Gerard Pappa

Gerard Pappa (also known as "Gerry" and "Pappa Bear" (c. June 19, 1944 Bensonhurst, Brooklyn - July, 1980 Borough Park, Brooklyn), was a former Colombo crime family associate and eventually a Genovese crime family soldier and known hitman who was widely feared for his violent tendencies, which directly contributed to his own murder in 1980.

Gerard was 36 when he was murdered by rival members of the Colombo crime family. Gerard was known to the police and criminal associates as an ice-cold killer although he was known as "Pappa Bear" to his wife and mistresses because of the "teddy bear" nature he displayed when in their presence, or simply "Pap" to his criminal associates. He was the son of first generation emigrants from Rocca di Papa, Italy in Bensonhurst where Sammy Gravano, Anthony Casso and Frank DeCicco were all born and raised. Pappa had straight jet-black hair, steady blue-grey eyes, and a severe high cheekboned, triangle-shaped face. His last name "Pappa" in Italian stands for "Pope" because documents dating from the twelfth century state his parent's village as Rocca di Papa which stands for Castrum Rocce de Papa ("Rock Castle of the Pope"), because Pope Eugene III lived in their village. He is not to be mistaken as a relative of Sammy Gravano criminal associate Michael Papa, a white supremacist who helped Sammy Gravano in the 1990s distribute ecstasy from Arizona to New York City.

He was well known in the mob-infested neighborhoods of Brooklyn and Staten Island. He had been a member of the notorious street gang called the Rampers, which included Thomas Spero, Joe Vitale, Ralph Spero, James Emma and future Gambino crime family underboss Sammy Gravano. Among the ranks of the street gang he was considered a "Ramper senior". As a rising hoodlum in organized crime circles he committed armed robbery, burglary, car theft and extortion. He was a fierce street fighter and described as one of the "baddest bad asses" Brooklyn had ever produced along with his close childhood friend James Emma and Ralph Ronga. It is suspected that Gerard suffered from an antisocial personality disorder and multiple personality disorder with severe violent mood swings. He served under the crime family associate, Carmine Persico and Thomas DiBella before becoming a made man in the Genovese crime family.

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