July 30, 2024

The Gemini Method

Show Notes
Transcript

This is an uneasy walk through the brutal world of Roy DeMeo, one of the most feared members of the Gambino crime family. Born in the 1940s Brooklyn to a humble family, Roy seemed destined for an ordinary life. But beneath the surface, a different story was unfolding. From high school loan shark to mafia butcher, Roy's transformation is nothing short of chilling.

Join us as we explore Roy's rise through the ranks, from running a loan shark operation to becoming a key player in the Gambino Family. His infamous Gemini Method turned murder into a macabre art form, and his ruthless efficiency made him a legend in the criminal underworld. But betrayal was always lurking, and Roy’s downfall was as dramatic as his rise.

Discover the gritty details of his life, his gruesome methods, and the eventual betrayal that led to his untimely demise. This is a story of crime, power, and the cold, hard streets of Brooklyn.
Tune in for the full, unfiltered story of Roy DeMeo, the butcher of Brooklyn.

#TrueCrime #RoyDeMeo #GambinoFamily #CrimePodcast #MobHistory #BrooklynCrime #MafiaStories #MurderMystery #CrimeStory #TrueCrimeCommunity
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WEBVTT

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So the story goes. In nineteen eighty three, Brooklyn, New York,

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young John Gottie, not quite the infamous leader of America's

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biggest crime syndicate just yet, was approached by the leaders

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of his crime syndicate in order to commit a hit

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on one of their own. John Gotti allegedly refused, not

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out of any sense of loyalty towards the man he'd

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been instruck to kill, but because the man in question

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was simply just that dangerous but notoriously brutal. Roy Albert

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Demeyo hadn't been born the man that he'd become. He

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came into the world the fourth out of what would

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be five children to housewife Eleanor Demeyo and Antonio Joseph DeMeo,

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the delivery man for a laundry company. That hardly seems

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the likely familial background for someone about to make history

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in a harsh and cruel way, but the Brooklyn streets

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were about to become the learning grounds for a burgeoning

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crime lord. On the surface, young roy Demeyo was doing

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everything he could to get a safe and law abiding

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start in life. He graduated high school alongside other names

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that would be famous in the future like Walter Block

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and Bernie Sanders, and then he got a profession. Roy

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found both work and an education in the butcher section

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of a local supermarket, where he learned how to dismember

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and render animal carcasses and turn them into packaged meat

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to sell at the counter. But hiding just below that

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facade was the up and coming young criminal, firmly set

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on his ways to a life imbued with crime. Roy

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had started on this path back when he was still

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a high schooler. He and a few others under his

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wings set up a lone shark operation, and by the

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time Roy was about to turn twenty, he was already

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making a name for himself. Nino, an associate and later

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bigwig in the notorious Gambino crime family, noticed how well

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Roy was running his operation and approached him with an offer.

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There would be more money to have, he told the

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young Roy de Mayo if Roy aligned himself with the Gambinos.

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This offer came to Roy at a delicate time in

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his life. His father had just died of a sudden

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heart attack, and the loss had split his surviving family

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into pieces. The older children stayed in America, but Eleanor

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took her fifth and youngest child with her and moved

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back to Italy. This left the still only nineteen year

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old Roy practically on his own and with no one

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to warn him of the potential dangers that would follow

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Affiliating himself with the mafia, Roy agreed to become a

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Gambino associate, and he brought with him the same drive

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and intelligence that had gotten him noticed in the first place.

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As Roy climbed the ranks, he proved his worth. He

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still made money as a loan shark, but he also

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put his crew together and began stealing cars and trafficking narcotics.

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Now all he needed was away to launder his ill

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gotten money. Roy wormed his way into the Brooklyn Credit

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Union and then made it onto the board. He used

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the union's transactions to clean his own money and then

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started approaching his colleagues with tempting offers. Money came out

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of the union to help build Roy's loan shark operation,

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but it also came in from multiple sources as well.

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Roy and the colleagues he managed to sway began laundering

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money for drug dealers and other criminals, and this made

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Roy a very popular man in the seedy Brooklyn underworld,

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but he wasn't exactly popular with everyone. During the nineteen seventies,

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one of his men turned on him. Andrea Katz, Roy's

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partner in the Demeyo Creu's ongoing car theft operation, volunteered

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himself to the authorities. He confessed to the long list

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of crimes that he and the crew were up to

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and became an informant. Roy had been betrayed, and he

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saw only one way to deal with it. He and

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the other members of the Dameyo crew lured Andrea to

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an apartment. Andrea thought he was about to go on

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a date with a woman, but what he didn't know

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was that there was a group of men lying in

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waits just behind the apartment door. Andrea stepped into the

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apartment that evening, and then he was escorted back out

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by the very criminals he had just given up by

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the authorities. Roy and his crew then led Andrea to

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the butchers at a local supermarket, where they made sure

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that he would not be talking to the police again. First,

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they stabbed Andrea in the heart and back with the

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butcher's knife, and then they decapitated him. They put his

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head into the trash compactor usually used for flattening cardboard boxes,

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and turned it on. While his head was being crushed,

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His former friends and colleagues set about carving his body

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into pieces. A pedestrian found his remains a few days later,

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hidden between the dumpsters behind the supermarket. A cruel end,

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but Andrea turning on the crew had taught Roy a

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couple of things. First was that even the people he

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trusted the most could turn on him, and second was

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that he and his crew would need a more efficient

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way of getting rid of those snitches when they did arise. Roy,

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just like he had by taking Andre to the butcher's

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in the first place, thought back to his early days

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and came up with a solution. He liked the bit

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about luring his victims in, so he kept that part

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in the plan, but switched the location to the apartment

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buildings right beside the Gemini Lounge, the crew's usual hangout.

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But then came the question of what to do with

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his victims when he had The whole business with the

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compactor had been messy and time consuming, and even after

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all of that, the investigator still had been able to

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identify Andre through his dental records. Roy and his gang

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hit the drawing boards Together, they figured out that the

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quickest way to kill someone was to shoot them in

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the head a silencer and wrapping the gun in a

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towel would make sure that no one heard the shots,

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and then a quick stab to the heart would stop

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the blood flow and make the clean up beasier. They

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could put the body in a bathtub to drain, and

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all that was left to do then was to slice

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up and package the deceased. Just like he had done

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during his time at the butcher's, Roy wrapped up body

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parts in plastic wrap and then put them in plastic bags.

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He and the other members of the crew would then

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put these bags into boxes and take them to the dump,

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where these boxes would very quickly disappear amongst the rest

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of the rubbish. The plan was practically fool proof, and

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what became known as the Gemini method became the go

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to solution whenever someone in the game Aibino family needed

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to take care of someone make them disappear. As if

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washing their money and now handling their dirty business wasn't enough,

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Roy actually managed to do one more thing to strengthen

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his position with the Gambinos. He suggested that they joined

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forces with an Irish American gang called the Westies, and

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the partnership ended up being incredibly lucrative for both gangs.

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It looked like everything Roy touched turned to gold, and

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to celebrate him and his success, the Gambinos officially welcomed

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him into the family. He was a made man. There were, however,

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some conditions to him becoming an official family member. Roy

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and his crew couldn't be allowed to deal drugs anymore,

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and they were supposed to ask permission before committing any murders.

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The conditions sounded simple enough, but Roy didn't like them.

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Dealing drugs was still a huge part of his income,

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and so he ordered his crew to continue trafficking. Then

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there was the part about killing. Roy found he couldn't

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keep up with that bit either. Many believed that during

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his lifetime, Roy killed at least forty people himself, most

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of which ended up disappearing under the Gemini method, but

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there were some that got away. One of them, a

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young door to door salesman who'd parked outside Roy's house

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one day, suddenly found himself in a frantic and dangerous

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car chase. Roy was still supposed to be operating under

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the condition that he'd ask permission before killing anyone, but

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Dominic Ragucci looked like a Cuban cartel member to Roy,

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and Roy wasn't taking any chances. Dominic was actually just

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a student who was trying to make some extra money

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by working as a salesman, but he ended up being

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killed by Roy anyway. Allegedly, when Roy found out that

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he'd murdered an innocent young man with no gang affiliations whatsoever,

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he broke down into tears. The shock of what he

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had done strengthened his growing sense of paranoia and weakened

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his relationships with most everyone around him. By then, the

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Feds were looking for anything and everything they could to

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get their hands on to try to take the Gambino

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family down, and Roy had just given them something huge

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to use. He'd gone from being a major asset to

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a massive weakness, and the Gambino family wanted him gone.

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That was when John Gotti was approached and allegedly refused

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the hit. The Gambinos asked a few other hitmen to

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handle the business, but all either refused or simply couldn't

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do it. Allegedly, it was Nino Gadget, Roy's mentor and

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the man who'd introduced Roy to the Gambinos in the

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first place, who was the one who completed the hit.

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On January tenth, nineteen eighty three, Roy and his crew

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went to a meeting, thinking that it would be one

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just like any other, Only Roy never left. Ten days later,

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he was found in the trunk of his car, which

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had been abandoned at a Brooklyn boat club. He'd been

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shot several times, and the winter weather had partially frozen

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his remain That's ten Minute Murder for today brief and

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bingeable true crime. I'm Joe the host. Thank you for listening,

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and this story makes me wonder why we don't do

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more mafia murders. They're pretty interesting to look into. To

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be honest with you, I don't get a lot of

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requests to do them, but they are really interesting. Maybe

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I'll look up some more on my own. The one today, though,

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Roy Demeyo was definitely one that someone suggested. And if

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you'd like to make a suggestion of what to cover

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here on the podcast Joe at ten Minute Murder dot com.

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And by the way, if you're a new listener, welcome in.

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Make sure you hit subscribe wherever you are listening if

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about the podcast, and that's going to do it. That's

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your episode for today. Thank you so much for listening

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The Gemini Method

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