2 testify against co-defendants in case of dead woman

TWO MEN accused of conspiring to steal a dead woman's South Philly house have waived their preliminary hearings and yesterday testified against two co-defendants.

Romanoff Quarles, 43, of Johnston Street near Marshall in South Philly, who lived around the corner from the house he allegedly coveted, and real-estate lawyer Andrew Kaufman, 57, of Cherry Hill, took the stand as prosecution witnesses.

They were among six people charged by the District Attorney's Office in October, accused of participating in a plot to steal the house or car of Dorothy Kennedy, who lived alone on Marshall Street near Johnston and died Aug. 21, 2010, at age 79. Her husband, Frank, died two years earlier.

Her husband had a son from a previous relationship, but they had no children of their own. Dorothy Kennedy apparently had no living relatives and no will. According to a grand-jury report, after she died, Quarles wanted to acquire her house and asked Kaufman, his attorney, for help.

Kaufman yesterday testified in the preliminary hearing of co-defendant Vincent Marciano, 63, a South Philly real-estate broker.

He said that Quarles claimed that he had taken care of Dorothy Kennedy and her husband, and that Quarles, a client of his, "wanted to obtain" Kennedy's house.

Kaufman said he explained to Quarles that he could become a creditor of the estate if he paid for Dorothy Kennedy's funeral. He said that he had petitioned for Quarles to be appointed the administrator of the estate, but that the Register of Wills office appointed him instead because he was Quarles' attorney.

Kaufman said that with Marciano's help, he got appraisals of $26,000 and $26,500 for the house, paving the way for Orphans' Court to issue an order on April 10, 2012, approving the sale of the house to Quarles.

Marciano, in testimony before the grand jury in September 2013 that was read in court, admitted that he "looked the other way" and knew it was not legal when he helped obtain appraisals supporting a $26,000 value for the house. He said that Kaufman had asked him to provide the lowest possible value.

Kaufman said he has agreed to plead guilty to certain charges and is expected to be sentenced to house arrest and probation. He is expected back in court tomorrow for a hearing on his charges.

Quarles was called by Assistant District Attorney Brad Bender to testify in the preliminary hearing of Damion Rivers, 32, who worked at West City Select, an auto-tag shop in West Philly. Bender asked him about the Kennedys' car, a 2005 Buick LeSabre.

"Did you want to acquire the car?" Bender asked.

"Yes," Quarles said.

Quarles said he wanted to get the title of the car transferred to his name, and went to West City Select with a friend.

At West City Select, he said, he forged Frank Kennedy's name as the car's seller, and signed his own name as the buyer. He said he told Rivers that Frank Kennedy was dead.

Authorities say Rivers forged the name of his mother, Deana Rivers, a notary public, on the paperwork and used her notary stamp.

After the hearings, Municipal Judge Patrick Dugan held Marciano for trial on charges of tampering with the public record and conspiracy, and Rivers on theft by deception, forgery, conspiracy, perjury and related offenses.

Quarles waived his preliminary hearing yesterday, as did two other co-defendants - Marvin Kimble, 57, and Antoine Turay, 35, both of whom worked in the funeral-home industry.

Kaufman had waived his preliminary hearing on charges of theft, conspiracy, tampering and related offenses in October.