The story captivated America in 1992.
On May 19, 1992, 17-year-old Amy Fisher went to her married lover’s home, rang the doorbell and shot his wife in the head.
The story became a tabloid news sensation, with Fisher dubbed “Long Island Lolita” after her arrest.
Fisher, who was from the Long Island, New York, town of Merrick, met 35-year-old Joey Buttafuoco at his auto body shop when she was just 16. Fisher had damaged the car her parents bought her for her 16th birthday and asked Buttafuoco to make the repairs without her parents knowing.
Soon after they first met inside his Massapequa shop in May 1991, they started having an affair. The two continued their affair for months and the teenager fell in love with the married father of two.
She asked him to leave his wife, Mary Jo, for her and when he didn't, eventually, she concocted a plan to kill her.
So on May 19, Fisher, pretending to be her own fictitious sister "Ann Marie," walked up to Joey’s home and rang the doorbell. When Mary Jo answered, Fisher explained that her husband was having an affair with “her sister," showing a shirt from the body shop as proof.
The confrontation on the front porch became heated and the housewife ordered the teenager to leave. When she refused, Fisher produced a .25 caliber semi-automatic pistol and shot the woman in the face.
Fisher fled the scene, leaving her lover’s wife for dead; however, Mary Jo miraculously survived. She was left with a partially paralyzed face and unable to smile.
“It affects your self-esteem," Mary Jo told Inside Edition in 2017. "It does, when you can't put on a bright smile.”
Joey initially denied having a sexual relationship with Fisher, though he did suggest she might be to blame for his wife's shooting. When Mary Jo regained consciousness, she confirmed her shooter's identity to police after they showed her a picture of the teen.
On Sept. 23, 1992, Fisher was arrested and charged with attempted murder. She ended up pleading guilty to first-degree assault.
“She is a sick chick!” Mary Jo told the press after Fisher’s arrest.
On Dec. 1, 1992, Mary Jo appeared in court without her husband to face Fisher alone, reading an impact statement aloud. It was the first time she had seen her shooter face to face since that confrontation on the porch.
“All this damage by someone who still shows no remorse for her actions,” Mary Jo said at the time.
Before she was sentenced, Fisher addressed the court and told the judge, “Sometimes I think this is a nightmare and it didn’t happen. Then I realize that it did.”
The judge sentenced Fisher to five to 15 years in prison, telling the then-18-year-old, “For many months, you stalked Mary Jo Buttafuoco like a wild animal stalks its prey.”
"[You were] motivated by lust and passion, you are a walking stick of dynamite with the fuse lit," the judge added.
Fisher served seven years in prison and was released in 1999. After her release, she wrote a book on what happened and appeared in several adult films. She also had three kids.
“Life is an adventure,” Fisher told Inside Edition after her release from prison. “I’m not the kind of girl that could sit 9 to 5 in the office. I get bored.”
She also spoke candidly about her adult film career, saying, “If you don’t like it, don’t watch it. And if you like it, I hope I entertain you.”
Joey, who had initially denied the claims of an affair, eventually admitted to having one with Fisher and served six months in prison for statutory rape in 1993.
In 2003, Mary Jo and Joey finally split, but she remained tortured by her physical appearance for years to come.
In 2017, Inside Edition was with Mary Jo as she met with Dr. Babak Azizzadeh, a surgeon who developed a pioneering procedure to fix her smile.
Her transformation helped boost her self-esteem.
“It’s the first time in 25 years that when I smile, I can see the side of my teeth,” she said.
As for Joey, he appeared in a variety of reality TV shows such as “Celebrity Boxing” and “Judge Pirro,” as well as several movies, including “Mafia Movie Madness,” “Finding Forrester,” “Skin Walker” and “Operation Repo: The Movie.”
He and Fisher reunited in 2006 at the “Lingerie Bowl” for the ceremonial coin toss of the event.
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