Arrest in different Mafia hit

A Gambino crime family associate has been arrested in connection with the murder of a mob-connected loanshark who was shot in the back of the head last year in his Brooklyn home.

The elderly mobster, Vincent Zito, was killed in his Sheepshead Bay house in October 2018. His school-age grandson found the body when he came home from class, authorities said.

Prosecutors on Thursday charged Anthony Pandrella, a reputed longtime associate of the Gambino organized crime family, with the hit, and said the defendant’s DNA was recovered from the trigger of the murder weapon, which was found beside Zito’s body.

Pandrella was a “friend of many years” and met with Zito in his home Oct. 26, according to an indictment. While there, court papers said, he shot Zito, 78, in the back of the head at close range, and stole cash from Zito’s loan business. Pandrella then cleaned up evidence that might link him to the murder, the documents said.

Later that day, Pandrella returned to Zito’s home and met with his family, friends and relatives and tried to learn the status of law enforcement’s investigation. Pandrella was captured on security camera footage coming to and going from Zito’s residence at the time of the robbery and murder.

“Pandrella executed a 78year-old man in his own home so he could steal from him,” said U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue. “With today’s arrest, he will now face justice for these brutal crimes.”

FBI Assistant Director in Charge William Sweeney said the murder was beyond the pale of typical mob murders.

“It takes a certain type of evil to murder a friend in their own home, and then console the grieving relatives,” Sweeney said.