Brooklyn, NY – A clothing salesman on trial for the serial slayings of three New York City shopkeepers has been convicted of murder.
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Jurors deliberated for less than half an hour Wednesday in state Supreme Court in Brooklyn before finding Salvatore Perrone guilty of three counts of murder.
A police detective testified the 67-year-old Staten Island man had carried a duffel bag containing a sawed-off rifle, a bloody knife, screwdrivers, switchblades, bleach and a bloody handkerchief.
The three storekeepers had been shot. One also had his throat slit.
Perrone denied the charges against him and had several outbursts in court. He argued he didn’t shoot anyone and was being framed. He faces a penalty of up to life in prison when he’s sentenced on March 4.
The District Attorney said that, according to trial testimony, on July 6, 2012, the defendant shot Mohamed Gebeli, 65, once in the neck, killing him, inside the victim’s store Valentino Fashion, located at 7718 Fifth Avenue in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.
On August 2, 2012 the defendant shot Isaac Kadare, 59, once in the head and then slit his throat inside the victim’s Amazing 99 Cents Deals store at 1877 86th Street in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. On November 16, 2012 the defendant fatally shot Rahmatollah Vahidipour, 78, in the head, face and chest inside the victim’s She-She Boutique at 834 Flatbush Avenue in Flatbush, Brooklyn.
After the third homicide, a photo of the defendant carrying a black duffle bag in the vicinity of the third crime scene was distributed to the media and he was arrested on November 21, 2012. A search at his girlfriend’s home led to the recovery of the duffle bag.
In it, police discovered a .22-caliber rifle that was registered to the defendant and was used in all three murders, according to ballistic analysis of shell casings that were left at the three crime scenes, the evidence showed. The bag also contained a knife with blood that matched Mr. Kadare. Blood stains that matched Mr. Vahidipour were found on the bag itself.
Furthermore, the defendant’s fingerprints and DNA were recovered from the murder weapon, according to testimony. Cell phone data and surveillance videos placed him in the vicinity of the second and third homicides, the evidence showed. All three victims were killed around their stores’ closing time and their bodies were covered with clothes or other items in an apparent attempt to conceal the murders.
It is too bad that New York State no longer has the death penalty, as this animal would have been a prime candidate. I remember in 1956, when a Jewish baby, Peter Weinberger was kidnapped from his Long Island home, and left to die by the kidnapper. The kidnapper was eventually caught, indicted for murder, prosecuted and convicted. He was sentenced to death, and was executed within two years. In those days, there were no endless delays and appeals. Justice was served in that case.
Bs’d. Seems he was out to kill Muslim shopkeepers and was too stupid to recognize one Indian and one Jew.