Suspect nabbed in Pa. bartender killing

The man accused of killing a popular Port Richmond bartender has been apprehended and authorities said the suspect, John McLaughlin, has been returned to Philadelphia.

Authorities said McLaughlin was picked up in the Poconos, but did not elaborate on the circumstances of his arrest. A news conference was likely to be scheduled for later this afternoon.

Two other people, a man and a woman, were also in custody in connection with the case. No further details were available.

Police issued a murder warrant earlier this week for McLaughlin, 36, the operator of McWhitey's Tavern at Venango and Mercer Streets, where Joseph Seamus O'Neill, 60, was found last Thursday.

Homicide Sgt. Ronald McClane said yesterday that detectives had received numerous calls from people suggesting where McLaughlin may be and had been tracking the leads.

Both men were well-known in Port Richmond. O'Neill, a native of Ireland, bartended at My Blue Heaven, where he finished a shift the night of Jan. 2 before going to McWhitey's.

Reports abound that O'Neill had hit the numbers in an illegal lottery, winning thousands, but police said that if it were true, they did not believe that it had anything to do with the slaying.

McClane said it appeared that the two had an argument over a trivial matter, but he would not elaborate.

Police believe that O'Neill was beaten with a blunt object, possibly a baseball bat. His body was found wrapped in a blue tarp in the bar basement.

O'Neill's family went looking for him Jan. 3 in Port Richmond because he did not return home from work. They saw his car parked near McWhitey's.

The relatives asked an employee at the bar, which was closed at the time, whether they could look around, and they found O'Neill's body. The bar was ordered shut by city workers and has remained closed.