The alleged mastermind of the drug-related robbery-turned-double slaying at the Piazza at Schmidts on June 27 will "very, very soon" be charged with murder, conspiracy and burglary, Homicide Capt. James Clark said last night.

Clark said that the District Attorney's Office is reviewing two counts of murder and conspiracy charges against convicted drug dealer Will "Pooh" Hook, 40, of Strawberry Mansion, who surrendered Monday night - red Bible in hand - to police in connection with a burglary warrant.

Late yesterday afternoon, defense attorney Christopher Warren asked to see Hook, who was being held in the police homicide unit.

Warren was advised that Hook was about to be charged with the murders of his onetime drug associate Rian Thal and Thal's drug associate Timothy Gilmore, of Winchester Canal, Ohio, at the Piazza at Schmidts, a residential-retail complex in Northern Liberties.

Warren complained that a homicide detective "would not allow me to see my client." Warren quoted the detective as saying: "We don't need a defense attorney here."

Meantime, Warren predicted that Katoya Jones, 25, the witness linking Hook to the home invasion at the Piazza "will not be a cooperating witness with the police, and she's going to get a new lawyer."

Jones' attorney, Gregory Pagano, said, "What role does [Warren] have in this? Is this an orchestrated plan on Pooh's part?

"It's interesting that [Warren] knows more about this than I do," said Pagano. "I had heard [about Jones changing lawyers] but I haven't heard from her. I'm going to talk to her tomorrow."

Calling Warren "not very professional," Pagano said, "Usually you get a courtesy call from a colleague" if a client plans to change attorneys. "I know Chris and I'm going to call him on it."

Last Thursday, Jones became the first to be charged in the double slaying for opening the door for the first shooter shortly before the murders.

Video surveillance showed that she had opened the door several times in the past to the gunmen, who, authorities believe, cased the apartment building.

Jones told authorities that she met Hook at Delilah's Den in the early morning, the same day as the late-afternoon murders, when Hook asked her to open the front door in return for money.

Thal was not expected to be in her apartment, where police found four kilos of cocaine and more than $100,000. Police believe that Hook's squad of gunmen confronted Thal and Gilmore in the hall, killing both.

Jones was charged with murder, conspiracy, criminal trespass and related offenses.

"How can [Hook] afford an $80,000 white 745 Li BMW when he's got no job?" asked a resident familiar with Hook's activities in North Philadelphia. "How he get the money to hire Christopher Warren, a top-notch lawyer?"

The resident said that Hook, known in North Philadelphia as "Pooh, Pooh," was a "big-time drug dealer who wears a bulleproof vest" and runs a squad of drug dealers, who are "afraid to talk about him." *