On the evening of January 21, 1986, New York City Police Detective Anthony Venditti, 34, was shot dead in the Ridgewood section of Queens while conducting surveillance on a suspected gambling and loan-sharking operation. A 14-year veteran assigned to a joint NYPD and FBI Organized Crime Task Force, Venditti and his partner had been tracking a reputed member of the Genovese crime family, Federico Giovanelli. After spotting Giovanelli, the detectives stopped at a diner on Myrtle Avenue. As Venditti exited their unmarked car he was ambushed by three men, pushed against a wall, and shot multiple times in the head and back; his partner was wounded when she moved to intervene. Venditti was taken to a hospital and died of his injuries.

Three suspects — Federico Fritzy Giovanelli, Carmine Gualtiere, and Steven Maltese — were arrested within two days and faced multiple trials. The prosecutions were undermined by complications including an eyewitness recantation, and the defendants were ultimately acquitted of Venditti’s murder. Although the three later received federal racketeering convictions on other charges, no one has been held legally responsible for Detective Venditti’s killing, and the case remains cold.