Tren de Aragua Gang leader Killed In US Airstrike, Trump Says

The New York Post reports that US forces yesterday killed the leader of the Venezuela-based gang Tren de Aragus in an airstrike, according to President Trump.  

“At my direction, the United States Southern Command delivered a swift and lethal kinetic strike to successfully execute Niño Guerrero, the infamous leader of Tren De Aragua, one of the most bloodthirsty Terrorist Organizations on Planet Earth,” Trump wrote on ruth Social. 

Trump’s post included a dramatic video that showed a projectile hitting a building, which appeared to be in a remote area, and causing a massive, fiery explosion.

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

Tren De Aragua leader Niño Guerrero killed in US airstrike, Trump says 

My Philly Daily On Crime Column: Stolen Guns Are Crime Guns

Philly Daily ran my On Crime column, which covers crime in the Greater Philadelphia region, on the need to secure firearms.

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

Paul Davis: Stolen guns are crime guns – Philly Daily

I’m a gun enthusiast. I own several firearms and I have a Pennsylvania license to carry. Trained in firearm safety in the Navy, I properly secure my firearms and ammunition.

Unfortunately, some gun owners don’t. Because of that, there are three deadly scenarios that often play out:

A mentality unstable youngster radicalized by social media wants to kill students at his old school, but he can’t buy a gun, so he takes his father’s unsecured rifle to school and slaughters many innocent people.

A child discovers his mother’s unsecured handgun. Playing around, he accidentally shoots and kills his younger brother.

A burglar breaks into a home when no one is home and steals cash and jewelry. He sees an unsecured handgun on the nightstand next to the bed and he steals that as well. He sells the gun to a convicted felon who can’t legally purchase a firearm. The criminal uses the stolen handgun to commit an armed robbery, and he shoots and kills the store owner with it.

To prevent scenarios like these, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) released information on securing firearms.

 The Philadelphia ATF field office stated that they have seen a pattern repeatedly: unsecured firearms stolen from lawful owners, recycled through violent offenders, and used again and again to commit serious crimes.

“When a gun is stolen, it’s not just a loss—it’s a threat to our communities,” said Walter Shaw, a special agent with the ATF. “We can’t always stop someone who is determined to commit violence, but we can prevent many of the guns criminals use from ever getting into their hands.”

Shaw explained that investigators frequently trace violent crimes back to firearms taken from homes or vehicles where they were left unsecured, sometimes only briefly. Once stolen, those firearms often move quickly through illegal networks, making recovery more difficult and increasing the likelihood they will be used in multiple crimes.

“When we recover a stolen gun at a crime scene, we’re already past the point where prevention was possible,” Shaw said. “Secure storage is one of the few points where lawful gun owners can directly interrupt that chain before it starts.”

According to the ATF, most crime guns recovered in Pennsylvania were originally purchased legally within the state. In 2023 for example, ATF traced 17,027 firearms recovered during criminal investigations in Pennsylvania. Of those, nearly 10,000—approximately 59 percent—were originally sold in in our state.

The ATF stated that stolen firearms are a major source of the illegal firearms market. Nationally, 95 percent of stolen firearms are taken from private citizens. Pennsylvania recovery data shows that 94.8 percent of stolen firearms remain in-state. While Pennsylvania ranks as the nation’s ninth most common source for firearms trafficking, stolen firearms predominantly remain a threat to our own neighborhoods.

“Secure storage is essential,” Shaw warned. “Guns left unattended in homes, vehicles, or unsecured storage areas provide an easy path for theft and diversion into criminal hands. Firearms should be treated as potential community risks—any gun can be used in a crime if it falls into the wrong hands.”

The ATF stated that the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) encourages all gun owners to review their firearm storage practices and take steps to ensure firearms are properly secured. NSSF recommends using a combination of safety tools and educating family members on the core rules of gun safety and proper firearm handling.

• CABLE LOCK: Can be used on most firearms, allows for relatively quick access in an emergency, and provides basic protection from theft.
• GUN CASE: An affordable option to conceal, protect, or legally transport a registered firearm.
• LOCK BOX: Integrated locking mechanisms provide reliable protection and allow for legal transport outside the home.
• ELECTRONIC LOCK BOX: Prevents unauthorized access and allows only the individual with the code to access the firearm.
• FULL-SIZE AND BIOMETRIC GUN SAFES: Provide protection from theft and environmental damage while allowing safe storage of multiple firearms.

According to national FBI data, firearm thefts from vehicles have been increasing, particularly in rural areas and parking garages. About half of all firearm thefts from vehicles occur when cars are parked at the owner’s residence.

Locking vehicle doors does not provide secure firearm storage. Glove compartments and center consoles—even when lockable—are not secure and can be easily pried open. Firearms should never be left accessible to children.

Vehicle storage options vary widely in price and design. Some manufacturers offer custom solutions for specific vehicle models, including:

• CAR CONSOLE STORAGE: Custom-fitted units that provide concealment and deter theft.
• VEHICLE CARGO AREA STORAGE: Designed for transporting firearms to the range or field.
• CABLE LOCKS: Can be effective when secured to the vehicle and kept out of sight.
• If your firearm is lost or stolen, immediately contact your local law enforcement agency to report the incident. The “time-to-crime”—how quickly a stolen firearm is used in a criminal act—can be alarmingly short.
• Providing a complete and accurate description of the firearm is critical for law enforcement investigations, insurance claims, and recovery of the firearm.

“Responsible firearm ownership does not end at the point of purchase,” Shaw emphasized. “Secure storage is not just about preventing unauthorized access in the home—it is about preventing predictable, preventable harm when stolen guns fall into the hands of individuals willing to use them.”

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. 

My South Philly Review Crime Beat Column: Burglary - The Silent Crime

The South Philly Review published my second weekly Crime Beat column, which covers crime news, crime issues and crime prevention in South Philadelphia. 

You can read the column via the above page or the below text:

Burglary: The Silent Crime

By Paul Davis

The 3^rd Police District sent me a burglary prevention poster that advised South Philly residents that hot weather leads to burglars breaking into homes and business via unsecure air condition units.

The poster notes that as the temperatures rise, many South Philly residents install window air conditioning units.

“Criminals may target unsecure A/C units as an easy point of entry into homes and apartments,” the poster explained.

The poster advises people to secure all window A/C units with mounting brackets and screws. One should also install locks or security bars to prevent windows from being forced open.    

Good advice.

Burglary is defined in Robert Jay Nash’s “The Dictionary of Crime: Criminal Justice, Criminology & Law Enforcement” as illegally entering a building to commit a crime. To break into a premise and steal. Burglary is usually a felony.

Burglary is known as the “Silent Crime” as it is often committed stealthily under the cover of darkness or hidden from view. And the burglar usually slinks away like a rat before the burglary is discovered.   

I’ve discussed burglary with a good number of patrol officers, detectives and security specialists over my many years of covering the crime beat.

All have recommended that residents install an alarm system with cameras, and the placing of a sign in plain sight that states the residence is covered with an alarm system. And one should also install deadbolt locks on doors and good locks on all windows. One should additionally mark all valuables with a UV or indelible pen to help police identify and recover your property.

Burglars prefer to work under the cover of darkness and hate the light, so one should also install exterior lights for visibility. One should also let their immediate neighbors know when they will not be home and ask them to look out for suspicious people walking around the property.

Thankfully, in South Philly most neighbors traditionally and famously look out for one another, and they keep watch on their street.  

One detective told me that he has come across too many burglaries where the resident had an alarm system but chose not to turn it on.

“People get preoccupied with something else or they become complacent and don’t take the time to turn on their alarm systems,” the detective said. “What’s the point of having an alarm system if you don’t use it properly?

“But boy when they return home to see their place burglarized, they sure wish they had.”

The detective explained that there are three types of burglars. There are professional burglars, thieves and opportunists.

The professional uses sophisticated tools and targets rich homes and major businesses. The thieves target homes and businesses where there is cash, guns or jewelry on hand. The opportunists are teenagers and/or drug addicts who will break into a place to steal items quickly and clumsily.          

I’ve been out on numerous ride-alongs with Philadelphia police officers when they responded to burglaries.  

I recall how homeowners and apartment renters acted when they found their residence burglarized. The most common reaction initially was outrage that some burglar had entered their home and stole their valuables, some of which had sentimental value and were irreplaceable. 

The most common subsequent reaction was the feeling of being violated. To know that some stranger was in their home and rummaged through their private and personal belongings brought on a physical sickening feeling.  

I remember discussing burglary with former Philadelphia Detective Mark Tartaglia. The detective, like me, a born and bred South Philadelphian, happened to be my good friend for more than 30 years before he sadly passed away a few years ago.

“Burglars are creeps,” I recall Mark Tartaglia telling me. “They are sneak thieves who prowl around and look for weaknesses in the security of people’s homes.

“In the past, people were too trusting, or lacked a healthy fear of criminals, and they often left a window open or a door unlocked, which is an invitation for a burglar to step inside and loot the place. But things are changing. The burglars I’ve known say they fear the homeowner with a gun far more than a cop. They think they are more likely to be shot by the homeowner protecting their home.”

Mark Tartaglia recommended security alarms and locks and lights like other detectives, but he added one additional crime prevention tool.       

“Get a dog,” he said succinctly. “Burglars hate dogs.”

Paul Davis’s Crime Beat column appears here each week. He can be reached via pauldavisoncrime.com. 

American Citizen Pleads Guilty To Working As An Agent For The People's Republic Of China

The U.S. Justice Department released the below information:

Thomas Weir Pauken II, 50, an American citizen who lived and worked in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), pleaded guilty today to acting as an agent of a foreign government within the United States.

“In effect, Pauken admitted to being part of a conspiracy to obtain sensitive information from the U.S. government for the PRC,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. “His actions are a betrayal of this Nation and pose an unacceptable risk to our national security. NSD remains committed to safeguarding information essential to our national security, including through appropriate prosecution.”

“By his own admission, not only did Thomas Pauken attempt to infiltrate U.S. political circles at the direction of China’s Ministry of State Security, but he gathered intelligence on his American targets and reported it back to his Chinese intelligence handlers,” said Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division. “This case illustrates the lengths to which the Chinese Communist Party will go to undermine our democratic institutions and degrade our political freedoms, but it also demonstrates the FBI’s resolve to defend the homeland from threats to our national security. Let this plea serve as a clear warning: If you attempt to help a foreign adversary as an unregistered agent in the U.S., the FBI will find you and bring you to justice.”

According to court documents, from at least 2019 until February 2026, Pauken worked at the direction and control of people he knew worked for the PRC, including a person he met in 2017 identified as “Cathy.” Cathy provided Pauken with taskings, including meeting with potential intelligence assets, providing them with devices such as a laptop and cellphone to communicate with Cathy, providing taskings for the assets on what information was required, and providing Cathy with reports from the assets.

Pauken received at least $100,000 for his work with Cathy. Cathy also paid for Pauken to travel several times between 2019 through 2025 from China to meet with individuals in the United States who could provide Pauken, and ultimately Cathy and the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS), with information.

Pauken worked for two other people in China whom he met in 2017 and knew as “Richard” and “William.” They told Pauken that reports he wrote for them went to Japan, but Pauken believed they worked for the PRC government.

Pauken also sold reports to a group of Chinese individuals from Wuhan who sought information about technology and the U.S. Department of Justice. The Wuhan clients wanted Pauken to find an expert to help them engage in cyber espionage.

Pauken is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 1 and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The FBI Philadelphia Field Office investigated this case with assistance from the FBI’s Washington Field Office.

Trial Attorney Eli Ross of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Gavin R. Tisdale for the Eastern District of Virginia are prosecuting the case.

Note: The Assistant Attorney General's quote has been updated from the previous version

                                                                                                    

My Crime Fiction: 'Villotti'

Below is my crime fiction short story Villotti.  

The story originally appeared in American Crime Magazine. 

Villotti

By Paul Davis

Joseph Villotti was called “Crazy Joe” back in the late-1960s in South Philadelphia for a very good reason. He was criminally insane.

Joe Villotti was insanely sadistic. He was insanely manipulative. He was insanely violent.

Villotti was 6’2”, lean and muscular with a rough face and dark brown hair. He had a raspy voice and a madman’s laugh. He reminded me of a somewhat thinner version of the actor Marlon Brando in the film On the Waterfront. (See above photo of Brando).

In South Philadelphia back in the late-1960s Crazy Joe Vilotti was legendary. Everyone in South Philly at the time had a Villotti story. I had several, including one story that I recently recounted. I wrote of the time that I witnessed Villotti murder a hoodlum in 1968 in a dispute over drugs.    

I also recall when I was walking down Oregon Avenue in South Philly when I was 15 in 1968. Villotti, who was 19 at the time, pulled his car to the curb and offered me a ride.

“Thanks, Joe, but I like to walk and my house is only two blocks away.”

Villotti, well known for not taking no for an answer, yelled, “Get in, for fuck’s sake. I’ll drive you.”

I got in the car. Villotti swung out onto Oregon Avenue and sped past a red light and headed west. I heard the police sirens behind us and then I saw two police cars swing across the four-lane avenue and block Villotti’s car.

Two additional police cars came up behind Villotti and blocked him from backing up. A plainclothes detective rushed up on the driver’s side and stuck a .38 snub nose revolver in Villotti’s face.

“Keep your hands on the fucking wheel, Joe,” the detective said. “Don’t fucking make a move.”

I was struck by the familiarity of the detective addressing Villotti by his first name.

A second detective opened my passenger side door and pointed his firearm at me.

“No, no,” Villotti said to the detective. “He’s just a kid I picked up.”

The detective looked hard at me and then said, “Get lost, kid.”

I got out of the car as Villotti was yanked out of the car and handcuffed. I walked away as fast as I could.

Back at JP’s luncheonette on 13^th and Oregon, I told everyone the story. There were several theories about why Villotti would stop and pick me up while he was being chased by the police. One was he picked me up thinking that having a passenger might throw the police off from identifying his car. Another theory was that Villotti was plain nuts.

 

Villotti was a member of the Dalton Street and Oregon Avenue street corner gang back then. The teenage street corner gang, known as the “D&O,” was a notorious and troublesome group, well known to the police and other street corner gangs in South Philadelphia.

The street corner crowd at 13^th and Oregon Avenue was not a large or tough group like the D&O and other notorious South Philly street corner gangs, although we had a handful of very tough guys like my older brother Eddie and the Sarcone brothers, Chickie and Stevie. We were known more as a party corner as we always had a crew of local pretty girls who hung out with us.

JP’s luncheonette was located on the corner of 13^th and Oregon Avenue, and we drank coffee and soda and ate cheesesteaks and hoagies in the five booths and at the counter.

We were three block west of the D&O gang’s hangout at George’s Luncheonette. We were friendly with the D&O teenagers as we all went to school together and we freely mixed at the teenage dances.

Villotti began hanging out with us more and more in 1968 as he had worn out his welcome at the D&O. He had a beef with Billy Russo, aka “Samson,” as the teenager was a big, tough guy. Russo was also, by all accounts, a nice guy. Russo objected to Villotti picking on a skinny guy and he confronted Villotti. The two big guys squared off in the Thomas Junior High schoolyard. Russo hit Villotti so hard that Villotti went down. Other D&O guys broke up the fight.

Later, as Russo left his house and walked towards Oregon Avenue, Villotti was waiting with a baseball bat. Villotti repeatedly cracked Russo with the bat and Russo fell to his knees in pain. Villotti continued to strike Russo until several men pulled him away.

Russo was hospitalized with several broken bones and a concussion. Most of the D&O teenagers took Russo’s side as he was a popular guy, but no one confronted Villotti. But Villotti sensed he needed a break from the D&O gang, so he began to hang out with us.

Lucky us.

 

Villotti was sadistic and a bully with a warped sense of humor. Thankfully, he never picked on me as he was afraid of my older brother Eddie.

Although Villotti was “bat shit” crazy, he was sane enough to know that he could not beat my brother, and Villotti knew that Eddie was a lot tougher than Samson Russo.  

Villotti came to spend more time with us after his beating of Russo and his involvement in a romantic triangle. A teenage girl named Jennifer broke up with a D&O guy named Butchie and she began seeing Eddie Dano. Eddie Dano was a good-looking young guy, and girls liked him, but he was a fool for love.

He would date a girl, quickly fall in love with her, and he would go into debt buying the girl an expensive ring. Inevitability, the new girl would grow tired of Dano’s rapt attention and she would drop him. We called Dano “Captain Cute,” and we called his big tan Buick the “Cutemobile,” a take on Batman’s “Batmobile.”

Butchie complained to Villotti about Dano “stealing” his girl. Villotti talked a group of D&O guys into going up to 13^th and Oregon and beating the shit out of this guy “Eddie.” There were three guys named Eddie on 13^th and Oregon Avenue. There was Eddie Dano, Eddie Pellegrini, and my older brother, Eddie Davis.  

My brother Eddie was three and a half years older than me, the average age of the 13th and Oregon Ave crowd. At 15, I was the baby of the crowd. Eddie had stopped hanging with us on the corner in 1968, as he had graduated to hanging out with our “old heads,” the previous generation of guys who were then in their mid-20s and went clubbing throughout the city. My brother was also seeing a girl named Frannie whom he would later marry.

One of the D&O guys held a grudge against my brother from a few years prior when we all went to the South Philly Boys Club. At 6’3,” lean with an athletic built, with long, strong arms and legs, Eddie was a star basketball player. He was also a genuine tough guy, but he was no bully. In fact, he was the champion of the bullied, as he often came to their defense. He never bullied anyone but me, his little brother.

While during a basketball game at the Boys Club, Jason “Jay” Gianni and his older brother Mark doubled-teamed an opposing player and beat him to the court’s floor. My brother stepped in, pulled the Gianni brothers off the guy and he offered to fight both of the brothers at the same time. The Ginanni brothers walked away.

And now Jay Gianni saw a way to get back at my brother, believing the Eddie that Villotti wanted to have beaten up was my brother.

That night Eddie Dano was warned that the D&O guys were coming for him. So he downed several barbiturates, stating, “When they beat the shit outta me, I won’t feel a thing.”   

I stood out on the corner leaning on my brother’s parked car. I was amused by Dano, who had trouble standing. Also on the corner was “Mikey Head” Tabone.

I saw Jay Gianni and four guys walking up Oregon Avenue. One of the guys in the group was my good friend Alex Agnello, whom I’ve known since junior high school. He walked up to me and said hello.

Gianni and the others seemed to ignore Dano, who leaned against the wall. Just then, my brother Eddie appeared on the corner of Iseminger Street, and he turned and was heading towards his car.

“There he is!” Gianni shouted as he and three others ran towards my brother. I grabbed Alex by his jacket, and he grabbed me as we grappled against my brother’s car.

My brother saw Gianni and the others run towards him and he put up his hands and punched Gianni in the face, knocking the hoodlum to the concrete. The other three hoodlums started to swing at my brother and he hit back, knocking each one down with a single punch. The fight was quickly over and Gianni rose from the payment, bloody and bruised, saying in a shaky voice, “We’re going to get, you son of a bitch!”

“Come and get me now,” my brother replied as the other hoodlums rose with black eyes and bloody noses.

Gianni repeated the threat as he and the others walked away quickly and headed back to Dalton Street. Alex and I let each other go and he too headed back to Dalton Street.

Tabone, who had run into the luncheonette when the fighting started, now came out.

“I went in to get a butcher knife,” Tabone explained as he tried to catch his breath.

My brother just shook his head in disbelief.

I explained quickly to my brother that the D&O guys were after Eddie Dano and not him. My brother just shook his head and drove away.

The next morning, I sat in JP’s drinking a cup of coffee before heading to the South Philadelphia High School, known locally as “Southern.” I was telling my good friend Chickie Sarcone about the fight when my brother walked in. He stopped in before going to work for the Electric Company as he wanted to see Chickie. Sarcone, like my brother, was a genuine tough guy who was respected by the D&O.

“Make sure no one bothers my brother,” he said to Chickie.

“No one will.”

“Thanks.”

That night Villotti and a big fat guy came into JP’s. Thankfully, Dano wasn’t there, as he would have had a heart attack. Villotti sat at the counter and ordered a cup of coffee. A minute or two later, my brother stopped in to buy a pack of cigarettes.

Villotti jumped up and explained to my brother that the previous night had been a misunderstanding and that he was sorry. He said he told Gianni and the other D&O guys that Eddie Davis was not to be bothered anymore.

My brother shrugged as he placed coins in the cigarette machine and extracted his pack of cigarettes.

“It’s all over,” my brother said.

Villotti laughed. “Yeah, it’s over. I heard you knocked down Jay and his boys all by yourself. Good for you.”

Villotti put out his hand to shake, and my brother shook his hand, and then walked out the door.

 

But it was not quite over for Villotti.

The next day after school I went to the Oregon Diner with Eddie Dano and Harry “Bud” Keitel, also known as “Bud the Dud.”

After we ate our cheeseburgers and French fries, we got into Dano’s big Buick and started to pull out of the diner’s parking lot. It was a warm day, so we had all of the car windows down. Suddenly, Villotti rushed up to the driver’s window and punched Dano in the face. Another guy appeared on the passenger side and punched Keitel in the face. A third guy opened the back door, and he was about to strike me with a tire iron when Villotti grabbed the tire iron and said, “No, he’s a good kid. I know his brother.”

Villotti and his friends walked off. Dano slumped over and held his broken nose. Keitel held a handkerchief to his bloody teeth. After a few minutes, Dano was able to drive and we headed back to 13^th and Oregon Avenue. No one spoke of what happened.   

Afterwards, Villotti acted like nothing had happened and he began to hang out with us, especially since my brother no longer came around. Villotti was abusive, cheated at cards, stole, and borrowed money from the guys and never paid them back. No one even asked Villotti to pay them back. They were usually glad that he was picking on a new victim. For those who were immune to Villotti’s bullying, like Chickie Sarcone and I, Villotti was a funny guy.         

Later that summer, as we were driving in Bud’s car on the way to Belmar Lake in South Jersey, Villotti saw a hippie hitchhiker on the side of the road. He ordered Bud to stop the car, pull over, and pick up the hippie. Bud was confused, but he pulled over.

Villotti opened the car door and the hippie with long, stringy blonde hair and a big, goofy grin, bent over and began to climb into the back seat, face first. Sitting next to Villotti in the back seat, I saw Villotti hit the grinning hippie square in the face and the hippie’s head reared back and his body followed, collapsing on the side of the road.

“Go, go, go!” Villotti ordered Bud and Bud sped off.

Looking back, this was a cruel and heartless act, and I felt bad for the hitchhiker. But at the time, we all felt this was a spontaneous and outrageous act, and we roared with laughter.

Villotti had that effect on us.  

Villotti was arrested for attempted murder, and he was sentenced to prison in 1973. A heroin addict, he contracted AIDS in prison, and he died there in 1975.

Even after all these years, whenever two old school South Philly corner boys get together, they will invariably tell Villotti stories.

This was mine.

© 2026 Paul Davis             

 Note: You can read my previous story about Joe Villotti, The Seventh Street Shooting, via the link below:

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'The Seventh Street Shooting'

And you can also read my other crime fiction short stories via the link below:  

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction Stories                                                                

My Crime Fiction: 'The Seventh Street Shooting'

Below is my crime fiction short story The Seventh Street Shooting. 

The story originally appeared in American Crime Magazine.

The Seventh Street Shooting

By Paul Davis

After a late evening dinner with my wife, I headed upstairs and took a shower.

I shaved under my neatly trimmed short beard and brushed my teeth. I applied a roll-on deodorant under my arms and splashed a bit of aftershave on my neck. I walked into my bedroom and began to dress. I slipped on a pair of dark gray slacks, a black leather belt, black socks, black Italian leather loafer shoes and a powder blue dress shirt, sans tie.

I placed my reading glasses in my shirt's pocket, and I placed my gold wedding band on my finger, and I slipped on my Rolex Submariner watch with the black leather band on my left wrist. I placed a gold chain over my head, and it fell to my chest under my shirt. The gold chain held the original U.S. Navy dog tag that was issued to me way back in February of 1970 when I entered Navy Boot Camp. The gold chain also held a small, finely carved and detailed Scuba diver.

My beautiful wife, who bought me the Rolex Submariner watch just prior to our wedding, also bought me the gold Scuba diver to commemorate her first Scuba diving experience with me in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

I placed my key ring with my house and car keys and my other Navy dog tag into my left pants pocket, and my cellphone and a pocketknife with a short but sharp blade into my right pants pocket. I slipped a clip-on holster with my .38 hammerless Ruger revolver to my belt on my left side. If need be, I could cross-draw the gun with my right hand.

I put on my black sports jacket and placed my slim, black leather long notebook/wallet into my jacket’s left breast pocket. I placed my mini-tape recorder into my jacket’s right breast pocket.

I was showered, shaved, well-dressed, and armed. I was on my way to meet a murderer.

 

I was meeting Robert “Bobby Buddha” Regalbuto at a neighborhood bar in South Philly. Regalbuto read my crime column in the local paper and emailed me using the email address I listed below the newspaper column. He wrote that he remembered me from school and the old neighborhood, and he wanted to offer me a story for my column.

I remembered Regalbuto as well. I recall that he was a violent and half-crazed hoodlum who became a drug addict and was sent to prison for murder in the 1970s.

As I stood at the bar and sipped a vodka on the rocks, I watched the front door. Mark Terranova, my good friend and a retired Philadelphia police detective, sipped his beer at the other end of the bar. Like me, he was armed. I had mentioned to Mark that I was meeting Regalbuto in a bar, and he insisted on backing me up from a short distance. 

When Regalbuto walked in the bar I recognized him immediately, although he was older, grayer and much thinner than the last time I saw him. He walked up to me and shook my hand. He said that I had changed, but he recognized me from my photo that accompanied my column.   

Regalbuto was a member of the Dalton Street and Oregon Avenue street corner gang back in the late 1960s. The teenage gang, known as the “D&O,” was a notorious and troublesome group, well known to the police and other street corner gangs in South Philadelphia.

I knew Regalbuto as we both attended Thomas Junior High School together in the mid-1960s, although he was more than two years older than me. We had several friends in common as I was good friends with several D&O gang members.

Regalbuto thanked me for meeting me and suggested we take an empty table at the back of the bar. He ordered a Ginger Ale from the bartender, explaining to me that he no longer drank, took drugs or smoked. We sat at the table and Regalbuto began to tell me his story.

Regalbuto said he moved away from South Philadelphia some years ago after he was released from prison. He had served 10 years for shooting and killing a man in a quarrel while both of them were high on heroin. He was guilty of second-degree murder, he acknowledged, and he served his time. He told me that he rekindled his Catholic religion while in prison. And although many years had passed, he now felt compelled to confess to the police about another murder he committed back in 1968.

Regalbuto spoke of the Seventh Street shooting that saw two men murdered and several others wounded.

 

I recall vividly the 1968 murders on Seventh Street in South Philly. I was there.

I’ve seen more than my share of violence. Growing up in South Philly in the 1960s, I saw a young soldier fresh from basic training shoot and murder his romantic rival in a hallway in the South Philadelphia High School. I also witnessed a drive-by shooting that murdered two young men on a corner on Broad Street.

And later, as a newspaper crime reporter and columnist, I’ve been on the scene almost immediately after several murders. I recall drinking in a bar when we heard a car crash. We rushed out of the bar and saw a car that had crashed into a home on Oregon Avenue. The driver was slumped over the steering wheel, two bullets in his head, the latest victim in an internecine mob war in South Philly. And later, while out for a morning walk, I heard police and ambulance sirens close by, so I hurried over to a scene where a notorious mob guy had just been shot to death on his doorstep.

A few years later, while out on a ride-along with a Philadelphia police sergeant, he was called to the apartment of a waitress who had been shot and killed. The young woman had been shot through her mouth, we learned, while playing a sex game with her boyfriend.

But the Seventh Street shootings were the first murders I ever witnessed.  

 

I was 15 years old going on 16 in 1968. I was a half-a-hoodlum hanging on the corner of 13^th Street and Oregon Avenue, three block west of the D&O gang’s hangout at George’s Luncheonette. We were friendly with the D&O teenagers as we all went to school together and we freely mixed at the teenage dances.

Two of the wildest D&O hoodlums liked to come to 13^th and Oregan and hang out in our luncheonette, JP’s. Joseph “Crazy Joe” Villotti was “scary crazy,” as one of the 13^th and Oregon Avenue teenagers described him.

Villotti was tall, lean and muscular with a rough face and dark brown hair. He had a raspy voice and an insane laugh. He reminded me of a thinner version of the actor Marlon Brando in the film On the Waterfront.

The teenagers at both the D&O corner and 13^th and Oregan feared being the focus of Villotti’s attention. Villotti was sadistic and a bully with a warped sense of humor. He would shake down the focus of his attention, taking their money or car, and he would also force the teenager to accompany him on some crazy errand.

Thankfully, he never picked on me as he was afraid of my older brother Eddie. My brother, who stopped hanging with us on 13^th and Oregon Avenue and graduated to hanging out with our “old heads,” the previous generation who were then in their mid-20s and went clubbing throughout the city. Eddie, a genuine tough guy, was no bully and he often defended those who were bullied.

Although Villotti was “bat shit” crazy, he was sane enough to know that he could not beat my brother, and a loss to Eddie would hurt his fearsome reputation.

When Villotti visited JP’s, he was often accompanied by another wild man, a big and heavy teenager named Robert Regalbuto, known as “Bobby Buddha.”

He was given the nickname by a teenager who one day saw Regalbuto’s huge bare belly over baggy swim trunks at the Bellmawr Lake, a man-made lake surrounded by sandy beaches that was a popular South Jersey resort for South Philly teenagers back in the 1960s.

Having earlier seen a photo in school of the statue of Buddha with a huge stomach, the teenager began to call Regalbuto “Bobby Buddha,” and the nickname stuck.

When Villotti and Regalbuto walked into JP’s, many of the guys stiffened. As I was protected by my brother’s reputation, I found the two bruisers to be amusing, although I felt bad for the guys they bullied and abused.

 

One warm evening, as we stood on the corner outside of JP’s, Villotti pulled up in a car with Regalbuto and other D&O hoodlums. Two other cars loaded with D&O gang members pulled up behind Villotti’s car.    

Villotti urged us to get into a car and follow them to Seventh and Edwin Streets, where they were going to “fuck up some black guys.” Villotti explained that the black guys had “jumped” a white guy and put him in the hospital.  

One of the D&O guys opened up his car trunk and handed out baseball bats and pipes to our guys. Michael “Mikey Head” Tabone took a bat, as did Anthony “Big Man” Manfredi. Harry “Bud the Dud” Keitel took a five-inch pipe. I didn’t take a weapon as I was the youngest kid there, and I had no intention of fighting. As an aspiring crime writer, I got into the car and drove to Seventh Street as I wanted to watch the fight.

When the four cars screeched to a halt on Seventh Street, we piled out of the cars, bats and pipes in hand. Several black guys came out of the candy store. In the lead was a big and tough-looking guy. I also saw several black guys come out of a bar from across the street as well as other boys and men from row homes on Edwin Street.

The big, tough looking guy asked Villotti, “What the fuck, Joe?”

Obviously, the hoodlum knew Villotti. Villotti responded by pulling out a .45 automatic and shooting the man in the chest. Regalbuto pulled out a .38 revolver and shot another black guy.

Pandemonium ensued. The white and black guys clashed on the street, swinging fists, bats and other weapons. Tabone, not the bravest of guys, left his car running on the corner and took off running up Edwin Street. Not too brave myself at the time, I followed Tabone. About halfway up Edwin Street, a large elderly black woman stood in her doorway, called me a “white motherfucker,” and threw a large, cast-iron frying skillet at me.

The skillet hit me on the right side of my forehead. I fell to my knees and prayed – “Dear God, please don’t let me pass out.”

Thankfully, I didn’t pass out, and I was able to get up and run for two more blocks. Then I walked several more blocks back to 13^th and Oregon Avenue.

Tabone beat me home. He was telling the other teenagers on the corner about the street fight and how gunshots rang out. He also spoke of beating up a couple of black guys, which was of course a lie.

I too lied, explaining the huge lump on my forehead. I told the guys that I was hit by a baseball bat.

 

“The neighborhood, the newspapers and the TV all said this was a racial thing,” Regalbuto explained as we sat in the bar. “Yeah, race relations were not good back then, but the shooting had nothing to do with race. Me and Joe made a drug deal with Martin King, known as “The King,” a black heroin dealer who hung out at a candy store at Seventh and Edwin Streets.

“We bought heroin on credit from King as we were steady customers of his. We were supposed to sell the dope and then pay King. But Joe and me were stone cold heroin addicts then, and we shot up more dope than we sold.”

Regalbuto said that Joe had the crazy idea of instead of paying King what we owed him, we should just kill him.

“Joe also had the idea of making the murder of King look like a race war between the Italians and the blacks.”          

Regalbuto said Villotti murdered King and he murdered King’s number two, a hoodlum named Billy Jones.

“Villotti was a cold-hearted psychopath,” Regalbuto said. “He often spoke of the murders with great relish and showed no regret. I’m different.”

Villotti died of AIDS some years prior in prison, while Regalbuto said he renewed his faith in Jesus Christ while serving his sentence. He confessed his murder to a priest and now he planned to turn himself into the police the following morning.

There was no statute of limitations on first degree murder.

 

I wrote about the Seventh Street shooting in my next newspaper column. I included my own involvement.

This was the first time, publicly or privately, that I admitted to being beaned with a cast-iron skillet by an elderly woman and not hit in the head with a baseball bat by a gang member.  

© 2025 Paul Davis 

Note: You can read my other crime fiction short stories via the link below:

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction Stories 

FBI and "Five Eyes" Warn Of Chinese Espionage Via LinkedIn And Job Platforms

 The FBI, in collaboration with the UK’s MI5, Australia’s ASIO, Canada’s CSIS, and New Zealand’s NZSIS (the Five Eyes intelligence alliance), has issued a joint advisory titled “Safeguarding Our Secrets” warning that China’s military intelligence services are using professional networking and job platforms to recruit Western officials and others with access to sensitive information. 

How the Threat Works

Chinese intelligence officers pose as online HR recruiters or consultants representing fake but legitimate-looking “cover companies” located outside China. They post job ads for roles such as foreign policy and defense analysts, think tank positions, or related fields. 

The recruitment process typically involves:

1.     Initial contact via LinkedIn, Indeed, Upwork, or similar platforms.

2.     Virtual interviews where recruiters probe for access to government contacts, military roles, or sensitive topics like the Indo-Pacific region, international trade, or Chinese foreign relations. 

3.     Initial reports on non-sensitive topics, paid for in cash or via third-party payment services.

4.     Escalation to more sensitive information via encrypted messaging apps, with higher payments for increasingly classified or privileged data. 

Who Is at Risk

The bulletin targets:

·         Security clearance holders in defense, foreign affairs, and intelligence.

·         Military personnel, especially in the Indo-Pacific.

·         Academics, journalists, freelance writers, think tank employees, and others with indirect access to defense, security, policy, or economic information. 

Why It Matters

The goal is to obtain privileged military, political, and economic intelligence that could give China a strategic and tactical advantage over the Five Eyes. Even without classified data, sharing certain information can still be prosecuted under U.S. espionage laws and pose risks to national security. 

How to Protect Yourself

·         Verify identities before sharing any information.

·         Avoid discussing classified or sensitive topics in public or unsecured channels.

·         Use encrypted communication for any sensitive exchanges.

·         Report suspicious activity to your employer’s security office or the FBI via tips.fbi.gov or 1‑800‑CALL‑FBI. 

This is not the first time the U.S. has warned about such tactics; similar LinkedIn recruitment schemes were linked to espionage cases in the past.