Big George Thought the Gambinos Were Behind Him — Then Came the Execution

George Peter “Big George” Yudzevich was impossible to overlook. Standing approximately 6 feet 7 inches tall and weighing more than 350 pounds, he built a reputation as a streetwise enforcer with connections to New York’s Gambino crime family. But Big George eventually crossed the most dangerous line in the Mafia: he testified. Yudzevich appeared as a government witness against senior Gambino figures Joseph “Joe Piney” Armone and Joseph N. Gallo. Armone was no ordinary mobster. After John Gotti seized control of the family, he became Gotti’s underboss—one of the most powerful positions in New York’s underworld. According to contemporary reporting, Yudzevich was offered federal protection but refused to disappear. He relocated to Southern California, seemingly believing that the distance from New York would keep him safe. It didn’t. In March 1988, workers discovered Yudzevich’s body in an industrial parking lot in Irvine, California. He had been shot multiple times in the head at close range. A black Lincoln was abandoned beside the scene, but the killer—or killers—had vanished. Was Big George executed for testifying against the Gambino leadership? Was his death connected to his California criminal dealings, an alleged investment scheme, or another secret he carried from New York? Investigators considered several possibilities, but nobody was ever convicted of his murder. This is the story of Big George Yudzevich—the towering Gambino associate who betrayed Gotti’s underboss, rejected the chance to disappear and discovered that California might not have been far enough to escape his past. #BigGeorgeYudzevich #JohnGotti #JoeArmone #GambinoFamily #MafiaHistory #OrganizedCrime #TrueCrime #StreetFiles