NY postal worker Donald Paccione murdered in his home

From NY Daily News

A tranquil corner of Brooklyn was stunned Monday by the murder of a longtime neighbor who was found stabbed to death in his home, police said.

The lifeless body of postal worker Donald Paccione, 56, was discovered in the cellar of his family’s Bath Beach home at 6:30a.m., police said.

“Donald was the greatest man,” said neighbor Paul Garipoli, 62, who said he knew Paccione for more than 30 years.

“He didn’t hurt a freakin’ fly,” said Garipoli. “I’m in total shock.”

Investigators believe Paccione was killed elsewhere in the Bay 10th St. home, which has been in his family for more than three decades – and then dragged to the basement, a police source said.

Paccione lived on the house’s second floor, and a blood trail was found leading down the stairs to the basement, sources said. There were no signs of forced entry, the sources said.

The dead man’s brother, Michael, lived on the home’s first floor, and the siblings rented out the attic apartment to a tenant and his elderly mother, neighbors said.

Late Monday, detectives were interviewing the tenant, whom neighbors said had a drug problem and had robbed Donald Paccione once before.

But Paccione forgave the man and never pressed charges, neighbors said. A police source confirmed Paccione never filed a complaint.

No charges have been filed yet against the tenant, whose name is being withheld by the Daily News.

Paccione worked for 38 years as a mail sorter at the Bath Beach post office station, leaving for work each day at 5a.m., neighbors said.

“He was a wonderful guy,” said Garipoli. “The wrong man got murdered.”With Alison Gendar