Love makes people do crazy things. Some people make hearts with hundreds of iPhones to propose to their partner, some hire a skywriter to confess their feelings, and in extreme cases, some kill the wife of their affair partner.
The last one was done by Amy Fisher, who was eventually given the tag of the Long Island Lolita in 1992.
In a tragic incident, Amy Fisher was obsessed with Joey Buttafuoco, a married mechanic. She was a teen at that time, while her lover was 36. On May 19, 1992, Amy went to the house Joey shared with his wife, Mary Jo. There she confessed to the affair to Mary Jo and shot her. Fisher was charged with attempted first-degree murder and sentenced to prison.
Amy Fisher was released in May 1999 after serving seven years at the Albion Correctional Facility. After that, she married Louise Ballera and had three children with him before divorcing in 2015. Amy worked as an adult film actress before retiring in June 2011. Currently, she owns an adult webcam site where she regularly performs. Right now, Amy lives with her children on Long Island, although she has reportedly purchased an estate in Florida.
What Is The Case of Amy Fisher?
Born in 1974, Amy Elizabeth Fisher did something that shocked everyone. When she was seventeen, she fired a gun at Joey Buttafuoco’s wife, Mary Jo Buttafuoco. All because she was obsessed with Joey, who was a mechanic. She was a teenager then, while Joey was 36 and married.
They had an affair and slept together at a hotel, even though he knew she was 16 years old then. On May 19, 1992, Fisher, 17, couldn’t take it anymore that the man of her affection was married and was hiding their relationship from his wife. So she arrived at Joey and Mary Jo Buttafuoco’s home in Massapequa with a .25-caliber semi-automatic gun.
When Mary Jo opened the door, Amy confessed that she and her husband were having an affair before shooting her in the head. She was arrested on May 23, 1992, for the attempted first-degree murder of Mary Jo. Thankfully, Mary lived after the incident. Amy said in court after pleading guilty to the charges:
“I went to the doorstep with a loaded gun in my pocket. I hit her on the back of the head. I hit her again. The gun went off.”
On December 2, 1992, she was imprisoned for 5 to 15 years. She served seven years at the Albion Correctional Facility and was released in May 1999. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Amy expressed deep regret for her actions and said:
“I knew nothing then. What didn’t I learn? I should have gone to school and focused on studying instead of men… I’m more self-reflective. I learned to be more compassionate. I look back on those dark times, and I never thought I’d get to the place I am today. The ‘Long Island Lolita’ is not really who I am… We’ve all done things we’re not proud of, but that doesn’t define who we are.”
Amy also sought forgiveness from Mary Jo, the person she had shot when she was 17. She said to her victim in a letter:
“I apologize for what I have done. I didn’t see you as a human being. I didn’t see you as a mother. I pray that you will forgive me and pray that this nightmare will come to an end.”
Mary Jo Buttafuoco didn’t hold grudges and forgave Fisher for her heinous action so she could move forward in life and make peace with the actions that resulted from her ex-husband’s affair. She wrote in an open letter:
“I have come to the conclusion that Amy Fisher has spent enough time in prison as punishment. It is right and good that I can now say that I forgive (her). It is a place I have only been able to reach through grace… I am a mother. I guess it went to the mother in me. This is a sick girl. This is not a seductress. She needed to be punished – she tried to kill me – but Amy Fisher is not a ‘Lolita.’”
It has been decades since the incident, and Amy Fisher lives an entirely different life now. In fact, it’s so different that it’s shocking.
Where Is Amy Fisher Now?
After getting released from prison, Amy Fisher resumed her life and, over time, married Louis Ballera. They divorced in 2015, and she lived with her three children in Long Island. She worked as an adult pornographic actress until June 2011 before launching her adult webcam site. Amy still performs there regularly.
It was also reported that she had purchased a new home in Florida. Fisher had moved from Boca Raton to Wellington, where she resided in an estate she bought for $575,000. Apart from this, she is also a NY Times best-selling author thanks to her book If I Knew Then, published in 2004.
What do you think about Amy Fisher’s life years after the incident that branded her Lolita?
Was she a misguided teen? Or should her punishment have been more severe?
Let us know in the comments below.
Source: Oprah Winfrey and New York Post
