<p id=”par-1_66″>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 <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/frank-sinatra-saved-johnny-carson-mob-hit-johnny-carson-breathes-cause-knows-frank-sinatra.html/”>target of a mob hit</a> 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 <a href=”https://cheatsheet.com/tag/true-crime”>True Crime</a>’s <em>New York Homicide. </em></p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-who-killed-bronx-businessman-sylvester-zottola”>Who killed Bronx businessman Sylvester Zottola?</h2>
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<iframe title=’Was Mob Boss “Vinny Gorgeous” Responsible for the Death of Sylvester Zottola?’ width=”925″ height=”520″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/ace7HIVIROk?feature=oembed” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” referrerpolicy=”strict-origin-when-cross-origin” allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<p id=”par-2_69″>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 <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/frank-sinatra-nearly-target-mafia-hit-john-f-kennedy.html/”>mob-sanctioned murder</a>. 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. </p>
<p id=”par-3_61″>“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 <em>New York Homicide</em>. “Who would stand to financially gain, potentially, in the mob if Sylvester Zottola was no longer managing his Joker Poker businesses?”</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-notorious-mobster-denies-involvement-in-zottola-s-murder-nbsp”>Notorious mobster denies involvement in Zottola’s murder </h2>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-2″><img decoding=”async” src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Sylvester-Zottalo-Murder.webp?strip=all&quality=80″ alt=”A cop leaning against an NPYD squad car outside of a McDonald’s” class=”wp-image-3785960″><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>The scene outside a McDonald’s in the Bronx following the murder of Sylvester Zottola | Nina Cochran/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images</figcaption></figure>
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<span class=”related-article-flag”>Related</span>
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A Mafia Hitman Once Claimed the Mob Planned to Kill Desi Arnaz </a>
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<p id=”par-4_57″>Convinced they were dealing with a case involving organized crime, investigators turned their focus to <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/donnie-brasco-realistic-scenes-mob-movies-ex-mafia-boss-says.html/”>former Bonnano family</a> 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. </p>
<p id=”par-5_54″>“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.”</p>
<p id=”par-6_15″>“It’s somebody that he knows,” Zottola’s son, Sal. Jr., replies. “Somebody that knows his routine.” </p>
<p id=”par-7_59″>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. </p>
<p id=”par-8_13″><em>New York Homicide </em>airs Saturdays at 9 p.m. ET on Oxygen True Crime. </p>
<p id=”par-9_16″><em>For more on the entertainment world and exclusive interviews, subscribe to </em><a href=”https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWmTM34h0-P7FcCwuA6h6sw/videos” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”><em>Showbiz Cheat Sheet’s YouTube channel</em></a><em>. </em></p>