NOT A SANCTIONED HIT, NYPD SAYS: Suspect In Custody For Gambino Boss Slaying

The New York Post is reporting that  a suspect is in custody in connection to the slaying Wednesday night of reputed Gambino mob boss Francesco “Franky Boy” Cali outside his Staten Island home.

Cali 's SUV being towed this week.


Police sources told The Post Saturday that the suspect is a white male in his late 20s or 30s, and he is being questioned about the Wednesday night shooting.







Authorities got the suspect’s fingerprint off the license plate of Cali’s silver Cadillac Escalade SUV — which he handed to the mobster after allegedly smashing into the car, the sources said.



Cali, 53, was shot several times in front of his brick mansion in the lavish Todt Hill neighborhood at about 9:20 p.m. His wife and young children were inside.

He shook hands with the shooter before he was killed, a source said.

The hit on Cali was not sanctioned by New York’s five Mafia families, NYPD says 

The shake was captured on surveillance footage from Cali’s brick mansion in the Todt Hill section of Staten Island.

Cali, 53, had rushed out of his home shortly before 9:20 p.m. Wednesday after a motorist in a blue pickup truck reversed his vehicle and smashed into the mobster’s Cadillac Escalade, causing it to “rock significantly,” Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea said this week.

The footage, obtained via a search warrant, shows Cali and the man having a conversation and shaking hands before the man hands Cali the license plate that fell off the Cadillac during the crash that lured the Gambino boss outside, sources said.

The "hit man"— said to be 30-45 years of age — opened fire with a 9 mm weapon as Cali turned to put the license plate in the trunk of the Escalade, according to sources.

"It's almost as if proof of the concept that hitting the car was contrived,” a source has said.

“It doesn’t look like there was any rage. "

The gunman fired 12 shots, hitting Cali at least six times.

“I heard five shots. Two at first and then three more. I was frightened,” a neighbor said. “That night it looked like a murder mystery. A lot of vehicles and lights and commotion. Like a scene from the movies.”

Cali tried to escape 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.

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.

Authorities continue to eye 72-year-old Gene Gotti, a brother of the late Gambino crime boss “Dapper Don” John Gotti, in the killing, according to law enforcement sources who say the hit on Cali was not sanctioned by New York’s five Mafia families.

Gene Gotti was released from prison in September 2018 after spending 29 years behind bars for heroin dealing.


“Everything was running smoothly. Everybody was making money and something like this is only bad for business,” a law enforcement source said. “Now they’re back on the front page.”




Comments