On the evening of January 17, 2001, Alexander Algeri, 32, co-owner of the Dolphin Fitness Club in Amityville, New York, was fatally shot in the parking lot behind his gym. Witnesses reported multiple gunshots shortly after 7 p.m. Algeri staggered back into the club, told patrons he had been shot, and collapsed; despite CPR and emergency care he died at Brunswick Hospital Center from multiple gunshot wounds to the head and neck.

Investigators later described the slaying as part of a murder-for-hire plot. In early 2002 Scott Paget, arrested in Miami on unrelated charges, told detectives he drove the getaway car and implicated Ralph Rocco Salierno as the shooter. Prosecutors said Lee Ann Riedel conspired with Salierno; the intended target was her husband and Algeri was mistaken for him. Court proceedings resulted in convictions for Salierno and Lee Ann Riedel and a plea by Paget.