Decades-Old Fox 29 Interview Shows Man Weeks After 1999 Mob Slaying He’s Now Charged With

Philadelphia man Richard Leidy, charged this week with gunning down an alleged mob associate more than two decades ago, was once filmed warning a Fox 29 reporter that he feared for his family’s safety — just months after the crime he is now charged with committing.

Leidy was arrested this week over the April 1999 killing of Gino Marconi, a 42-year-old alleged associate of reputed Philadelphia mob boss Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino, who was ambushed and shot in the head outside his home. Marconi’s girlfriend, Patricia Miley, then 31, was hit three times, but survived.

After the arrest, however, Fox 29’s Steve Keeley resurfaced archive station footage that shows Leidy giving a street-side interview with then-reporter Dave Scratweiser, discussing how his own home had been robbed that February. Armed intruders, he said, had demanded money, held a gun to his chest and threatened to kill him.

“I’m concerned for my family’s safety and mine, sure,” he told Scratweiser in the clip.

Police long suspected a link between the robbery and Marconi’s death, but the case went cold. Investigators probed whether Leidy may have sought revenge, but evidence at the time was too thin to bring charges.

“I remember both cases,” Deputy Police Commissioner Frank Vanore told the Philadelphia Inquirer, adding that Leidy had remained a suspect.

Now, after a combined effort by city homicide detectives, FBI agents and prosecutors, Leidy has been charged with murder, attempted murder and multiple weapons offenses. He is being held without bail and is set to appear in court on September 15, the day of his 61st birthday.

Watch above via Fox 29.