On September 3, 1987, 30-year-old Carmine Varriale was shot to death in Brooklyn’s Bath Beach neighborhood. The attack also killed 51-year-old Frank Santora, an associate of the Bonanno crime family, who was walking with Varriale at the time. The killings are tied to organized-crime retaliation: Varriale had been reportedly seeking vengeance for his brother Pasquale Paddy Bulldog Varriale, who was killed earlier that year.

Three men are identified in accounts of the hit: Frank Smith Jr. is described as the shooter, Frank Smith Sr. as a backup, and Michael Cilone as the getaway driver. Cilone later cooperated with prosecutors and received a one-day prison sentence for his role after becoming an informant. Smith Jr. also eventually became a government witness following unrelated drug convictions; his cooperation in 2001 led to a sentence of one year of house arrest and five years of probation.

If anyone knew Carmine Varriale, Frank Santora, or has information about the Bath Beach shooting, please share what is known.