Philip "Philly Spoons" Parisi (September 1949-June 1999) was a DiMeo crime family member who served as acting capo of Junior Soprano's crew from April 1999 until his murder at the hands of Gigi Cestone in June 1999. Parisi was killed for spreading rumors that DiMeo street boss Tony Soprano had tried to kill his own mother, and that he was crazy; his death was initially believed to have been a failed carjacking.
Biography[]
Philip Parisi was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1949, the identical twin brother of Patsy Parisi and the maternal cousin of Tony Soprano. Philip followed his brother into a life of organized crime with the DiMeo crime family, and he became a soldier in Junior Soprano's crew. Following Junior's 1999 arrest, Parisi became acting capo of his crew. Parisi had a dislike for Tony Soprano, calling him crazy and spreading rumors (in reality, factual gossip) that he tried to kill his own mother. Soprano sent fellow Junior Soprano crew member Gigi Cestone to whack Parisi for defaming him.
Death[]
Parisi after being shot
In June 1999, Parisi picked up Cestone from Newark International Airport, and he began to gossip about Soprano to Cestone, telling him that Soprano was seeing a psychiatrist in Montclair, and that he was going insane. He then dropped Cestone off at a house in the city, saying, "Here you go." Cestone responded by shouting, "No, here you go!", and he proceeded to pull out a pistol and shoot Parisi twice in the head. A deafened Parisi then left the car, entered a nearby car driven by Paulie Gualtieri, and escaped the scene. Parisi's death was investigated by the police as a failed carjacking.