When a Bronx businessman was gunned down at fast food restaurant, cops thought they knew who was responsible. But an early theory that the man was a target of a mob hit began to fall apart when detectives listened to a jailhouse phone call between the victim’s son and a notorious mobster, as seen in the March 8 episode of Oxygen True Crime’s New York Homicide. 

Who killed Bronx businessman Sylvester Zottola?

When Sylvester Zottola, 71, was fatally shot while stopping for a cup of coffee at a McDonald’s drive-thru in 2018, police immediately suspected they could be looking at a mob-sanctioned murder. Zottola – who had been the target of previous assassination attempts – was a known associate of the Bonnano crime family who had built a multi-million real estate empire using the profits from illegal gambling machines in bars. 

“It’s no secret that the mob is behind a significant amount of violence,” says Lindsay Gerdes, a former assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of New York, in an exclusive clip from the upcoming episode of New York Homicide. “Who would stand to financially gain, potentially, in the mob if Sylvester Zottola was no longer managing his Joker Poker businesses?”

Notorious mobster denies involvement in Zottola’s murder 

Convinced they were dealing with a case involving organized crime, investigators turned their focus to former Bonnano family boss Vincent “Vinny Gorgeous” Basciano, whom they thought might have ordered the hit. But when they listened to a call between Basciano and Zottola’s son, who was in prison on an unrelated issue, they began to question that theory. 

“You don’t bother anybody. And there’s nobody that you bother that they should put you through this bulls***,” Basciano tells Sal Jr.. “Your father’s a good person. Your father’s the salt of the earth. He helped out everybody. I don’t know who’s got this f***ing problem against him. They wanted to kill him last time.”

“It’s somebody that he knows,” Zottola’s son, Sal. Jr., replies. “Somebody that knows his routine.” 

Not only did Basciano deny any involvement in the crime, but the circumstances of Zottola’s murder – including the identity of the suspected gunman – didn’t look like the work of the mob. And as the police dug deeper, they discovered a string of text messages that pointed to the surprising person who was really behind the brutal slaying. 

New York Homicide airs Saturdays at 9 p.m. ET on Oxygen True Crime. 

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