Convicted mob hitmen Anthony Senter and Joseph Testa — known as the “Gemini Twins” — carved a bloody trail through Brooklyn in the 1970s and 1980s. Now, 35 years into his life sentence, Senter has been granted parole by the U.S. Parole Commission and is set to be released in June 2024, outraging the families of his victims.
Senter was convicted of participating in at least 11 murders and hit with racketeering charges, including narcotics trafficking, auto theft, loan sharking, and extortion. As a member of the Gambino crime family crew working under Roy DeMeo, the Gemini Twins operated out of the Gemini Lounge in Brooklyn, where many of their murders were committed. Their violent reign, from 1975 to 1983, resulted in at least 75 deaths and disappearances, with some independent researchers estimating the toll to be more than 200.
Rudy Giuliani, who initially brought the case against Senter and other Gambino family members and associates, expressed his astonishment at the parole decision, stating that Senter “should die in jail.” Giuliani noted that Senter displayed a “wanton disregard for human life” and participated in the dismemberment of the bodies.
The gruesome murder procedure, known as “the Gemini Method,” involved lure victims to an apartment-turned-abbatoir, where they would be shot, wrapped in towels to contain the blood, stabbed in the heart, and dismembered. Their body parts were hidden in Brooklyn’s Fountain Avenue landfill.
The DeMeo crew’s violent activities spurred Giuliani to indict Castellano, along with Senter and others, on a raft of racketeering charges in 1984. Castellano was publicly gunned down and relegated to front-page news before Gotti Jr. took over as Gambino family boss and ordered the slaying of Castellano’s successor, Senter’s trial was halted in notorious public hit on the sidewalk outside Sparks Steak House in Midtown Manhattan.
As Senter prepares for his release, the families of his victims are expressing outrage at the decision, arguing that he should remain behind bars. Senter’s release has reignited debate about the proper punishment for organized crime members.