Murder charges filed in Center City building collapse

"GREED."

That's what District Attorney Seth Williams says motivated contractor Griffin Campbell to allegedly cut corners and ignore safety when running the demolition project near 22nd and Market streets that caused the deaths of six people in June.

A grand jury has charged Campbell with six counts of third-degree murder, six counts of involuntary manslaughter and other offenses that could put him behind bars for the rest of his life, Williams announced yesterday.

"It was Campbell who decided on the method of demolition. He personally controlled it in a matter that caused the catastrophe," said Williams, calling Campbell the "center of culpability."

He said the grand jury may end up charging others or producing a report on the incident.

"This arrest is just one step along the road to justice," he said.

Property owner STB Investments, the firm of reputed slumlord Richard Basciano, hired Campbell to demolish a building adjacent to the Salvation Army, at 22nd and Market streets.

The tragedy occurred when a multistory wall from the demolition site fell on to the one-floor thrift store and crushed those inside. There were 14 injuries in addition to the six deaths.

Although demolitions on that scale can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, Basciano's firm was going to pay Campbell about $112,000 to demolish this building and "a number of" others, according to the grand-jury report.

"The building should have been taken down by hand, piece by piece, brick by brick, floor by floor," Williams said. "But that demolition method is expensive and very time-consuming, and Campbell had agreed to a deadline and a flat-fee contract."

The deal also allowed the contractor to resell scrapped materials, and the grand jury detailed how Campbell prioritized salvaging the hardwood floors and wooden joists that supported the building.

Hoping "to maximize his profits," Campbell had these items removed first and jeopardized the integrity of the building in the process, Williams said.

Campbell, whom the grand jury said was warned many times about the danger of what he was doing, was also charged with 13 counts of reckless endangerment, plus one count each of causing catastrophe, risking catastrophe and criminal conspiracy. The maximum sentences for all charges against Campbell would put him away for many lifetimes.

William Hobson, the lawyer representing Campbell, said his client is "an ordinary, hardworking Philadelphia citizen, a scapegoat in an unfortunate tragedy." He said Campbell wanted to conduct the demolition safely, but was blocked by the Salvation Army from accessing its roof to install bracing.

"We look forward now to vigorously challenging, defeating and forever destroying the vicious character assassinations, and now criminal charges, against our client," Hobson said.

Also yesterday, the grand jury added a count of criminal conspiracy against excavator operator Sean Benschop, who was previously charged with six counts of involuntary manslaughter and is awaiting trial behind bars.

Benschop's lawyer, Daine Grey, said the decisions that led to the tragedy were beyond the excavator's control.

"He was not responsible for the manner in which the building was brought down. He was a day laborer," Grey said. "The general contractor and the architect, in addition to the building's owner - they make those decisions."

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration two weeks ago cited Benschop and Campbell for numerous safety violations and fined them a combined $397,000.

Both men have had financial issues, and it's unclear what officials or the slew of victims and families suing them would be able to extract.

The lawsuits also target the comparatively deeper pockets of Basciano and the Salvation Army, which some blame for failing to warn customers that the site was unsafe. Neither has been charged criminally.

A lawyer for Basciano declined to comment.

Eric Weiss, a lawyer representing the Salvation Army, said the organization was never told an excavator had been brought to the site and that they were assured a safer demolition method would be used.

Another person named in lawsuits is architect Plato Marinakos, who was hired by Basciano in part to expedite paperwork for the project.

The grand-jury presentment released yesterday says Marinakos has been granted immunity from criminal charges.