Man with corpse in car stopped minutes after Delco slaying

Springfield Township's first homicide in five years was solved in about seven minutes Monday, police said.

Shortly before 11 a.m., a witness reported a stabbing outside the Famous Footwear store on Baltimore Pike. A couple of minutes later, two Delaware County detectives who happened to be on the Pike saw the Jeep Cherokee driven by the alleged killer and pulled him over in nearby Smedley Park.

Police Tuesday identified the alleged killer as Sean Burton, 42, of Newark, Del. Burton is the owner of Final Impact, a car stereo and alarm store in Morton, Delaware County.

The victim, James Stropas, 32, of Norristown, was found dead of stab wounds in the Jeep Cherokee, his body sideways, with his upper torso on the passenger-side floor and his legs on the driver's seat, according to police. A knife was recovered in the car.

The criminal complaint states that when a Springfield cop asked Burton what happened, he responded, "He came at me with a knife. I had to protect myself."

Springfield Police Chief Joseph Daly said Monday night that it didn't appear to be a random killing.

"We believe there's a link between the victim and the actor, but we're not sure what that link is right now," Daly said.

"We believe this was isolated. It wasn't a carjacking, it wasn't a robbery gone bad, it was none of those things."

Asked if he knew Stropas, Burton said, "Kind of. It's a long story," according to the complaint.

Daly praised the witnesses who called police and the eagle-eyed county detectives for apprehending the alleged killer.

"At 10:50 a.m., the first call came in, and at 10:57 a.m. we had an arrest," he said.

Monday's homicide, the first in Springfield since 2005, is the ninth in Delaware County this month.

Chester Mayor Wendell Butler Jr. declared a state of emergency Saturday after the city experienced four killings in eight days, including that of a 2-year-old boy.

The county toll includes, most recently, Kanard Jones, 25, of 56th Street and Osage Avenue, West Philadelphia, who was shot and killed about 3 p.m. Sunday in Upper Darby during what police described as a drug deal gone bad.

In Darby Township, Richard Gale Jr., 19, was shot inside his girlfriend's home about 10 p.m. Friday. He was pronounced dead at Taylor Hospital, Ridley, 20 minutes later.

- Staff writer Stephanie Farr contributed to this report.