MURDER & MAYHEM

THE COLD-HEARTED killer beat the woman to death, but didn't stop humiliating her, police said.

After she was dead, he placed a plastic bag and red pillowcase over her head, then tied a wool scarf around her neck, police said.

Investigators believe he drove the body to a vacant, wooded area in Kensington and dumped it. The unidentified woman was the city's 101st homicide victim of the year.

But swiftly, by yesterday afternoon, the ghastly tally had reached 104 after a 45-year-old man was found shot to death in a house in Southwest Philadelphia.

The century mark had been broken only early Saturday.

Police said they found the battered woman's body in a wooded area behind Witte Street near Clearfield, where a small auto business is located, at about 5:20 p.m. Saturday.

Cops said the body was noticed by kids playing in the area, but no one bothered to call 911 for about 12 hours.

The victim's hands were tied behind her back.

Although she probably had been dead for 24 hours, she was still listed as the 101st victim, said Homicide Lt. Philip Riehl.

The Caucasian woman, believed to be in her late 30s or early 40s, died of multiple blunt force trauma, Riehl said.

The body was fully clothed, dressed in blue jeans, a black cap and burgundy windbreaker with another jacket on top of that, Riehl said. She wore fluorescent-green running-type shoes.

The 100th victim, Dwayne Green, 37, of 49th Street near Brown, was shot multiple times in the torso early Saturday on Aspen Street near 49th in Mill Creek.

He was pronounced dead at 6:11 a.m. at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

After the Kensington discovery, Herbert Campbell, 51, became the city's 102nd victim.

Campbell was shot multiple times in the torso and one time in the face on Dewey Street near Market, West Philadelphia, about 10:20 p.m. Saturday, police said. He was pronounced dead at HUP at 12:27 a.m. yesterday

Campbell was a member of the Wheels of Soul, a predominantly African-American motorcycle club, Riehl said.

Victim number 103, Muhammed Abdul Jabar, 24, of 9th Street near Rockland, was shot in the back and arm about 12:30 a.m. yesterday on 5th Street near Ruscomb.

He was pronounced at Albert Einstein Medical Center at 12:46 a.m.

The 104th victim was discovered by officers when the man's sister called police and said she hadn't seen her brother for a while, said Homicide Sgt. Anthony McFadden.

"When they gained entry to the house, they found the woman's brother, a 45-year-old man, with two gunshot wounds to the head," McFadden said.

He was pronounced dead at the scene shortly before 3 p.m.

Homicide detectives were looking into an incident early Friday in South Philadelphia that might be counted as a homicide, but had not been officially declared as such.

Police said the body of Renee Gardner, 37, of Franklin Street near Moyamensing Avenue, was found in her home at 3 a.m. with gunshot wounds to the stomach.

Her husband was taken into custody but was released after questioning, cops said.

"Technically, she does not go into our official homicide count until her death has been ruled a homicide," said homicide Sgt. Tim Cooney.

Although no charges were pending from the district attorney's office for Gardner's husband, Cooney said, the matter remains under investigation.

Anyone with information on any of the slayings should call the Homicide Unit at 215-686-3334.

In addition to the jump in murders, Philadelphia was the site of four weekend attacks, including one involving a man who cops say tried to mow down his girlfriend with his car.

Police spokeswoman Beth Skala said 62-year-old Kenneth Lowrie, of Walnut Lane near Wayne Avenue, in Germantown, tried to run over his girlfriend with his car shortly before 2 a.m. yesterday.

Instead, Lowrie hit his paramour's friend on 68th Street near Woodland Avenue and the unidentified woman, in her 30s, remained pinned under the car for several minutes.

Fire rescue extricated her and she was taken to HUP, where she was in critical condition, said Lt. Robert Glenn.

In other violence:

* A 16-year-old boy was shot twice in the neck at 12:20 a.m. yesterday at 16th Street and Hunting Park Avenue in Nicetown, Skala said. The victim was in critical condition at Temple University Hospital.

* A 20-year-old man was shot in the chest and arm on Lindenwood Street near Woodland Avenue about 2:20 a.m. yesterday, Skala said. The victim, who was attempting to enter a Chinese food shop when he was shot, was in critical condition at HUP.

* A 29-year-old woman was shot in the stomach and chest at 4:10 a.m. on 52nd Street near Market, West Philadelphia, Skala said. She was taken to HUP, where she was in critical condition. *

Staff writer Christine Olley contributed to this report.