Phila. police look for man they think set up Piazza shooting

By Allison Steele

Inquirer Staff Writer

Philadelphia police were scouring the city yesterday for a high-level drug dealer who they believe set up the shootings of Rian Thal and Timothy Gilmore, according to a law enforcement source, and officers have been searching bars, homes, and other places where he may be hiding.

The man, whose name has not been released, was not one of the four people who entered the Navona building at the Piazza at Schmidts in Northern Liberties a week ago and gunned down the 34-year-old party planner and her alleged drug associate, police said. Instead, police said they now believe that man arranged the ambush by persuading Katoya Jones - one of his girlfriends and Thal's downstairs neighbor - to let three hired gunmen and one lookout into Thal's building.

One law enforcement source familiar with the investigation said the drug dealer knew Thal ran a "stash house" where drugs were kept, and planned to rob her. Jones, 25, did not know Thal, but lives on the second floor of the posh Navona building, where Thal had a seventh-floor apartment.

Jones was arrested Thursday and charged with murder, attempted robbery, conspiracy, criminal trespass, and related offenses. Police said she played a significant part in getting Thal and Gilmore gunned down.

A law enforcement source familiar with the city's drug underworld has said Thal was a "holder" for drug dealers, meaning she got paid for storing drugs in her home.

Yesterday, Philadelphia Lt. Philip Riehl said police have evidence that Thal's involvement with drugs went deeper than that.

Police found four kilograms of cocaine and more than $100,000 in Thal's luxury apartment after she was killed.

Thal was known for throwing parties at nightclubs that attracted local rappers, professional athletes, and celebrities. Her death shocked many friends who said that, despite Thal's 2001 arrest for cocaine possession, they had no idea Thal was so entrenched in the drug world.

Gilmore, 40, who lived in Ohio, was a former Detroit firefighter who police believed used a tractor-trailer business as a front for drug dealing. Police are still investigating his connection to Thal and whether Gilmore was a target in the killings, but one law enforcement source said police believe it's possible Gilmore was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Jones provided the killers with access to Thal's building in the $150 million, recently completed Piazza complex.

Police said they think Jones let the gunmen into the Navona at least once at some point before the shootings, allowing them to familiarize themselves with the building's layout.

Last Saturday around 5 p.m., about a half-hour before the murders, Jones was captured on surveillance cameras as she entered the building's lobby, allowing one of the gunmen to follow her inside. That man later let in two other men, and they soon positioned themselves in the stairwells around Thal's apartment. A fourth man served as lookout from the sixth floor.

About a half-hour later, Thal and Gilmore returned to the building and took the elevator to the seventh floor. Security cameras captured them as they stepped off the elevator, then turned around and hesitated. Thal walked to the windows near the elevator and looked out. Police said it appeared as though they felt something was amiss.

Thal and Gilmore were ambushed by three gunmen as they walked down the hall towards Thal's apartment door. Some words were exchanged, and police have said it was possible Gilmore tried to run. That may have been when the intended robbery went bad, and the men opened fire.

After the shootings, the four men left the building quickly and vanished.

Police are still trying to identify those men through fingerprints left at the scene and other evidence. Police have said it's possible they are from out of town, a theory that Riehl said has not been ruled out. The shootings were captured by multiple security cameras and the suspects seemed unconcerned with covering their faces.

Police are also searching for an associate of Gilmore's who was inside Thal's apartment when shots rang out. That man was captured on security footage leaving Thal's apartment building with a large duffel bag and stepping over the bodies on his way out. Investigators think the bag may have held cocaine that he and Gilmore had intended to deliver to Thal, but police do not believe that man was involved in the killings.

Investigators have not said how they determined Jones was involved.

Since her arrest, Jones has reportedly been telling investigators she did not know what the men planned to do once she let them into the building, according to a source close to the investigation.

Jones, who grew up in Philadelphia, works for a pharmaceutical company and had some past involvement with the military, police said.

Like many of the Navona building's tenants, she moved into the brand-new apartment less than a month ago.

Contact staff writer Allison Steele at 215-854-2641 or asteele@phillynews.com.

Staff writers George Anastasia and Tom Avril contributed to this story.

CURRENTLY SHOWING ON PHILLY.COM