The New York Daily News
March 3, 1992

by Gene Mustain and Jerry Capeci

Bull Eyed Gotti At Hit

John Gotti and his turncoat underboss Salvatore (Sammy the Bull) Gravano were on hand as "backup shooters" when four gunmen shot down former Gambino family boss Paul Castellano, Gravano testified yesterday.

In dramatic testimony, Gravano said he and Gotti were in a parked car on E. 4th St., west of Third Ave., ready to intervene in case the designated shooters encountered trouble in front of Sparks Steak House on Dec. 16, 1985.

Four other backups were on Second Ave. and in the early-evening shadows of E. 46th St., between Second and Third, as four gunmen shot down Castellano and a Gambino family captain, Thomas Bilotti, who was also Castellano's driver and bodyguard.

'Don't miss'
At a meeting of the gunmen earlier, Gotti and Gravano told the shooters whom they would be killing, "We told them exactly who was going and that it had to be done, so don't miss," Gravano said.

Gravano is the highest-ranking mobster to testify against his boss, who is on trial in Brooklyn Federal Court for murder and racketeering. Throughout his two hours on the witness stand, Gotti fixed him with and icy stare.

Gravano said Gotti was one of five main plotters against Castellano who collectively became known as "the fist."

Gravano said the "gist" arose out of anger among several Gambino "factions" unhappy with Castellano's leadership and among the Gotti faction because of a dispute over drug dealing by some of Gotti's crew members.

Gravano said the plotters had gotten the approval of three of the city's four other Mafia families to kill Castellano. The plotters did not trust the Genovese family and did not contact them.

Paul presided
Gravano earlier recounted his life of crime, his climb through the Gambino ranks, the secret ceremony in which he became an inducted, or "made," member, his first meeting with Gotti and his duties as underboss.

Ironically, Castellano presided over Gravano's induction, with other top Gambino mobsters in attendance. "He told me this was a society, and he was about to induct me as a made member of the Gambino family. One of the last questions he asked me was would I kill if he asked me to. I told him yes.

Gravano said Castellano then pricked his trigger finger to draw blood while another man set fire to a holy card of a saint. "He said if I should divulge secrets, my soul should burn like this saint," Gravano said.

After that, he said, the men locked hands, and formed a circle around him, "and at that point I was part of the brotherhood."

Stares, a few smiles
A few times during Gravano's testimony, Gotti stopped starting, smiled and whispered to his lawyers. When Gravano, who never returned the stares, entered the courtroom, Gotti joked to one lawyer that Gravano, wearing a gray, double-breasted suit, had "gotten all dressed up."

Gravano said he met Gotti in 1976, shortly after Gotti was released from prison. Gotti was described as "a good guy...up and coming." Gravano had recently become a made member, following a long, violent apprenticeship with a Gambino crew in his native Brooklyn after he left the Army in 1966.

Gravano said he killed one man before he was "made" and killed eight more between that and becoming a capo, or captain, early in 1986, when Gotti, having replaced Castellano, promoted him.

By then, he said, he had developed a reputation for being good at doing "the work" and that Gotti had come to rely on his skill.

In his plea agreement with the government, he has admitted involvement in 19 murders, 11 of them under Gotti.

"Who made you underboss?" prosecutor John Gleeson asked.

"John," Gravano said, nodding toward Gotti.

As underboss, Gravano said, "I ran the construction industry and I helped John run the family. I spoke with some of the captains and I took care of some of the problems in the family.

Family squabbles
Returning to the plot against Castellano, Gravano said several family factions were angry that he was "selling out the family" by steering lucrative construction business to his son-in-law and friends in other families.

The plot gathered steam when Castellano allowed a Gambino captain in Connecticut to be killed by another crime family. "You just don't let people from another family kill a captain in our family; that's against our rules," he said.