It was May 19, 1992. A Tuesday. Suburban Long Island felt safe, quiet, and predictable until a 17-year-old girl named Amy Fisher walked up to a front porch in Massapequa and pulled the trigger. The bullet hit Mary Jo Buttafuoco in the head. It didn’t kill her, but it blew a hole through the American psyche.
Suddenly, everyone had an opinion. The tabloids called her the "Long Island Lolita." The headlines were vicious. They were obsessed. Honestly, it was the first real-time "train wreck" media circus of the 1990s. But amidst the chaos, a book titled Amy Fisher: My Story tried to change the narrative.
People think they know this case. You’ve probably seen the Drew Barrymore movie or the one with Alyssa Milano. Maybe you remember Joey Buttafuoco’s greasy smirk on A Current Affair. But the actual memoir, written with Sheila Weller while Amy was behind bars, paints a much darker, messier picture than the "femme fatale" trope the news networks loved.
The Reality Behind Amy Fisher My Story
The book wasn't just a recap; it was a desperate attempt by a teenager to explain why she thought shooting a stranger was the only way out. When you read Amy Fisher: My Story, you aren't getting a polished legal defense. It feels like a raw, often contradictory look at a girl who was deeply groomed.
Amy wasn't some master manipulator. She was a kid.
She claimed Joey Buttafuoco, a 38-year-old auto body shop owner, had effectively brainwashed her. According to the book, Joey didn't just have an affair with her; he allegedly encouraged her to get rid of his wife so they could be together. He denied it, of course. But the receipts—literal motel receipts—eventually put him in jail for statutory rape.
The prose in the memoir is heavy. It talks about her life in Merrick, her Italian-American and Jewish-American roots, and the absolute spiral of 1991. She describes working as a call girl—something the media used to slut-shame her—as part of a lifestyle Joey introduced her to. It’s grim stuff.
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Why the Media Lost Its Mind
You have to remember the context of 1992. We didn't have TikTok or Twitter. We had three TV networks and the New York Post.
- NBC bought Amy's life rights (the basis for the "My Story" movie).
- CBS bought the Buttafuocos' rights.
- ABC just used public records and cast Drew Barrymore.
It was a bidding war for a tragedy. Mary Jo Buttafuoco survived, but she was left with partial facial paralysis and a bullet lodged in her skull. For years, she stayed with Joey. That’s the part that always baffles people. Why stay? In her own book years later, Getting It Through My Thick Skull, Mary Jo called Joey a sociopath. She eventually realized Amy wasn't the only villain.
What the Book Actually Revealed
In the pages of Amy Fisher: My Story, Fisher talks about the .25-caliber pistol. She claims she didn't go there to kill Mary Jo. She says she wanted to "show" her the truth, to confront her. It sounds like the logic of a child.
The shooting happened because Mary Jo, rightfully skeptical of this random girl on her porch, told her to get lost. In that split second, the world changed.
- The T-shirt: Amy brought a shirt from Joey’s shop as "proof" of the affair.
- The Beepers: This was the 90s; beepers were the tool of the trade for "bad kids" and dealers.
- The Plea: She eventually pleaded guilty to first-degree aggravated assault.
She spent seven years in Albion Correctional Facility. While there, she wasn't exactly a model prisoner. She filed lawsuits alleging rape by guards—claims a judge once called "cheap dime-store novel" material—but she also used that time to write.
Life After the Scandal
Amy got out in 1999. She tried the "normal" life for a bit. She wrote for the Long Island Press. She even won a media award in 2004 for her columns. She got married to Lou Bellera, had three kids, and lived in Florida.
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But the infamy never really left.
By the mid-2000s, she took a hard turn into the adult film industry. It shocked people, but Amy’s reasoning was blunt: "I need employment, no one else will give me employment." It’s a sad commentary on what happens to "tabloid stars" once the cameras move on to the next disaster.
Correcting the Record: Common Misconceptions
People still get the facts wrong about this case constantly.
First off, she wasn't 12 or 13. She was 16 when the affair started and 17 when the shooting happened. Still a minor, still statutory rape, but the "Lolita" nickname made her sound like a fictional character rather than a real girl in a toxic situation.
Secondly, Mary Jo didn't "hate" Amy forever. In a weird twist of fate, Mary Jo actually helped Amy get parole. She appeared at the hearing. She forgave her. It was one of the most surreal moments in true crime history—the victim advocating for the shooter.
Lastly, Joey Buttafuoco wasn't just a "victim of a crazy girl." He served four months for statutory rape. Later, he had more run-ins with the law, including insurance fraud and solicitation. The "sleazebag" label the tabloids gave him? Yeah, it kinda stuck for a reason.
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Actionable Insights for True Crime Readers
If you're looking into the Amy Fisher story today, don't just watch the sensationalized movies. They are products of their time—cheesy, biased, and rushed.
- Read the primary sources: Find a used copy of Amy Fisher: My Story (1993) to see her perspective from prison.
- Compare perspectives: Read Mary Jo Buttafuoco’s 2009 book Getting It Through My Thick Skull to see how the victim’s view changed over twenty years.
- Look at the legal shifts: This case is often cited in discussions about "victim-blaming" and how the media treats female offenders versus older male predators.
The story of Amy Fisher isn't a romance or a thriller. It’s a case study in how the 90s media machine could turn a sordid, tragic crime into a national pastime. Amy is back on Long Island now, living a relatively quiet life compared to the webcam days of the 2010s. She's over 50. The "Lolita" era is long gone, but the bullet is still in Mary Jo’s head.
To understand the full scope of the tragedy, start with the memoirs. They offer a nuance that a 90-minute TV movie starring a teen starlet simply can't capture. The truth is usually found in the messy, uncomfortable details that don't make it into a catchy headline.
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Next Steps for Research:
Check local libraries or online archives for the 1993 1st edition of the memoir to see the original photographs included in the publication. You can also look up the Society of Professional Journalists' 2004 archives to read the columns Amy wrote for the Long Island Press, which provide a rare look at her writing voice outside of the "criminal" context.