Teflon Don dies in prison

Gotti evaded the law for many years

Mafia boss John Gotti has died of throat cancer in a prison hospital in Springfield, Missouri, officials announced.

Once known as the Dapper Don, he earned the nickname the Teflon Don, because for years the combined might of America's law enforcement agencies could not make a charge stick against him.

Organised crime brought a lavish lifestyle

The head of New York's notorious Gambino crime family was finally convicted in 1992 of murder, extortion and obstruction of justice.

He was sentenced to 100 years in prison and sent to the maximum-security penitentiary in Marion, Illinois.

He had been battling cancer since 1998 and was 61 when he died.

Gotti began his career in crime running errands for the Mob in Brooklyn and had his first spell in jail in 1968 for hijacking trucks.

He gained favour with the Gambino family by carrying out a revenge killing for which he served another short sentence in prison.

When he was released he moved up the organisation with the help of his close friend, Salvatore Gravano, otherwise known as "Sammy The Bull".

Damning testimony

It was the testimony of Gravano in 1992 - along with FBI tapes - that led to Gotti's life sentence.

Gravano told how Gotti had been involved in 10 murders and how in 1985 he had overseen the killing of Paul Castellano, the then head of the Gambino family.

Castellano had angered Gotti and others with, among other things, his ban on drug trafficking. Some accounts say that Gotti feared Castellano was plotting to eliminate him.

Gotti and Gravano watched as a hit squad ambushed Castellano and his driver outside a Manhattan steakhouse.

They then drove slowly past the scene to make sure the pair were dead.

Gotti then reigned for six years as America's most high-profile gangster.

Gravano betrayed his former ally

He appeared on the cover of Time magazine and was glamorised as the mobster the law could not bring down after a string of trial acquittals.

He passed himself off as a plumbing supply salesman while dressing in expensive suits and sneering at law enforcers who were trying to bring him to justice.

Some believed him to be the most important gangster since Al Capone's reign in Chicago in the 1920 and analysts say Gotti revelled in the comparison.

Family links

Gotti allegedly continued to control the Gambino family from his prison cell through his youngest son, John Jnr, but his power and influence waned.

John Jnr was eventually jailed for bribery, extortion, gambling and fraud in 1999 and is still behind bars.

Last week, Gotti's brother, Peter, was indicted along with others on extortion and corruption charges.

John Gotti and his wife, Victoria, had four other children - Victoria, a successful romance author, Angela, Peter and Frank.

Frank was killed at the aged of 12 in 1980 by a neighbour's car while riding his bike.

Although police cleared the neighbour of blame, he was abducted weeks later and never seen again. No charges were ever brought.