John Gotti's Love Child

MARCH 2--For the last week, the New York tabloids have been preoccupied with the question of whether the late gangster John Gotti fathered an out-of-wedlock daughter with a Staten Island goumada. The late Gambino crime family boss' wife Victoria, of course, has denied this, as has Shannon Connelly, the hoodlum's alleged girl on the side. However, in a January 1998 jailhouse chat with his brother Peter, then a mob captain, Gotti clearly spoke about the "precious" love child and the young girl's mother. In the conversation, videotaped by prison officials at Illinois's Marion federal penitentiary, Gotti mentions "Rosemary," a clear reference to Connelly's mother, the longtime paramour of his Mafia mentor, the late underboss Aniello "Neil" Dellacroce, [Click on a link below to watch the 2:28 video clip, which was obtained by Jerry Capeci, who broke the story on Gang Land, the online Mafia superstore.] He then moves on to Rosemary's daughter, the mother of Gotti's illegitmate child, and notes that she "annoys me with these fucking letters and cards. She thinks that we're like boyfriend and girlfriend again, you know what I mean?" He then directs his brother to tell the woman that, "I ain't got time for that," but adds, referring to himself, "he knows his obligations, he tries to meet his obligations, and all that. In his heart he feels what he's supposed to feel in his heart. But this is not a fucking circus, it's not a game." Then, after a customary dig at his "motherfucker" wife, Gotti and his brother discuss the love child, whose name (or that of her mother) he does not use. "Cute kid, eh? Good kid," Gotti says. He then asks his brother, "She looked like I told you?" Peter responds, "I thought she was my daughter." Gotti, who had been imprisoned since 1990, then mentions, "I ain't seen her in over seven years," adding, "she was a precious little kid." Then, ever the gentleman, the serial killer denigrates the child's mother as a "pee-pee brain." We've prepared a transcript of the Gotti-Gotti conversation, which you can find below. (1 page)

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John: When you see that other person again, that Rosemary. She, she, the daughter annoys me with these fucking letters and cards. She thinks that we're like boyfriend and girlfriend again, you know what I mean? I ain't got that, got no time for that Pete. You tell her, "Listen, I don't know if you know who he is or what he is, he's a busy guy, this guy. He tries, he knows his obligations, he tries to meet his obligations, and all that. In his heart he feels what he's supposed to feel in his heart. But this is not a fucking circus, it's not a game." These, all these motherfuckers, my wife and these other motherfuckers think it is a game. It is not a game, you know what I mean? And I am not gonna play this fucking game. This juvenile delinquent motherfucking shit. She's disappointed. Where do you think this fucking money grows?

Peter: That's a sick person that person.

John: Yeah, you gotta tell her, "Listen."

Peter: I told her last time. I'll tell her.

John: Now, you tell her "Listen, first of all, youse are writing to a guy, it's a holiday for him to get out of the cell for an hour of comfort. Year in and year out that you write feeling sorry for yourselves all the time. He feels sorry for you too." Let her show you one of my letters to her. "I feel great. I never felt better in my life. Feel like a youngster. I wish you the best. Will try and help you with your problem." What the fuck are we in? You just tell her, "Listen, any help I could be, I'll be. But, don't ask me, ask you if it's not possible. Goodbye." You know what I mean? You saw that, you saw that granddaughter? Cute kid, eh? Good kid. She looked like I told you?

Peter: I thought she was my daughter.

John: Yeah.

Peter: [Unintelligible] or a bigger version of my granddaughter.

John: I ain't seen her in over seven years, but...

Peter: She's a nice kid.

John: She was a precious little kid.

Peter: She's a nice kid. Looks like she's bringing her up right.

John: Yeah, I guess so. The mother's all right. Fucking [UI]. She's a pee-pee brain. She's got like the same, she got female brain like Richie got. Your brother Richie's got a male brain, she got a female brain like that. She's a pee-pee brain, he's a pee-pee brain. I feel bad I can't do the right thing, but what am I going to do, you know what I'm saying? One day, one day I'll be able to do the right thing. Right now, I can't do it. You know?