Police have nabbed the killer behind the murders of three Brooklyn shopkeepers of Middle Eastern descent, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly announced Wednesday evening.
Salvatore Perrone, 63, is being charged with three counts of murder and three counts of criminal possession of a weapon.
Perrone is the individual captured on surveillance camera who cops were calling John Doe Duffel Bag.
Screen shots from those surveillance tapes were circulated in the media, and an anonymous tipster called in to identify Perrone. He was recognized at a pharmacy in Bay Ridge and voluntarily accompanied officers to the police station.
The three victims were all shot with the same .22 caliber weapon, which police found in Perrone’s duffel bag. Ballistics testing matched shell casings from the murder scenes to the gun, and forensics lifted one of Perrone’s fingerprints from the weapon as well.
The gun and duffel bag were both found at his girlfriend’s apartment. Perrone owns a home in Staten Island, but has been living on and off at his girlfriend’s in Brooklyn.
Perrone sold clothing to small stores in Brooklyn. Police received several calls from proprietors of stores similar to those of the victims’, who recognized Perrone as a salesman who periodically visted their stores.
The most recent victim was Rahamatollah Vahidipour, 78, found dead in his store around 7:11pm on Friday. Perrone also murdered Mohamed Gebeli, 65, on July 6th at Valentino Fashion in Bay Ridge, and Isaac Kadare, 59, on August 2nd at Amazing 99-cent Deals in Bensonhurt.
