Evanka Franjko is the second wife of former Long Island auto body shop owner Joey Buttafuoco. They married in 2005, over a decade after his controversial affair with teenage mistress Amy Fisher led to the shooting of his first wife, Mary Jo Buttafuoco. Evanka, who came into Joey's life when the tabloids labelled him a villain, told Crime Watch Daily in 2015: 'I took his hands, and I said, Listen, from this point forward, live your life through the windshield, not the rearview mirror.'
Evanka Franjko's Background
Evanka Franjko is of Croatian origin, but little is known about her family. She met Joey Buttafuoco when she took her car into his auto body shop in Southern California for repair, and they had a connection. Joey shared during the couple's 2015 appearance on Crime Watch Daily that when Evanka entered his life, she 'completely turned it right side up' for him. While discussing why she stuck with him despite his infamous affair that nearly led to the death of his first wife, Evanka said: 'He was very honest with me, and I'd never dealt with anything like this. I sat, and I listened to the story, and I saw the tragedy in it. I saw the pain, and I saw how he just didn't seem to know what direction to go in.'
Marriage and Near Divorce
Joey and Evanka Buttafuoco tied the knot on March 5, 2005. In May 2007, Evanka filed for divorce from Joey at the Los Angeles Superior Court after two years of marriage. She cited irreconcilable differences, but there were speculations that their marriage was affected when Joey started talking to his former mistress and convicted felon, Amy Fisher. Franjko withdrew her divorce filing more than a month later, and the couple celebrated their 21st anniversary in March 2026. Evanka and Joey are long-term Los Angeles residents. There are no recent pictures of Evanka Franjko online, as she keeps a low profile.
Who Is Joey Buttafuoco?
Joey Buttafuoco is a former auto body shop owner who previously lived in Massapequa, Long Island, New York. He worked alongside his father but had to leave the trade after pleading guilty to insurance fraud in March 2004. Buttafuoco also tried a career in Hollywood. After moving to California in the mid-1990s, he landed minor roles in Woody Allen's movie Celebrity, Finding Forrester, The Underground Comedy Movie, The Godson, and Mafia Movie Madness. Joey married his first wife, Mary Jo Buttafuoco, on September 4, 1977, and they welcomed two children, son Paul and daughter Jessica 'Jessie' Buttafuoco. The family lived a quiet suburban life before his affair with a teenager changed things.
The Amy Fisher Affair
In July 1991, a 36-year-old Joey Buttafuoco started an affair with 16-year-old Amy Fisher, a high school student from Merrick, Long Island. They met at Joey's auto body shop, where Amy had brought her car for repairs. On May 19, 1992, Fisher, who was 17, went to Buttafuoco's home and rang the bell. An unsuspecting Mary Jo answered, and Amy told her about the affair, then shot her in the head on her own front porch. She miraculously survived. The bullet was left lodged in Mary Jo's neck because removal through surgery would have been too dangerous. The suburban wife was forced to live with partial paralysis on one side of her face and deafness in one ear.
Legal Consequences and Pop Culture
The incident became a pop culture sensation, turning the Buttafuoco family and Amy Fisher into overnight celebrities. It inspired the 1993 ABC movie, The Amy Fisher Story, starring Drew Barrymore. The Buttafuoco scandal was also referenced on Saturday Night Live, Family Guy, and The Simpsons. Fisher was initially charged with first-degree attempted murder, but she avoided trial by pleading guilty to a lesser charge of first-degree aggravated assault. On December 2, 1992, Amy was sentenced to 5 to 15 years in prison. Joey Buttafuoco was charged with statutory sexual assault for his relationship with a minor. He was imprisoned for four months and served a five-year probation. Mary Jo remained married to Joey Buttafuoco for another decade, which they spent in Los Angeles, before their divorce was finalised in February 2003.
Mary Jo Buttafuoco's Life After Divorce
Mary Jo, who started going by her birth name Mary Jo Connery, found love again when she met Stuart 'Stu' Tendler, a print shop owner from Queens, New York. They started living together in 2007 in California before they tied the knot in February 2012 at the Always & Forever chapel in Las Vegas. Stu Tendler and Mary Jo's marriage lasted six years before they divorced in February 2018. Their divorce was reportedly far from amicable, with instances of abusive phone calls, according to Radar Online. Stu passed away in November 2018 at the age of 60 after battling cancer. Mary Jo is a motivational speaker. She appears on talk shows and travels across the United States to talk about the warning signs of a toxic relationship and overcoming trauma. She is also a New York Times bestselling author. In 2009, Mary Jo published her memoir, Getting It Through My Thick Skull: Why I Stayed, What I Learned, and What Millions of People Involved with Sociopaths Need to Know. The book details facts about her life, the shooting, and what happened after.
Mary Jo Buttafuoco's Current Activities
Mary Jo, who is still based in California, has continued to tell her story while living with the long-term effects of her 1992 shooting. In 2017, she underwent facial rejuvenation to fix her partially paralysed face and help her smile again. A new Lifetime biopic, I Am Mary Jo Buttafuoco, was released in January 2026. Mary Jo appeared in the film as herself to narrate. Ahead of its premiere, the former Long Island suburban wife told People that she wants the new generation to know what happened and admitted that she cut all ties with her ex-husband, Joey Buttafuoco. 'I wanted to tell this story to young people, to people who heard the name but didn't really understand what went on. I want to let people know that things happen and sometimes really bad things happen, but you can get past them.'
The Buttafuoco Children
Mary Jo and Joey Buttafuoco's daughter, Jessica Buttafuoco, was born on March 29, 1983. She got her Bachelor's degree in Sociology from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2005. Jessie went on to become a stage performer and children's theatre producer. Jessica was a co-host on the Shane & Friends podcast alongside YouTube star Shane Dawson from 2016 to 2017. She also had a minor role in the 2017 movie Medias Res and worked as a production associate on Comic Relief 2006, according to her IMDB. A 9-year-old Jessie and her brother Paul were at school when Amy Fisher shot their mom, Mary Jo. Years after the scandal, she struggled with drug abuse and suicidal thoughts. After checking herself into a rehab facility and seeing a therapist, Jessica returned to school in 2020 for a master's in Clinical Psychology at Pepperdine University. As of 2026, Jessie lives in the San Fernando Valley, California. She works as a registered associate marriage and family therapist while pursuing her doctorate in Media Psychology at Fielding Graduate University, according to her LinkedIn profile. Jessica Buttafuoco is her mother's best friend, but she told the New York Post in 2020 that she is estranged from her 'toxic' dad, Joey Buttafuoco. She hopes to mend their father-daughter bond in the future. 'I live day by day. I don't see it closed off forever, but I also don't see the drawbridge coming up anytime soon... I've been on the dark side, and now I'm on the other side of the rainbow.'
Paul Buttafuoco's New Name
Joey and Mary Jo's son, Paul, dropped the Buttafuoco family name, according to ABC News. Paul is an auto body shop owner but chose to avoid the limelight completely. Unlike his sister Jessie, Paul has not given any interviews nor appeared in documentaries about his family. Mary Jo shared in her January 2026 interview with People that Paul is the only one in the family who still sees his dad, Joey Buttafuoco.
Amy Fisher's Life After Prison
Amy Fisher still lives in Long Island, New York, but she maintains a private life after legally changing her name. Following the 1990s Buttafuoco scandal, she was released from prison in May 1999 on parole after serving nearly seven years. Fisher was 24 at the time. Fisher married former New York City police officer Louis 'Lou' Bellera in 2003, and they welcomed three children before their divorce in 2015. She had chosen to live in Florida with the kids, but she told the New York Post in 2017 that her past caught up with her and she had to leave the Sunshine State. 'My kids were ostracised in Florida. They had no friends. All the mothers thought their kids would get the Amy Fisher gene if they hung out with them.' In 2004, Amy published her memoir If I Knew Then and briefly worked as a columnist for the Long Island Press. Between 2007 and 2011, Fisher worked in the adult film industry. Fisher reconnected with Joey Buttafuoco on several TV specials but has since declined to make TV appearances, telling the Post that it's not worth it and that she prefers privacy because her 'life has already been ruined.'
