My Crime Fiction: 'Cabahug'

The story below is another chapter from my crime novel Olongapo, which I hope to soon publish. 

The story originally appeared in American Crime Magazine. 

You can read the previously posted chapters via the links below: 

Cabahug 

By Paul Davis 

Joselito Cabahug was a scrawny Filipino criminal known to his cohorts as Duling, the Tagalog word for crossed-eyed. But no one dared to call him that to his face, as Cabahug was short-tempered and prone to violence when insulted or angered. 

He was born in Olongapo's Barrio Barreto in the Philippines with his eyes crossed. His poor family were unable to provide medical help for him. Despite his small stature, Cabahug grew up mean and tough and he struck out at anyone who dared to ridicule or tease him about his eyes. In time, his perpetually angry, twisted face and crossed eyes took on a truly sinister look that struck fear into people.   

Cabahug joined a youth street gang in Olongapo in the early 1960s and committed numerous petty crimes, eventually graduating to armed robbery. Due to his frightening looks and his penchant for violence, he rose to be the leader of the teenage gang. He was arrested and sent to prison for armed robbery, and his reputation grew substantially after he performed a contract murder in the prison for Homobono Catacutan. 

The Olongapo gang leader was impressed with the fearless and frightening young thug, and he used bribery to get Cabahug released from prison. Catacutan recruited him and used him as an enforcer for his "shabu" crystal meth business. Catacutan’s customers and rivals, and even the police, were hesitant to confront the gang leader when he had the demented and evil-looking Cabahug at his side.      

Cabahug often backed up the gang’s chief enforcer, Tibayan. The two ferocious killers were ordered by Catacutan to hand out beatings and to assassinate rivals, cheats and police informers. 

Cabahug became legendary in Olongapo when he hunted down two of Catacutan’s shabu dealers who were cheating the gang leader. Cabahug captured the two drug dealers and took them aboard a boat. At sea, he tortured the two until they gave up the whereabouts of their stash of money and drugs. He then stabbed them to death and tossed them overboard. The two mutilated bodies late washed ashore, and the word went out to the underground that Cabahug brutally murdered them. 

Sometime later, Cabahug murdered a bar girl who was suspected of being a police informer. Like the two cheating drug dealers, Cabahug tortured the young woman until she admitted she was talking to the police. Her ravaged body was dumped in front of a police station. 

Cabahug was high on Lieutenant Colonel Rosa’s list of criminals he wanted to bring to justice, but he was unable to get anyone to testify against the notorious killer.          

Bulan befriended Cabahug when he worked as a clerk in Catacutan’s grocery store. Cabahug, who had no true friends, appreciated that Bulan was not frightened of his looks and violent reputation, and the clerk appeared to genuinely like him. Bulan, thinking ahead, wanted the notorious killer on his side when he eventually made his move to take over the gang from Catacutan. Bulan promoted Cabahug after Catacutan was murdered. Bulan from then on had his own loyal bodyguard and killer. He later ordered Cabahug to kill his partner, Tibayan. 

Some years later, Bulan sat in the Ritz, suffering from the gunshot wounds from Salvatore Lorino, the American sailor from the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk, had inflicted on him. Bulan swore he would get revenge. He finally made up his mind on a course of action. He called over Cabahug and ordered him to find and kill the American sailor named Lorino.     

The following evening, as Lorino was in a hotel room with Jade, there was a knock on the door. Jade answered the door as Lorino lay in bed smoking a cigarette. Cabahug knocked Jade to the floor and rushed in. Thanks to his South Philly hoodlum instincts and criminal experience, Lorino saw Cabahug running in and he dove from the bed as Cabahug drove his Butterfly knife into the bed sheets. 

Lorino was quickly on his feet and grabbed the bedside lamp and smashed it against Cabahug’s head. Lorino was taken aback at the sight of the crazed, crossed-eyed intruder as Cabahug leaped from the bed, his knife in hand. Lorino backed into a wall and leveled a hard kick into Cabahug’s chest as the enforcer rushed in. Cabahug fell back on the bed and Lorino jumped on top of him and knocked the knife from Cabahug’s hand. Lorino brought down a slew of punches to Cabahug’s face. Lorino reared back his right hand and delivered a hard punch that stunned Cabahug for a moment. As Lorino stood up and took a breath, Cabahug recovered, leaped from the bed and ran out the door.         

Later that evening, Cabahug reported to Bulan that he failed to murder Lorino. Bulan looked at Cabahug’s bruised face and dared not reproach his chief enforcer. He simply told Cabahug to try again.    

At the Americano, Lorino told Walker about the attack. He told Walker that he and Jade were fine, although the girl was shaken. When Lorino mentioned that the attacker was crossed-eyed, Walker said, “Cabahug.” 

“Who?” 

“Joselito Cabahug, a thug who works for Bulan,” Walker said. “He’s a cross-eyed, crazy-looking bastard.”    

“I hit the motherfucker so hard, I think I might have uncrossed his eyes,” Lorino told Walker. “But he still got up and ran out the door.” 

Walker left the bar and walked over to Camama’s hotel to pass on to the Old Huk what Lorino told him about the murder attempt. The elderly gang leader had already been informed about the incident by one of his hotel clerks. Camama was furious that Bulan would dare to send the crazy killer Cabahug to his hotel to murder one of his American shabu dealers. Camama told Walker to have Duke Valle shadow Lorino for his protection. Lorino was a good earner for the Camama gang, and the Old Huk didn’t want anything to happen to him.  

The Old Huk turned to Sicat after Walker left and told his lieutenant to retaliate. Sicat nodded. Sicat and Coco Labrador, another veteran killer, roamed Olongapo hunting for Cabahug, but he appeared to go underground. But there were other targets, and the Old Huk approved of Sicat’s idea. 

Benigno Del Rosario was dapper, handsome and loquacious. He rose from being a waiter and bartender to become the Ritz’s popular manager. Del Rosario was in the Ritz working when one of his waiters told him that one of the bar girls was outside of the bar throwing up in the street. A hands-on manager, Del Rosario went outside to investigate. 

As Del Rosario stepped outside, Sicat and Labrador opened up on the bar manager and shot him multiple times. Del Rosario collapsed and died instantly. Sicat and Labrador ran down the street and leaped into a jeepney, which sped off.

Lieutenant Colonel Cesar Rosa came on the scene of the murder in front of the Ritz. Shooting people down in public in front of bars that drew in American sailors and their valued dollars was bad for Olongapo. Rosa and his officers interrogated witnesses. A bartender informed Rosa that a waiter had told Del Rosario that one of the bar girls was sick outside of the bar, which caused the manger to venture outside where he was shot and killed.

Rosa questioned the waiter, who at first denied he told Del Rosario anything. But when the waiter was dragged to the police station and harshly questioned, he confessed that Coco Labrador had threatened his family if he didn’t set up the bar manager. Rosa and his men sought out Labrador and arrested him at the Americano bar. At the police station, Labrador denied threatening the waiter and denied knowing anything about the murder. He also refused to implicate his boss, Sicat or the Old Huk. 

After Rosa left the interrogation room to urinate, Labrador punched the police officer guarding him. He took the officer’s sidearm and ran out of the interrogation room. Rosa encountered Labrador in the hall as he was fleeing, and Rosa pulled his sidearm from its holster and shot Labrador dead.      

Lorino spent the evening with Jade at the Americano. When the bar closed, Lorino and Jade left the bar and headed towards the hotel next door. Cabahug leaped from a jeepney and began firing at Lorino. Lorino pushed Jade to the ground and fell on top of her. Duke Valle came out of the shadows and shot Cabahug twice in the head. Valle placed the barrel of his gun under his nose and sniffed it like he saw so many cowboys do in the movies.          

When Bulan heard the news of Cabahug’s death, he gripped his knee in pain and cursed his luck. He did not grieve for Cabahug. Bulan would have to think of another way to pay the American sailor back. 

© 2025 Paul Davis 

Note: You can read the previously posted chapters via the link below: 

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'Butterfly'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'Salvatore Lorino'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: Join The Navy And See Olongapo

Paul Davis On Crime: Boots On The Ground

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'The 30-Day Detail'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'Cat Street'

Paul Davis On Crime: Chapter 12: On Yankee Station

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'The Cherry Boy'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'The Hit'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: Welcome To Japan, Davis-San

Paul Davis On Crime: A Look Back At Life Aboard An Aircraft Carrier During The Vietnam War: 'The Compartment Cleaner'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'Murder By Fire'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'Admiral McCain'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'Hit The Head'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'A Night At The Americano'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'Missing Muster'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'Reeinald Bulan' 

Philadelphia Man Admits To Gunpoint Robberies Of Three City Stores in Three Days

 The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia released the information below last week:

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Tyree Hatch, aka “Jamal Morris” and “Omar Reed,” 48, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, entered a plea of guilty before United States District Judge Gail A. Weilheimer this week on three counts of robbery which interferes with interstate commerce (Hobbs Act robbery), three counts of using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon.

In January of this year, the defendant was charged by indictment with those offenses, arising from three armed robberies of Northeast Philadelphia businesses in November 2024.

As detailed in court documents and admitted to by the defendant, on November 23, 2024, at approximately 1:12 p.m., he entered a convenience store located on the 6700 block of Castor Avenue, made conversation with an employee (Victim 1), then brandished his firearm. The defendant placed the gun into Victim 1’s back and walked him to the cash register. Hatch then grabbed money, Victim 1’s iPhone, and boxes of Newport cigarettes and fled the scene. Video recovered after the robbery showed the defendant entering a black Ford Explorer with PA tags.

On November 24, 2024, at approximately 9 p.m., the defendant entered a smoke shop located on the 2000 block of Cottman Avenue, confronted an employee (Victim 2) and demanded money from the register. During the interaction, Hatch pulled out a firearm, and, believing the gun was fake, Victim 2 tried to disarm him. The gun went off during the struggle and Victim 2 suffered a gunshot wound to the shin. Hatch then fled the store with cash from the register. Video recovered after the robbery showed the defendant driving the same black Ford Explorer as the day prior.

On November 25, 2024, at approximately 3:45 p.m., officers with the Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) were dispatched to a smoke and vape shop located on the 7100 block of Castor Avenue, in response to a robbery in progress. Upon their arrival, an employee (Victim 3) informed them that the armed robber had taken cash, an iPhone, a carton of Newport cigarettes, and boxes of cigars.

Aware of the previous two robberies, PPD officers surveyed the area for the black Ford Explorer and found it parked outside the defendant’s residence. Hatch was then seen entering the home, and a barricade was declared. The defendant soon exited the residence and was placed under arrest.

Hatch is scheduled to be sentenced on November 3 and faces a maximum possible sentence of life imprisonment and a mandatory minimum sentence of 24 years in prison.

The case was investigated by the Philadelphia Police Department and the FBI Philadelphia Violent Crimes Task Force and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Kwambina Coker and Linwood C. Wright Jr.

Member Of Frankford-Based Drug Gang Sentenced To 75 Years In Prison For Killing Philadelphia Police Sergeant James O’Connor, Kaseem Rogers, Tyrone Tyree, And Dontae Walker, And Additional Drug, Gun, And Violent Crimes

 The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia released the below information:

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Hassan Elliott, aka “Haz” (seen in the above mug shot), 26, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Juan R. Sánchez to 900 months in prison, five years of supervised release, and a special assessment of $2,500 for the fatal shootings of Philadelphia Police Sergeant James O’Connor, Kaseem Rogers, Tyrone Tyree, and Dontae Walker, and numerous other crimes arising from the defendant’s membership in a violent drug trafficking organization known by several names, including “SG1700” and “L-Block,” which operated in the Frankford section of Northeast Philadelphia.

Elliott, along with Khalif Sears, aka “Leaf” and “Lil Leaf,” 23, Kelvin Jimenez, aka “Nip,” 34, and Dominique Parker, aka “Dom,” 34, all of Philadelphia, were charged in March 2023 by superseding indictment with conspiracy to engage in a racketeer influenced corrupt organization (RICO), violent crimes in aid of racketeering, to include murder, stemming from the killings of victims Rogers, Walker, Tyree, and Sergeant O’Connor, and numerous related offenses.

Elliott and Sears pleaded guilty this January to RICO conspiracy, drug trafficking conspiracy, causing the death of Sergeant O’Connor by firearm, and multiple drug, gun, and violent offenses.

Jimenez and Parker were convicted at trial in March of all charges against them, including racketeering conspiracy, drug trafficking conspiracy, maintaining a drug-involved premises, assaults in aid of racketeering, firearms offenses, and related crimes. Jimenez was also convicted of the murder of Kaseem Rogers, and Parker of the murder of Dontae Walker.

On March 13, 2020, Elliott, Sears, and others previously indicted were inside a stash house on the 1600 block of Bridge Street, when Sergeant O’Connor (seen in the above photo) and other members of the Philadelphia Police Department SWAT team arrived with an arrest warrant for Elliott for the March 2019 murder of Tyrone Tyree. As Sergeant O’Connor and his fellow officers ascended the staircase to the second floor of the residence and repeatedly announced their presence, Elliott fired a semiautomatic assault rifle 16 times, striking and killing Sergeant O’Connor.

Sears, Parker, and Jimenez will be sentenced at a later date.

“Hassan Elliott murdered a police officer who was protecting and serving his community,” said U.S. Attorney Metcalf. “Unfortunately, Philadelphia Police Department Sergeant James O’Connor is only one of many victims of SG1700’s rampage of violence. The punishment Mr. Elliott received today is justice for these outrageous crimes, and our efforts — past, present, and future — to prosecute anyone who harms law enforcement will forever honor the sacrifice of Sergeant O’Connor.”

“Hassan Elliott is now facing justice for the murder of Sergeant O’Connor and his other victims,” said Eric DeGree, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Philadelphia Field Division. “Criminal gang members can’t hide from the mayhem they inflict, especially when their violence turns against the law enforcement officers who protect our communities. Thanks to the diligent and meticulous work in partnership with the Philadelphia Police Department and U.S. Attorney’s Office, Elliott and those who enabled him are being held accountable for these heinous crimes.”

The case was investigated by the ATF and the Philadelphia Police Department and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Ashley Martin, Christopher Diviny, and Lauren Stram.

The Alto Knights - Why Did The De Niro Mob Movie Bomb?

Broad & Liberty ran my piece on The Alto Knights film. 

You can read the piece via the below link or the below text:

Paul Davis: The Alto Knights — Why did the DeNiro mob movie bomb?

I recently watched The Alto Knights on HBO. As a fan of mob movies, from Jimmy Cagney’s 1931 The Public Enemy to Martin Scorsese’s 2019 The Irishman, I had hoped that The Alto Knights would be as interesting and entertaining as the classic mob movies that preceded it.   

But I was disappointed with the film. 

Alto Knights was directed by Barry Levinson, a veteran director who also helmed Bugsy, a good mob movie. The Alto Knights was written by Nick Pileggi, who wrote Martin Scorsese’s classic mob films Goodfellas and Casino, and the film starred Robert De Niro, who portrayed classic gangsters in The Godfather Part II, Goodfellas and other fine organized crime films. 

So why did the film bomb? 

To begin with, in my view, the stunt casting of Robert De Niro portraying both Cosa Nostra bosses Frank Costello and Vito Genovese, the successors of Salvatore “Charlie Lucky” Luciano’s crime family after he was deported to Italy. 

Perhaps another reason is due to Robert De Niro’s “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” I know a good number of people who refuse to watch De Niro’s films because of his crude, insulting and often dumb comments about President Trump. 

I don’t agree. We should separate the artist from the person, and De Niro’s personal opinions and his acting are two distinctly different things.  

But I must admit that some years ago, as a Navy veteran who served on an aircraft carrier during the Viet Nam War, I refused to watch Jane Fonda’s films because of her support of the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Communists. I believe her visit to North Vietnam and her posing with an anti-aircraft battery crew that had shot down many aircraft carrier pilots, including John McCain, was traitorous. 

But today I agree with conductor Arturo Toscanini, who reportedly said of composer Richard Strauss, “For Strauss the composer, I take off my hat. For Strauss the man, I put it back on.”   

Robert De Niro is a fine actor, but he should have portrayed only Frank Costello. Barry Levinson should have cast Joe Pesci, Al Pacino, or some other fine actor to play Vito Genovese. Robert De Niro and the other fine actor would have had several sit-down scenes with each other. They could have faced off like Robert De Niro and Al Pacino did in Michael Mann’s Heat. 

Another reason the film bombed was the awful title. The Alto Knights (named after a mob social club in New York) sounds more like a Knights of the Round Table movie than a mob movie. The working title was Wise Guys, the title of Pileggi’s true crime book about gangster Henry Hill, which was turned into Scorsese’s Goodfellas. 

I would have called the film The Prime Minister of Crime, which was what Frank Costello, a power broker and fixer for his Cosa Nostra crime family, was called.   

The rivalry between Costello, the racketeer and Genovese, the gangster, makes for good drama. Frank Costello’s dramatic appearance before a Congressional committee is well portrayed, as were the events of the Apalachin mob meeting in up-state New York. The aborted major mob meeting was filmed for both drama and comedy as we see the well-dressed mob bosses flee through the woods to escape the police. 

I also liked the absurd and unbelievable but true contentious court case involving Genovese and his wife, portrayed well by Katherine Narducci. I also liked Debra Messing as Frank Costello’s wife. And I especially liked Michael Rispoli as Albert Anastasia, known as “The Lord High Executioner,” who was the head of the mob’s “Murder, Inc” assassination crew. 

Cosmo Jarvis was also very good as Vincent “The Chin” Gigante, the former boxer who was ordered to shoot and kill Costello by Genevese. (Gigante later became the powerful boss of the Genovese crime family and walked around in pajamas, slippers and a robe to faint madness to avoid being arrested).  

The film opens with Gigante shooting Frank Costello in the head in the lobby of Costello’s apartment building. But Costello survived the assassination attempt and subsequently retired from mob life.   

The film captures the right look of the late 1950s, and the wardrobes and sets are spot on. Unfortunately, the film lacks the fast pace of Goodfellas and Casino, and The Alto Knights drags on at times. 

Being half-Italian and raised Italian in South Philly, the hub of the Philadelphia Cosa Nosta organized crime family, I was aware of Cosa Nostra culture from an early age. I lived a few blocks from then-mob boss Angelo Bruno. And I grew up with the sons and nephews of Cosa Nostra mobsters, some of whom also became mobsters themselves. 

As a writer, I’ve covered organized crime for many years, and I’ve interviewed a good number of current and former mobsters, such as former Philadelphia mob boss Ralph Natale, former Philadelphia mob underboss Philip Leonetti, and former New York Colombo captain Michael Franzese. 

As a student of Cosa Nostra history I believe The Alto Knights is historically accurate for the most part. Sadly, the film did not perform as well as The Godfather films or Goodfellas and Casino. 

The film bombed, but for those who are interested in Cosa Nostra history, The Alto Knights, for all of its flaws, is still worth watching.    

Paul Davis, a Philadelphia writer and frequent contributor to Broad + Liberty, also contributes to Counterterrorism magazine and writes their online Threatcon column. He also writes an online Crime Beat column. He can be reached at pauldavisoncrime.com  

My Crime Fiction: 'Reeinald Bulan'

The story below is Chapter 11 in my novel Olongapo, which I hope to soon publish. 

You can read the other posted chapters via the links at the bottom. 

The story originally appeared American Crime Magazine.   

Reeinald Bulan

 By Paul Davis 

The son of an honest and hard worker in a restaurant in Olongapo in the Philippines, Reeinald Bulan grew up in a large, happy family. 

Reeinald Bulan, however, was the only member of the family not happy with his lot. The timid, chubby, shaggy-haired boy was bullied unmercifully in school and on the streets of Olongapo. The berated, bruised and battered teenager dreamed of becoming a powerful and feared crime boss. Then, he dreamed, he would take revenge against those who tormented him. 

Bulan scoffed at his father’s work ethic and the long, hard hours he put in at the restaurant, thinking he was a fool. Instead, Bulan admired Homobono Catacutan, an elderly and gaunt criminal with a scary knife scar across his right cheek and nose. Catacutan owned the grocery store where Bulan worked as a clerk in the late 1960s. 

To Bulan, Catacutan didn’t appear to work at all. He mostly sat in a chair, drank San Miguel beer, smoked cigarettes and gave orders to his underlings. Bulan enjoyed bringing Catacutan his beer and cigarettes, and he enjoyed listening to the gang leader snap orders to his gang members. 

The Olongapo gang leader liked Bulan’s apparent cleverness as well as his subservient and slavish attitude towards the boss. Catacutan took Bulan under his wing and trained him to handle the legitimate business books as well as the illegitimate books for his criminal enterprises. 

Girls were never much interested in Bulan as a teen, but in his mid-20s he was an assistant to Catacutan, and due to that exalted role, he was able to have nearly every girl he desired. Catacutan paid him well and Bulan lived lavishly and enjoyed the night life of Olongapo with beautiful girls at his side. He moved out of his father’s modest home and took the apartment above the grocery. He paid good money to furnish the apartment well and he entertained women and Catacutan’s gang members in the apartment, suppling food, alcohol and drugs. 

Thanks to his lavish parties and his ingratiating manner towards his fellow criminals, Bulan became popular with the drug dealers, enforcers, and thieves in the gang. Catacutan did not see Bulan’s budding popularity as a threat. Rather, he was proud of Bulan. He saw Bulan as an up and comer in his criminal enterprises. He did not, however, see Bulan as a future gang leader, as he thought the portly young man was physically weak and lacked the sort of command presence that crime bosses in Olongapo needed to thrive and survive.    

The child-less Catacutan believed that he needed an heir who had brains like Bulan but also had the toughness of Ernesto Tibayan, his short, squat and not-to-bright chief enforcer. Catacutan wanted to train someone to step up as the gang leader in the event that he retired, went to prison or died. Catacutan regretted that he did not have anyone in his gang who had both skill sets needed to take over his criminal empire.    

Catacutan’s criminal empire included two hidden labs that produced shabu and a small army of dealers selling the crystal meth in Olongapo. He also employed several tough, violent men to act as enforcers. His dealers sold shabu in his bar, the Ritz, and Catacutan used his grocery store as a front to sell stolen items from the American naval base on the black market. Catacutan also sponsored and bankrolled several criminal gangs who pulled heists, kidnappings and other profitable criminal acts. 

In the mid-1960s there were several gangs selling shabu and committing other crimes, but Catacutan’s only true competitor was the Old Huk, whom Catacutan hated and feared. On several occasions, the Old Huk’s men came into conflict with Catacutan’s men. But both gang leaders were wise enough to cease the hostilities before it came to an all-out war between the two major criminal gangs. Open gang warfare in Olongapo would bring the police out in force and both businesses would suffer.    

Although he acted like an amiable toady, Bulan was secretly ambitious. He still harbored an ambition to become a crime boss, but he kept that plan to himself. He knew that Catacutan saw him as only a glorified clerk, albeit a criminal one.

So when Tibayan was ordered by Catacutan to murder a dealer whom the crime boss discovered was cheating him, Bulan asked Tibayan if he could come along and do the murder. Tibayan, who liked Bulan, agreed.

Tibayan and Bulan entered the Ritz and saw the dealer sitting at one of the tables. Tibayan walked past the dealer and motioned for him to follow him and Bulan into the men’s room. The dealer, who was soaring high on shabu, got up quickly and followed the two other men into the rest room. Once a customer in the men’s room left and the men had the room to themselves, Tibayan grabbed the dealer’s arms and held him tight. Bulan pulled out a knife and plunged it into the dealer’ midsection. The dealer struggled as Bulan stabbed him several more times.   As Tibayan dropped the dealer to the floor, Bulan laughed uncontrollably.

Tibayan told Bulan to stop laughing, calling him a gago in Tagalog. He told the young fool to wash the blood from his hands and arms. 

Tibayan reported to Catacutan that Bulan murdered the dealer, swiftly and without hesitation, but the experienced enforcer was concerned about Bulan’s odd reaction to the murder. Laughing hysterically after killing someone was peculiar and to Tibayan, a professional killer, it constituted unprofessional behavior.

Still, Catacutan was proud of Bulan for committing the murder and he gave his clerk a cash bonus. From then on, Bulan became Catacutan’s chief lieutenant.  

Bulan was now involved in all aspects of the gang’s criminal activities and Catacutan relied on Bulan’s advice.           

Bulan was happy to finally be accepted in the gang as the boss’ lieutenant, but he was in a hurry to be the boss, and he didn’t think Catacutan would retire or die anytime soon. To hedge his bets, Bulan became a police informant, providing an Olongapo police officer with information about Catacutan’s criminal activities. He hoped that the police officer would arrest Catacutan and send him to prison, opening the way for Bulan to become the boss. He also thought that it was good to have a serious professional relationship with a police officer. 

Another police officer who was on Catacutan’s payroll discovered that Bulan was an informant, and he reported this fact to the old gang leader. Catacutan was furious as well as hurt, as he had treated Bulan like a son. Catacutan lured Bulan to the back of his grocery store where he planned to have his protégé murdered. Catacutan brought along Ernesto Tibayan and he ordered the enforcer to shoot and kill Bulan. 

Thankfully for Bulan, Tibayan turned his gun on Catacutan, shooting him in the head. Tibayan told the relived and laughing Bulan that he felt Catacutan had outlived his usefulness. He said the two of them should work together and take over Catacutan’s gang and both the old gangster’s legal and illegal businesses.

Bulan quickly bought out the legitimate businesses from Catacutan’s widow. The widow, afraid that she too would be murdered, sold the bar, the grocery store and other property to Bulan at a very reasonable price. 

With Bulan’s sharp business mind and Tibayan’s fearsome reputation, the two took over the gang without complaint from the criminal underlings. One of Bulan’s first acts as the boss was to go after his chief tormentor when he was a teenager.

Rodrigo Torres went to work on the U.S. Navy’s Subic Bay naval base as a welder after he left school. Married with two young children, Torres was no longer a bullying adolescent. He had matured and was loved by his family and well-liked by his friends and co-workers on the naval base. 

Bulan assigned two of his enforcers to find out where his old classmate lived and worked. When they reported back to Bulan that Torres worked at the naval base and lived in a small home with his family, he ordered the two men to cut him down with bolo knives. Preferably, Bulan said, on a public street in front of his family to humiliate him before killing him. 

A few days later, as Torres was leaving the naval base’s gate, his young wife greeted him. The two enforcers pulled out their long bolo knives and began to attack him. The crowd in front of the gate dispersed in fear and horror from the brutal attack as Torres’ wife tried to stop the bolo-wielding killers. One of the enforcers kicked the woman hard and she fell to the ground. Two U.S. Marines at the gate came running out of the base, their M-16 rifles pointed at the killers. The two enforcers saw the Marines coming towards them and they abandoned the bloody body on the ground and took off running. 

The two Marines, unsure if they had the proper authority, did not fire at the fleeing killers. They knelt at the hacked and bloodied body, and they attempted to give Torres first aid, but he was dead. His wife stood over her husband, crying and screaming, as the Olongapo police came on the scene.   

The two enforcers reported proudly to Bulan how they butchered Torres in front of his wife and the other Filipino base workers. They neglected to tell Bulan that they ran in fear from the American Marines. Bulan was pleased. 

Another of Bulan’s initial acts was to eliminate one of the gang’s smaller competitors. Catacutan allowed Manny Bautista and his small gang to operate in Olongapo as he saw no threat or true competition from them. Catacutan also liked Bautista. But Bulan wanted to show his ruthlessness. He had Tibayan and two enforcers attack the gang’s leader in his home in front of his wife and children. Tibayan and his men entered Bautista’s home early one morning and they beat both him and his wife severely as the children cried and huddled in a corner. 

After the vicious beating, Tibayan took out his gun and shot Bautista in the head and killed him. He grabbed Bautista’s wife by her hair and lifted her up to her feet. Tibayan told her that she must leave Olongapo, or they would be back to murder her and her children. She agreed to leave Olongapo.            

The three murders in succession; Catacutan, Torres, and Bautista, cemented Bulan’s reputation as a gangster to be feared. Even the Old Huk, who in his time murdered far more than three men, took notice of the up-and-coming gang leader.

After a year of successfully running the gang’s criminal enterprises, Bulan felt he no longer needed Tibayan. Bulan now had under him other far cheaper men for muscle. So he ordered one of those cheaper killers to murder Tibayan.

Even with the Old Huk as a stern competitor, business and life was good for Bulan.

Then he met Salvatore Lorino.

© 2025 Paul Davis 

Note: You can read the other posted chapters via the below links:

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'Butterfly'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'Salvatore Lorino'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: The Old Huk

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: Join The Navy And See Olongapo

Paul Davis On Crime: Boots On The Ground

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'The 30-Day Detail'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'Cat Street'

Paul Davis On Crime: Chapter 12: On Yankee Station

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'The Cherry Boy'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'The Hit'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: Welcome To Japan, Davis-San

Paul Davis On Crime: A Look Back At Life Aboard An Aircraft Carrier During The Vietnam War: 'The Compartment Cleaner'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'Murder By Fire'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'Admiral McCain'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'Hit The Head'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'A Night At The Americano'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'Missing Muster' 

On This Day In History American Writer Ernest Hemingway Was Born

As History.com notes, the late, great American writer Ernest Hemingway was born on this day. 

On this day in 1899, Ernest Miller Hemingway, author of such novels as “For Whom the Bell Tolls” and “The Old Man and the Sea,” is born in Oak Park, Illinois. The influential American literary icon became known for his straightforward prose and use of understatement. Hemingway, who tackled topics such as bullfighting and war in his work, also became famous for his own macho, hard-drinking persona. 

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link: 

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/ernest-hemingway-is-born?cmpid=email-hist-tdih-2017-0721-07212017&om_rid=de5e4076c942a595dbda53f758321d197499484f6d117f61b6ac5c08e0d6f0aa&om_mid=215102284&kx_EmailCampaignID=13846&kx_EmailCampaignName=email-hist-tdih-2017-0721-07212017&kx_EmailRecipientID=de5e4076c942a595dbda53f758321d197499484f6d117f61b6ac5c08e0d6f0aa  

You can also read my Philadelphia Inquirer review of Hemingway’s Letters below: 

And you can also read my Washington Times review of Hemingway at War via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2017/01/my-washington-times-review-of-hemingway.html  

Two Of The Best Crime Short Stories Ever Written: My Washington Times On Crime Column On A Fine Collection of Hemingway’s Novels. Short Stories and Letters

I began writing commentary and book reviews for the Washington Times in 2012, and from 2019 until recently, my On Crime column appeared in the Washington Times. 

I'm proud to have been a contributor to the fine newspaper.  

One of my final Washington Times On Crime columns covered the late, great American writer Ernest Hemingway.

You can read the column via the link below or the text below:

 

A fine collection of Hemingway's novels, short stories and letters - Washington Times

 

I’ve been an Ernest Hemingway aficionado since my teens, so I was pleased to read the Library of America’s collection of the late, great writer’s stories, “Hemingway: A Farewell To Arms & Other Writings 1927-1932.”

 

The Library of America, a nonprofit organization, champions our nation’s cultural heritage by publishing America’s greatest writing in new editions. “No twentieth-century writer had a greater influence on American fiction than Ernest Hemingway,” The Library of America writes. “This volume, the second in Library of America’s definitive edition of Hemingway’s works, brings together Men Without Women, A Farewell to Arms, and Death in the Afternoon, the three books that followed his groundbreaking debut novel, ’The Sun Also Rises,’ and solidified his status as a preeminent literary modernist.

 

“The appearance of “Men Without Women” (1927) confirmed Hemingway’s determination to leave his mark on the short story form. It comprises fourteen spare and unsparing stories about wounded soldiers, boxers, and bullfighters, each displaying the extraordinary economy of language that is the hallmark of his prose.”

 

While Hemingway is mostly known for writing about war, bullfighting, hunting and fishing, he also wrote what I believe are two of the best crime short stories ever written, “The Killers” and “Fifty Grand.” Both short stories, which are about boxers and crooks, are included in this collection.

 

The killers in “The Killers” are mob hit men who show up at a diner late one night where Hemingway’s autobiographical character, young Nick Adams, is working. He overhears the two hoodlums discussing their plans to murder the boxer.

 

Some years ago, I read “Ellery Queen’s Book of Mystery Stories.” The crime stories in this collection were written by writers who were not generally recognized as crime, mystery, or thriller writers.

 

Edited by Ellery Queen, the pseudonym of the writing team of Frederic Dannay and James Yaffe, and the name of their fictional detective character, the book offered crime stories by Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, Robert Louis Stevenson and a dozen other writers. Ernest Hemingway’s “The Killers” is also included in the collection.

 

“Ernest Hemingway’s “The Killers” is one of the best-known short stories ever written, and no volume dedicated to the literature of crime would be complete without it,” the editors wrote in the introduction to the story. “It is revealing nothing new about Hemingway to point out that essentially, he is preoccupied with doom - more specifically, with death. It has been explained this way: ‘The I in Hemingway’s stories is the man that things are done to’ - and the final thing that is done to him, as to all of us, is death. No story of Hemingway illustrates this fundamental thesis more clearly than ’The Killers,’ nor does any story of Hemingway illustrate more clearly why he is a legend in his own lifetime. Here, in a few pages, is the justly famous Hemingway dialogue - terse, clipped, the quintessence of realistic speech; here in a few pages, are more than the foreshadowing of the great literary qualities to be found in ’A Farewell to Arms” and “For Whom the Bell Tolls.’”

 

In “Fifty Grand,” Hemingway’s story is about Jack Brennan, an over-the-hill fighter. Jack Brennan is visited at his training camp by two flashy men described as “wise guy” pool hall owners. The men, Steinfelt and Morgan, called “big operators,” want the boxer to throw the fight as they have big money on his opponent. Jack Brennan, who thinks he will lose the fight anyway, bets 50 grand on his opponent to win. 


 

Hemingway, a noted amateur boxer, was a huge boxing fan. He knew the sport and the parasitic crooks who clung to the fighters like remoras to sharks.

 

A good companion to the Library of America’s Hemingway book is the Cambridge University Press’s “The Letters of Ernest Hemingway 1934-1936.”

 

In her introduction to the volume, Dr. Verna Kale, associate editor of the Hemingway Letters Project, wrote, “The Letters of Ernest Hemingway: Volume 6 (1934–1936) is a book about fish. It is about other things as well, of course: writing and art, friendship and fatherhood, the ongoing Great Depression and the rising threat of fascism in Europe. And fish — so many fish.”

 

The Hemingway letters cover the publication of Hemingway’s experimental nonfiction book “Green Hills of Africa” and his work on short stories, his twenty-plus pieces in Esquire magazine and his view of other writers.

 

Paul Davis’ On Crime column covers true crime, crime fiction and thrillers.

 

Hemingway: A Farewell To Arms & Other writings. 1927-1932
Edited by Robert W. Trogdon
Library of America, $32, 1037 pages

 

The Letters of Ernest Hemingway 1934-1936
Edited by Sandra Spanier, Verna Kale and Miriam B. Mandal
Cambridge University Press, $45, 700 pages

An Organized Retail Theft Story

Broad & Liberty ran my piece on organized retail theft. You can read the piece via the link below or the below text:

 Paul Davis: An organized retail theft story

In my last piece here, I covered organized retail theft. A young woman read my piece and contacted me to tell her story.

The young woman, who called herself “Mary,” as she didn’t want to reveal her true identity, spoke to me about the time she worked as a manager for an upscale woman’s clothing store in Philadelphia a few years back. The store was plagued with shoplifters, both singular and in organized groups. 

One early evening, a group of four people, two women and two men, who looked to be in their late 20s or early 30s, entered the store. Mary was suspicious, believing the four people were clearly intent on shoplifting. She could tell, she said, as she had worked in retail clothing stores for many years and had seen many shoplifters set up to ply their criminal trade.  

The four people mulled around the store, exchanging glances to one another but never speaking to each other. Mary stepped out from behind the counter and walked towards the door. With an undetected signal, the four people tore clothing items in hangers off the racks, bundled them in their arms and charged towards the door. Mary was knocked down by the first two shoplifters barging through the door, but she was back on her feet and grabbed the third shoplifter and pushed the woman back into the store. 

As she was grappling with the woman, the last of the four shoplifters pushed her away from the shoplifting woman, allowing her to escape out the door, followed closely by the man. The store’s security guard was in the men’s room, and did see or hear what was happening, Mary said, but a store employee that Mary called “John,” ran out the door and tackled the last of the four shoplifters running away in the parking lot. 

The shoplifter was a wiry and slippery man, but John had been a high school football player, and he held on tight to the shoplifter until the police, who had been called by Mary, arrived. 

The shoplifter was arrested as the expensive clothing that he had attempted to steal totaled more than $1,500. The police took statements from Mary and John and the other store employees and customers. They took the stolen items as evidence, explaining to Mary that the items would be returned to the store, once the case was closed. 

Both Mary and John sustained minor injuries from their physical encounters with the shoplifters, but they declined to visit the hospital and did not report the injuries to the clothing store company and did not seek compensation or reward of any kind.

And the clothing company’s response to their dedicated and brave employees?

They fired them.

As Mary explained to me, both she and John violated the company’s policy of not interfering with shoplifters in any way. She said that the company had set aside a certain amount in its business plan for shoplifting losses, but it feared lawsuits, even from offending shoplifters. 

Mary felt bad for John, who only followed her lead in attempting to stop the shoplifters, and she tried to save his job, but to no avail. 

The upside to the story is that the arrested shoplifter took a plea and ratted out his partners in the organized shoplifter ring. The other three shoplifters were arrested and they in turn pleaded guilty.      

Although I sympathize with Mary and John, I understand the store’s policy. Store managers and employees are not trained to apprehend solo shoplifters or groups of shoplifters. Even hired security guards have limited training and their instructions regarding apprehending shoplifters vary from store to store. Grappling with shoplifters can be dangerous and the employees can be seriously injured.

Store employees like Mary and John run the risk of not only being injured, they also risk being arrested themselves for assault and false imprisonment. And yes, the accused shoplifter can sue both the store and the individual employees.     

Store employees should consider that the shoplifters might turn violent if one attempts to stop them from leaving the store with stolen items. All too often, the shoplifter is mentally ill and homeless. Attempting to stop shoplifters can cause the accused thief to use a gun, knife or other weapon to avoid being caught.  

Stores are, and should be, more concerned with employee security and safety than the loss of products through shoplifting. Generally, insurance companies can cover the loss of stolen items but may not cover employee medical expenses or legal bills if they intervene and attempt to apprehend shoplifters.    

Stores should ideally hire guards from security companies that train the guards to apprehend shoplifters and hold them until the police arrive to make an arrest. 

One way many stores have adapted to the shoplifting threat is to place many items in locked glass cases so the shoplifters cannot grab the items easily and run out of the store. 

The downside of this is that legitimate customers often have to wait ten minutes or more for a store employee to unlock the case for them. And the extra cost of this service, of course, is passed on to the customer.

Paul Davis, a Philadelphia writer and frequent contributor to Broad + Liberty, also contributes to Counterterrorism magazine and writes their online Threatcon column. He also writes an online Crime Beat column. He can be reached at pauldavisoncrime.com  

My Threatcon Column: A Spy For Love

 My Threatcon column appeared on Counterterrorism magazine’s website. 

You can read the column via the link below or the text below:

IACSP - ThreatCon Articles

Before I became a full-time writer, I was a Defense Department civilian employee performing security work at the Defense Personnel Support Center in South Philadelphia.

Known locally as the “Quartermaster,” as the compound was an U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps (supply) depot in World War I, the center was the second largest Defense Department procurement command. (I covered the multi-million-dollar bribery and procurement fraud case at the Quartermaster in the Journal in 2021).

As the administrative officer of a Defense Department tenant command at the Quartermaster that oversaw defense contractors in eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware, I was responsible for all security programs from physical security to personnel security. I briefed new DOD personnel on security matters, and I debriefed personnel who were leaving the command. I also performed counterintelligence, counterterrorism, travel security, cyber security, and other security briefings and seminars to the military and civilian members of the command. And I served as an investigating officer involving security violations, other security issues and crimes.

Originally trained and experienced in security work while serving as an enlisted teenage sailor aboard the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk during the Vietnam War, I became a Defense Department employee after leaving the Navy. Over the years, I attended a good number of Defense Department, FBI, CIA, NSA and DIA briefings on various security issues and threats, including the “Insider Threat.”

Although Defense Department security people were concerned rightly with foreign adversaries gaining classified information, the insider threat was also a major cause of concern. The insider threat came from trusted, cleared employees who choose to reveal classified information to a foreign adversary. To the best of my knowledge, our command did not have a trusted employee who gave away classified information, although one of the contractors we oversaw employed a man who was convicted of spying for the Communist Chinese.   

I recall an FBI special agent telling me about the motivation of people who betray their country. He mentioned “MICE,” an acronym for “Money, Ideology, Compromise, and Ego,” the primary motives of a spy and traitor.

One also becomes a spy for love.

A case in point is a former Air Force civilian employee of the U.S. Air Force assigned to the U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) at Offutt Air Force Base who pleaded guilty on July 10^th to conspiring to transmit classified information relating to the national defense on a foreign online dating platform beginning in or around February 2022 until in or around April 2022.

“The defendant, an employee of the United States Air Force with access to some of our Nation’s most closely held secrets, shared classified information with someone claiming to be a foreigner on an online dating platform,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. “The Department of Justice stands ready to hold accountable those who violate their obligation to protect sensitive national security information entrusted to them.”

Lesley A. Woods, The U.S. Attorney for the District of Nebraska, added, “Access to classified information comes with great responsibility. David Slater failed in his duty to protect this information by willingly sharing National Defense Information with an unknown online personality despite having years of military experience that should have caused him to be suspicious of that person’s motives.” 

Eugene Kowel, the Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Omaha Field Office,  noted, “Mr. Slater betrayed an oath he made to safeguard our nation's intelligence. Leveraging his access to sensitive information, Mr. Slater chose to transmit material that put our country at risk. The FBI is extremely thankful for the work of our partners in this case. We will continue to partner together to defend the homeland by aggressively investigating and apprehending criminals and adversaries who pose a threat to our nation's security.”

According to court documents, David Franklin Slater, 64, of Nebraska, after retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel from the U.S. Army, worked in a classified space at USSTRATCOM and held a Top-Secret security clearance from in or around August 2021 until in or around April 2022. Slater pleaded guilty to willfully, improperly, and unlawfully conspiring to transmit National Defense Information classified as “SECRET,” which he had reason to believe could be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of a foreign nation, on a foreign online dating platform to a person not authorized to receive such information.

“Slater attended USSTRATCOM briefings regarding Russia’s war against Ukraine that were classified up to TOP SECRET//SENSITIVE COMPARTMENTED INFORMATION (TS//SCI). Slater then conspired to transmit classified National Defense Information that he learned from those briefings via the foreign online dating website’s messaging platform to his co-conspirator, who claimed to be a female living in Ukraine on the foreign dating website,” the Justice Department stated. “The co-conspirator regularly asked Slater to provide her with sensitive, non-public, closely held, and classified National Defense Information and called Slater in their messages her “secret informant love” and her “secret agent.” In furtherance of that conspiracy, Slater did, in fact, transmit classified National Defense Information to her, including regarding military targets and Russian military capabilities relating to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”

The charge of conspiracy to transmit national defense information provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. Slater is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 8. A federal judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The FBI Omaha Field Office and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations are investigating this case.

When that FBI special agent told me about the “MICE,” acronym for “Money, Ideology, Compromise, and Ego,” I suggested to the FBI agent that they ought to come up with an acronym for “RAT.”

Paul Davis’ Threatcon column covers crime, espionage and terrorism.