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A businessman’s murder leaves behind several unanswered questions.
CASE DETAILS For almost 20 years, Stanley Gryziec and his brother, Peter, operated a few local businesses, including a gas station and a bar, in Rome, New York. Stanley and his wife, Esther, lived right next door to the station. According to Stanley’s daughter, Sharon Migliaccio, her parents’ life was happy and secure, until the night of November 6, 1976:
 Was Gryziec silenced? Sharon said her dad raced downstairs when he heard the commotion of two men breaking into their house:
 The killers were looking for something Eventually the two men left. No one knew why they broke in or if they got what they came for. According to Sharon, her mother waited until she could no longer feel any movement in the house, then tried to free herself:
From the beginning, a cloud of suspicion loomed over the investigation of Stanley Gryziec’s murder. The night of the killing, police barred the Gryziec family from entering the home. After thoroughly searching the ransacked house, Detective John Keys of the Rome Police Department determined that the only things missing were two bottles of beer from the refrigerator:
The next day, the family was finally permitted to enter the home. Stanley’s son, Martin, found an important clue the police had missed:
 The police insisted Stanley was stabbed It was a curious request, but the case would soon take an even more disturbing turn. The official autopsy report stated that Stanley Gryziec had been killed by a single stab wound to the heart. Stanley’s son Martin refused to accept the “official” autopsy report:
There was only one way to settle the question. Stanley’s body was exhumed and a second autopsy performed. It revealed that he had been killed by a .25 caliber bullet, fired through his chest. There never had been a stab wound. It would seem difficult to mistake a bullet wound for one made by a knife. Was the ruling simply an oversight or was it deliberate? And if so, who ordered the cover-up and why? Stanley’s children believe that someone wanted it to look like their father had been stabbed to death. It seemed that these questions would remain forever unanswered… until a witness stepped forward. In March of 1989, an admitted drug dealer told police that he knew who killed Stanley Gryziec. For obvious reasons, the drug dealer asked to have his name withheld:
The witness claimed he never agreed to the break-in. Based on his information, the case was reactivated with a new team of investigators. The investigators contacted Amy Scott, Stanley’s neighbor. Amy told investigators that shortly after 11:00 PM, she saw a man walking through the alley towards Stanley Gryziec’s home:
A few days later, while Amy was at the local bank, she saw the men in the Lincoln again. To Amy it seemed like they were following her:
Detectives also learned that the owner of a local bookstore, Patsy Peck, had seen the two men the day before Stanley was killed. Patsy also said they were driving a white Lincoln Continental:
When investigators asked Patsy why she had not come forward with this information before, she told them that she had. Patsy told Detective John Keys that she had spoken to one of the original detectives: “We do know that the investigators talked to Patsy and Amy but we looked in our files and found there wasn’t anything put down in documentation form as to their interview with Patsy Peck.” Robert Saunders, another lead nvestigator on the case, learned that another witness claimed to have spotted the same men at the same bar:
Authorities began searching for a connection between Stanley Gryziec’s murder and the bar where the informant had worked and the two men had been seen. They discovered that the bar’s liquor license had been held by Peter Gryziec, Stanley’s older brother. Then Stanley’s children related a puzzling incident that had occurred eight months before the murder. Peter Gryziec was gravely ill and Stanley went to visit him. No one knew what was said that day, but the two brothers, who had always been close, never spoke again. Peter died four months later. The murder of Stanley Gryziec remains unsolved and numerous questions remain unanswered. Why did the intruders ransack the house? Why did the initial investigators fail to report the details of their conversation with the bookstore owner? Finally, what was the connection between the bar, Peter Gryziec and Stanley’s murder? Authorities are hoping that someone can answer these questions. Watch this case now on Amazon Prime in season three with Robert Stack and in season five with Dennis Farina. Also available on YouTube with Dennis Farina. Various seasons available now on Hulu. SUBMIT A TIP |
John C
People are saying mob ties and hush money because of the reckless, disinterested, haphazard, unthorough, shoddy, and blatantly dishonest way in which this case was investigated. Hoccam’s Razor states that when you hear hoofbeats, think horses not zebras, or more easily stated, the simplest explanation is often the best. So I think there’s a more obvious answer. Based on the apathetic investigation, I think that even though he was only 6 years old at the time, Hunter Biden must have committed this crime.
Guest
Your take on this was going well until you injected politics into it.
R.J.
Clearly the original detectives in the case were paid off. Why else would the leave out eye witness testimony? And why else would they not do a thorough search for spell casings and then fudge the autopsy report?! There should have been a serious IA investigation into those involved including the coroner. A stab wound and a gunshot wound can’t be that easily mistakenly. Like come on.
Laurie
I know what happened and who did it. I saw the gun for myself. I know where it is buried. I called the state police because I don’t trust the Rome Police Department at all. They said they would have an investigator call me, they never did. Now I fear for my own safety. They have my name and number and can track me down. Not to sound conspiratorial but I am quite nervous at the moment. I live alone and have no protection for myself. I remember the corruption in the department at the time. The mob used to be big in Rome and they controlled the police. With all the first hand information I have you would think they would want to talk to me but it seems I am being shut down. I can’t put into words how nervous I am for my safety at this time.
John
In this episode, the suggestion is that the bar owner, apparently for on reason or another, hired people to break into Stanley Gryziec’s home. We don’t know if the suggestion is that the motive was to collect on a gambling debt or the belief that a large sum of money was in the home and left to Stanley by his brother Peter. In the episode, the bar name is blocked out so we really don’t know who the person is that the informant claims handed money to the two suspects.
The name of the bar was Leonard’s lounge and it was owned by Leonard Tardugno. It has since been torn down and stood right near where Walgreens is located on S James St. Rome. Tardugno had multiple bookmaking arrests and allegedly had ties to the mafia in Utica, where he would place large bets that were too large for himself to handle. Tardugno was even subpoenaed to testify in front of a state commission on gambling many years before. It would be obvious why he couldn’t get a liquor license in his own name and needed a person like Peter Gryziec to place it in his name.
Seems to me that it would have been easy to get a warrant by using the testimony of the woman who lived across the street, coupled with a statement from Peck on the identity of the men who were entered her bookstore. Probably had enough to at least put them in a lineup and place them at the scene.
Now, everyone’s clearly deceased so there will be no solving this in court.
Remember
Some people would say anything to stay out of jail
Bill Blaski
How do they still not have this murder solved? Seemed so clear on the episode that hit men were hired.
Brittany A Roser
what seasons and episode number is it on I’m trying to watch the episode you show my husband but I can’t find the season?
Unsolved Mysteries Post author
You can find this case in S3:E4 with Robert Stack and S5:E3 with Dennis Farina, or in SP091 on Lifetime and Escape.
Joeg V.
.25 cal. handguns are said to be among the weapons of choice for mob type & Professional Hitmen. They’ll use smaller caliber handguns ie. .22, .25, .32 or .380, .38 cal.with “light loads”. Illegal Gambling, Liquor Licenses, Possible Law Enforcement collusion. All of this points to Mafia involvement. I’ve noticed some points of contention that are huge red flags.
How could a “Real” investigation miss a shell casing in plain view? What kind of Detective would put seemingly important evidence into his pocket and tell the Son to keep it quiet. Could a Medical Examiner mistake a .25 cal wound for a stabbing? (They mention as if it’s impossible, unheard of, though when I looked into it, albeit crudely…a couple Google Searches for like mistakes/oversights, it seemed plausible, and certainly not unheard of.)
kmz
On Findagrave.com you can see he had a sister 8 years older than him (1909) who lived to be 97, dying in 2006, thirty years after his murder, and never seeing it solved.
Younger Roman
I wish they would stop covering up whatever and give this family peace of at least knowing how this happened ! All these years no one in the police force or else where came fwd so said – may karma visit everyone that knows anything !
Blue bird
May God Bless Him! RIP Mr Gyrziec And God Bless You!
Blue bird
Peter had his brother murdered!
Joeg V.
Why would you say his brother had him murdered? That’s a pretty serious charge to level at someone. I assume you have some proof of this?
RJ.
I think law enforcement is involved in this somehow. I would look for two police officers that fit the composite drawings.
T.C.
Law enforcement clearly has some knowledge, especially the original 2 detectives. Why don’t they investigate them? It wasn’t uncommon for the mafia to have them in their back pockets when needed.