In 2012, killer Salvatore Perrone terrorized shopkeepers in Brooklyn, New York. Over five months, he murdered three men before the NYPD finally bagged their man.
Perrone targeted shops late in the day as they were closing; his victims were all over 50 and were of middle eastern origin.
Perrone’s reign of terror began on July 6 when he entered a clothing store and fired a single shot into Mohamed Gebeli, 65, from a sawn-off rifle.
Gebeli’s son, Moh Gebeli, would later state that the family had known his father’s killer as they had sold clothes to him for 25-years.
A month later, on August 2, he marched into Isaac Kadare’s dollar store and using the same sawn-off rifle shot the 59-year-old in the head and slit his throat.
Perrone’s final victim was Rahmatollah Vahidipour, who was killed November 16 after being shot in the head, face, and chest.
Police were able to connect the three murders due to the .22 caliber shell casings recovered from each murder scene. They were then directed to Perrone by a member of the public who recognized him from a photo the cops had circulated from surveillance footage.
Watch the Latest on our YouTube ChannelThe net closed in on Salvatore Perrone
In the surveillance footage, the murderer was seen carrying a duffel bag, which investigators then located at Perrone’s girlfriend’s apartment. Inside the bag, they found a .22 caliber sawn-off rifle along with a large body of forensic evidence that linked Perrone to the murders.
In March 2016, the 67-year-old was convicted of three counts of second-degree murder and given the maximum possible sentence of 75-years in prison.
Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Alan Marrus told Perrone, “You’re lucky we don’t have the death penalty here in New York. You would be a prime candidate.”
Despite the overwhelming evidence against him, Perrone maintained his innocence throughout his trial, “If I’m lying, hang me,” he told the judge.
A motive for the killings has remained elusive. Perrone had had relatively minor run-ins with the law in previous years; he had charges of drunk driving along with some for theft and harassment.
He was also known to be financially struggling at the time and stayed in a house on Staten Island that neighbors referred to as looking unlivable.
More murders in New York
Also profiled on TV was the murder of millionaire George Kogan by his flamboyant wife in 1990. Barbara Kogan, aka The Black Widow, paid her divorce lawyer to hire a hitman to gun down her husband on a busy New York street near his mistress’s apartment.
In another case of a wealthy New York entrepreneur being murdered, Howard Pilmar was savagely stabbed forty times in his office. The killers were his wife Roslyn Pilmar and her brother Evan Wald.
Mark of a Killer airs Thursday at 8/7c on Oxygn.