High bail for suspects in murder of Phila. woman

A Superior Court judge in Mount Holly yesterday set bail at $1 million each for two men and $2 million for a third on charges that they robbed and murdered a Northeast Philadelphia woman and dumped her body in rural Burlington County.

Lyudmila Burshteyn, 57, was discovered the afternoon of Sept. 2 in a wooded area of Mansfield Township. The Russian immigrant and mother of two was reported missing to Philadelphia police about 10 hours later, after she had failed to show up for lunch with a friend earlier that day.

Authorities caught the four suspects in Summerton, S.C., the following day, after a local police officer pulled them over in Burshteyn's 2009 Nissan Murano. They arrested Philadelphia residents Marcus White, 18; Lenroy Laurance, 27; Robby Willis, 26; and a 17-year-old whose name authorities won't release because he is a juvenile.

Two women also were in the car but have not been charged.

Deputy First Assistant Prosecutor James Ronca argued at the adult defendants' first appearance yesterday that bail should be set at $2 million each for all three.

Superior Court Judge James J. Morley set $1 million each for White and Willis.

He granted $2 million bail for Laurance, who is an illegal immigrant from Jamaica. He said in court that he has lived in the United States since age 4, and lives with his girlfriend and their daughter.

Ronca said that Laurance initially identified himself to police as Damion Williams, one of his 10 aliases. Authorities discovered his real name after processing his fingerprints.

All the accused men have criminal histories, Ronca said.

The trio said they would be represented by public defenders.