Not everyone felt the holiday spirit apparently. A heartwrenching story of a woman who was allegedly killed by her boyfriend. As reported by Daily News staffer William Bender:

- As the early birds on Genesee Drive were preparing to open their Christmas presents yesterday morning, homicide investigators were setting up a crime scene at the end of the block, where police say Helen Wollaver received a deadly gift from her live-in boyfriend – a butcher knife in the stomach. "We believe he just snapped," Homicide Sgt. Bob Wilkins said of the 47-year-old man who was in custody last night but hadn’t yet been charged. "There appeared to be a struggle inside."

Police responded at about 7:15 a.m. to the row home on the 3700 block of Genesee Drive, where Wollaver, 43, a Kensington native, had been stabbed once in the abdomen with a kitchen knife. She was pronounced dead at the scene. "All I know is that he stabbed her," said Wollaver’s brother, Jim. "The scumbag should die." Wollaver didn’t have a restraining order against her boyfriend and police haven’t previously been called to the house, according to Wilkins, but Jim Wollaver said he had a violent streak.

"She had it rough for a while, then she just started getting things together," Jim Wollaver said of his sister, who worked at the Franklin Mills Mall. "She moved to a new house and got a new job and all – and then this happens."

"That’s a Merry Christmas, huh? Why today?" neighbor Bob Capriotti asked.

Capriotti, like the rest of the block’s residents, was stunned to hear that a homicide had occurred in his relatively safe section of Northeast Philadelphia. "I’ve lived here 27 years and nothing like this has ever happened," said Jenn Clementson, whose house is across the street from Wollaver’s. "It’s crazy." Capriotti said that the couple had recently moved into the house and that few on the block knew them by name. He hadn’t noticed any "warning sings" that there relationship had gone sour.

"But you never know what’s happening internally with families," he said.

Clementson said the neighborhood, located across the street from the Franklin Mills Mall, is safe, especially because several cops live on the street. "I don’t understand why anyone would do that. It’s sad that it happened today, to see that stuff on Christmas morning," she said. "People just snap." By early afternoon, police had left the scene, and residents retreated to their homes. A Santa Claus decoration hanging in Wollaver’s window wished passerby a Merry Christmas.

- In a horrible holiday hit and run, a 15-year-old is in police custody and a 73-year-old man is dead after a fatal hit and run Wednesday night. The youth turned himself into police yesterday. No charges have been filed. The unlicensed teen was driving at the intersection of M Street near Erie Avenue when he struck William Wrigley, of Frankford Avenue near Sedgely, and sped off down Luzerne Street. He was driving his parents' SUV at the time. Wrigley was pronounced dead at Temple University Hospital a short time after the incident. Police have so far ruled out drugs and alcohol in relation to the driver. Stay tuned for more on this story.

Philadelphia Police has identified the suspect involved in the police shooting that occurred Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2008 on the 23rd Street near Cross, as 19-year-old Justin Kennedy, whose last known address is 1400 South 20th Street. No further information was given. Anyone with information is asked to contact police at (215) 686-TIPS (8477). 

A newsstand owner was attacked on two separate occasions this week by an armed man who police have not been able to identify. On Sunday night, the business owner, who is also a retired Philadelphia Police Officer, was pulling into his driveway on

Merganser Place

near

74^th Street

when the suspect confronted him, wrestled him to the ground and demanded money. He fled with an undisclosed amount of cash, police said.

Four days later, the retired cop arrived home about 7 p.m. when the same man confronted him. A struggled ensued and the retired cop opened fire at his assailant. The man told police he may have struck the suspect. The owner was unharmed. The suspect was described as a black man in his early 20s, 5-feet-8 weighing 160 pounds and was seen wearing a black jacket and brown pants. The business owner was a 23-year veteran of the force and has run Artie’s Newsstand in South Philly, since 1981.

Stay tuned for this developing story.

Two people are in critical condition at local hospitals after two unrelated shootings last night, police said. An unidentified man was transported to the Albert Einstein Medical Center after being shot on 15th Street near Grange about 7:30p.m., police said. Police described a suspect as a 20-year-old black man, 5-feet-10 and weighing 175 pounds. Anyone with information, contact the 35th District at (215) 686-3350. In the other shooting, an unidentified man was taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania after he was shot at 57th Street near Delancey Street shortly before 10p.m. There's no word on suspects or motive.

While my esteemed colleague is recovering from an illness today I held down the fort. It was a busy night.

- Three more animals were found decapitated in the Greenmount Cemetery in Hunting Park yesterday and Sunday, investigators for the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said yesterday. A beheaded rooster was found hanging from a tree about 4p.m. Monday, a bloody plate and knife nearby. A goat and another rooster were discovered Sunday morning. The rooster was also hanging from a tree; the goat was left in a road. Eight goats were found sacrificed two weeks ago. PSPCA investigators say the incidents are connected and are working to track down who’s responsible. Stay tuned for more on this developing story.

- In other news, a man who police have not identified was hospitalized last night after being shot multiple times during a carjacking last night in East Falls , police said. The shooting occurred on

Fox Street

near

Abbottsford Avenue

about 8 p.m., police said. The victim was taken to a local hospital where he’s being treated. Suspects were seen fleeing in a white Bonneville, possibly with a window shot out. In another shooting, an 18-year-old teenager was hospitalized yesterday after being shot in the head in Nicetown police said. The shooting took place on

Germantown Avenue

near

West Seymour Street

about 3:30p.m. Police reported no suspects or motive.

 

It's Monday and time to recap this weekend's mayhem. Among those arrested are a middle-aged woman whose husband was found dead from a stab wound. And a restaurant owner was gunned down near his shop by two unknown assailants. Daily News reporter Stephanie Farr reported. Read the entire story here.

A pair of patrol cops were riding through Point Breeze Saturday morning when they spotted Tony Burrell’s familiar face.
Officer Anthony Gamble thought Burrell was wanted on a warrant, and told the 19-year-old, at 23rd Street near Reed, to stop walking.
Burrell — with 17 prior arrests — immediately took off running.
When Gamble and his partner, Officer Nathaniel Harper, gave chase, Burrell pulled out a .45-caliber Glock and fired at the cops, according to police records obtained by the Daily News.
The bullet missed and the officers continued to chase Burrell. The teen tried to get off another shot, but his gun jammed, the records show.
The heart-thumping chase ended when Burrell tripped in an alley between Reed and Gerritt streets, and Harper moved in to make the arrest.
The encounter likely left Burrell and the two officers with a strange sense of deja vu.
On Aug. 7, Burrell crashed an ATV into a police cruiser on Reed Street near 22nd. He ran from police that day as well, but ended up impaled on a row of 6-inch spikes when he tried to jump a fence in an alley, police said.
Gamble and Harper were among the many cops who were on the scene in August when Burrell was removed from the fence.
Burrell was cut loose after the August impalement because he was able to come up with $500 in bail money — 10 percent of the $5,000 bail a judge set, court records show.
He put his freedom to good use. According to court records, Burrell was arrested on Oct. 9 on charges that included burglary and receiving stolen property.
After taking a shot at two cops on Saturday, Burrell’s bail was set at $5 million, and he was held on charges that include attempted murder, aggravated assault and weapons violations.
Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey said yesterday that he was curious to see what kind of sentence Burrell would receive for shooting at the two 17th District police officers.
In October, Gov. Rendell signed into law a bill that mandates a minimum 20-year sentence for anyone who shoots at a law enforcement officer.
Based on the bill, Burrell “should get sent away for 20 years. I’ll be surprised if he does, but based on that law, that’s what he should get,” Ramsey said. “Frankly, I think he should get 40 years, but I’m a little tougher.”