Long Island Lolita case
The Long Island Lolita case refers to a highly publicized incident in 1992 involving Amy Fisher, a teenager who shot Mary Jo Buttafuoco, the wife of auto body shop owner Joey Buttafuoco, at their home in Long Island. Fisher claimed that her motive was related to an alleged affair between Joey and her younger sister, though she later described the shooting as accidental. The attack left Mary Jo severely injured, resulting in lasting physical effects. The case drew intense media coverage and public fascination, particularly due to the contrasting images of the involved parties, with Fisher, a young white woman, embodying the unexpected role of a "bad girl" in a suburban context. The scandal not only implicated Joey Buttafuoco, who faced statutory rape charges but also raised questions about societal norms and perceptions of morality. In the aftermath, both Fisher and Buttafuoco faced legal repercussions and public scrutiny, with Fisher serving seven years in prison and later expressing remorse. The case also inspired multiple made-for-television movies, captivating millions of viewers and highlighting the cultural impact of sensational crime narratives in America.
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Subject Terms
Long Island Lolita case
The Event Seventeen-year-old Amy Fisher shoots and severely wounds Mary Jo Buttafuoco, the wife of her alleged lover Joey, at the Buttafuoco home
Date May 19, 1992
Place Massapequa, Long Island, New York
The Long Island Lolita case raised the issues of the sexual exploitation of teenagers and the sexism of the mass media.
On a May morning, Amy Fisher rang the doorbell of the Buttafuoco home in Long Island and spoke to Mary Jo Buttafuoco, a thirty-seven-year-old mother of two young children and the wife of auto body shop owner Joey Buttafuoco. Fisher claimed that Joey was having an affair with her younger sister. When a skeptical Mary Jo turned to go back into her home, Fisher shot her in the head with a .25-caliber pistol.
Fisher claimed that the shooting was accidental and that she had meant only to strike Buttafuoco for refusing to take her seriously. Buttafuoco survived, with a bullet lodged in her head, deaf in one ear, and half of her face paralyzed. She described her assailant as a young woman with long, violet hair, and Joey Buttafuoco named Fisher for the Nassau County police investigating the case. Fisher was arrested and jailed on attempted murder charges, while Joey faced statutory rape charges. Fisher claimed that he had served as her pimp and had asked her to kill his wife. He initially confessed to the affair but subsequently denied it.
As soon as the story broke, the case grabbed headlines in the press. Fisher also became the butt of late-night comedians’ jokes and a recurring feature on tabloid television shows. Part of the shock over the case seemed to result from Fisher’s background. The term “Long Island” stood as a metaphor for white, suburban, and middle class. As a white, middle-class girl, Fisher did not fit the stereotypical image of a bad girl, yet she became a prostitute and would-be murderer. Meanwhile, Joey Buttafuoco’s protestations of innocence strained the credulity of many Americans, while Mary Jo’s willingness to believe her husband proved just as stunning.
In 1999, Fisher left prison after spending seven years in Albion Correctional Facility. She apologized to Mary Jo Buttafuoco and declared that she would not let the media affect her life. Joey Buttafuoco served four months for statutory rape and remained in the public eye as a minor celebrity. The Buttafuocos divorced in 2000.
Impact
The Long Island Lolita case grabbed the attention of the public to the degree that between 100 and 125 million people, about half of the U.S. population, watched at least one of the three made-for-television movies about the shooting that aired during the week of December 28, 1992: The Amy Fisher Story, starring Drew Barrymore; Casualties of Love: The Long Island Lolita Story, starring Alyssa Milano; and Amy Fisher: My Story, starring Noelle Parker.
Bibliography
Eftimiades, Maria. Lethal Lolita: A True Story of Sex, Scandal, and Deadly Obsession. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1992.
Kenny, Lorraine Delia. Daughters of Suburbia: Growing Up White, Middle Class, and Female. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 2000.