The man police suspect killed a reputed mob boss is scheduled to appear in court Monday as investigators work to piece together whether or not the assassination had anything to do with the mafia.
New York Police Department detectives announced over the weekend that 24-year-old Anthony Comello was the suspect in the shooting death of Francesco “Franky Boy” Cali, who is believed by police to be a boss of the Gambino crime family.
Comello is slated to appear in court in Toms River, New Jersey, on Monday afternoon. The prospect of his possible extradition to New York — and the timing on any such move — is still to be determined.
Investigators are still working to pin down a motive for the shooting on March 13, which marked the first alleged mob boss murder in New York in over 30 years.
(Ocean County’s Department of Corrections) Anthony Comello, 24, seen in this police handout, is charged in connection to the killing of Francesco “Franky Boy” Cali.Comello made conflicting statements to police on Saturday, which has changed the alleged motive to the fatal shooting.
Officials initially believed the killing was related to Cali’s alleged mob ties, but sources now believe the suspect was dating one of Cali’s female relatives, and at some point Cali told the suspect to stop seeing her, sparking a conflict.
Comello had multiple discussions with detectives but has since retained an attorney and the police’s questioning ceased, NYPD Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea said at a press conference on Saturday after Comello was taken into custody.
(Spencer Platt/Getty Images, FILE) Police stand along the street where reputed mob boss Francesco “Franky Boy” Cali lived and was gunned down on March 14, 2019 in the Todt Hill neighborhood of the Staten Island borough of New York City.Cali’s killing was captured on grainy surveillance video. It shows the suspect drive up to the home in a blue pickup truck, come to a stop, then suddenly reverse. The pickup truck then crashes into Cali’s parked Cadillac SUV, multiple police sources told ABC News.
The force of the impact knocked the license plates off the SUV, sources added.
Cali then got out of his car and talked to the suspect, police sources said. The two men shook hands, and then Cali turned his back to put the license plate inside the SUV.
That’s when the suspect pulled out a 9mm handgun and fired six bullets into Cali, police officials said.
Police are still investigating whether the accident in front of Cali’s house that preceded the shooting was a “ploy” to lure Cali outside.
(Italian Police via AFP/Getty Images, FILE) Francesco “Franky Boy” Cali, the reputed leader of the Gambino crime family, is pictured in a photo released by the Italian Police on Feb. 7, 2008.Detectives discovered a fingerprint on Cali’s SUV and the suspect was tracked by his phone, sources said.
Shea confirmed forensic teams recovered fingerprints from Cali’s SUV.
ABC News’ Soo Youn and Bill Hutchinson contributed to this report.
