rock, hard, iron, cavvy, base, or just crack; it is the most addictive form of cocaine. Crack rocks offer a short but intense high to smokers...
and cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
sometime during the crack epidemic in 1984. He suffered from a paranoid psychosis brought on by the effects of the drugs. Gravano later surmises that Mormando got DeBatt addicted to the potent narcotic. He later became involved in murder and committing robberies to support his habit. He became estranged from his wife and children. Gravano later said, "He went crazy. He didn't come down for days. And when he does, he's sweating, he's all jumpy. His wife came to me (Gravano) crying, "I don't know what happened to him. He sits in the house behind a window with the blinds down, and he's got a rifle." She also stated that he told her, "If they come, I'm gonna battle it out." Sammy later stated:
So nobody would think that it was related to the Gambino crime family or any organized crime matter. After a Mafia-family wedding, Michael had gone back to Tali's with Thomas Carbonaro and Eddie Garafola
Eddie Garafola
Eddie "Eddie The Chink" Garafola pronounced /dʒəˈniːn ɡəˈrɒfəloʊ is a Gambino crime family associate who was involved in the construction industry. Garafola was the brother-in-law of former underboss and informant Sammy "The Bull" Gravano....
, expecting the wedding party to join them as usual. "But the only ones who went back there were four murderers", says his sister Rosanna. Thomas (Huck) Carbonaro shot Michael while he was stationed behind the bar counter at Tali's. He was shot several times in the head and neck with a handgun on November 3, 1987. He left behind a wife and several children. Michael's lifeless body was found face up on the floor in front of the restaurant's juke box by the night shift manager who was coming in to work. His pockets were emptied, his jewellery removed and the cash register cleaned out. Police investigators stated that while DeBatt had no criminal record, he was reputed to have associated with members of the Gambino crime family. Sammy's brother-in-law Eddie Garafola
Eddie Garafola
Eddie "Eddie The Chink" Garafola pronounced /dʒəˈniːn ɡəˈrɒfəloʊ is a Gambino crime family associate who was involved in the construction industry. Garafola was the brother-in-law of former underboss and informant Sammy "The Bull" Gravano....
and Louis Vallario
Louis Vallario
Louis Vallario, also known as "Big Louie" and "Big Lou" , is a member of the Gambino crime family who was a top aide to boss John Gotti and Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano in the late 1980s.-Criminal history:...
were present when the murder was fulfilled. Gravano waited at The Brown Derby, in Brooklyn with John Gotti when Edward came in and advised them both that the murder of Michael DeBatt had been carried out.
His murder remained unsolved until Sammy Gravano agreed to become a stool pigeon and testify against John Gotti to avoid prosecution for numerous crimes. He was the thirteenth victim of nineteen that Gravano confessed to the authorities of having orchestrated their murder or personally carried it out. Later, in 1995 Gravano's close friend and criminal associate Joseph (Stymie) D'Angelo, who helped DeBatt murder Frank Faila would be murdered in the same restaurant. Before the murder of DeBatt, Gravano arranged to have Nicholas (Nicky Boy) Mormando murdered for the same reasons. He had become heavily addicted to crack cocaine among other things, and was a liability to become a stool pigeon like DeBatt. In fifteen years since the murder of Michael, no one has been formally charged with the murder. He is survived by a wife and daughter who was four years old at the time of his death.
Wrongful death suit
In November 1998, a wrongful death suit was filed by the surviving relatives of Michael, Nicholas MormandoNicholas Mormando
Nicholas Mormando, also known as "Nicky Cowboy" was a Gambino crime family mob associate who was involved in the murder of Frank Fiala and member of Sammy Gravano's Bensonhurst, Brooklyn crew.-Biography:Nicholas Mormando was the son of Italian-American emigrants from Morimondo in Milan, Italy...
, and Joseph Colucci. According to court documents Sammy Gravano admitted to playing a direct or indirect role in their murders in the plea agreement that he made with the government when agreeing to become a stool pigeon. Along with Gravano, DeBatt's family and the others filed suits against the author of his autobiography Peter Maas
Peter Maas
Peter Maas was an American journalist and author. He was born in New York City and attended Duke University. Maas had Dutch and Irish heritage....
, Maas' literary agency I.C.M., the publisher of the autobiography, Harper Collins, and 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
that was allegedly preparing a film adaptation of the book. In the complaint it stated that the plaintiffs were seeking, ""monetary and punitive damages from all defendants for their intentional failure to comply with New York's Son of Sam Law
Son of Sam law
A Son of Sam Law is any American law designed to keep criminals from profiting from the publicity of their crimes, often by selling their stories to publishers. However, this is not in the same manner of asset forfeiture, which is intended to seize assets acquired directly as a result of criminal...
... and their deliberate scheme to circumvent same." Previously during the spring of 1997, the State Crime Victims Board and State Attorney General
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
Dennis Vacco launched a similar lawsuit against Sammy Gravano and many of the same co-defendants during their criminal trial.
Reputed haunted murder location
Tali's Restaurant and Lounge, later went under new management and became Danza's. The bullet marks left from the DeBatt and D'Angelo gangland slaying still remain in the restaurant's brick wall as of 2008. In the March 10, 2002 issue of The New York Post, it was reported that the current restaurant owners and staff have witnessed figures seated at tables or heading down to the restaurant's basement, but then the mysterious figures vanish. These are allegedly the ghosts of Michael and Joseph D'Angelo. They also report hearing voices and the sound of a chainsaw, smelled foul odors and had the feeling that they were being watched by someone. A cousin of the current restaurant owner, Angela Perrone stated, "The place is definitely haunted. There's a creepiness, as if someone's always watching you. It's a sinister energy."Perrone called in Frances Bennett, a parapsychologist. She conducted interviews with all the staff, and set up infrared video cameras, tape recorders and a electro-magnetic field meter for four hours to observe these mysterious happenings. Bennett said her probe recorded voices of the dead, repeating the name "Mike" and saying, "I'll kill you." A man's face reflected in glass at the bar and another image seen at the entrance, an apparition of a man crouched down near the bar, and orbs of light said to be "a sign of individual spirits" moving around the restaurant along with tablecloths fluffing up and dropping back down on their own. Roseanne Massa has told reporters that she believes her brother may be haunting Danza's because Gravano spent less than five years in jail after confessing to orchestrating his gangland execution and eighteen others as part of a deal with federal prosecutors for testifying against Gambino crime family mob boss John Gotti.
In popular culture
Michael DeBatt and the gangland slaying of DeBatt are mentioned briefly in the made for television HBO movie Gotti, but DeBatt is never actually seen in the film.In the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
miniseries Witness to the Mob
Witness to the Mob
Witness to the Mob is a made for TV film which premiered on May 10, 1998.-Plot:Film follows the rise of Sammy Gravano in ranks of NY Cosa Nostra, his turning to government witness in legal trials of John Gotti and his life in Witness protection program....
Mickey DeBatt is portrayed by actor Vincent Pastore
Vincent Pastore
Vincent Pastore is an Italian-American actor, often cast as a mobster and best known for the role of Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero on The Sopranos.-Early life:...
. In this movie they do not show his relationship with Nicholas Mormando
Nicholas Mormando
Nicholas Mormando, also known as "Nicky Cowboy" was a Gambino crime family mob associate who was involved in the murder of Frank Fiala and member of Sammy Gravano's Bensonhurst, Brooklyn crew.-Biography:Nicholas Mormando was the son of Italian-American emigrants from Morimondo in Milan, Italy...
.
External links
- http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE5D71E3BF930A35752C1A961948260
- http://lists.topica.com/lists/HauntedPlaces/read/message.html?sort=&mid=903966542
- http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/sep/12/gender.uk
- http://www.observer.com/node/40085