On a cold December night in 1974, a violent end came for Ronald "Foxy" Jerothe, a 27-year-old White / Caucasian male known in the criminal underworld of Queens, New York. An associate of the Gambino crime family, Jerothe's life was cut short on December 18th in a dispute that spiraled out of a personal vendetta. The man who came to his door that evening was no stranger; he was Thomas "Tommy" DeSimone, a notoriously volatile associate of the Lucchese crime family and someone Jerothe knew.
The tragic chain of events was set in motion by DeSimone's relationship with Jerothe's sister. After the couple broke up, DeSimone assaulted her, an act that prompted Jerothe to threaten DeSimone's life. This threat reached DeSimone, who, never one to back down from a confrontation, decided to face the issue head-on. He went to Jerothe's apartment in Ozone Park, and when Jerothe answered the door, a physical altercation immediately ensued. Jerothe reportedly punched DeSimone, who then retaliated with deadly force. DeSimone pulled out a. 38 caliber pistol and shot Jerothe point-blank, ending his life.
The murder of Ronald Jerothe did not happen in a vacuum and sent ripples through the organized crime landscape of New York. Jerothe was a protégé of the influential Gambino associate John Gotti, and his unsanctioned murder was a grave offense in the eyes of the Gambino family. DeSimone's reputation for violence was already well-established, as he was also responsible for the 1970 murder of another Gambino family member, William "Billy Batts" Bentvena. These actions, undertaken without the approval of the mob hierarchy, marked DeSimone as a reckless and dangerous figure.
While Thomas DeSimone was never formally charged by law enforcement for Ronald Jerothe's murder, his actions did not go unpunished within the criminal underworld. The Gambino family, angered by the murders of two of their own, sought retribution. In January 1979, roughly four years after he killed Jerothe, Thomas DeSimone disappeared. It is widely believed that he was murdered on the orders of the Gambino family as retaliation for his violent transgressions. His death served as a stark reminder of the brutal and unforgiving code of justice that governed the world in which he and Ronald Jerothe lived and died.
