New York -A balding garment salesman was arrested Wednesday for systematically killing three shopkeepers as they worked alone in their clothing stores and had been poised to strike again, police said.
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Salvatore Perrone, 63, was taken into custody after a pharmacy worker recognized him as the man shown in surveillance footage leaving the scene of the most recent shooting, last Friday, with a duffel bag, police said.
Another shopkeeper came forward and said Perrone had gone into his store and questioned him on whether he worked alone and when he closed, police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said. Police devoted scores of detectives to the case, he said.
“It’s reasonable to assume he was going to keep doing this, and, by arresting him, we saved lives,” Kelly said at a news conference.
Perrone, of Staten Island, was arrested on charges of murder. He was in custody Wednesday and couldn’t be reached for comment. A message left on his cellphone was not returned, and it was unclear if he had an attorney.
Detectives said they found the duffel bag at his girlfriend’s home. Inside, they said, was a sawed-off rifle used in the killings, along with .22-caliber ammunition, block gloves, women’s clothing, a bloody knife and a bottle of bleach.
Perrone’s fingerprint was lifted from the murder weapon, Kelly said.
Initially, authorities thought the killer might have targeted the Brooklyn shopkeepers, who were from Iran and Egypt, because of their Middle Eastern backgrounds. But on Wednesday Kelly said there was no motive he could speak of.
In the most recent killing, Rahmatollah Vahidipour, an Iranian, was shot three times in the head and chest at his store, the She She Boutique.
After that killing, detectives discovered the same gun was used in the fatal shootings of two other shopkeepers when ballistics matched the .22-caliber gun shell casings on all three. On July 6, Mohamed Gebeli, an Egyptian, was found shot in the back of his shop, Valentino Fashion Inc. On Aug. 6, Isaac Kadare, also Egyptian, was shot in the head in his store, Amazing 99 Cent Deal.
There were other similarities in the deaths, authorities said: The bodies were all partially obscured, by clothing or, in one case, a box. The locations of the shops form an equilateral triangle and are about 4 miles apart, with addresses that contain the number eight.
Police earlier this week said they were looking to speak to four people who possibly witnessed the most recent killing and released video and clear images of the four. But they zeroed in on the man with the bag, who they now say was Perrone.
Kelly called Perrone, who’s white, “talkative” with detectives and said he made incriminating statements. But Kelly refused to reveal what Perrone said.
Police said they believe Perrone carried the murder weapon in the bag and travelled by subway.
Perrone, a Brooklyn native, is divorced and lives with his girlfriend. He went store to store trying to sell clothing, police said, but it was unclear if he had tried to sell to any of the victims.
Perrone was arrested in Franconia Township, Pa., in 2001 and charged with stalking, harassment, burglary and public drunkenness, but those charges were dropped when he pleaded guilty to a trespassing charge.
Hang him!!!
The NYPD did a great job on this.
Sorry for my ignorance. Can someone explain what a sawed-off rifle is?
Good work by the NYPD on catching him.
Just curious, why doesn’t the article mention that on of the store clerks was Jewish?
Just a few comments; to # 20, I’ll hazard a guess that u don’t get out much; If someone commits a horrible crime, e.g. Grossman, Levy, Duffel guy, they should be Executed. Not necessarily because they have a “black heart” and are Evil, but rather on the concept of “u’beeartuh ruh meykirbechu” and because Society demands it. Finally, if once in a long while an innocent person gets executed, that’s life. Get over it. If u can understand wonderful young people dying of cancer or because they were smushed by a drunk driver, then that’s God’s will. (Obviously we should try to minimize the risks; perhaps by a panel who just judges the possibility of mistaken identity.)
HeshyEmes, are you saying that it wasn’t G-d’s will that the victims in this case died?
Given the way the death penalty was decided in halacha (two eidim, perpetrator warned, etc.), it’s quite a stretch to equate the death penalty in American law to the death penalty in halacha. Also, since there’s no death penalty in New York, this whole discussion is pretty pointless.
New York State has not executed anyone since 1963. Essentially, capital punishment was abolished in NY in 1965. Since that time, there have been no less than 45,000-50,000 homicides in New York State.
Mr. Perrone’s killer was bad news to his neighbors. He accosted and threatened a neighbor following Hurricane Sandy. It appeared that the killer’s tree was knocked over, and destroyed, and fell across a neighbor’s lot. Hence, the neighbor rightfully took his chain saw, and cut it up. The latter act did not sit too good with Mr. Perrone, who threatened his neighbor. The entire block was afraid of Perrone, as he would sit in the middle of his street on a lawn chair at night, drinking beer. Also, his home was subject to numerous building code violations, as it was not properly maintained. Last, I wish that the readers would stop bringing up the case of Grossman. Regarding the comment about Grossman being high on drugs, the latter is no legal defense to murder. He made a conscious decision to take the Park Ranger’s gun, and kill her. She was a very nice person, who attended school, not too far from where I live. Justice was served in that case!