‘Son of Sal’ fit to stand trial

BY ANNA SPIVAK & HELEN KLEIN

Accused serial killer “Son of Sal” has been deemed fit for trial following a Brooklyn Supreme Court hearing on Wednesday, May 28.

Charged with first degree murder, Salvatore Perrone – accused of killing three Brooklyn shopkeepers between July and November, 2012 – displayed unstable behavior in courtrooms over the past two years and fired his attorney in 2013, claiming he was capable of representing himself.

“It was a hearing to discuss his psych evaluation,” said Lupe Todd, a spokesperson with the Brooklyn district attorney’s office. “He was declared fit for trial.”

After undergoing several psychiatric evaluations, according to the Brooklyn DA’s Office, Perrone was declared fit for trial by Justice Alan Marrus, but unfit to represent himself.

According to reports, Howard Kirsch will be Perrone’s court-appointed attorney.

As this paper previously reported, the Bensonhurst native, who had moved to Staten Island, allegedly shot his first victim, Mohamed Gebeli, in the neck inside his store, Valentino’s Fashion in Bay Ridge. Isaac Kadare, Perrone’s second victim, was also shot in his store, Amazing 99 Cent Deals and Up, in Bensonhurst. The final victim, Rahmatollah Vahidipour, was gunned down in his Flatbush Avenue business, She She Boutique.

All three men ran family-owned businesses and were shot with the same .22 caliber gun, just before closing time.

Just weeks before the most recent hearing, Perrone called this newspaper from the Kirby Psychiatric Center on Wards Island, where he had been confined since being declared unfit to stand trial in December, 2014.

In a rambling statement, Perrone contended that there had been, “Threats and intimidation of all defense witnesses,” as well as that, “There is evidence that will show that I was elsewhere when the three crimes took place.” He also repeatedly contended that the judge’s signature on the search warrant that turned up evidence being used against him was “forged.” He learned this, he asserted, because “someone provided me with inside information.”

That evidence, discovered at an apartment in Midwood where he frequently stayed, included a duffle bag that had a .22-caliber rifle inside it that ballistics experts have tied to spent shells found at the three crime scenes.

Prior to Perrone’s November, 2012 arrest, the NYPD had released videos of someone cops dubbed John Doe Duffle Bag who had been caught on surveillance video just after 6 p.m. on the day of the third murder at two locations near the crime scene.

During the phone call to this newspaper, Perrone promised to send a packet of documentation that would prove his claims. That package was never received.