On Sept. 25, 2015, Floral Park resident John Mariani was shot and killed during a botched robbery while on vacation in Medellin, Colombia. After nearly three and a half years, the gunman and getaway driver were identified, apprehended and sentenced, thanks in large part to the efforts of the FBI and Medellin authorities.
John’s older brother, Joe Mariani, who’d been acting as the liaison between the family and FBI, said he was happy to see justice served for his brother. “Law enforcement came through and gave us closure,” Joe said.
He said the perpetrators of the crime were gang members in their late teens at the time of the shooting. They were charged with this crime while serving time in prison for another crime, for which they were arrested following a shootout with authorities. After reaching plea deals, both men were sentenced in January 2019 to 16 years in prison for armed robbery, plus another 16 years for the killing, Joe Mariani said.
According to Joe Mariani, the FBI concluded that as John and a friend were exiting a cab, the two perpetrators pulled up on a motorcycle, with one pointing a gun at John. John did not attempt to resist and reached for the wallet in his pocket, but the gunman, after his Rolex watch and acting in the heat of the moment, likely thought John was reaching for a weapon. Consequently, the robber shot him before taking only his watch. According to Joe, the watch wasn’t worth much because it was fake, as John was an avid collector of such watches.
An employee from a pizza place across the street from the shooting was one of the first to arrive on the scene, attempting to help John and quickly flagging down a car to take him to the hospital. The employee ended up remaining at the hospital until John was pronounced dead.
Joe Mariani said the perpetrators, aware of the nearby mall security cameras, intended to commit the robbery quickly before they or the license plate on their getaway bike could be identified. The Medellin authorities and FBI were only able to identify a portion of the motorcycle’s license plate.
Joe said shortly after the perpetrators’ initial arrest, one of the suspect’s guns was put through a ballistic test. The results of the ballistics found a match between its bullets and those that fatally wounded John. Afterward, the FBI questioned the suspects’ families, learning that one of them owned a motorcycle before selling it. The FBI was eventually able to track down the motorcycle and confirmed it as the same one seen in the security footage of the crime.
According to Joe, “John knew if he worked hard he could be successful.” After leaving school at the age of 13, John quickly became very skilled at automotive repair. “He could fix anything he wanted to at the age of 13,” Joe said. Eventually, John transitioned from working on cars to constructing homes.
“He loved to make people laugh and to laugh himself,” Joe said. “John had a heart.” He had been married for about a year to a woman he had been friends with for approximately 20 years. He was 65 years old at the time of his death. According to Joe, John had been visiting his wife’s family in Colombia around the time of his death.
While Joe is still sad about his brother’s death, he said he’s very thankful for the hard work by the FBI and Medellin police in solving this crime. “I have more love and recognition for law enforcement today than my whole life,” Joe said.
