A 60‐year‐old gambler was discovered yesterday morning shot to death from very close range, his body slumped in the back seat of his blue Cadillac, which was parked on the west drive of Central Park near 97th Street.

The shooting came less than a day after a 36‐year‐old man with Brooklyn gangland connections was gunned down as he drank alone in a bar in Borough Park, Brooklyn.

Detective sources here cautioned against speculative conclusions that the two murders signaled any renewal of underworld warfare. However, one detective at the department's organized crime control office remarked, “Any time you get two shootings of unsavory characters just a few hours apart, you have to assume it's not just a coincidence.”

Gangland Ties Reported

The intelligence division of the Police Department reported last night that a search of its files had indicated possible Mafia connections. It said the victim might have belonged to or been associated in some way with either the Mafia family once headed by the late Vito Genovese or tire family formerly run by Thomas Luchese.
ADVERTISEMENT
Continue reading the main story

A spokesman said the records did not immediately make clear what the dead man's position had been in relation to either underworld group, but added that he did not seem to have been a ranking member in their hierarchies. Similarly, the man slain in the Brooklyn bar was identified as an underling in the Gallo gang, an often rebellious faction of the crime family headed by Joseph A. Colombo Sr.

The man whose body was found in the car was identified as Gaetano Delia of New Rochelle, N.Y. He was found at 12:30 A.M. by two patrolmen whose suspicions were aroused by the car parked on the roadway. He had been shot “more than twice” in the side of the head with a weapon whose caliber was not immediately determined.

More than $100 was found on his body, and the police discounted robbery as a possible motive.

The dead man had a record of six arrests in New York City and one in Mamaroneck, N.Y. The first arrest was in 1930 on a charge of grand larceny. The others were for policy and gambling violations, with the most recent in July, 1961. Records of possible convictions were not available yesterday.

The police in New Rochelle reported they knew little about the man. “He seemed to just live here, moving up in about 1962?” a detective lieutenant said.

ADVERTISEMENT
Continue reading the main story

Victim Slain at Bar

The earlier gangland‐style killing in Brooklyn took place Saturday morning at a bar at 4520 11th Avenue. The police, said that a lone gunman, wearing a ski mask, entered the bar and fired 12 bullets from a 9‐mm automatic weapon, killing Anthony Careccia.
Carrecia, according to the police, was arrested four times between 1970 and 1972 on charges that included forgery, possession of stolen property and unlawful possession of currency. He was indicted in 1971 for attempting to sell two paintings by Marcel Duchamp that had been stolen from the Philadelphia Museum of Art. His conviction record also was unavailable.

Tensions were reported in the past between the Gallo and Colombo factions, but Federal law‐enforcement officials who monitor organized crime here said the slaying came at a time when those tensions seemed to be easing.

According to the officials, some of the 25 men loyal to Albert Gallo had been observed in recent weeks in the company of known Colombo associates.