The Killing at the Cattle Car: The Unsolved Murder of Emile Zaniboni

Emile "Bob" Zaniboni never came home one cold winter's night, over half a century ago. The next morning, his family discovered him murdered in the Cattle Car Restaurant he owned and operated alongside New York State Route 22, between Pawling and Wingdale. He'd been shot three times with a .22 caliber weapon, and his restaurant had been ransacked.

To this day, the crime remains unsolved. 

In this episode, the Murder Sheet takes a closer look at this cold case. We also speak with Abbott Brant, who covered the crime as part of the Poughkeepsie Journal's deep dive into area cold cases. 

Read Abbott's reporting here: 

• The Zaniboni case: https://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/news/local/southern-dutchess/2017/01/24/police-seek-clues-1971-pawling-homicide-cold-case/96987956/
• The Wingdale gas station murder: https://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/news/2017/08/22/cold-case-wingdale-man-found-dead-wappinger-gas-station-45-years-ago/589190001/

Read Rasheed Oluwa's article for the Poughkeepsie Journal here:

• https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/114945117/

Other sources include:

• The Poughkeepsie Journal (Jan. 11, 1971)
• The Kingston Daily Freeman (Jan. 11, 1971)
• The Troy Record (Jan. 11, 1971)
• The Poughkeepsie Journal (Jan. 17, 1971) 
• The Berkshire Eagle (August 8, 1998)
• The Berkshire Eagle (July 16, 2008)

If you have any information on the Zaniboni case, please call the New York State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation in Dover at (845)-677-7300 or (845)-877-3660. Please refer to SJS # 3025018. Your call can be kept confidential. 

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