Jury to deliberate death penalty for killer of guards

A Philadelphia jury tomorrow will begin considering whether Mustafa Ali should be executed or imprisoned for life without parole for the 2007 murder of two Loomis armored van guards.

The trial, which began Feb. 1 with a bank security video showing Ali, 39, shooting guards William Widmaier and Joseph Alullo as their worked on a Northeast Philadelphia ATM, ended today with a poignant video showing the opposite pole of Ali's personality: loving father.

As the final piece of evidence in their effort to save Ali's life, the team of public defenders presented a composite video and audio of Ali speaking with sons Naqi, 9, and Taqi, 6, in telephone calls from the city's Curran-Fromhold Correction Facility.

Ali intently watched the monitor as two "mitigation specialists" for the death-penalty unit of the Defender Association of Philadelphia interviewed the boys as they talked about their father, trips they took together, and what they love about him.

Mitigation specialist Dana Cook said Ali made 400 calls to his sons from June 2008 through early December .

At times the screen image would freeze and audio would play of Ali talking to his sons by phone from prison, discussing their school grades, singing to them, and once or twice scolding them for sibling name-calling.

Ali watched the video resting on the defense table, one hand supporting his head, his face as unreadable as it has been throughout the trial. Only an occasional furrowing brow or slight smile hinted at whatever emotion he felt.

In the audience, about 25 of Ali's relatives and friends watched, wiping tears or laughing at the boys' antics.

Near them in the pews, relatives of Alullo and Widmaier solemnly watched. Just Friday, they had been on the witness stand, giving the jury victim impact statements about how the murders have devastated their lives.

The jurors' reactions was difficult to read. Some sat, arms crossed, stonily watching the defense video. A few chuckled at some segments. Others smiled quietly or seemed lost in thought.

Today, the jurors will begin trying to reconcile those conflicting facets of Ali's personality.

Last Wednesday, the jury found Ali guilty of two counts of first-degree murder in the Oct. 4, 2007, slaying of Alullo, 54, of Levittown, and Widmaier, 65, of Fairless Hills. The guards, both retired city police officers, were killed as they worked on an outdoor ATM at a Wachovia Bank branch at Bustleton and Bleigh Avenues at Roosevelt Mall.

The Loomis driver, Joseph ,Walczak, 72, of Frankford, was injured by flying glass when a shot shattered the van's bulletproof window.

This morning, the jury will hear closing arguments from prosecution and defense attorneys about the death penalty, get further instructions in the law from Common Pleas Court Judge Jeffrey P. Minehart, and begin deliberations.