Phila. man charged in killing of 2 guards

Murder charges were filed yesterday against the man police say confessed to killing two Loomis armored-truck guards Thursday.

Mustafa Ali, 36, of the 3800 block of Woodhaven Road in Northeast Philadelphia, was arraigned last night on two counts of murder, aggravated assault, robbery and related offenses. He was ordered held without bail pending a preliminary hearing on Wednesday.

"This person will never walk the streets again," Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson asserted yesterday.

The widow of one of the guards was comforted to hear the news.

"I never doubted the police. I knew they would catch him," said Joyce Widmaier of Fairless Hills, whose husband, William, 65, was gunned down with his partner Joseph Alullo, 54, of Levittown. Both were retired Philadelphia police officers.

"I hope he gets what he deserves."

About 8 a.m. Thursday, a man drove a black Acura TL to the Wachovia Bank near the Roosevelt Mall in the Northeast. He emerged from the car; walked toward Widmaier and Alullo, who were picking up receipts at a drive-through deposit ATM; and fired. A third guard in the truck was wounded by shattered glass.

There was no money in the bag that the killer took, police said. The crime was captured on a video surveillance camera, and police released the images.

Johnson commended the public for coming forward with information "in a matter of hours."

Police received two tips in the case. An auto dealership in Middletown Township, Bucks County, told police that a customer who had paid with a bad check resembled the man in the surveillance video. The other tip came from a neighbor who led police to the car.

Ali, who is also known as Shawn Steele, was arrested late Friday on a warrant from Bucks County on charges of passing a bad $5,000 check, allegedly for the deposit on the car seen in the surveillance images.

According to court records, Steele pleaded guilty to bank-robbery charges in 1993 in federal court. He was sentenced to seven years in prison followed by seven years of supervised released, and ordered to make restitution of $7,315. He was released from prison in 1999.

A police source said that during questioning, Ali had confessed to the shootings. Police said they had known Ali was the shooter when he provided incriminating information and told them where he had buried the gun.

Police found the murder weapon early yesterday, sources said.

At yesterday's news conference, Johnson provided few details of the investigation. Police declined to release a mug shot until after a police lineup had been conducted.

"If he is the suspect that killed my husband, he hurt his own family, too," said Donna Alullo, the widow of the second slain guard.

Joseph Alullo retired in 2000 after 27 years on the force. William Widmaier retired in 1989 after 23 years.

Joyce Widmaier said she was having a hard time coping with the loss of her husband of 42 years.

"It was heartbreaking," she said. "He was the rock of the family. When he died, I died. I can't talk anymore, I'm sorry."

Her daughter, Wednesday Widmaier, 38, described her father as a man who loved 1960s rock-and-roll and doo-wop groups and went to work daily without complaining.

"He always put us first and took care of himself last," she said. "It was something so senseless. A single bullet killed my father," she said. "But he didn't suffer. He was with his friend."

A viewing for Widmaier will beheld from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Thursday at St. Francis Cabrini Catholic Church, 325 S. Oxford Valley Rd., Fairless Hills, where a Funeral Mass will follow.

Viewings for Alullo will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. tomorrow and from 8:30 to 10 a.m. Tuesday at the L.A. DiGiacomo Funeral Home, 1055 Southampton Rd., Philadelphia. A Funeral Mass will be said at 11 a.m. Tuesday at the St. Anselm Rectory, 12670 Dunks Ferry Rd., Philadelphia.