'Lawless hoodlum' held for trial in slaying of Delco granny, 81

The moment that Jermaine Burgess entered the courtroom yesterday morning, Michael Elia's back stiffened up. He clenched his fists, and it appeared as if the burly 36-year-old was considering charging at the double-murder suspect, consequences be damned.

Elia wants Burgess dead. He might get his wish by the time Delaware County prosecutors are done.

Burgess, 37, a self-described "lawless hoodlum," is charged with killing Marie Ott, Elia's 81-year-old grandmother, by tying a bag around her head and repeatedly stabbing her in the chest.

He was held for trial yesterday in Ridley District Court, in Ridley Township, for Ott's October slaying, and awaits a preliminary hearing in Upper Darby for a homicide and sexual assault that he allegedly committed two weeks later.

Burgess, of Upper Darby, who has a history of violent crimes and was arraigned yesterday in Philadelphia for a Dec. 17 armed carjacking, is a prime candidate for a capital-murder trial.

"He doesn't deserve to breathe air," Ott's son, Joe Elia, told the Daily News yesterday during a Ridley court recess.

"My birthday was on the 24th of January, and I always got a call from my mother singing me 'Happy Birthday,' " Elia said. "That's all I thought about that day."

The last moments of Ott's life were recounted yesterday by county detective William Gordon, who said that Burgess gave police a taped confession in December. He had been staying with his aunt, who lived next door to Ott. He knew her only as "Miss Marie," Gordon said.

Burgess broke into her home on Crum Creek Drive by climbing through the kitchen window and found her in the living room in her hospital-style bed. When Ott gave him all the money she had, he demanded more, Gordon said, then lifted her up with a "bear hug" so that they could search for cash upstairs.

He eventually stabbed her with a 10-inch kitchen knife, tied her hands behind her back with bootlaces, then wrapped a plastic bag around her head because "he heard her moaning and couldn't stand to look at her," Gordon said. Police found her dead in her bedroom Oct. 27, the bag filled with blood.

"I don't understand how someone could be so cruel," Joe Elia said. "She gave him the money. Why kill her?"

News of Burgess' rampage - Upper Darby police say that he also has confessed to the Nov. 10 murder of South Vietnamese army veteran Hoa Pham - and the fact that he had served only the minimum sentence for previous crimes helped prompt Gov. Rendell last month to call for legislation that would require judges to sentence repeat violent offenders to fixed terms, rather than ranges.

Mike Elia said that the man who allegedly killed his grandmother is living proof that the criminal-justice system is broken.

"They should have had a tighter leash on him," he told the Daily News.

Joe Elia just wants assurance that Burgess will never spend another day outside a prison.

"I don't want to hear that he's going to get paroled again, so he can do it to someone else," he said.