Gambino mafia boss Frank Cali was gunned down by ‘local knucklehead with a beef’ and not a mob hitman, police believe
GAMBINO mafia boss Frank Cali was gunned down by ‘local knucklehead with a beef’ and not a mob hitman, police believe.
Anthony Comello, a 24-year-old non-mobster who lives with his parents and works odd construction jobs, is in custody in a New Jersey jail and expected to face murder charges in connection to the killing.
The don was blasted at least 10 times outside his Staten Island mansion on Wednesday, prompting initial speculation of a Gambino power struggle.
Police now the real reason was Cali hadn’t liked Comello hanging around a particular woman in the mob boss’s family.
The younger man was so outraged by this slight, he slaughtered one of the most dangerous mafioso in Staten Island to get revenge.
Comello was arrested before the ire of the entire Gambino organisation could thunder his way, but only thanks to his own alleged ineptitude.
HANDED VICTIM EVIDENCE
The New York Post reported that in a fleeting gesture that Comello may now have a lifetime in prison to regret, he had picked up and handed to Cali a fallen license plate moments before allegedly opening fire.
Turns out he may have been handing over the murder’s most incriminating evidence — to his own alleged victim.
Investigators dusted the license plate, ran the prints recovered from it, and got a hit for Comello, police said.
DISAGREEMENT OVER A WOMAN
Realising they did not have a well-orchestrated mob assassination on their hands, the FBI soon scaled back their role in the murder investigation, leaving the NYPD in control, sources said.
“This went from the perfect crime to amateur hour,” one law enforcement source quipped.
The New York Post claimed Cali and his killer were captured on surveillance footage from the mobster’s brick mansion on Staten Island.
Footage from the property, which authorities obtained using a search warrant, shows Cali and the man having a conversation and shaking hands before the man passes Cali the license plate that fell off the Cadillac during the crash, police sources said.
CAUGHT ON CAMERA
The man then opened fire with a 9mm weapon as Cali turned his back and was putting the license plate in the trunk of the Escalade, according to sources.
Comello will be extradited to Staten Island in the next few days, according to police sources, where he will face murder charges.
Shea continued to say police had recovered the blue pickup truck that witnesses said slammed into Cali’s parked car, luring him outside to his demise.
SHOT IN THE BACK
Cali reportedly exited his home shortly before 9.20pm after a motorist in a blue 4×4 reversed into Cali’s silver Cadillac Escalade.
The stunning hit was the first assassination of a New York City mob boss since an upstart John Gotti had Gambino boss Paul Castellano whacked outside Sparks Steak House in 1985.
Cali’s murder was also the first assassination of a New York crime boss ever recorded on video.
Cali tried to escape the hail of bullets by hiding under the Cadillac, which initially led investigators to believe that he had been run over during the attack. Police no longer believe that was the case.
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The city Medical Examiner’s Office ruled Friday that Cali died from gunshot wounds, an ME source said.
Cali’s body was transferred from the Kings County Hospital morgue on Friday to the Scarpaci Funeral Home on Staten Island where a wake will be held for him, sources said.
Meanwhile, officers armed with a search warrant removed electronics, including cellphones and laptops, from Cali’s home Thursday as police deepen their investigation into the slaying, sources said.