Salesman held in shooting deaths of 3 NYC merchants

NEW YORK -- A garment salesman was held without bail Thursday while awaiting a court appearance on charges that he systematically shot three shopkeepers to death as they worked alone in their New York City clothing stores.

Salvatore Perrone, who was held after his initial Brooklyn court appearance on murder charges, denies killing anyone, his lawyer said.

Attorney Ken Jones, who represented Perrone only for the arraignment and hadn't spent much time with him, said his client shows no remorse and appears "as though he could have some mental-health issues."

Perrone, of Staten Island, will return to court Tuesday, prosecutors said. He was taken into custody Wednesday in the suspected serial killings that scores of New York City detectives were investigating.

A pharmacy worker recognized him as the balding man shown in surveillance footage leaving the scene of the most recent shooting, Nov. 16, with a duffel bag, police said.

Another shopkeeper came forward and said Perrone had gone into his store and questioned him about whether he worked alone and when he closed, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.

"It's reasonable to assume he was going to keep doing this, and, by arresting him, we saved lives," Kelly said at a news conference.

Detectives said they found the duffel bag at his girlfriend's home. Inside, they said, was a sawed-off rifle used in the killings, along with .22-caliber ammunition, black gloves, women's clothing, a bloody knife and a bottle of bleach.

Perrone's fingerprint was lifted from the murder weapon, Kelly said.

Initially, authorities thought the killer might have targeted the Brooklyn shopkeepers who were from Iran and Egypt, because of their Middle Eastern backgrounds. On Wednesday, Kelly said there was no motive he could speak of.

In the most recent killing, Rahmatollah Vahidipour, an Iranian, was shot three times in the head and chest at his store, the She She Boutique.

After that killing, detectives discovered the same gun was used in the fatal shootings of two other shopkeepers when ballistics matched the .22-caliber gun shell casings on all three. On July 6, Mohamed Gebeli, an Egyptian, was found shot in the back of his shop, Valentino Fashion Inc. On Aug. 6, Isaac Kadare, also Egyptian, was shot in the head in his store, Amazing 99 Cent Deal.

There were other similarities in the deaths, authorities said: The bodies were all partially obscured, by clothing or, in one case, a box. The locations of the shops form an equilateral triangle and are about 4 miles apart, with addresses that contain the number eight.

In this photo provided by the New York City Police Department, Ruger 10-22 carbine, allegedly found by police in the possession Salvatore Perrone, is shown on a table in New York, Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2012. Police say that Perrone used the rifle to kill three New York shop keepers since July. (AP Photo/New York City Police Department)

Kelly called Perrone "talkative" with detectives and said he made incriminating statements.

But Kelly refused to reveal what Perrone said.

Police said they believe Perrone carried the murder weapon in the bag and traveled by subway.

Perrone, a Brooklyn native, is divorced and lives with his girlfriend. He went store to store trying to sell clothing, police said, but it was unclear if he had tried to sell to any of the victims.

Perrone was arrested in Franconia Township, Pa., in 2001 and charged with stalking, harassment, burglary and public drunkenness, but those charges were dropped when he pleaded guilty to a trespassing charge.