Police investigate the scene where a man was executed on West 58th St. (David McGlynn)
Investigators linked yesterday’s Midtown execution murder to an unsolved 2009 shooting in Queens, cops said today.
Shell casing left behind on West 58th Street — where 31-year-old Los Angeles resident Brandon Lincoln Woodard was slain — matched ballistics from a non-fatal 2009 attack in St. Albans, Queens, authorities said.
In that Nov. 22, 2009 shooting, 12 rounds were fired into 189-11 Mangin Ave., damaging two front windows and the door frame, NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said. Two men were spotted fleeing the scene, but were never caught.
The victim in yesterday’s deadly attack was shot in the back of the head at point-blank range. A car similar to the killer’s was later spotted going through the Queens-Midtown Tunnel, where the toll was paid in cash, authorities said.
SEE A MAP OF HOW THE MURDER WENT DOWN
Woodard appeared to be looking for an address on 58th Street, between Seventh Avenue and Broadway, and even made brief eye contact with his killer, NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly said.
“He walked east, past the shooter. Then he walked west looking around with his phone out, he looked over his shoulder,” Kelly said.
“The shooter was right behind him. It appeared he sees the shooter — to the extent that if he knew him, he would recognize him. There is no indication he recognized him.”
The NYPD today released chilling video and a still picture of Woodard’s killer, minutes and moments before the brutal killing.
In the still photo, the killer was seen wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and was coming up to Woodard from behind.
In security video, Woodard’s killer was shown arriving at the crime scene about 20 minutes earlier.
The gunman could be seen exiting the passenger side door of a Lincoln MKX sedan, which was used as the getaway car.
He then nonchalantly donned the hood of his sweatshirt in preparation for the kill.
Woodard was blasted at close range, with one round from a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun, according to police.
“A little after 1:32 [p.m.] he [the killer’s driver] pulls in and parks in a spot. The shooter gets out, puts his hood on, gets back in the vehicle, gets out again at 1:48 and paces on the curb’s side of the scaffolding,” Kelly said.
“He walks back and forth a couple of times. The victim passes the shooter. There is no indication he recognizes him. He gets a glimpse of the shooter.”
Woodard’s killer is believed to be bald and might have had a beard, when he carried out the seemingly planned hit.
The shooter disappeared as if he were “a ghost,’’ one witness said.
Cops want to know if the victim might have been lured to the crime scene.
“It’s certainly a distinct possibility,” Kelly said. “We are looking into that.”
After gunning down his victim, the killer coolly hopped into his waiting light-colored Lincoln sedan, a getaway driver behind the wheel.
The car headed east but initially was caught in traffic and stopped at a red light at the intersection.
But both cold-blooded riders didn’t panic and stayed inside the car — just feet from Woodard’s body — before turning down Seventh Avenue and disappearing.
“There was no rush,” Browne said of Woodard’s killer. “He just walked up, shot him and walked away.”
A police source said the shooting was “definitely a hit, an assassination.”
Investigators are probing a possible connection to drug dealing.
Woodard was charged with cocaine possession in California last June and has prior arrests for robbery, petty theft and leaving the scene of an accident.
Police are also exploring to what extent Woodard — who once claimed he was roughed up by bodyguards working for R&B superstar Usher — had ties to the music industry, law-enforcement sources said.
Woodard, who was wearing a black suit, was dead on arrival at Roosevelt Hospital.
David Mirambeau, 29, a UPS worker delivering packages, said the sound of the gunshot reverberated down the street.
“I just heard a gunshot. It was loud. There was blood all over his face,” he said of Woodard. “He was gasping for air. He was still alive.”
Mirambeau said several cellphones and an iPod lay near the man’s body.
Witnesses ran to a firehouse at 215 W. 58th St. to say a man had been shot.
“I ran over to the Fire Department, banged on the door, and they came out immediately,” said Benny Harris, 44.
“Within minutes, they were cutting the guy’s clothes off,” he said.
“We didn’t see the perp,” Harris added. “We all ran over there, and nobody was around. He must’ve been a ghost.”
A single shell casing was recovered, police said.
Relatives poured into the Woodard family home in LA to pay condolences, but declined to comment.
“Brandon was a wonderful man — kind heart, smart, good person,” said family friend Chrissy Roussel, who added that Woodard was attending Whittier Law School in California and was visiting friends in New York.
Woodward’s father, J. Lincoln Woodard, 72, said, “It was a shock.”
The victim worked at United International Mortgage, an LA firm founded by his mother, Sandra McBeth-Reynolds.
Woodard had a rap sheet in California, with 20 arrests for various crimes such as hit-and-run, robbery and various narcotics offenses.
Additional reporting by Chuck Bennett, Matthew McNulty, Dan MacLeod, David K. Li and Jamie Schram in New York and Genevieve Wong in Los Angeles