Thomas Uva, a 28-year-old male, and his wife, Rosemarie, were shot and killed in their car on Christmas Eve 1992 in the Ozone Park neighborhood of Queens, New York. The couple had been on a brazen crime spree, robbing Mafia social clubs throughout the city, which ultimately led to their murders.
Thomas, who had a fascination with the Mafia, and Rosemarie, who often served as the getaway driver, targeted clubs belonging to the Gambino and Bonanno crime families.
Thomas would enter the clubs with an Uzi, humiliate the mobsters by making them drop their pants, and steal their cash and jewelry. This series of robberies, estimated to be between four and ten, infuriated the powerful crime families who put out an open contract on the couple's lives.
On the morning of December 24, 1992, while stopped at a red light less than a mile from their home, Thomas and Rosemarie were ambushed. Gunmen opened fire on their car, striking both of them in the head multiple times and killing them instantly. Their vehicle then drifted through the intersection, striking another car.
For years, the case remained officially unsolved, though it was widely believed to be a mob hit. Eventually, information from informants led to a break in the case. In 2005, Dominick 'Skinny Dom' Pizzonia, a captain in the Gambino crime family whose club had been one of the establishments robbed by the Uvas, was charged in connection with the murders.
In May 2007, a federal jury convicted Pizzonia of conspiracy to commit the murders of Thomas and Rosemarie Uva. While he was not convicted of carrying out the killings himself, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his role in the plot. Other individuals, including Ronald 'One Arm' Trucchio and members of the Bonanno crime family, were also implicated in ordering or carrying out the hit, and former Bonanno underboss Sal Vitale claimed that John Gotti Jr. had told him, 'we took care of it'. Despite these suspicions, no one else was ever charged in connection with the murders.
