Update, Stamford Murder: Marco Paoletta

I’ve been writing about restaurants a lot recently, probably because it’s easy to write about, and this is harder.
In the latest Advocate article, it says that not only do police believe Marco Paoletta was targeted, they think the killers knew when his raquetball game at the JCC ended, and that’s when they got him.
Well. That is disgusting and sad and scary. As I passed the Jewish Community Center on my way home from the gym, and glanced to my right at Vine St. where Paoletta was found, I felt sick. I hate to imagine how terrifying the last moments of his life were. I hope someone saw something, and that we can find out who did this.

Something else got my attention in the Advocate article: former Stamford police officer Vito Colucci is a friend of the family. I had read about Colucci in the Stamford Times a few months ago; he published a book about being a private investigator. I called Barrett Bookstore in Darien, and they had five copies. I'm looking forward to reading a Stamford cop’s account of his job. I’ll let you know what I think. So far, I’m taken aback by how large the print is, but that will make it easier to read on the elliptical at the gym. It might be too disturbing to read at night, anyway.

I should end by saying to Paoletto’s family that I’m very sorry, and that a lot of people are thinking about Marco and hoping the case is solved.
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Here’s some text from the Advocate article. You can also view the Stamford Times’ article for similar information.

Murder victim targeted after racquetball
By Zach Lowe, Staff Writer for the Stamford Advocate, January 16 2008
STAMFORD - Police believe a city man found dead on the side of a road near a school this month was the target of a planned killing, timed for the end of his racquetball game at a nearby community center.
The body of Marco Paoletta Jr., 51, was found by police on Vine Road near Turn of River Middle School on Jan. 3 at about 6:30 - a few minutes after Paoletta, a local racquetball champion, finished his game at the Jewish Community Center, said Capt. Richard Conklin, head of the police department's detective bureau…
Police have narrowed their focus to the few minutes after Paoletta left the community center and before his body was found with a gunshot wound to the head.
Vito Colucci Jr., a private investigator whose wife is related to Paoletta, said police have active leads and are piecing together an idea of who may have targeted Paoletta.
"This is not a cold case by any means," said Colucci, who is acting as a spokesman for Paoletta's nine siblings. "They are making progress."
Colucci said the killer may have known Paoletta's schedule and waited for him outside the community center.
Paoletta may have known the killer and set up a meeting for after his racquetball game, Colucci said…
Paoletta, known to his friends as "Chickie," was a lifelong Stamford resident who worked in the credit division of a bank in Bridgeport.
His siblings said they were shocked by his death could not think of anyone who would want to harm him.
Police did not recover a weapon and have not speculated on what kind of gun the killer used.