Police source: Murder suspect claims he killed others

DEION JORDAN spent the last few months on a one-man crime spree that ended in kidnapping, murder - and now jail, police say.

And based on statements Jordan made to Homicide Unit detectives, that spree may be a small sample of his criminal activity, a police source said last night.

Jordan, 34, of McCallum Street near Hortter in West Mount Airy, was caught Oct. 19 after he led police on a high-speed chase through Delaware County. The chase began after friends of a man he allegedly kidnapped and ransomed alerted authorities, police spokeswoman Jillian Russell said.

After Jordan was in custody, a police source said, he allegedly confessed to killing an East Mount Airy man during a robbery. He's also expected to be charged in at least three bank robberies.

Early yesterday, officers from the police Marine Unit were searching the Schuylkill near the Falls Bridge for a gun possibly linked to the death of that victim, Dallas Long, 49, a police source said.

After probing the waters for a few hours, the divers came up empty-handed.

They knew to search that area, the source said, thanks to Jordan, who had directed them there during questioning by detectives.

Jordan also claimed to have committed several other murders, the source said. Detectives were working to confirm his claims, but Jordan had not been definitively linked to any additional homicides as of last night.

In the case in which he was charged, Jordan allegedly lured the kidnap victim after meeting him by chance at the Wawa at 84th Street and Bartram Avenue and offering to sell him a 2008 Dodge Charger.

The duo met a second time about 8:30 p.m. Oct. 19 at the nearby Hilton Doubletree Hotel on Island Avenue in Southwest Philadelphia, sources said. At the second meeting, sources said, Jordan got the victim into the car by telling him they'd take it for a spin back to the Wawa where they had first met.

But when the victim hopped into the Charger for a test ride, Jordan sped to a darkened stretch of Essington Avenue and stopped to allow a hidden accomplice to pop up from the rear seat and threaten the victim with a handgun, police said.

The victim told police that his two attackers bound him with black plastic ties and stole $2,000 in cash from his jacket, as well as his watch and sunglasses. They then ordered him to call his friends and ask them to bring an additional $5,000 - or they'd kill him, police said.

The victim's friends were told to leave the money at a Redbox DVD machine at 63rd and Vine streets. They called police, who were waiting for Jordan when he drove up.

After the victim got out of the car, police emerged and Jordan allegedly sped away, leading them on a high-speed chase through several Delaware County municipalities, Russell said.

During the chase, Jordan allegedly hit a police cruiser in Haverford Township, pausing just long enough for his accomplice to hop out of the car and run away. The episode ended when the car crashed into a fence in Lansdowne, Russell said.

While in custody, Jordan allegedly confessed to the Oct. 17 shooting death of Dallas Long, of 75th Avenue near Ogontz, whose body was found in a grassy lot on Lyons Place near 84th Street, in Southwest Philadelphia. Long and Jordan were acquaintances, an investigator said.

Jordan was charged with murder, theft, gun offenses, abuse of a corpse and related crimes in Long's slaying. He faces a Nov. 12 preliminary hearing in that case, according to court records.

He also is charged with aggravated assault, kidnapping, robbery and related offenses for the Oct. 19 incidents.

Authorities also suspect that Jordan was the masked man who robbed several banks in Philadelphia and the suburbs in recent months. Russell said he is expected to be charged in three bank robberies.

Court records show that Jordan beat a 2007 aggravated-assault case when the witness repeatedly failed to appear in court. He also was arrested on a drug charge in 2004; the District Attorney's Office withdrew that charge for unspecified reasons, court records show.