John Gurino, a New York mobster tied to the Gambino crime family, was shot dead on October 28, 2003, by Ralph Liotta, a deli owner in West Boca Raton, Florida. Gurino, described as a white male in his 50s with a reputation for strong-arm tactics, went to Liotta’s deli that day to demand money he believed he was owed. The encounter escalated, Gurino struck Liotta, and Liotta shot him, later claiming self-defense.

Investigators linked Gurino to the February 6, 2001, ambush and fatal shooting of Miami Subs founder Gus Boulis in downtown Fort Lauderdale. Prosecutors alleged Gurino had been the triggerman in that killing; he died before he could be charged. Liotta’s testimony about Gurino’s alleged self-incriminating statements during a 2003 car ride became important in the prosecution of Anthony Big Tony Moscatiello, Anthony Little Tony Ferrari and James Pudgy Fiorillo on charges of orchestrating Boulis’s murder.