A South Philly man has been charged in 1999 mob-style killing of Gino Marconi

For 26 years, police have sought the gunman behind the mob-style killing of Guerino “Gino” Marconi in front of his South Philadelphia home.

Turns out, authorities say, he lived just a block away.

Richard Leidy, 60, was charged Tuesday with murder, attempted murder, and related crimes for shooting Marconi to death, and critically wounding Marconi’s girlfriend, the night of April 10, 1999.

Leidy was arrested at his home on the 2500 block of South 19th Street in the leafy Girard Estates, just around the corner from where police say he shot Marconi in the head with a .22-caliber rifle on the 2400 block of South 20th Street.

Marconi, 42, was an associate of then-reputed mob boss Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino, police said at the time of his death.

Marconi’s daughter declined to comment Tuesday.

How police linked Leidy to the killing was not immediately clear. A judge sealed court filings in connection with the case, and officials declined to speak about the evidence they say ties Leidy to the crime.

That night in April, Marconi and his companion, Patricia Miley, 31, were leaving home for a late dinner when they were ambushed. Investigators at the time said they believed whoever committed the crime sat in the van parked across the street from the home, waiting for Marconi to come outside, before shooting him and Miley multiple times. The shooter threw the rifle in the back seat of the van, then lit the car on fire in an attempt to conceal evidence, police said in 1999.

In the days after the killing, reporters from Fox 29 spoke with Leidy because police were investigating whether a robbery at his home two months earlier was linked to Marconi’s death. According to the segment, Leidy told a reporter that men had broken in looking for money, and threatened to kill him.

“I’m concerned for my family’s safety, sure,” Leidy said.

Police said at the time they were looking into whether Marconi was involved, and if the killing was payback.

Deputy Police Commissioner Frank Vanore said he clearly recalled the night Marconi was killed. He was working in South Philadelphia, he said, and was at the scene of both Marconi’s death and the robbery at Leidy’s house two months before.

Leidy’s name came up in the investigation early on, Vanore said, but investigators did not have enough evidence to charge him. He declined to speak about how investigators linked Leidy to the shooting, but said it was a partnership among Philadelphia homicide detectives, investigators with the FBI, and prosecutors with the District Attorney’s Office.

Staff writer Chris Palmer contributed to this article.