Rahmatollah Vahidipour spent much of his waking life in She She Boutique, the Flatbush Avenue clothing store he opened after emigrating from Iran 22 years ago.
His shooting death there last week, allegedly at the hands of suspected serial murderer Salvatore Perrone, came as a horrific shock to his daughter Yasmin Vahidipour.
“It was so unexpected,” Vahidipour said, sitting at the dining room table in the family’s Village of Great Neck home. “I don’t have the words for it.”
Yasmin described Rahmatollah as a dedicated father, a caring husband, a self-sacrificing provider for the family he loved.
“He was an extremely hard-working man. He loved his wife, he loved his children,” Vahidipour said. “He was so selfless.”
Yasmin, her mother Naima and her oldest sister left Iran for the United States in the years following the revolution that toppled the Shah and brought Ayatollah Khomeini to power.
Her father joined them later, moving into a Queens apartment with the family until they bought a house in Great Neck 19 years ago, Yasmin said.
“He was innocent – honestly innocent,” she said. “He always sacrificed himself for us.”
The family, who are members of Temple Ahavat Shalom in Great Neck, has received a groundswell of support from the community, Vahidipour said. She said that 1,500 people had visited their home to express condolences and help the family mourn.
Police arrested Perrone, a 63-year-old Staten Island clothing seller, on Nov. 21 for the murder of Rahmatollah Vahidipour and two other Brooklyn shopkeepers over the last three months.
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly characterized Perrone as a “suspected serial killer” in remarks delivered at a press conference the day of the arrest.
Perrone, who is charged with a count of first-degree murder and three counts of second-degree murder, was allegedly one of four persons of interest seen on security camera footage outside Vahidipour’s Flatbush Avenue clothing store the evening of the murder.
Dubbed “John Doe Duffel Bag” in an NYPD press release issued last week, Perrone was recognized at a Bay Ridge pharmacy by an individual who then called police, according to a statement by Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.
Detectives obtained a warrant and searched Perrone’s bag, which was stored at his girlfriend’s apartment and contained a .22 caliber sawed-off rifle that ballistics testing linked to the three killings, according to Kelly’s statement. The gun had a combination laser and flashlight jury-rigged to the barrel with duct tape and two large pink rubber bands.
Police found Perrone’s fingerprints on the gun, according to the statement, and also found a box of .22 ammunition and a kitchen knife stained with dried blood from the bag.
Perrone peacefully entered police custody and was arrested after making self-incriminating statements under questioning, Kelly said in the statement.
In addition to Vahidipour’s murder, Perrone is charged with the killing of Mohamed Gabeli, 65, who was found unconscious on the floor of his Bay Ridge store Valentino Fashion the night of July 6. Emergency responders brought Gabeli to Lutheran Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Perrone is also charged with the murder of Isaac Kadare, 59, was killed in 99 Cent and Up Deals, his Bensonhurst discount store, on Aug. 2.
The Brooklyn District Attorney’s office has not released a motive for the crime, but the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force was brought in to aid the investigation prior to Perrone’s arrest.
All three victims were of Middle Eastern descent. Vahidipour was a Jewish Iranian, Kadare a Jewish Egyptian and Gabeli a Muslim Egyptian.
Vahidipour is survived by his wife Naima and his daughters Yasmin, Sepideh and Marjan.
