Arrest made in Philadelphia cold-case mob hit near scene of the crime: Officials
More than 26 years after a man was gunned down outside his Philadelphia home in what police described as a mob-style killing, a suspect was arrested this week, a block from the crime scene, authorities said.
Federal prosecutors announced on Tuesday the arrest of 60-year-old Richard Leidy in the 1999 ambush that left Guerino "Gino" Marconi dead and his 31-year-old girlfriend, Patricia Miley, wounded.
According to documents filed in Philadelphia federal court, Leidy is charged with murder, attempted murder and possession of a prohibited firearm. Leidy is also charged with simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, possession of an instrument of crime with intent and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.
Leidy was arrested on Monday at his home in South Philadelphia, which is about a block from where the fatal shooting of Marconi unfolded on South 20th Street in South Philadelphia, authorities said. It was unclear if Leidy was living at the same residence when Marconi was killed.
Leidy was arraigned on the charges on Tuesday, but did not enter a plea, according to court records. A preliminary hearing in the case has been scheduled for Sept. 15, which, according to court documents, will be Leidy's 61st birthday.
Details of what led investigators to arrest Leidy in the cold-case killing were not immediately disclosed.
Leidy is being held in federal custody without bail.
At the time of the killing, 42-year-old Marconi was described in media reports as a low-level associate of Joseph Salvatore "Skinny Joey" Merlino, then reputed boss of the Philadelphia crime family.
On the night of April 10, 1999, Marconi and Miley were both shot by an assailant wielding a rifle, who confronted them outside Marconi's home, the Philadelphia Police Department said at the time.
Marconi was shot once in the head and taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead, the Philadelphia Daily News reported at the time. Marconi's girlfriend, Miley, was shot three times in the attack and critically injured, but survived the shooting, the Daily News reported.
Before fleeing the scene, the gunman torched a van that was parked in front of Marconi's home and set other vehicles on fire, according to police.
A motive for the shooting was not immediately disclosed.
Marconi, who grew up in South Philadelphia, owned an auto body shop in South Philly at the time of his death, the Daily News reported, citing property records.
The newspaper said Miley worked as a billing clerk for a Philadelphia law firm.
