A killer for a New York Mafia family (although not a "made" member himself), he was feared for his violent and unpredictable behavior--he once shot to death a completely innocent stranger who walked past him on a sidewalk just to see if he could do it--he was known to have murdered at least 11 men. In the film Goodfellas (1990) the character of Tommy DeVito, played by Joe Pesci, was based on him.