NYPD cops are taking a fresh look at the murder of a Queens blackjack dealer 26 years ago — and are asking the public’s help to finally crack the case.
Jeffrey Blackman, 42, was found dead in the trunk of an abandoned Buick parked illegally on Park Drive East near 72nd Ave. just outside Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Kew Gardens Hills at about 5 a.m. on April 20, 1999, cops said.
The NYPD released a photo of Blackman this week in the hopes it generates leads in the case.
His body was badly decomposed when it was discovered but the city Medical Examiner determined he had been strangled. A sharp instrument had also been shoved up his nose, the Daily News reported at the time.
Blackman lived in Kew Gardens about two miles from where he was found. At the time of his death, he was a blackjack dealer with close ties to reputed Gambino mobster Bartolomeo (Pepe) Vernace, who was awaiting trial for two slayings.
He was last seen alive on Feb. 28, about seven weeks before the grisly discovery was made.
At the time of his death, cops theorized the killers thought Blackman was an informant responsible for Vernace’s arrest for the April 11, 1981, murders of bar owners Richard Godkin and John D’Agnese over a spilled drink.
Vernace was acquitted of state murder charges that year after several witnesses, including the late crime boss John Gotti’s niece Linda Gotti, were too fearful to testify.
He was ultimately convicted of the killings in Brooklyn Federal Court in 2014 and sentenced to life in prison plus 10 years for the dual murders.
Blackman’s murder has remained unsolved for 26 years but in the past year NYPD Crime Stoppers has received a few tips, a police source said.
Anyone with information regarding the killing is urged to call NYPD Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.
