Joseph Paruta

Joseph Paruta, also known as "Old Man" (December 3, 1929 – October 1986), was a respected soldier in the Gambino crime family and considered a "key member" of Sammy Gravano's Bensonhurst, Brooklyn crew.

He is the only known mobster who asked for a mercy killing after becoming terminally ill with lung cancer.

The proposition was not agreed upon by John Gotti but Paruta died before the mercy killing was performed.

Paruta was born in Bensonhurst on December 3, 1929 to first-generation emigrants from Venice, Italy of a Luccan family from Tuscany.

He was the oldest of three children, who grew up in poverty.

Paruta was originally an associate who served in the crew of Gambino crime family capo Salvatore Aurello.

He served in the Gambino crime family under the tutelage of Carlo Gambino and later Paul Castellano.

Sammy Gravano later said, "Everybody called Joe the 'Old Man'. He was only about fifteen years older than me (Gravano was born on March 12, 1945) but he already had white hair and looked kind of decrepit. He was tough and loyal. Old Man Paruta would kill for me as quick as he would get me a cup of coffee. Over the years, there was nothing I couldn't ask of him."

His capo Sammy Gravano would later say that "he was like my own personal Luca Brasi," in reference to the contract killer character from The Godfather.

Following puberty he started noticeably suffering from premature aging which made him appear several decades older.

He was a short man in stature with thin arms and legs with a thick torso.

By middle age he started to lose his telltale white hair as the Werner's syndrome worsened.

He had a hoarse voice and his skin started to thicken and suffer from cataracts.

He suffered from smoker's cough that was brought on by his years of smoking cigarettes.

He was married to an Italian-American woman named Dorothea, who he nicknamed "Dottie" and had several children.

He was a family man who would regularly take his family out to dinner at Tali's restaurant every week and have a large dinner.

Frank DeCicco later told Gravano an amusing anecdote about a robbery that Paruta, himself and several other criminal associates had arranged to pull off.

He stated,

"It seems in his early days, Frank (DeCicco) was going on a robbery with some guys. And for this particular score, they needed a lockpicker. Someone told Frank that Paruta was just the person they were looking for. Frank was surprised. He said to Paruta, 'Why haven't I heard this before about you?' Old Man Paruta just smiled in response and said there wasn't a better lock guy around than him. So they're in the place and Frankie nods at Paruta, who steps forward and what he does is, he kicks in the door. 'See, what did I tell you?' Paruta said. Frank was stunned. He couldn't stop laughing. And if that ain't enough, Paruta holds out for his end of the loot. His reasoning is that they never would have got inside the place without his talents. So you know a guy like that is all right."

He had a mild mannered nature and never demonstrated anger towards his fellow associates.

After the murder of Frank Fiala by Sammy Gravano, Edward Garofalo, Thomas Carbonaro, Michael DeBatt and Nicholas Mormando, they assembled at his saloon, Doc's.

Sammy Gravano said about Paruta,

"I loved the old man, Joe Paruta. My feeling for him went way beyond any oath of Cosa Nostra. He was the only one during all the plotting for the Castellano hit-all the what if this, what if that--that I confided in, was able to walk with, talk with, relax with. In one second, he agreed to take down Paul and Tommy in that diner like I asked him to before we changed the plan. He never asked me any questions if I wanted him to do something. He would take any risk. After Stymie (Joseph D'Angelo) got shot, he practically never left my side. I think about him a lot, and I never know whether to laugh or cry.... To me, Joe never seemed to change. He always looked the same, old and decrepit, always chain-smoking.... The old man had his little gambling and shylock operations and he had a piece of Tali's. He was satisfied. He never asked for anything more."

It is suspected that Joseph suffered from Werner syndrome, a rare autosomal recessive disorder that is characterized by the appearance of premature aging.

By 1959, at the age of thirty Joseph had the telltale condition of the syndrome by having a "birdlike" facial appearance.

This made him stand out among the mob associates in Gravano's crew and made him the target of teasing due to his elderly appearance.

Other signs that Paruta displayed was cancer and heart disease.

It is unknown if Paruta was ever diagnosed with having the condition.

After the DiB (Rober DiBernardo) hit, his smoker's cough got worse and worse.

Sammy made arrangements through some doctors he knew and checked him into the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center at 1275 York Avenue in Manhattan, New York for testing.

The prognosis was that he had terminal lung cancer that had spread through the rest of his body.

The doctors gave him only a year left to live.

The chief doctor later confided to Sammy Gravano that he had lied to Paruta's family and that he only had three months to live.

Gravano felt that he had to honor his friend.

Even after being diagnosed with terminal cancer he did not stop smoking even when staying at the cancer centre.

His dying wish was that he become initiated into the Gambino crime family and die a made man.

Sammy sent word to John Gotti through his brother Gene for permission to fulfill his last wishes and make his dream of becoming a "made man" true.

Gravano personally conducted the ceremony in his room at the cancer centre.

When it came time for him to prick his finger for the blood to mix with the holy card, Sammy could hardly get a drop.

He was now reduced to a living skeleton.