Shopkeeper Killer Hails From Bensonhurst, Residents Remember Seeing Him Around
Turns out, the “Son of Sal” killer, Salvatore Perrone was raised in Bensonhurst. He even had a business there. According to a New York Daily News story, locals knew his face and pegged him as a “weirdo,” but couldn’t believe that he was a killer.
“If people knew this lone-wolf wacko was out there whacking people he would have been stopped,” said a resident. “But this Perrone was an empty-suit nobody, a mouse that you knew just by his neighborhood face. You didn’t think he could kill time, never mind three people in cold blood.”
“For some reason, I knew his daughter was a cashier at a local supermarket,” another local said. “We went to the same barber. He wasn’t a ‘connected’ guy. Just a guy you’d see in the pork store or the bakery on 18th Ave. When I seen his face in the Daily News as the Son of Sal I could place him in the local cafés, sippin’ an espresso, always with a big fat long cigar, smoothin’ his thinning hair all the time. Heard he liked to gamble. Last thing you’re thinking is this guy is a serial killer outta some ‘Criminal Minds’ rerun.”
Another resident recalls that Perrone had a clothing store on 66th Street and 18th Avenue.
“He always tried to pressure me and my mother into buying two sweaters, two pairs of slacks,” she said. “An in-your-face weirdo. Too annoying to do business with. That’s why his store went out of business. Probably why he had problems with other store owners. It didn’t surprise me at all when I found out the killer was him. He was nuts. But my mom goes to those K of C dances. Wait’ll I tell her this Perrone nut went there too.”
The K of C dances are the singles dances held at the John Hughes Knights of Columbus, on 13th Avenue and 86th Street, and another resident remembers him going to those as well.
As more information comes forward about the instability of the killer, police are still no closer to understanding his mindset when shooting the three innocent store owners and family men.
