The man who police say masterminded a drug robbery that turned into a double homicide inside an affluent Northern Liberties apartment building surrendered last night at Police Headquarters.
Accompanied by his attorney and an entourage that included his parents and pastor, the man police had identified as James "Pooh" Wilson arrived around 7:40 p.m., wearing a white polo shirt and clutching a Bible.
He did not speak as he walked past reporters, and his family members and pastor also declined to comment.
Attorney Christopher Warren said that his client's real name was Will Hook, but that he was convicted on 1991 drug charges under the Wilson name, the name police have been using for him.
Detectives immediately took Hook into custody on a burglary warrant. The suspect, 40, has not been charged in the shooting deaths of well-known party planner Rian Thal and her friend Timothy Gilmore.
Warren said his client had nothing to do with their deaths.
"He wants to do his best to clear his name," Warren said. "He wasn't involved in the shootings."
Warren said that his client wanted to surrender on Friday, when police issued a warrant for his arrest, but that Warren had a previous commitment.
"We did it as quickly as we possibly could," he said.
After his client was taken into custody, Warren gave detectives a letter saying that he should not be questioned outside his presence "under any circumstances."
In 1998, while on parole, the suspect was involved in a traffic accident that resulted in a fight. He then gave police a third name - Keith Epps.
Warren said those are the only two times that his client has been arrested. He declined to say what Hook does for a living, but said he is not the drug underworld figure portrayed by police.
Detectives said Hook was the mastermind behind an attempted drug robbery that left Thal, 34, and Gilmore, 40, riddled with bullets outside Thal's apartment at the Piazza at Schmidts.
So far, the suspect only faces a burglary charge for what police described as an earlier attempt to rob Thal, who had four kilograms of cocaine and more than $100,000 in cash in her apartment when she was killed.
Police say Hook and another man, Robert Keith, 27, kicked in the door of a vacant apartment at the Piazza around 4 a.m. on June 27, the day of the shootings.
The unit, which they believed was Thal's, was one floor below her seventh-floor residence in the complex's Navona building, police said. Keith was arrested last week and charged with burglary.
Warren said his client did not know Thal.
"If what they're saying is true and he knew her, don't you think he would have gone to the right door?" Warren said.
When the burglary attempt failed, police said, Hook persuaded a female friend who also lived in the building to help several gunmen enter the Navona. That woman, Katoya Jones, 25, was charged July 2 with murder, conspiracy and other crimes.
Warren complained that Jones was held "incommunicado" for several days and "was questioned for God knows how long, before she said God knows what."
Even with her statement, Warren said, "they chose not to charge [his client] with murder."
Jones was seen on a surveillance camera allowing one of the three shooters to follow her through the front door. That man then let two more gunmen and a lookout into the building.
Police have an arrest warrant for Donnell Murchison, 32, of the 6500 block of Limekiln Pike, who they say was one of the gunmen. Murchison, who remains at large, fired shots into both Thal and Gilmore, police said.
He is wanted for murder and other charges, and U.S. marshals have offered a $10,000 reward for his arrest.
Warren said Hook does not know Murchison.
Police said the three gunmen, who confronted Thal and Gilmore outside her apartment, had planned to push them inside and rob them. Gilmore apparently tried to run, and both were gunned down.
Detectives are still seeking the identity of the other two gunmen, as well as at least two lookouts - one captured on surveillance inside the building, and another seen outside the building.
Police also continue to search for a man seen leaving Thal's apartment after the shooting, carrying a large duffel bag. Police have said they are close to identifying the man, believed to be an associate of Gilmore's.
Thal grew up in Lafayette Hill and founded RiGirl Productions, a Philadelphia party-planning firm.
She was known for throwing events that attracted professional athletes, celebrities, and aspiring rap stars. In April, fliers advertised a dual birthday party for her and James "Kamal" Gray of the Roots, the Grammy-winning band, at Plush nightclub.
Gilmore, a former Detroit firefighter living in Ohio, drove a tractor-trailer, which police suspect might have been a cover for drug-running. His connection to Thal remains unclear.
Thal, who twice had been arrested for drugs, was known to narcotics investigators, and her role in that underworld has been described variously as a "holder" of drugs and money to an active trafficker.
Warren said he hoped a "reasonable" bail would be set on his client's burglary charge, "at which point he can go back to his family."
He said Hook has several children, including a young daughter. Hook had planned to surrender much earlier yesterday.
"Part of the reason it took him a while is that he wanted to give his daughter a hug," Warren said.
Contact staff writer Troy Graham at 215-854-2730 or tgraham@phillynews.com.
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