{"id":240751,"date":"2026-01-19T09:59:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T09:59:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/240751\/"},"modified":"2026-01-19T09:59:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T09:59:13","slug":"mary-jo-buttafuoco-shot-by-long-island-lolita-amy-fisher-tells-her-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/240751\/","title":{"rendered":"Mary Jo Buttafuoco, shot by ‘Long Island Lolita’ Amy Fisher, tells her story"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!\n <\/p>\n

Mary Jo Buttafuoco was shot in the head on the front porch of her home by her husband\u2019s 17-year-old mistress, Amy Fisher, who was later dubbed the “Long Island Lolita.”<\/p>\n

Nearly 34 years after her husband\u2019s affair almost turned fatal, the suburban mom at the center of the scandal is telling her story in the Lifetime biopic “I Am Mary Jo Buttafuoco,” starring Chloe Lanier as her younger self.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019m as recovered as I\u2019m going to get,” Buttafuoco, now 70 and a grandmother, told Fox News Digital. “I still have the effects of this bullet. I\u2019ve always said that people who get shot don\u2019t heal from bullet wounds. You can break a leg, fall, scrape your knee and it heals. When you get shot, a bullet tears through wherever it goes, and it causes permanent damage.”<\/p>\n

ELIZABETH SMART BLASTS GHISLAINE MAXWELL\u2019S \u2018COUNTRY CLUB\u2019 PRISON TREATMENT: \u2018MAKES ME SICK\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Split <\/p>\n

Mary Jo Buttafuoco, right, who survived being shot by “Long Island Lolita” Amy Fisher, left, is narrating her story in a new biopic, “I Am Mary Jo Buttafuoco.” (Dick Yarwood\/Newsday RM via Getty Images; Dennis Caruso\/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

“I have permanent damage that will never heal,” she shared. “I\u2019ve lost hearing in my right ear. I have facial paralysis and problems with my esophagus. I have only one carotid artery, so I face vascular issues that will be with me for the rest of my life.”<\/p>\n

“I\u2019ve always said this bullet will get me eventually,” she reflected. “But I\u2019ve been very blessed that it\u2019s let me hang on this long.”<\/p>\n

\"Mary <\/p>\n

Mary Jo Buttafuoco points to her bullet wound at her lawyer’s office. (Dennis Caruso\/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The morning of May 19, 1992, started like any other Tuesday, she recalled. After sending her two children off to school, the Massapequa, New York<\/a>, mother \u2014 then 37 \u2014 was preparing to paint in the backyard when a knock at the door changed everything.<\/p>\n

WATCH: MARY JO BUTTAFUOCO TELLS ALL ABOUT THE AMY FISHER SCANDAL<\/p>\n

Fisher, then a high school student, arrived holding a Complete Auto Body T-shirt from the shop where Buttafuoco\u2019s husband, auto body mechanic Joey Buttafuoco, worked. Introducing herself as “Anne Marie,” Fisher claimed to be 19 and said the shirt was proof that the 36-year-old man was having a sexual relationship with her 16-year-old sister.<\/p>\n

As Buttafuoco turned to call Joey, Fisher pulled out a .25-caliber handgun<\/a>, fired a single shot and fled.<\/p>\n

\"Amy <\/p>\n

Amy Fisher, 17, from Merrick, Long Island, is arrested for the attempted murder of Mary Jo Buttafuoco. (Paul DeMaria\/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

“In the blink of an eye, the life I had ended when she came to my door,” Buttafuoco said. “I was nearly murdered in front of my own house \u2014 my safe place.”<\/p>\n

\"Mary <\/p>\n

This undated photo shows Mary Jo Buttafuoco and her daughter Jessica outside their home after the shooting. (Bill Turnbull\/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Buttafuoco miraculously survived the attack. After eight hours of emergency surgery, doctors determined the bullet was too dangerous to remove. It had broken her jaw, traveled deep into her skull and lodged at the base of her brain, just above her spinal column.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Once she regained consciousness, Buttafuoco gave police a description of her attacker, though her husband vehemently denied any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n

\"Joey <\/p>\n

Joey Buttafuoco stands on the steps of his home in Massapequa, New York, on Sept. 25, 1992. (Marianne Barcellona\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Detectives arrested Fisher two days later \u2014 on May 21, 1992. After confronting her with phone records, witness descriptions and inconsistencies in her story, Fisher eventually confessed.<\/p>\n

FOLLOW THE FOX TRUE CRIME TEAM ON X<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Amy <\/p>\n

Amy Fisher’s mugshot. (Kypros\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The case quickly became a national media circus<\/a> that dominated headlines for months.<\/p>\n

“It was awful,” said Buttafuoco. “They made fun of me on \u2018Saturday Night Live.\u2019 One of the actresses had her face all distorted \u2014 that was supposed to be funny. I thought, \u2018My God, I look like this because I got shot. I was almost murdered.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Joey <\/p>\n

Joey and Mary Jo Buttafuoco outside their Long Island home. (John Roca\/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

“It became a joke. Maybe because I stood up, walked and talked, people thought, \u2018Oh, she\u2019s OK. Everything\u2019s fine.\u2019 But it wasn\u2019t fine. It was mortifying. The name \u2018Buttafuoco\u2019 got dragged through the mud. It became a punchline.”<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

Chloe Lanier stars as Mary Jo Buttafuoco in Lifetime’s “I Am Mary Jo Buttafuoco.” (Lifetime)<\/p>\n

Fisher pleaded guilty to first-degree assault<\/a> and was sentenced to five to 15 years in prison. She served seven years before being released in 1999.<\/p>\n

Buttafuoco remained with Joey for seven years after the shooting.<\/p>\n

\"Amy <\/p>\n

Amy Fisher sits in Nassau County Court in Mineola, New York. (Dick Yarwood\/Newsday RM via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

“First of all, I almost died,” she explained. “I was in no shape to say, \u2018Get out.\u2019 I was very sick for a long time. I had two little kids who were traumatized that their mom was almost murdered outside their home. And Joey lied easily and smoothly. He swore on the lives of our children that he had nothing sexual to do with Amy \u2014 that she was just a customer who misunderstood him. He had his story, and he stuck to it. And I believed him.”<\/p>\n

SIGN UP TO GET THE TRUE CRIME NEWSLETTER<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Mary <\/p>\n

Mary Jo Buttafuoco stayed married to Joey Buttafuoco for seven years after the shooting. (Getty Images)<\/p>\n

“I was on a lot of medication \u2014 a lot of pills that altered my thinking,” she admitted.<\/p>\n

Looking back, Buttafuoco said she has wondered whether she suffered from symptoms of Stockholm syndrome<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Joey <\/p>\n

Joey Buttafuoco stands near some of the bullet holes in the front window of his family’s auto body shop in Baldwin, New York, on June 24, 1994. The Complete Auto Body Shop was hit by about 30 bullets, police said. (Dick Yarwood\/Newsday RM via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

“I have been with Joey since I was 17,” she said. “Before I got shot, I\u2019d been with him for 20 years. I realize now that he was a good talker \u2014 a schmoozer. He was personable, and everybody liked Joey in the neighborhood. He was everyone\u2019s friend, with this over-the-top personality people were drawn to.”<\/p>\n

\"Mary <\/p>\n

Mary Jo Buttafuoco grew up with Joey Buttafuoco. They were married from 1977 to 2003. (Marianne Barcellona\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

“Whenever I asked, \u2018Why did this girl shoot me?\u2019 he\u2019d say, \u2018She must have thought that because I was nice to her and fixed her car, she could have me. She must have misunderstood me.\u2019 That\u2019s what he would tell me \u2014 and it made sense at the time.”<\/p>\n

“He was such a good liar,” Buttafuoco continued. “I would ask him a hundred times why. He never flinched \u2014 he\u2019d just look at me and say, \u2018I don\u2019t know why she did this.\u2019 He was my captor, and I listened to him. I believed him.”<\/p>\n

\"Mary <\/p>\n

Mary Jo Buttafuoco entered the Betty Ford Center to address her addiction to prescription drugs. (Rick Maiman\/Sygma via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Buttafuoco turned to prescription medication to numb her pain and quiet her thoughts. Privately, she struggled with depression. She knew she needed help.<\/p>\n

GET REAL-TIME UPDATES DIRECTLY ON THE TRUE CRIME HUB<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Joey <\/p>\n

Mary Jo Buttafuoco and her husband, Joey, are seen here heading to court. Date unknown. Buttafuoco told Fox News Digital that she was privately struggling with depression and an addiction to painkillers. (Rick Maiman\/Sygma via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

“There wasn\u2019t an aha moment,” she said. “I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. Time was passing, and I wanted to set an example for my children \u2014 that mom can go through this, and it\u2019ll be OK. They never saw me wiped out or drugged out. But I took pills to maintain, just to exist. They thought mom was fine, but when they\u2019d go off to school or with friends, I would collapse in my room. I never wanted them to see me like that.”<\/p>\n

“I became an addict,” Buttafuoco continued. “Back then, they gave me every pill I asked for. Nobody says no to a woman with a bullet in her head who says, \u2018I\u2019m in pain.\u2019 They were handing that stuff out like candy \u2014 and I took it.”<\/p>\n

\"Amy <\/p>\n

Amy Fisher was released from prison in 1999. (Willie Anderson\/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Buttafuoco entered the Betty Ford Center for addiction treatment, a decision she said “saved my life.” She later filed for divorce<\/a> in 2003.<\/p>\n

\"Mary <\/p>\n

Mary Jo Buttafuoco filed for divorce in 2003. (James Leynse\/Corbis via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

“I remember they said, \u2018Mary Jo, this terrible thing happened to you, and it\u2019s awful, but you have so much anger and hate inside you. It\u2019s not allowing you to heal.\u2019 They opened my eyes. When I got sober, I realized I couldn\u2019t stay in this anymore. I had to move on.”<\/p>\n

Fisher, now 51, pursued a brief career in adult entertainment before leaving the industry in 2011, according to People magazine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Drew <\/p>\n

Mary Jo Buttafuoco’s case was the subject of several films over the years, including the 1993 made-for-TV movie “The Amy Fisher Story” starring Drew Barrymore.\u00a0 (ABC Photo Archives\/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

After Fisher\u2019s conviction, Joey was indicted on multiple counts of statutory rape, sodomy and endangering the welfare of a child, People reported. He initially pleaded not guilty but later admitted to having sex with Fisher when she was 16. He served four months in jail.<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/a><\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

Amy Fisher attends Exxxotica New York on Sept. 25, 2009, in Edison, New Jersey. (Joe Kohen\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Fox News Digital reached out to Fisher and Joey, 69, for comment.<\/p>\n

“What I\u2019ve learned over the years is that Amy Fisher is a narcissist \u2014 and narcissists don\u2019t change,” Buttafuoco said. “It\u2019s always been about her. She doesn\u2019t care one iota about what she\u2019s done. It\u2019s also inexcusable for any adult man to take advantage of a teenager. In that sense, she was a victim, but it doesn\u2019t excuse what she did afterward.”<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

Today, Mary Jo Buttafuoco lives with her daughter in California. (JB Lacroix\/WireImage\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Today, Buttafuoco lives in California<\/a> with her daughter and remains close to her son. After extensive facial reconstruction surgery, she can smile again.<\/p>\n

\"Mary <\/p>\n

Mary Jo Buttafuoco, second left, with the cast of “I Am Mary Jo Buttafuoco.” (Lifetime)<\/p>\n

“My head is half hollow,” she said. “If you\u2019ve ever been on Novocaine, that\u2019s what it feels like every day. I have no feeling on the right side of my face, but I\u2019ve adapted to it. I made it. I\u2019m a survivor \u2014 and I\u2019m proud of myself for that.”<\/p>\n

Lifetime’s “I Am Mary Jo Buttafuoco” is available for streaming<\/p>\n

Stephanie Nolasco covers entertainment at Foxnews.com.<\/p>\n