The unhinged Staten Island man accused of killing three Brooklyn shopkeepers in a string of serial murders has been deemed fit to stand trial, his defense attorney told The Post yesterday.
Salvatore Perrone, 64, will be in Brooklyn Supreme Court today, where the results of his court-ordered psych evaluation will be made public.
“He’s been found fit to proceed,” said court-appointed defense attorney William T. Martin. “Based upon my investigation, he’ll likely be found competent even by an independent examiner.”
Perrone, who has pleaded not guilty to three is charged with three counts of first-degree murder, each of which carry a potential sentence of life without parole.
A law-enforcement source confirmed Perrone was found competent.
Prosecutors allege Perrone shot the three shopkeepers to death with the same .22-caliber rifle in separate attacks last July, August and November.
Perrone gave cops bizarre explanations for the execution-style murders, court documents show.
The former clothing salesman told cops he was working for the “Palestinian section of the CIA” and that he watched two different Middle Eastern men shoot and kill the first two victims.
Perrone even claimed one of the Middle Eastern men forced him at gunpoint to stab the second victim, while “insulting him by saying that Italians have no balls,” court papers show.
Defense attorney Martin will argue the statements cops claim Perrone made should not be admissible in trial.