A Trenton gang leader will face a Bucks County judge for allegedly killing a man and dumping his body on I-95
Robert Christie killed Joshua McRae during an argument in 2020, according to prosecutors, and discarded his body on the side of the busy highway.
A high-ranking member of a Trenton street gang was held for trial Friday for allegedly killing a man at the height of a heated argument and discarding his body on the shoulder of I-95 in Bucks County.
Robert “Perry Street Bob” Christie, 36, shot Joshua McRae at point-blank range while the two were passengers in a vehicle heading down the interstate in January 2020, according to the testimony of two other men who were inside the car at the time. Christie has been charged with first-degree murder, abuse of corpse, and related offenses.
His attorney, Peter Williams, made no argument during the preliminary hearing before Magisterial District Judge Kevin Wagner and declined to comment afterward.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Christopher Rees praised the work done by Pennsylvania State Police troopers and county detectives in piecing together the case against Christie. He called it “some of the finest” he had seen in his career.
“Without their diligence and doggedness, we would not be able to bring the killer of Joshua McRae to justice,” Rees said.
Christie, who prosecutors say holds a leadership role in the Nine Trey Bloods, had been drinking with the three other men at Murphy’s Bar in Levittown on the night of the slaying. While at the bar, McRae, 31, and Christie were “snipping” at each other, according to Taurien Corbin, a former member of the gang.
Corbin, 41, testified Friday that earlier that evening, McRae had been carrying a revolver, which he was forced to leave in the vehicle the group had been riding in before entering Murphy’s.
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McRae, Corbin said, had a reputation for committing armed robberies, and rumors had swirled that he had targeted a high-ranking Trenton drug dealer not long before the night the group traveled together to Levittown.
Later that night, as Corbin drove the group back toward Trenton in a car belonging to McRae’s girlfriend, McRae and Christie continued to argue, according to testimony from Corbin and Jerry Robinson, who was in the car’s backseat.
McRae threatened the group, asking what they would do if he “shot them in the head.” The hypothetical angered Christie, who ordered Corbin to hand him McRae’s gun, secured near the driver’s seat, according to the two passengers.
Almost immediately afterward, they said, Christie opened fire, shooting McRae. The shooting was so sudden, Corbin said, that he slammed on the car’s brakes and pulled onto the highway’s shoulder. Christie got out, he said, pulling McRae’s corpse with him.
Christie then directed Corbin to drive to a nearby gas station, where he purchased motor oil, the two men said. He gave Corbin further instructions, they said, telling him to drive the SUV to East Trenton and park it in a secluded alleyway.
“I was scared,” Corbin said, explaining why he followed Christie’s instructions. “I didn’t want to be the next one.”
Using the oil, Christie set the car on fire, according to the two men’s testimony. They said Corbin then disposed of the murder weapon, and threw McRae’s cell phone in a nearby gutter.
For their roles in helping to dispose of the evidence, Robinson and Corbin have been charged with tampering with evidence and abuse of corpse. They waived their preliminary hearings Friday after testifying during Christie’s proceeding.