77-Year-Old Brutally Beaten For Comic Collection, Dies

[Amerigo Vespucci]

77-Year-Old Brutally Beaten For Comic Collection, Dies

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/19/77yearold-brutally-beaten_n_768208.html

ALBANY, N.Y. — An unassuming 77-year-old bachelor who had hoped to sell a valuable comic book collection and leave the money to his family was robbed by a Rochester businessman's thugs, was roughed up and hours later died of a heart attack, authorities said.

Homer Marciniak got his first comic book when he was 6 and hoped to leave his sisters and nephew with the proceeds from the collection, valued at $40,000 to $100,000, said Jose Avila, police chief in Medina, in rural western New York between Rochester and Buffalo.

That quest took him to several comic book shops in the Rochester area – and to Rico Vendetti, the owner of a tavern and a restaurant who once owned a collectibles business, the police chief said.

"I think he ran into the wrong person, and this person thought, 'This is something I can get from this guy,'" Avila said.

[Lance_Boyle]

1. Vendetti? Seriously?

That name needs an Ellis-islanding, stat.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

2. Watch the movie "Comic Book Villians"

...with Donal Logue, Michael Rappaport and DJ Qualls. Sounds almost exactly like this story......

[Cheap_Trick]

5. That's exactly what I was thinking when I read the headline. nt

[Cheap_Trick]

6. delete dupe nt

[MrScorpio]

3. As a comics collector myself, what happened to Mr. Marciniak sickens me

May his killers be prosecuted, convicted and sentenced very harshly.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

4. The "leave the money to his family" part was the worst...

...I agree, and hope that the "lenient judge" is on vacation when this one goes to trial.