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“Why Did You Kill My Father?” — Ex-Mafia Underboss Reveals the Call | PBD Podcast #865

PBD Podcast · 1 October 2026 · 1h 49m · 5 Egleze moments
“Why Did You Kill My Father?” — Ex-Mafia Underboss Reveals the Call | PBD Podcast #865 ▶

What happened in this episode?

Patrick Bet-David interviews former Gambino underboss and co-operating witness Samuel “Sammy the Bull” Gravano, focusing on disputed accounts of major Gambino-era murders and on current legal controversy involving James Comey. Gravano attacks John Gotti Jr’s public claims about the Castellano murder, calling them false, and offers extended detail about the killing of contractor Louis Deono, alleging Deono was murdered in a World Trade Center garage after John Gotti ordered his son to carry out the hit. Gravano also asserts that mafia-connected figures were involved in World Trade Center construction work, describing a labour-and-contracting arrangement that allegedly generated profits.

The conversation turns to high-emotion personal confrontations: Gravano says he received a respectful phone call from the son of Johnny Santiago asking why his father was killed, and Gravano claims the shooting was unauthorised and that his own role was cleaning up evidence. He also revisits the killing of 16-year-old Alan Kaiser, describing the intended target, the planned ruse, and his insistence that he did not fire the shotgun.

Bet-David raises reporting that prosecutors sought Gravano’s input about whether “86” implies murder in the Comey “8647” seashell-post case. Gravano says someone identifying as FBI called him, but he declined to engage without parole approval and says he would only respond to a subpoena. He adds, without detail, that he has been in the same room as Comey “multiple times”, and speculates about the risk of retaliation if he is called as a witness. The episode ends with Gravano discussing his baptism, renewed churchgoing, and involvement with an education-focused programme.

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Who is speaking?

Named speakers identified in Egleze's source-linked moments from this episode.

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How is this page sourced?

Programme
PBD Podcast
Published
1 October 2026
Duration
1h 49m
Original episode
Open the original source ↗

Egleze verifies the speaker, source and timestamp for each linked moment. Unless a moment is explicitly marked independently verified, statements remain attributed claims by the named speaker rather than established facts.

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5 moments from this episode

Source-linked · editorially selected
01
Crime & Justice

Gravano alleges Gotti told John Jr to kill contractor Louis Deono

Sammy (Samuel) Gravano · at 17:11 · Attributed speaker claim
So he looks into it and he the guy's robbing us. He tells his son John Jr., "Kill him. You have the contract. You're a captain now. Um Bobby Por Boreello and a few guys that John put with him. He's got a team that can do this. Kill him."

Sammy (Samuel) Gravano alleges John Gotti ordered his son, John Gotti Jr, to kill a contractor he calls Louis Deono over alleged overcharging tied to a prior debt. Gravano says there was an effort to find Deono after he left the country, following the alleged order.

02
Crime & Justice

Gravano recalls F. Lee Bailey leaving after Gotti blame suggestion

Sammy (Samuel) Gravano · at 28:49 · Attributed speaker claim
He says, "No, I have an idea." And F.Lee Bailey tells him, "What's your idea? I'm going to throw Sammy and Frankie under the bus." f.lee bailey leaves. never comes back.

Sammy (Samuel) Gravano claims that, during a defence meeting, lawyer F. Lee Bailey told John Gotti he was caught on tapes and could not win at trial. Gravano says Gotti suggested blaming Gravano and Frankie Locascio, after which Bailey left and did not return. Gravano also recalls journalist Jerry Capeci later saying Bailey opposed “setting up” Gravano or Locascio, and urges listeners to check Capeci’s reporting.

03
Crime & Justice

Gravano recalls phone call from a victim’s son: ‘Why did you kill him?’

Sammy (Samuel) Gravano · at 47:57 · Attributed speaker claim
He said, "All I want to know, Sammy, I understand the life a little bit. My father was around it. Why did he die? Why did he get killed? Why did you kill him?" I said, "I'm going to tell you the whole story. Don't interrupt. Don't hang up."

Sammy (Samuel) Gravano recounts receiving a phone call from a man who said he was the son of Johnny Santiago and asked why his father was killed. Gravano says the caller was “respectful and fair” and that he agreed to explain the story, telling him not to interrupt or hang up. In the excerpt provided, Gravano then begins describing a dispute he says led a colleague (“Sty”) to seek permission to kill Santiago.

04
Crime & Justice

Gravano recalls call from woman claiming FBI over Comey “8647” post

Sammy (Samuel) Gravano · at 1:02:58 · Attributed speaker claim
I sat in my house one day, my phone rang. A woman said, "Is this Sammy the Bull?" And I said, "Um, yeah. Who's this?" and she says, "I'm the FBI. Um, want to talk to you."

Sammy (Samuel) Gravano recalls receiving a phone call from a woman who said she was an FBI agent and wanted to speak with him. He says he refused to discuss anything without clearance from his parole officers and would only attend if subpoenaed.

05
Crime & Justice

Sammy Gravano predicts ‘heavyweights’ might try to silence him as witness

Sammy (Samuel) Gravano · at 1:14:42 · Attributed speaker claim
I'm expecting someday. I mean, if he's called panicking about me, they might be panicking about me and they may say, "Let's take this [ __ ] out."

Sammy (Samuel) Gravano predicts unnamed “heavyweights” could try to have him killed if he were called to testify and they feared he could damage them. He claims witnesses in high-stakes cases sometimes die or disappear in suspicious circumstances, and says he would attend if subpoenaed.