2 teens nabbed in killing of 78-yr.-old war vet

On the surface, Karl Jarmon and Terrell Bennett were just teenage buddies who lived on the same block in Strawberry Mansion.

But yesterday, police offered a sinister assessment of the teens.

The pair were money-grubbing, gun-toting predators looking for easy prey to rob, police said. On Aug. 29, they thought they found it: Two elderly men standing outside the nearby Veterans of Foreign Wars post at 33rd and Diamond streets.

They pounced, police said. A struggle ensued, and in seconds, 78-year-old Enor Williams lay dying from a gunshot blast to the face, while his killers fled, empty-handed.

Yesterday, Philadelphia police capped an intense weeklong hunt for Williams' attackers by announcing the arrests of Bennett and Jarmon, both 18. A third "person of interest" was being questioned, and police hoped to announce his arrest soon.

"Their goal was to find somebody to rob," Homicide Capt. James Clark said. "And they decided [the elderly men] would be easy targets."

Jarmon and Bennett, both of Page Street near 32nd, lived just a block from the VFW post where they allegedly ambushed Williams, a Korean War veteran from Fern Rock. Both teens now are being held without bail on murder, robbery, conspiracy and weapons charges, Clark said.

Clark said they were loitering in a nearby park trolling for potential victims around dinnertime when they spotted Williams and a 72-year-old friend standing on steps outside the VFW post.

Within seconds, they rushed their victims, pushed Williams up against a wall, jammed a .357 Magnum into his face and began rummaging in his pockets, looking for cash, Clark said.

Williams struggled, and the gun fired, Clark said. As Williams collapsed dying, the teens fled on foot. The 72-year-old man was uninjured.

Police found a .357 Magnum, which was later identified during ballistics tests as the murder weapon, Clark said.

Clark and Deputy Commissioner William Blackburn declined to say where the weapon was found, how the teens got it or who pulled the trigger.

Central Detectives are investigating whether Jarmon and Bennett can be linked to other unsolved robberies or violence in the area, Clark said.

Williams, of 11th Street near Medary Avenue, was visiting the VFW post trying to recruit volunteers for a Veterans Day benefit when he was gunned down, friends said.

"It really was a full, intense effort by many members of the Philadelphia Police Department," Blackburn said of the arrests. *