On a Tuesday evening in the Dongan Hills section of Staten Island, 57-year-old Michael Genovese was fatally shot in what has been described as a cold-blooded execution. The incident, which also claimed the life of his 52-year-old colleague Carl Clark, took place on January 24, 2017, at their workplace, Universal Merchant Funding on Buel Avenue.
The man responsible for this violent act was identified as Ricky Dennis, a 32-year-old former employee of the financial services company.
Investigators pieced together that Dennis, whose departure from the company was described as 'acrimonious,' entered the office building concealing his face with a mask and an umbrella. Once inside, he located Genovese and Clark in a back office and fired three shots at each of them, leading to their immediate deaths at the scene.
Following the shooting, Dennis fled the scene in a gray Honda Accord. Law enforcement was able to track his movements, noting that the vehicle crossed the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge approximately 15 minutes after the murders. This information, coupled with video evidence placing him in the car, was crucial in identifying him as the prime suspect. Dennis, who was on parole for a prior violent crime involving a firearm, was apprehended the next day.
In February 2017, a grand jury indicted Ricky Dennis on six charges, including murder. During the legal proceedings, prosecutors laid out the case against him, asserting that he had 'savagely gunned down two people in cold blood.' Despite the defense pointing to a lack of physical evidence, Dennis was ultimately convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of criminal possession of a weapon. In March 2018, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, ensuring he would spend the remainder of his life behind bars for the brutal murders of Michael Genovese and Carl Clark.
