Snider (right) stood by his wife at the sentencing of Christian Tarantino (above),

who killed her brother Vincent Gargiulo (left) and others.

Twisted Sister singer Dee Snider stands by wife Suzette at trial of LI killer gym rat

Posted By: Metal Sludge

 

A gym owner who moonlighted as the boss of an “ultra-violent robbery crew” on Long Island was sentenced to three life sentences yesterday for launching a coldblooded killing spree to eliminate associates — including the brother-in-law of “Twisted Sister” frontman Dee Snider.

Christian Tarantino, 46, was so successful “making money hand over fist” in a series of daring armed robberies that Gambino crime-family scion John “Junior” Gotti tried to shake him down for a taste of the profits, a source told The Post.

But Tarantino’s downfall came after he began to kill off associates who he feared might talk.

One was his longtime friend Vincent Gargiulo, 33, who was gunned down in broad daylight at 30th Street and Broadway in Manhattan.

Justin Bressman, a gym employee whom Tarantino promised $35,000 to carry out the hit, drew a .22-caliber pistol with a silencer and shot Gargiulo point-blank in the face, Long Island federal prosecutors say.

Six weeks after committing the August 2003 murder for Tarantino, Bressman disappeared, officials say. His burned-out car was abandoned in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and he has never been found.

Yesterday, Gargiulo’s sister, Suzette Snider — the wife of the ’80s hair band’s singer — watched the proceedings from the back row of the crowded Central Islip courtroom.

Then Dee Snider joined Suzette at a podium, as she spoke about the loss of her brother.

“Vinnie would have died for Chris — and it’s ironic, because Vinnie did die because of Chris,” she said.

Before his death, Gargiulo secretly taped Tarantino discussing several murders — hoping the recording would serve as insurance when he suspected that Tarantino might finger him for two murders, officials said.

“It was like a movie. His best friend tape-recorded [Tarantino] confessing to two murders, and then tried to blackmail him with the tape — and was found dead, executed, shortly thereafter,” said another source involved in the case.

After Gargiulo’s death, the tape was mailed anonymously to investigators.

Tarantino also was convicted of participating in a 1994 armored-car robbery in Syosset, LI, where guard Julius Baumgardt was shot in the back of the head as he lay on the ground.

His accomplice on the armored-car heist, Louis Dorval, helped sell the loot through his connections with the Luchese crime family, sources said.

But Tarantino worried that Dorval was a liability, so he lured him to his death, then stuffed his body into a tool chest and dumped it in the Atlantic. Days later the tool chest floated to the surface, where the Coast Guard recovered it.

Yesterday, Tarantino, who has Parkinson’s disease, told victims’ relatives he would pay for his crimes.

“Talk about suffering?” he said as his arm shook. “You can count on it. I am.” He also apologized.

“I feel sorry for the [victims’] families,” he said.

Federal Judge Joanna Seybert said it was apparent Tarantino was not truly remorseful, describing him as a “violent, cruel, cunning person who chose to commit these crimes.”

The above is from the NY Post

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