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Although robbery hasn’t been officially ruled out, the manner in which 51-year-old Richard Zarriello of Chestnut Ridge in Ramapo was killed leads authorities to strongly suspect that he was targeted.
“It looked like someone tried to silence him,” one said.
Zarriello was shot at his Clean Sweep Chimney Depot on westbound Route 46 sometime over the weekend. His body was found Sunday night.
“He was still breathing when [paramedics] got there,” a source said. “But he was in very grave condition.”
Zarriello remained on life support at Hackensack University Medical Center and died there yesterday at 3:45 p.m.
“Matter now a homicide investigation,” Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli tweeted a short time later.
Detectives from Molinelli’s office were investigating along with South Hackensack police and members of the Bergen County Sheriff’s Bureau of Criminal Identification.
Their probe has taken them to Jersey City and Monmouth County, among other locations, sources said.
Media reports that quote family members discussing the investigation contain some inaccuracies, they said.
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