“The Iceman” cameth – on orders of “Sammy Bull.”
At least that’s what New Jersey authorities charged yesterday, accusing jailed mob turncoat Salvatore “Sammy Bull” Gravano of masterminding the 1980 hit of an alleged dirty NYPD cop by Richard “The Iceman” Kuklinski.
Authorities did not immediately reveal why Gravano, a hit man himself, might have arranged for somebody to murder Queens cop Peter Calabro in March 1980.
But Calabro, a highly decorated cop in the department’s car-theft unit, had allegedly turned bad and was aiding a ring operated by the Gambino crime family, headed by Gravano’s boss, John Gotti.
Law-enforcement sources have said they believe the mob wanted Calabro dead to keep him from turning government witness.
Kuklinski, in a bizarrely candid interview on HBO’s “America Undercover” in 2001, admitted he had been hired by the Mafia to pull the trigger on Calabro.
It wasn’t clear whether Kuklinski, 67, may have recently ratted out Gravano – now in an Arizona prison serving 19 years on drug charges.
Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli said only that further investigation linked the two men.
In addition to ordering the hit a month before it was carried out, Gravano provided Kuklinski with the “specific weaponry and equipment needed” to carry it out, Molinelli said.
Calabro, 36, was shot twice while heading home in his station wagon to Upper Saddle River, N.J., after the late shift.
Authorities said Gravano was in the area at the time, and Kuklinski has said he was on a walkie-talkie awaiting word from someone nearby on where Calabro was heading.
In the past, Gravano is believed to have arranged at least one killing via such walkie-talkies. He also is known to have liked to watch as a hit was being carried out.
Gravano was charged with a single count of murder in the case.
His lawyer, Gary Parzych, said, “Mr. Gravano adamantly denies any involvement in the case.” With Post Wire Services