SnapGlow.TV: Modern Gems Galore! Police said yesterday that they've identified one of three shooters who killed popular party planner Rian Thal and her friend Timothy Gilmore during a drug robbery-turned-assassination inside a swank Northern Liberties apartment building last month.
Authorities also put a name and a face to the alleged "mastermind" of the plot to steal money and drugs from Thal's seventh-floor apartment at the Piazza at Schmidts, where police found four kilograms of cocaine and more than $100,000 in cash.
During a news conference outside police headquarters at 8th and Race streets yesterday, Homicide Capt. James Clark described the actions - caught on video surveillance - of an unfeeling killer:
Donnell Murchison, 32, of West Oak Lane, emerged from the elevator and shot Thal in the head as she tried to run away. As she slumped to the floor, Murchison leveled his gun at Gilmore's bullet-ridden body and made sure he didn't live to tell, Clark said.
"Timothy Gilmore has already been shot several times. He's actually attempting to get up from the ground when Murchison . . . fires several more times into him and finishes him off," Clark said.
Police issued an arrest warrant for Murchison and released his mugshot and last known address, on Limekiln Pike near Ridley Street. The U.S. Marshals Service has offered a $10,000 award for information leading to Murchison's apprehension, said James Burke, supervisor of the U.S. Marshals Violent Crimes Fugitive Task Force.
Police said they believe Murchison was acting on the orders of alleged North Philly drug lord James Wilson. Wilson, 40, also uses the name "Keith Epps" and at least one other alias, "Will Hooks," according to criminal court records that date back to the late 1980s and detail a life of drugs and thuggery.
"We believe he is the mastermind behind this attempted home-invasion robbery that turned into a double murder," Clark said.
An arrest warrant for burglary and related offenses was issued last night for Wilson, who last resided on Sartain Street near Oakdale, North Philadelphia, Clark said.
Though Wilson is not believed to be one of the shooters, Clark said he visited Thal's apartment building several hours before the June 27 murders with at least one other man, 27-year-old Robert Keith. Wilson and Keith had allegedly planned to break into Thal's apartment and rob her. But they kicked in the wrong door and busted into a vacant sixth-floor apartment, Clark said.
Later that day, about 5 p.m., Katoya Jones, 25, a second-floor resident who lives in the same building as Thal, let Murchison, two other gunmen, and at least one "lookout" into the building, Clark said.
Clark said security cameras picked up two lookouts.
Police believe Wilson persuaded Jones to help the killers gain access. When asked if Jones is Wilson's girlfriend, Clark replied, "He has some type of relationship with her. We don't know what type."
Once inside the complex, Murchison and the two other gunmen cornered Thal and Gilmore as they walked toward her apartment door. The gunmen tried to force Thal, 34, and Gilmore, 40, inside the apartment, but the couple tried to flee, Clark said.
Once the gunmen left, an unidentified man - believed to be an associate of Gilmore's - is seen on video clutching a large duffel bag as he slips out of Thal's apartment. Investigators still don't know what was inside the duffel bag, but are close to identifying the man seen holding it, Clark said.
Robert Keith, of 13th Street near Fisher Avenue, Logan, was arrested and charged with burglary and related offenses, Clark said.
Police also arrested Jones. She is charged with murder, conspiracy, robbery, and other offenses.
Investigators are asking for the public's help in identifying the two other gunmen, two lookouts, and several others involved. Anyone with information should call homicide at 215-686-3334 or 215-686-3335. *
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