Anthony Comello only wanted one thing the day he ended up at the house of Francesco Cali (Franky Boy); to make a citizen’s arrest. Little was it anticipated that he will end up killing one of the leaders of the Gambino crime family.
The day of the incident
He took his pickup truck to Todt Hill, Staten Island to Franky Boy’s house. The 25-year-old lured Franky boy outside and after he refused to be arrested (did he really think Cali was just going to let him make a citizen’s arrest?), Comello shot him at least ten times. It is said that first Comello saw Franky Boy putting his hand towards his waistband that made him think Franky was going to pull out his gun and shoot. This led to Comello taking out his gun and shooting the mafia leader.
The police saw the pickup truck later in surveillance footage from a nearby location which enabled them to identify Anthony Comello and list him as a suspect. He was later arrested.
Frank Cali “Franky Boy”
Conspiracy Theorist
Comello’s defense lawyer, Robert C. Gottlieb made an insanity plea saying his client is mentally unstable and that is what led him to Francesco’s house in the first place.
Anthony Comello believes in the QAnon conspiracy theory which states that agents inside the government are working against Trump to dismiss him from office. They say these agents are part of the “deep state”.
Comello thought that Franky boy was also part of this alleged “deep state” and that is why he was the right target to make a citizen’s arrest. Comello thought he was chosen to do this to help President Trump and that he was being protected by the President himself.
Mr. Gottlieb also said that Comello wasn’t just someone who was merely participating in the organization, he was obsessed with it.
This means that Comello had a strong chance he would be declared mentally unstable and admitted for psychiatric treatment. However, it did not help Comello’s case when he refused to take the state mental exam. He then also said he’s “perfectly fine” if his refusal to collaborate leads to him not having an insanity defense.
Bizzare courtroom rant
When Anthony Comello was finally taken to trial, he went on a bizarre rant. He told the court that he possesses evidence of drug smuggling rings and human trafficking crimes taking place globally.
He also ranted about an alleged program by the Central Intelligence Agency called Operation Mockingbird. A program used by the CIA to spread false propaganda through the use of journalists. He also said that Franky boy was part of the “deep state” and so had to be taken down to save the President.
Will his rant help his case?
His confession taken earlier by the police was ruled by the court as admissible and so it is very unlikely that Anthony Comello will be let go as there is hard-hitting evidence against him. His mental insanity defense put forth by his lawyer is also shaky as Comello refuses to cooperate to take part in the mental exam.
His rant has further ruined his case, and so it seems very likely Comello will serve some significant prison time for his crime.
