The South Philly Review posted my Crime Beat column with my interview with 3rd Police District Community Relations Officer Juan “Ace” Delgado.
The post is ahead of the print edition, which will come out later this week.
You can read the column via the link below:
An interview with 3rd Police District Community Relations Officer ‘Ace’ Delgado - PA Times Media
The below short story originally appeared in American Crime Magazine.
Joey Pinto
By Paul Davis
I stopped in at a cigar store and lounge in South Philadelphia this past week.
I bought a Cohiba cigar and took a seat among my fellow cigar aficionados. I lit my cigar and took a sip of the coffee I brought with me. There were some young cigar smokers in the shop, but most of the customers were, like me, older men.
A man about my age sat in the chair next to me. He lit his cigar and we exchanged greetings. He said he recognized me from the photo that was published alongside my crime column in the local paper.
Harry Smith, a retired Philadelphia police officer, mentioned names of people he knew and wondered if I knew them as well. South Philly, although heavily populated, often seemed to be like a small town, or, as we often noted, a small world.
One of the names Smith mentioned stood out to me in particular: Joe Pinto.
“Yes,” I said. I know Joey Pinto. We grew up together.”
“He had a heart attack and died, you know.”
I didn’t know.
In the mid and late 1960s Pinto, who was two years older than me, lived down the block from me on Iseminger Street, a clean street of neat row homes just east of 13th Street, between Shunk Street and Oregon Avenue in the mid and late 1960s.
Pinto was about six feet tall with dark curly hair and olive skin. Although he was no athlete and did not play sports with us, he lifted weights in his house, which made him quite muscular.
Pinto had a hard childhood. His mother took off with another man when Pinto was 12 and left him alone with his cold and mean-spirted father. His father, a Philadelphia police officer, mostly ignored his son, and Pinto practically raised himself.
Joey Pinto was part of our crowd, and despite being liked, he was often mocked for his lack of brains, naiveté and his outlandish, unbelievable bragging. I’m sorry to say that I, more than anyone, mocked him and enjoyed the laughter I received for my put-downs.
Pinto usually took the insults in good humor, which was one of the reasons why he was so well-liked.
I was two or three years younger than the crew, as the teens were my older brother’s friends. I was the baby of the gang, but that did not stop me from being sarcastic. I would have probably been beaten up on occasion had it not been for the tough reputation of my older brother Eddie, but I’m proud to say that I never once threatened to sic my brother on anyone.
Still, the guys knew that I was the kid brother of the leader of the crew. But in truth, Eddie would have cracked me himself if I knew that I was running my mouth with the older guys.
During the summer months we hung on the corner of 13th and Oregon Avenue outside of JP’s luncheonette, which was across the street from the park. Although we were underage, we stood on the corner and drank beer and smoked pot. Often joining us were groups of young girls who liked to party with us.
In the cold winter months, when the miserable woman who ran the luncheonette tired of us and threw us out, we often ended up in Pinto’s house to escape the cold. Pinto’s father was seldom home, as he was in the bar around the corner when he was not working.
When Pinto would leave us in the living room to use the upstairs bathroom, one of the guys inevitably would bring up the time a few years earlier when Pinto’s mother, a most attractive woman in her 40s, came down the stairs when we were all sitting around the living room. She was clad in a see-through negligee. Her braless breasts swayed under the sheer negligee with each step and her visible brief white panties gave us all pause.
She smiled at us and said hello in a sexy voice, confirming that she enjoyed arousing the young boys. She left the Pinto house for good a year or so later, but like her son, we never forgot her.
One evening when six of us were smoking some good weed, we all got the “munchies.” An hour earlier Pinto’s father had come in carrying several bags of groceries. After he left for the bar, we all went into the kitchen, including Joey Pinto, and we tore into the food from the refrigerator and the cabinets. It was quite a feast.
When some hours later Pinto’s father came home, he found his son and us passed out on the couch and in the living room chairs.
“Jesus Christ,” we heard him holler as he looking into the refrigerator. “What the fuck happened to all of the food I just bought?”
We saw that as our cue and we got up and walked out of the house quickly and quietly, leaving Joey Pinto to deal with his father.
I recall another evening when we were all a bit drunk and high. I laid into Pinto, our host, calling him as dumb as an ox. Usually, he did not respond to my sarcastic comments, but on this night, he took offense and told me to get out of his house.
“Sure,” I replied. “Step outside with me if you’re brave enough.”
Although I was training as a boxer at the South Philly Boys Club, Pinto was older, taller and more muscular than me.
I opened the door and stepped down on two of the three steps leading to the pavement in front of his house. I then turned around quickly and looked up at Pinto, who was coming out the door and taking off his shirt.
When his shirt was down around his elbows, effectively blocking his arms, I stepped up and hit him with a good overhand right. He stumbled backwards as the other guys came out and stepped between us.
Pinto got up and apologized to me and I apologized to him, and we went back into the house.
A couple of years later Pinto,
despite his bravado about becoming a tough cop like his father, had no desire to become a tough soldier. He joined the Marine Reserves knowing that they would
probably not be called up to go to Vietnam.
I, on the other hand, enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1970 when I was 17, hoping to go to South Vietnam on a 100-foot coastal Swift boat. But after Boot Camp, I received orders to report to the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk. The carrier set sail for Southeast Asia, and the Kitty Hawk performed combat sorties on “Yankee Station” in the Gulf of Tonkin in the South China Sea off the coast of North Vietnam.
I returned to South Philly in 1972 and discovered that our gang had moved exactly one city block, from the luncheonette on 13th and Oregan Avene to the Moonlighter Bar on 13th and Shunk. Although I was only 19 and a half, I was served by the bartender and owner as I was an accepted member of the crew that spent a lot of money in the bar.
Drugs were a growing thing, and sadly, many of the young guys in the neighborhood were taking heroin but were not yet full-blown drug addicts, so they drank in the bar in between their heroin fixes.
Pinto, who did not take drugs, not even pot, was also not much of a drinker and he would sip on one beer for hours.
One night at the Moonlighter in 1973, one of the guys asked me about my time in the Navy. I began to give him the short version when I was interrupted by Pinto.
“Sailors are pussies,” Pinto said with a laugh. “We Marines are the real warriors in Vietnam.”
“Hell, Joey, what is this “we” shit? Did you see much combat in North Carolina? You joined the Marine Reserves to avoid Vietnam, so don’t play the warrior hero around me.”
Pinto walked way without a word.
I was working as a Defense Department civilian at the Defense Personnel Support Center, known locally as the “Quartermaster,” in 1980 when I met a beautiful woman at work. We dated and then married in 1982.
After I married, I stopped hanging at the bars with the old crew, but in 1983 Bobby Franco stopped me on the street and told me about a reunion of the old gang at a bar around the corner from my house. I was interested. Franco said his wife and some of the other wives were also coming, so I should bring my wife.
He also suggested that I tell my older brother Eddie about the reunion, as several of the “old head,” the older guys from our corner, like “Little Ant-ny,” whom my brother had been good friends with, would be there. I called my brother, but he was not interested.
I was, and I brought my young wife with me. The first guy to greet me and my wife in the bar was Joey Pinto. I introduced him to Dolores, my beautiful wife. He smiled and called her “Mrs. Paulie.” Then everyone started calling her Mrs. Paulie.
My wife got a kick out of the guys calling me “Paulie.” In South Philly, most of us were known by the diminutive of our first name. I never introduced myself as Paulie, but that was how I was known in the old crowd.
It was a fun evening. About 20 of the old gang came to the bar. As I sat at a table drinking with my wife, Pinto came over and sat with us. I asked him where his wife was. He said he was separated. I offered my condolences.
“My wife is a cop,” Pinto said. I heard he failed the police test several times until he finally passed the written test but then failed the psychological test. I found it interesting that he married a police officer.
“My wife beat me with her club, but I told her that I wasn’t gonna take it anymore, so she left me.”
I did not know how to respond. Neither did my wife.
I was thinking that I could not imagine that happening to me, but if it did, I don’t believe I would tell anyone, least of all a woman I just met.
Thankfully, an old friend and his wife came over to say hello, and Pinto got up and went to the bar.
My next encounter with Joey Pinto occurred about ten years later in the early 1990s. While continuing to work for the Defense Department during the day, I was working part-time for the local paper covering crime at night and on weekends. The editor assigned me to cover a town watch group that had just started.
I met the leader of the neighborhood town watch. His name was Earl Butt, and I soon discovered why he was called “Butthead.”
Butt was about 5’10 with wavey reddish-brown hair and he wore thick glasses. He was a pretentious idiot. He was an insurance agent with dreams of becoming a politician.
He said he was going to run
for Congress because he was dedicated to South Philly.
I tried hard not to laugh at the way he described his role in keeping the neighborhood safe. He claimed the police were ineffective, but his town watch kept criminals away.
I wrote in my notebook, “clown watch.”
Most of the members of the town watch I met that night were good, earnest people, but one member was even more of a pretentious idiot than Butthead.
That would be Joey Pinto.
As I was speaking to Butthead, a bright light blinded me as Pinto jumped the curb on a bicycle. He turned off the spotlight and greeted me.
“Paulie, are you joining the town watch?”
I told him I was covering the watch for the newspaper. Pinto told Butthead that he grew up with me and we were good friends.
I smiled and looked at the huge, mounted lamp on his bicycle. Butthead lost interest in the conversation as we were not talking about him, so he walked away. (I later learned that he was so dedicated to South Philly that soon after our encounter he moved to New Jersey.)
Although Pinto failed in his quest to become a police officer, it appeared he threw himself wholeheartedly into the town watch. He said he used his lamp to illuminate the dark streets that he patrolled at night.
Pinto shook my hand and rode off, switching on a lamp one might associate more with a prison guard tower rather than a bicycle.
I was left on the sidewalk with a town watch member who seemed normal. Bill Bruno was a short, balding man in his 40s. He said he was part of the town watch because he wanted to do his part in keeping the neighborhood where his wife and children lived as safe as possible.
“Do you know Joey Pinto?” he asked.
“Yeah, we grew up together.”
“Um…”
“Yeah, I know,” I said, reading his mind. “Joey is a bit of a goofball.”
“He’s nuts. Did you see that
light on his bike? Last week he saw a group of young guys smoking marijuana on
a corner, and he rode up to them with that spotlight glaring in their eyes.”
“That sounds like Joey.”
“They pulled him off his bike and beat the crap out of him.”
I decided to focus my
newspaper piece on Bruno and I quoted him extensively, although not about
Pinto’s run-in with some angry corner boys. To be fair, I also mentioned Butts
and Pinto briefly in the piece.
My last encounter with Joey
Pinto occurred about a month later as I waited on a corner for the traffic
light to turn green.
A truck passed me and then pulled over. Pinto jumped out of the truck and walked over to me. He pumped my hand with a firm shake and thanked me for mentioning him in my newspaper piece.
“I’m working at a wholesale warehouse,” he said. “I drive the delivery truck four days a week and I work in the warehouse four days a week.”
“That’s eight days a week.”
“Ah…”
“That’s OK. I understand.”
I took a draw from my Cohiba
and said it was a shame he died.
“He was a goof, but a likeable guy,” I said.
“I worked with Pinto in the 1st
District for a while,” Harry Smith said. “And he was called much worse things than
goof.”
“You mean Joey finally became a cop? Good for him. That was his life-long dream."
“Yeah, he retired after a
traffic injury. He was lucky that he wasn’t prosecuted for driving recklessly.
I don’t like to speak ill of the dead, but he was an idiot.”
“But likeable.”
“Yeah,” Smith admitted. “One could not help but like the fool.”
© 2026 By Paul DavisNote: You can read my other crime fiction stories via the
link below:
Philly Daily ran my On Crime column today on why we should capture and
arrest Raul Castro.
You can read the column via the
link below or the following text:
Paul Davis: U.S. should capture and arrest Raul Castro – Philly Daily
At a press conference on
January 3rd President Donald Trump announced the arrest of
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro following a successful overnight joint U.S.
military/U.S. law enforcement extraction in Venezuela's capital city of
Caracas.
"Last night and
early today, at my direction, the United States armed forces conducted an
extraordinary military operation in the capital of Venezuela. It was an
operation against a heavily fortified military fortress in the heart of Caracas
to bring outlaw dictator Nicolás Maduro to justice," Trump said during a
midday news conference from his Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach,
Florida.
President Trump noted that both Maduro and his also-captured wife, Cilia Flores de Maduro, will now face criminal court proceedings on multiple federal charges, including narco-terrorism, conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, and weapons offenses.
This was an amazing, near-perfect operation, and the result was not only Maduro’s capture and arrest, but it also pivoted Venezuela towards America and away from Communist China and Cuba.
Which brings me to Cuba.
President Trump should send in the troops
to Cuba and arrest Raul Castro for murder.
This past May the U.S. Justice Department
announced the unsealing of a superseding indictment charging
Cuban Communist leader Raul Castro and other Cuban officials for their alleged
roles in the February 24, 1996 shoot‑down of two unarmed U.S. civilian aircraft
operated by Brothers to the Rescue (BTTR), also known as Hermanos al
Rescate, over international waters.
“Over three decades later, we are committed to
holding those accountable for the murders of four brave Americans: Carlos
Costa, Armando Alejandre Jr., Mario de la Peña, and Pablo Morales,” said Acting
Attorney General Todd Blanche. “For the first time in nearly 70 years, senior
leadership of the Cuban regime has been charged in the United States for
alleged acts of violence resulting in the deaths of American citizens.
President Trump and this Justice Department are committed to restoring a simple
principle: if you kill Americans, we will pursue you. No matter who you are. No
matter what title you hold.”
FBI Director Kash Patel added, “Today’s superseding
indictment of Raul Castro and five Castro regime co-defendants is a major step
toward accountability in the 1996 murders of four Brothers to the Rescue
members - including three U.S citizens - Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandro Jr,
Mario de la Pena, and Pablo Morales. For 30 years these families have waited
for answers - and this FBI never forgot. We will continue working with our
Justice Department partners to bring to justice those who attacked our
civilians.”
According to the Justice Department, BTTR was an
organization based in Miami that conducted humanitarian flight operations
across the Florida Straits to search for Cuban migrants in distress. As
alleged, beginning in the early 1990s, Cuban intelligence agents infiltrated
the organization and relayed detailed information about its flight operations
back to the Cuban government. These reports were allegedly used by military
leadership in planning the Feb. 24, 1996 operation.
The superseding indictment charges conspiracy to kill
U.S. nationals, two counts of destruction of aircraft, and four counts of
murder.
According to the allegations, on Feb. 24, 1996, three
BTTR aircraft flew from South Florida toward Cuba. Cuban military fighter jets
under the chain of command overseen by Raul Castro fired air‑to‑air missiles at
two unarmed civilian Cessna aircraft — destroying them without warning while
they were flying outside Cuban territory, killing four U.S. nationals,
including three U.S. citizens: Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandre Jr., Mario de la
Peña and Pablo Morales.
The indictment further alleges that, in the weeks
prior to the attack, Cuban military pilots conducted training exercises
designed to locate and intercept slow‑moving civilian aircraft. On the day of
the incident, three BTTR planes departed from Opa‑locka Airport for a planned
humanitarian flight south of the 24th parallel. Two of the aircraft — tail
numbers N2456S and N5485S — were allegedly targeted and shot down in
international airspace, resulting in the deaths of all four victims.
The Justice Department stated that if convicted, the
defendants face a maximum penalty of death or life imprisonment on the murder
and conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals counts.
Although we were unable to bring Raul Castro’s older brother, Communist dictator Fidel Castro, to justice during his long and murderous lifetime (although I suspect he met heavenly justice), we have the opportunity to bring Raul Castro to justice.
And a joint U.S. military/U.S. law enforcement extraction operation to capture and arrest Raul Castro will, I believe, be the proverbial last nail in the coffin of Cuba’s failed Communist government.
Like Venezuela, Cuba will become an ally of the United States. Then the island will prosper and the people will finally live free.
Paul Davis’s On Crime column appears here each week. He is also a contributor to Broad + Liberty and Counterterrorism magazine. He can be reached via pauldavisoncrime.com.
Philly Daily, where my On Crime column appears each week, reports that JPMorganChase announced they are spending $24 million to strengthen Philadelphia’s shipbuilding and maritime manufacturing industry—supporting skills training, stronger supply chains and small business growth in a sector critical to America’s defense industrial base.
The announcement includes $18 million in loans and investments
and $6 million in philanthropic grants. Near-term focus areas include:
“America can compete and lead in shipbuilding again—it starts
with more skilled workers and secure supply chains,” said Jamie Dimon, Chairman
and CEO of JPMorganChase. “We need to train people for the jobs shipbuilders
urgently need, connect them to good careers and strengthen the suppliers and
partners that keep a shipyard running. When we build the workforce and the
supply chain together, we create good careers for workers and a stronger, more
resilient maritime industry that supports our national security and our
economy.”
You can read the rest of the piece via the link below:
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:
You can also read my Philadelphia
Inquirer review of Hemingway’s Letters below:
The South Philly Review published my Crime Beat column on elder abuse today.
You can read the column above, via the link below, or the following text:
Over my years of covering the crime beat, I’ve met victims of elderly scams. Some are embarrassed and reluctant to discuss their being victimized. They don’t want to appear mentally feeble, especially in from of their grown children. But those who were willing to talk about being cheated were assured by detectives that scam artists were very good at fooling anyone, not just the elderly.
Some seniors have been cheated out their life savings and others have had their identities stolen, which resulted in placing them in heavy debt. Adding to the financial loss, the scams also caused great physical stress, which endangered their health and wellbeing.
And, sadly, not all scammers are strangers on the phone. I recall attending a preliminary hearing at the 3rd Police District some years ago. An elderly man’s adult daughter and her husband stood accused of stealing the elderly man’s Social Security checks over a period of years. The father stood with his head down as if ashamed or saddened. And I’ve been told of cases in which an elderly mother or father was beaten routinely by their grown children.
Last month, the FBI Philadelphia Field Office announced that June 15th was World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, a time to underscore the importance of protecting older adults from financial abuse, neglect, and exploitation.
“The FBI in Philadelphia is raising awareness to tactics most commonly used by scammers and red flags to look out for to avoid becoming a victim,” the FBI stated. “The abuse of older Americans can come in various forms, including physical, emotional, mental, or financial exploitation.”
According to the 2025 Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) Elder Fraud Report, the FBI received over 200,000 complaints from victims over the age of 60, totaling approximately $7.7 billion in losses.
The FBI
pointed out that last year alone, Pennsylvania residents reported over 30,000
complaints to the FBI with estimated fraud losses of more than $537 million. In
New Jersey, more than 20,000 complaints were received by the FBI totaling $660
million in losses. Phishing/spoofing, tech/customer support calls, and
investment scams continue to dominate the Philadelphia threat landscape and
drive victim losses into the billions.
“World Elder
Abuse Awareness Day serves as an important reminder of the harm fraud and
exploitation can cause to older Americans,” said Wayne A. Jacobs, the special
agent in charge of FBI Philadelphia. “Scammers often create a false sense of
urgency to steal personal information, money, or both. We encourage seniors and
their loved ones to remain vigilant, verify unfamiliar requests, and report
suspicious activity. Through education, outreach, and enforcement, FBI
Philadelphia is committed to protecting our communities and the savings older
Americans have worked a lifetime to build.”
The FBI
passed on some ways to protect yourself and loved ones include:
The FBI in Philadelphia
stated that they have victim specialists dedicated to ensuring victims have the
resources and support they need while navigating the criminal justice process.
If you or
someone you know may have been a victim of elder fraud, contact FBI
Philadelphia at (215) 418-4000 or submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov. You can
also file a complaint with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at
ic3.gov.
Paul Davis’s Crime Beat column appears here each week. He can be reached via pauldavisoncrime.com.
The Library of America’s selection of the week is Ernest Hemingway’s short story The End of Something.
You can read about the background of the late, great American writer's story and the story itself via the link below:
Philly Daily ran my On Crime column today.
You can read the column via the link below or the following
text:
Many workers with the Defense Department, now called the War
Department, as well as other federal agencies, legally moonlight in other jobs
to supplement their income.
Prior to my retirement from the Defense Department in late 2007, I served as the civilian administrative officer for a DOD command that oversaw defense contractors in the tri-state area for the military’s major procurement commands. The contractors, ranging from mom & pop firms to major corporations, provided the Defense Department with such diverse items as cruise missiles, combat boots, special operations parachutes and orange juice, to name but a few.
Our offices were located for many years at the Defense Personnel Support Center in South Philadelphia, known locally as the “Quartermaster,” until we moved to the naval base on Tabor Road in Northeast Philadelphia in 1999.
One of my many security tasks was briefing our military and civilian employees on the “dos and don’ts” of outside employment, especially if they possessed a security clearance.
One situation that never came up in my time was a Defense Department employee working a second job as a money mule for Nigerian fraudsters.
Which is exactly the case of Samual D. Marcus, a former Defense Department employee who worked a few buildings down from my building at the naval base, albeit long after I retired.
Marcus was a logistics specialist for DLA Troop Support, a major subordinate command of the Defense Logistics Agency. The DLA Troop Support command is responsible for four supply chains which provide the nation’s military and government partners with: food and feeding equipment; clothing and textile items; construction and equipment materiel ranging from lightbulbs to bulldozers; and medical materiel and pharmaceuticals.
DLA Troop Support provides more than $25B in support to 77k global customers through a network of 2.7k suppliers, delivering optimal, global supply chain solutions with a focus on world-class performance and strong partnerships in support of national defense, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
Marcus is no longer a DLA employee.
United States Attorney David Metcalf announced on July 7th that Samuel D. Marcus, 33, of Oreland, Pennsylvania, entered a plea of guilty before United States District Judge Joel H. Slomsky to one count of concealment money laundering.
According
to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Marcus was charged by indictment in February,
arising from his role as a money mule for a group of Nigeria-based scammers, in
which he received, concealed, and laundered millions of dollars in fraud
proceeds.
As
detailed in court filings and admitted to by the defendant, after falling
victim to a romance fraud scheme in late 2022 and early 2023, Marcus then
knowingly served as a money mule for the same group of fraudsters that
initially victimized him.
“From
approximately July 2023 to December 2025, while employed as a Logistics
Specialist with the U.S. Department of Defense, Marcus was in direct and
regular contact with this group of Nigeria-based fraudsters, who operated under
the aliases “Rachel Jude” and “Ned McMurray,” among others. These
fraudsters engaged in a variety of wire fraud schemes that targeted victims
based in the United States, including romance fraud, cyber fraud, tax fraud,
financing fraud, and business email compromise schemes, to which victims lost
millions of dollars,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office stated.
“The fraudsters employed a network of money mules in the United States to help launder the fraud proceeds and instructed victims to transfer funds to financial accounts opened and operated by various money mules, including Marcus.
“At
the direction of fraudsters, Marcus and other money mules conducted a series of
rapid financial transactions to convert fraud victim funds deposited into their
accounts into cryptocurrency and to move those funds into foreign accounts.
Marcus personally deposited and transferred millions of dollars of fraudulently
obtained money into and through his personal and business accounts, while fully
aware that “Rachel Jude” and “Ned McMurray” were scammers who carried out
sophisticated fraud schemes. Marcus also affirmatively misled and lied to his
financial institutions and law enforcement officers about the laundered funds,
to include sending fraudulent invoices to make the transactions appear
legitimate. In fact, Marcus continued to work as a money mule for the
fraudsters after being informed by FBI agents that the money passing through
his accounts had been stolen from other people and that his monetary transfers
were consistent with money laundering.”
Marcus
is scheduled to be sentenced on October 16 and faces a maximum possible term of
20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.
This
case was investigated by FBI Philadelphia’s Fort Washington Resident Agency,
with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations and the Department of
Defense Office of Inspector General’s Defense Criminal Investigative Service.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Samuel S.
Dalke.
Paul Davis’s On Crime column appears here each week. He is also a contributor to Broad + Liberty and Counterterrorism magazine. He can be reached via pauldavisoncrime.com.
The South Philly Review ran my Crime Beat column today regarding the suspected murderers of Billy Schidmt being arrested.
You can read the column via the page above (and click on the page to enlarge) or you can read the text below:
On July 6th,
the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office (DAO) issued a statement regarding
the arrests of Kaiseem Smith and Azzubair
Outen-Fleming, the two suspected murderers of a 22-year-old Penn State student
in South Philadelphia.
“On
Thursday, a Philadelphia Police Officer assigned to the DAO’s Gun Violence Task
Force coordinated the safe surrender of Defendant Kaiseem Smith (DOB
12/27/2009) for his alleged role in the robbery and homicide of William (Billy)
J. Schmidt,” the statement read.
“The
surrender as well as the apprehension of a fugitive co-defendant in Colorado
Springs occurred within a day of the DAO’s press conference seeking public
help in apprehending both defendants. The Philadelphia District Attorney’s
Office will seek justice for the family of William (Billy) J. Schmidt and all
others involved.”
The DAO also
stated that the investigation remains active and ongoing.
Smith
and Outen-Fleming are suspected of murdering Billy Schmidt after robbing him of
his cell phone. The murder has outraged South Philadelphia residents and beyond
due to the senseless violence that took the life of a promising and popular young
man in a relatively safe neighborhood in South Philly. A well-attended vigil
was held where Billy Schmidt lived and died, and Facebook and other social
media have been inundated with critical comments about street crime and
injustice.
In a news conference prior to the arrests of the suspects, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said Smith and Outen-Fleming, both 16, are expected to be charged with murder, gun offenses and other charges, and they will probably be tried as adults.
Krasner also
noted that another man, Donte Abdulmalik, 35, is Outen-Fleming's stepfather, and
he is in custody and charged with hindering apprehension, obstruction of
justice and tampering with evidence in connection with this case. Abdulmalik
helped Outen-Fleming leave the area, according to the DA's office He was also
wanted for violating either parole or probation, Krasner added.
Krasner also stated that the investigation so
far indicates that Smith was the shooter.
According to the District Attorney’s Office, on Saturday, June
6, 2026, after 1 a.m., Philadelphia Police Officers responded to a call to the
1900 block of Durfor Street regarding a person with a gun. When the officers
arrived at the scene, they located victim Billy Schmidt with a fatal gunshot
wound to the chest. Schmidt was transferred to Penn-Presbyterian Medical Center
where he was pronounced.
“During the course of the investigation, video surveillance
footage from numerous sources depicted Defendants Kaiseem Smith and
Azzubair Outen-Fleming driving in South Philadelphia around Porter and
21st street before parking around 1 a.m. The defendants are seen
leaving the vehicle and walking towards Jackson Street. Around 1:30
a.m., surveillance footage shows Schmidt walking on the sidewalk on 20th
Street and standing on the corner. The defendants walk towards Schmidt
before Azzubair Outen-Fleming appears to grab Schmidt’s phone and
then punches him. Outen-Fleming then proceeds to go through Schmidt’s pockets.
Both suspects appear to force Schmidt onto the sidewalk and knock him onto the
ground. As both defendants walk away, Kaiseem Smith is observed with a gun is
his hand.”
The DAO stated that video surveillance shows Schmidt walking
behind the defendants. Azzubair Outen-Fleming is observed throwing
Schmidt’s phone down the block, then runs in that direction. Shortly after,
surveillance footage shows Kaiseem Smith rounding the corner of 20th and
Durfor Street. Schmidt is seen running behind Smith when Smith reaches into
his back pocket, pulls out a gun and fires a fatal shot into Schmidt’s
chest. Footage shows the defendants walking away from the scene before entering
an SUV and driving east on Porter Street.
Investigators identified Kaiseem Smith and Azzubair
Outen-Fleming as suspects in the homicide and determined that Donte Abdulmalik
assisted in the transportation of Azzubair Outen-Fleming out of the
jurisdiction.
“Our office has been collaborating closely with the Philadelphia
Police Department on the investigation since this murder took
place,” said District Attorney Krasner.
The violence that took
Billy Schmidt’s life cannot be undone, but perhaps justice for his murder will
be done.
Paul Davis’s Crime Beat column appears here weekly. He can be reached via pauldavisoncrime.com.
Philly Daily, where my On Crime column appears each week, reports that the Philadelphia Chinese Lantern Festival appears in Franklin Square for its 10th year, illuminating the city with over 1,100 new lantern creations and a summer of cultural celebration. The event runs until August 16th.
“The festival will run nightly at Franklin Square Park, 6th
& Race Streets, Philadelphia. It is presented by
Tianyu Arts & Culture and sponsored by local partners, with proceeds
benefiting Historic Philadelphia, Inc. to support free events
at Franklin Square,” the event planners announced.
You can read the rest of the piece via the link below:
Philadelphia Chinese Lantern Festival 2026 – Philly Daily
I watched the first episode of The Westies on MGM +.
The TV series is a fictional retelling of the Irish American New York City street gang. Although I would have preferred to watch a series closer to the true history (which is dramatic enough, I would think) the series was interesting and I liked two of the lead actors, J.K. Simmons and Titus Welliver.
Michael Kaplan at the New York Post offers a piece on the new series.
Thousands of families visit the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center every year for events like the Westminster dog show, Comic Con and International Auto Show.
Very few of them realize the blood spilled, extortion extracted and dead bodies connected with the exhibition space, as it rose from the ashes of former rail-yards to host such jazzy gatherings.
These days, the Javits Center is the spot for glitzy conventions and gatherings.
During construction between 1979 through 1986 and in the early years of operation, the burgeoning Center on the very West end of 34th Street was a cash cow for New York’s criminal elite.
It also limned the rise and fall of a violent Hell’s Kitchen-based Irish gang, the Westies. Those gangsters and the Javits Center play key roles in a new scripted crime series,
“The Westies felt like they owned the neighborhood where the Javits Center was,” series co-creator Chris Brancato, who specializes in historically inspired crime dramas, told The Post.
“Cops were on the pad [payroll] and the Westies felt a sense of freedom to do what they wanted, whether it was legal or not,” such as bookmaking, loan sharking, drug dealing and contract killings.
Underhand opportunities abounded at the New York City signature construction project of the ‘80s, which required the use of workers from a wide swath of unions, who already had mobsters rifling their coffers. "Everyone understood that the Javits Center was going to be an unprecedented bounty of criminal rackets," T. J. English, author of the definitive book on the gang, "The Westies" (not part of the series, which is more a "historical fiction," according to Brancato) told the Post.
You can read the rest of the piece via the link below:
The New York Post reports
that actor Sam Neill has died.
Sam Neill, the star of the 1993 blockbuster “Jurassic Park,” died at 78 on Monday, his family announced.
“It is with immense sadness that the whānau [family] of Sam Neill share the news of his passing on Monday 13th July, in Sydney Australia,” the late actor’s loved ones wrote via Instagram.
“Sam was surrounded by family and passed with the dignity that has characterized his whole life,” the statement continued. “The loss was sudden and unexpected but blessed by the fact that Sam remained cancer free.”
You can read the rest of the piece
via the link below:
'Jurassic Park' star Sam Neill dead at 78
I plan to rewatch the series.
I loved Dr. No when I saw the film as a pr-teen in the early 1960s, but I truly became an Ian Fleming (seen in the photo below) aficionado when I read all of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels after seeing the film From Russia With Love.
In my view, From Russia With Love is the best Bond novel as well as the best Bond film. And Sean Connery remains the best James Bond.
Director Terence Young was mostly faithful to Ian Fleming's novel, save from changing the villains from the Soviets to the international criminal organization SPECTRE, which Ian Fleming created in a later novel, Thunderball. (The plot made more sense with the Soviets as the bad guys).
In addition to Sean Connery as Bond, Terence Young casts some fine actors to portray Ian Fleming's great characters. The inspired casting included Robert Shaw, who was truly menacing as Grant the assassin, as well as Pedro Armendariz, who portrayed Darko Kerim, the British head of Section T. (In the film Kerim is call “Kerim Bey.” Bey is an honorarium, like the Japanese “San”).
Also outstanding were the villains Lotte Lenya as Rosa Klebb and Vladek Sheybal as Kronsten.
The film has so many iconic scenes from the girl fight at the gypsy camp to the shooting of Krilencu as he tried to escape from a huge film poster. And I believe the fight aboard the train with Bond and Grant is the best fight scene on film.
I
love the film and I’ve seen it many times over the years. To me, it is the
greatest Bond film.
Apparently, many others agree.
Rachel Schieider at Men’s Journal offers her take on the great film thriller.
James Bond introduced himself to audiences in Dr. No, but it was his second outing that convinced many moviegoers the franchise was here to stay.
Released in 1963, From Russia with Love remains one of the most
acclaimed entries in the 007 series.
More than 60 years later, it still boasts one of the highest Rotten Tomatoes scores of any James Bond movie ever made.
Starring Sean Connery in his second appearance as the legendary British spy, From Russia with Love sends Bond to Istanbul to retrieve a Soviet decoding device before it falls into the wrong hands.
Along the way, he finds himself caught in an elaborate trap orchestrated by the criminal organization SPECTRE, leading to one of the franchise’s most suspenseful adventures.
Unlike many later Bond films that leaned heavily into gadgets and over-the-top spectacle, From Russia with Love is often praised for its grounded espionage story and Cold War atmosphere.
You can read the rest of the piece via the link below:
