Mary Jo Buttafuoco

On May 19 1992, Mary casually answered her door without knowing that this would change her life forever. She was standing on her porch when she was shot in her face by Amy Fisher, Mary’s then husband’s 17-year-old mistress. Fisher didn't threaten her or reveal the gun until she shot Mary. At first, Mary thought she was there to talk about the alleged affair between Joey, her husband, and Fisher’s younger sister. After a brief conversation, the moment Mary turned back to enter her house, Fisher fired a bullet which passed through Mary’s temple, leaving her in a pool of blood. She was immediately admitted to a hospital where she slipped into coma for three days. The incident left one side of her face paralyzed.

At the beginning of the investigation, Joey, with Mary on his side, denied all the allegations of having any relationship with Fisher. Later, he was found guilty on several grounds and he admitted his sexual relationship with Fisher. He had started a relationship with Fisher when she was still a minor. He was also convicted on the basis of having coerced Fisher to commit the crime and was charged against raping a minor and planning a murder. Joey, an auto-body shop owner, was sentenced to four months of imprisonment for being indicted on many counts of statutory rape, sodomy and endangering the welfare of a child.

Fisher was convicted of attempt to murder and was sentenced seven years in jail. Since she was a minor, she was kept in the juvenile room until she turned 18. After spending seven more years in jail, Fisher was released on a parole in 1999 with the condition that she would never contact the Buttafuoco family again.

Overnight, the story became international news. Throughout 1992, tabloids had their pages filled with stories of the affair between teenager Fisher and the thirty-something Joey. The heinous act became the most talked about crime that year and is yet to fade away completely. In fact, the crime became so famous that Fisher's story was made into three TV films. She was nicknamed by the media as ‘The Long Island Lolita’.

Mary divorced Joey in 2003, before which the couple brought into the world two children, Jessica and Paul Buttafuoco. In 2007, all three members of the fatal love triangle came together for an interview. Mary tackled the media with all her grace and dignity and even stated to have forgiven Fisher. Sadly, Fisher seemed unaffected and made filthy statements of not having any sympathy for Mary. Mary appeared on ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ in 2004 to discuss the aftermath and her facial reconstructive surgery.